The Trans Siberian Railway via Mongolia, in my view is probably one of the most incredible journey’s you can take.

Where else can you take a train from Europe to Asia, travelling nearly 5,000 miles overland, cross 6 time zones and watching the world transform as it goes by for 21 days. Please note my use of the word journey, rather than trip. It really is all about train life, getting to know your fellow passengers and train assistants, attempting to buy food from babushkas at the many train stops and wondering what landscape you will wake up to in the morning. In amongst all this travelling, I also experienced an awful lot of different places along the way.

The wonderfully European city of Saint Petersburg with its enormous amount of opulence, the busy and complex city of Moscow, the home of the Decemberist – Irkutsk, the largest fresh water lake in the world which is very very cold even in the height of summer, leaving Russia for incredible Mongolia who’s customs and kind people stole my heart, ultimately ending in Beijing the capital of the most special communist country in the world today.

The journey for me, helped me truly disconnect, reading three books on Siberia! Conversely I felt more connected with the world and my fellow travellers and local guides, being fascinated by their stories and background, engaging in long conversation about anything and everything – true art of discussion. I also learned an incredible amount about the history, passion and drive of these three wildly different but mesmerising in their complexity.That said, as I barely touched the surface, I now have a hunger more than ever before, to return and really dig beneath the facade as the glimmers that i saw were truly exciting and intriguing.

Sally, traveller on the Trans Siberian Railway trip, August 2015.