Two days in Moscow are intense and many of the ideas we’ve had about the city before we came are no longer valid. The first night it seems unbelievable that we came the same morning.

Moscow is not what we had imagined. It is a European metropolis, like Madrid, but in a larger scale. Moscow is a pleasant city to visit. Even on the Red Square, you can sit in peacefully with a mint lemonade for 100 rubel. (ca 2 $). The sun is warm but the winds are cool.

Late in the evening we get on the train that will be our place to be for the next six days. We're traveling on a Chinese train, and a Chinese train attendant receives us. The Chinese trains are older, fueled by coal, and in many ways simpler, but the interior is classic, with polished wood, dark blue carpets and red sofas.

It is not boring to travel on the Transsiberian railway, and it’s not claustrophobic. The train is worn and the standard is low, you could wish for better hygiene arrangements and more comfort, but we don’t miss anything

For days and nights, we travel through Russia. You start to feel the size of the country in your body. Mile after mile after mile. The landscape is changed, there are hills and pine forests. The grass on the fields is drier, more yellow.

After Ulan Ude the train makes a sharp turn. We leave the Trans Siberian railway to continue on the Trans Mongolian line. Suddenly the landscape is changing, now there is grass desert with high hills in the background. We are getting closer to Mongolia.