Riding the TransSib

Photographer Mike Buscher spent two months traversing Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 2003.

I don’t remember the name of the small town where we first set foot in Russia.  I do recall that the border officials were dumfounded when they saw American passports at the remote checkpoint, where the foreigners were mainly Chinese.  My fiancée, Cate, and I were on our way to Vladivostok, the end of the line in the Russian Far East and the starting point for our Trans-Siberian Railroad adventure. We had been traveling for nearly two months through Southeast Asia and China, but it was the train expedition across Russia that I was most excited about.