All aboard for the Trans-Siberian
At Moscow's Yaroslavsky train station we get our first glimpse of the Trans-Siberian express, the centrepoint of our journey.
Our carriage awaits
A sky-blue train, each of its carriages decorated with the heraldic-looking insignia of the Russian railways, it snakes into the distance along the platform.
It is late evening and as we climb aboard there is a short fanfare of military music, presumably to herald the train's departure. I'm not usually in to pomp and circumstance but given that we're about to embark on a seven-day trek across Siberia, I don't mind a bit of reverence.
