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4 days in the wilderness without showers or toilets made us eager to get back on our first class carriage of luxury heading for China. Where our last train was old fashioned and classic this one was ultra modern with TVs for every bed and our own toilet in first class.  The scenery on this leg was even more spectacular than before with the Gobi desert full of camels and wild horses leading to the mountainous border with China where old sections of the wall still stand.

When we crossed the Mongolian-Chinese border late at night they had to change the bogies (wheels) as they run on different gauges.  Consequently they had to lock us on the train and close all the toilets for about 6 hours because the debris would fall on the work men’s heads!  Unfortunately we had been drinking lots of beer earlier with some friends in the bar and not realised.  After an hour I had to give in and wee into a bottle!  Not my finest moment and god mum your ‘She Pee’ would have come in handy then!

Five days of getting up late without washing, drinking all day and existing mainly on instant noodles was like re-living our student days. The private 1st class cabin was certainly plushier than my old room, though both were a similar size.

We spent the days trundling across Russia into Siberia and finally Mongolia. As we watched the scenery change we stopped every few hours to stock up on locally cooked cakes and bread. For the most part these were very fine though some liver filled doughnuts left a  pretty foul taste in our mouths.

The size of the towns and cities along the way was a real surprise. We often saw large blocks of soviet-style flats and factories seemingly isolated in the middle of Siberia.

Our evenings passed with lots of drinking and games in the trains dining car with other guys we met on board. With the old style decor and uniforms we often felt like we were in the middle of a Poirot mystery as we passed between the carriages.