The Great Train Ride - some highlights

It was one of the most amazing experiences. My mind is a great kalidescope of images. I have about twenty pages of my note book which I hope will help consolidate memory.

I watched Central Asia unfold before my eyes with its herds of semi wild shaggy bactrian camels galloping away from the train in fright; endless dry steppe with bright patches of yellow spring tulips; semi nomadic Khazaks with their dark brown sheep, horses and donkeys. I never thought I would see the Aral Sea - and there it was - or what remains of it after Stalin's water theft. It shimmered blue, but is now surrounded by vast salt flats. One of the worlds most devastating ecological disasters.

The second morning when we were woken at 5:00 am for Border controls the steppe had become green. that night I went to sleep as we crossed the Volga. I awoke to a scene of slender silver birch trees and a Dacha. TTFN

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