Moonsky star trip

Further to last week's information on where to buy tickets for the Trans-Siberian railway, Colette in Yokohama describes the trip she took in 1993 as, "one of the most amazing experiences of my life." She organized her journey through Moonsky Star, a travel agent based in Beijing that specializes in Trans-Siberian tours. Check out their monkey-funky Web site at www.monkeyshrine.com

2004 is the Year of the Monkey according to Chinese lore, by the way.

Vegetarian Maryann has developed severe environmental and food allergies since arriving in Japan 9 years ago.