Going Trans-Siberian by train

I've just boarded a train at Moscow's central station that's headed for Vladivostok. The authentic route of the Trans-Siberian railway - made famous in the 1965 film version of Dr Zhivago in which a fur-clad Julie Christie is held hostage on the Trans-Siberian Express by a dashing Omar Sharif - continues to inspire many an adventure-seeker to hop aboard and traverse the seemingly limitless steppes.

These days, there are many different ways to ride the tracks between the Russian capital and the country's main seaport on the Pacific coast but the most colourful option is to take the ordinary passenger train: 'No.1 (or No.2) Russia.'

Trans-Siberian route map

Vodka-fuelled poker

Seeing it for the first time, with its seemingly endless succession of wagons and carriages lit up by arc lights, you'd be forgiven for imagining yourself in a film. The French lady I've just met only manages to fuel my spy fantasies further.

Lake Baikal

It turns out, though, that she merely wants to swap bunks, having found herself in with three men. Naturally, I acquiesce but when I see my bedfellows I almost go back on my word: it seems I am to spend a large part of my journey in the company of two Mafiosi (one tiny, one mammoth) and a wraith-like henchman with a face full of gold teeth. I'm amazed to find things turn positively convivial and five hours of vodka-fuelled poker later I've scooped the equivalent of a tenner.

Initially, incurable romantics might find conditions aboard the train a bit basic. Sharing a cramped sleeping compartment with a constantly changing trio of strangers and trying to wash in the end-of-carriage sinks require patience, humour and a definite spirit of adventure. But these privations are very much at the heart of the intensity of the experience.

Awe-inspiring sight

Being thrown together in such close proximity with people from a totally different culture is an experience to treasure for a lifetime and, ultimately, it's these encounters that make the trip so fascinating.

It makes sense to break up the 12-day jaunt and potential highlights include the historic Yekaterinburg and the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Irkutsk. The world's largest freshwater lake, Baikal, is a truly awe-inspiring sight and an essential stop-off point. And the city of Ulan Ude, where the track divides and heads towards China, offers visitors a heady mix of Buddhist monasteries and historic statuary. Train tickets for each portion of the journey need to be booked in advance but it's well worth the effort.

As everyone prepares to go their separate ways amid a frenzied exchange of phone numbers and e-mail addresses, someone mentions being booked on the return leg of the journey - a statement that generates a mixture of astonishment, awe and envy. I contemplate flogging my pre-bought plane ticket home in order to sample the whole thing in reverse - the lack of a French femme fatale brings me to my senses, though. * Seb travelled with Regent Holidays (0870 499 0911. www.regent-holidays.co.uk), the British specialists on all things Trans-Siberian. Twelve-night trips from Moscow to Vladivostok, stopping off at Lake Baikal, start from £950 per person, including accommodation in Moscow, Baikal and Vladivostok but excluding flights.