Mongolia is the world's most land-locked country. Wedged between Russia and China, its history is a carefully-trodden path between its two giant neighbours - both of whom have held undue influence in Mongolia's affairs in the past.

Mongolia cannot be mentioned without naming its greatest leader, Chinggiskhan - or “Genghis Khan” as the West knows him. He not only led his country, but he established a vast Mongolian Empire that rivalled any other the world has known - stretching from present-day Indonesia to modern Hungary. An unlikely legacy of this Empire is ravioli. Next time you tuck into a plateful, you're eating a food perfected for Mongolian warfare - you can eat them fresh, or dried in the sun for boiling-up on rides of conquest... or in the harsh Mongolian winters they freeze nicely in the snow. Marco Polo brought the idea back to Italy after his time serving the Great Khan.

Without its own energy resources, Mongolia is dependent on Russia and China for oil and coal - this doesn't help the cash-strapped Mongolian economy, and many Mongolians do not live well by western standards. However, in a strange turn of fate, many Mongolians are in fact deserting the soviet-era cities where their factories and mines have closed down, and are returning to the nomadic life of the Steppes, and animal husbandry. Many Mongolians re Buddhists, and the country abounds in temples, stupas, pagodas and lamaseries. There is a tiny amount of shamanism too, although often this is for the benefit of tourists.

Travelling into Mongolia on the Trans-Siberian Express is like journeying into another world - another stage on the holiday of a lifetime.