I'm still telling everyone what a wonderful trip it was

I've been back from my Trans-Siberian train trip for over a week now. I'm still telling everyone what a wonderful trip it was. In fact, I think it ranks near the top of all my trips including Tibet and Xinjiang.

The guides were wonderful - everywhere. Please pass on the word to your bosses that all five were friendly, knowledgeable, and very helpful. Several helped me with problems - my lost immigration card in Vladivostok, phone problems in Yekaterinburg, uploading camera photos to a flash drive in Kiev.

And, speaking of Kiev, you were absolutely right - there was no problem. What a wonderful city and the guides were great. Maydan Square was really impressive and the guide gave great information. I was surprised when she said I was the first American to come in from Travel All Russia.

I was relieved when the guide in St. Petersburg told me I would clear Russian Customs before the train left Moscow. I had been worried that I'd be stranded on the border between Russia and Ukraine in the middle of the night with a departure problem from Russia.The most interesting border crossing turned out to be between Ukraine and Poland. It took 3+ hours with inspection of the space above the ceiling tiles, lights under and on top of the train, suitcase check, etc. It reminded me of a border crossing 30+ years ago between East Berlin and West Berlin - or the one I did between Poland and Czechoslovakia that same trip.

Thanks again for working with Marty and me as we planned this trip. I've seen her several times since I returned. I did tell her it would have been physically challenging for her. And I thanked her for planning the trip with me. We had a lot of fun planning it - and I probably wouldn't have done that by myself. The T-S would still be on my list of trips I've not done.