I decided to go because I had a free year.

I had my own compartment - plenty of space, plenty of provisions, the grapes, cookies, chocolates and tea that made being on the Trans-Siberian like a luxurious form of convalescence.

I made myself very popular with the group by showing them how to shut it [a loudspeaker] off. I wrapped a rubber band around the metal stump and this rubber offered enough of a grip to shut the thing off.

It was an extraordinary landscape-pale yellow, under a blue sky-extraordinary because it was not a desert, but rather the largest pasture imaginable; here and there a herd of horses, here and there a camel, or a man, or a tent. It was inhabited, but with a sparseness that was impressive.

It was always like a fire drill, getting on or off a Chinese train, with people panting and pushing

If he doesn't talk to me, and he doesn't walk around with me, and he doesn't travel in the same compartment,' I said, 'I don't understand why he wants to come with me.''To make sure you are comfortable. Hospitality. You are our guest ...

I found my berth and discovered that no one else was going to Xian. The sleeper was empty. This was the rarest situation on a Chinese train, and one to be relished. Such circumstances were almost luxurious and definitely cozy.