The country’s sheer size alone means there are endless possibilities for travel here from the deep dark waters of Lake Baikal in Siberia to the cosmopolitan boulevards of the capital Moscow, now one of the most expensive cities on the planet. St Petersburg, the Trans-Siberian Railway and Mount Elbrus (the largest peak in Europe) are a few of Russia’s many other highlights. With the end of Communism at the beginning of the 1990s, Russia is still undergoing a transformation of sorts which has left the country as non-Communist as could be possible. Moscow is now a city of millionaires where huge amounts of wealth are concentrated in the hands of just a fraction of the population; while many rural areas of the country combat high levels of unemployment, suffering little in the way of progress despite the lifting of the Iron Curtain. A high rate of economic growth and the strong hand of current President Vladimir Putin mean that Russia continues to change at a rapid rate since it abandoned Communism. Tensions with former Soviet states such as Georgia along with traditional enemies like the UK means that Russia’s supposed realignment with the West has taken a turn in the opposite direction in recent years – but some things never change. Russians remain as proud and idiosyncratic as ever. Behind the apparent sourness often experienced during first meetings is a warmth that develops over time and is more often than not sealed with a glass of vodka – the cliches couldn’t be more true in this case. | 
