Moscow Station

So just to close on Moscow we had a great time there, but it is quite different from St Petersburg, mainly because as the Capital of the Country with a population of 15 million Moscow feels so much busier and ‘in your face’ than the latter.

Moscow certainly has a lot of money around. The sheer volume of designer shops, top end cars, expensive restaurants etc gives an indication of the wealth that now exists here. It looks like the younger set are now really enjoying the benefits of the new open Russia, as we saw how busy bars and restaurants were on the weekend evenings in the beautifully lit streets around our hotel. The pavements, buildings and public areas are all spotlessly clean and well looked after. No wonder the President is so popular.

So we checked out of the Budapest Hotel (a plaque by the entrance commemorates the fact that Lenin stayed there twice...) having left our luggage earlier in the day with the worlds most miserable hotel doorman, a ranking that he is unlikely to lose whilst he is in employment!

On arrival at the Moscow Station concourse we awaited the call to board our first journey on an official Trans Mongolian train, 26 hours to Yekaterinburg.Read more