We are currently in the city of Tyumen, gateway to Siberia, awaiting the next leg of our journey to Elista. We had a 24-hour train ride yesterday from Tomsk. Loading all of our equipment onto the tightly packed train was a bit of adventure (especially Gillian’s harp!), but it all went smoothly and we had very sweet train buddies who happily accommodated our loud and bulky presence. In a few more hours we hop on another train to Volgograd, (formerly Stalingrad, site of the famous WWII battle), and then catch a bus to Elista. This will take us another two and a half days! To give you a better idea of the locations we’ll be visiting and the distances we will be traveling I drew this expert map 
Till next time,
Matt
You’ve gotten good at drawing Russia!