SIBERIA TO MOSCOW Triumph: thousands of kilometeres and a lot of birch trees later we have finally made it to Moscow. The Mongolian steppes ringed by mountains and peppered with the occasional yurt were breathtaking. The border crossings were not a high point,however,always in the middle of the night and always taking hours and with the toilets locked for the duration a challenge on more than one level. Siberia too was beautiful. The landscape from the border to Moscow pretty much the same...a lot of birch and conifer forests and ploughed fields peppered with Russian villages...dark wooden houses and immaculate vegetable gardens and always a greenhouse or two. The odd industrial city breaks the mould....and no cattle or sheep to be seen(except for the odd cow in a village)..I would think the -50C temperatures of winter are the reason for this. The people are friendly and helpful and willing to engage despite language difficulities. We visited Lake Baikal(the largest lake in the world) briefly and regreted not having more time here..it is very beautiful and unspoilt. Will and I were lucky enough to see the 2 Decemberists (1825 attempt to free the serfs and overthrow the Tsar which met with exile to Siberia) houses in Irkutsk which are now museums (while Sue and Jane valliantly looked after the bags at the station)...having miscalculated the train departure time by 5 hours as the train (not the staion) runs on Moscow time we had a lot of time to fill in here. Well finally we are here ...the city is elegant and impressive and teeming with nouveau riche in their flashy cars but as Lenin(a large statue of course) was at the station to greet us we sort of felt at home.Red Square is a 10 minute walk away and the Stanislavsky Theatre at the end of the street(this hostel is new and cheap and so well situated..as it turns out a real find).....we are ready for it after days of sitting! dasvidoniya Kath and the Komrades xo