Eastern Siberia alternates between taiga (Siberian wilderness) and industrial towns stuffed with heavy machinery and rotting factories.  A surprising number of cities have sprung up along the route since the creation of the railroad – most supported by rough trades like mining or logging.  Still, there are long sections of empty birch forests and wheat fields speckled across the countryside, plus the odd dilapidated house with its fenced in garden and greenhouse thrown in for good measure.

I’m sure global warming is a welcome concept on this chilly frontier, because they burn coal like it’s going out of fashion.  Every town and city you come across has enormous concrete smokestacks belching out pollutants, and the scent of sulfur often hangs heavy in the air.

Just outside Irkutsk (try saying that five times fast), we rolled past a military compound home to thousands of mothballed tanks and rocket launching vehicles.  Along with decrepit Soviet era buildings and Lenin statues, they were once the pride of the USSR, but they now seem like distant relics of the Cold War.   The Russians, it seems, have moved on to more comfortable ventures like global tourism, mobile phones and lattes.

For more Trans Siberian photos click here