I traveled from Moscow to Vladivostok this morning, by train, in my slippers, on one cup of coffee and a bagel.

Let me explain. I had fallen down one of those Internet rabbit holes that happen when you start wondering what you could find if you typed a certain search into Google. I was looking for blogs that were well informed on Russian politics and its economy.

My search led me to a site called "snowsquare", which bills itself as "Urban postings from Moscow, Russia". And that's where I found it: The January 22 post entitled "Escape Moscow without disappearing for a week".

The anonymous blogger behind "snowsquare" discovered that Russian Railways has posted a virtual trip on Russian's most famous train, the Rossiya, which most foreigners call the Trans-Siberian. Snowsquare links to the Web site, and you'll have to wait a minute for it to load. The directions are all in Russian, so when you see the green button, click on it. It launches the coolest thing I have seen on the Internet in a long, long time.

You'll start out in Moscow's Yaroslavsky station, and if you move your mouse left or right you can pan the entire length of the train at its platform. They've even captured the train announcer's voice telling you the train is boarding for Vladivostok.

But it gets even better. There's a schematic diagram of the train at the bottom of the screen. Click on any one of the purple-pink dots and you are instantly transported to the interior of that car. The car all the way to the right, identified as "Pectopah" is the dining car. It just makes you want to sit down and order lunch. And the Russian Railways folks have simulated a little train noise and flashing exteriors through the windows. If you click on the day-by-day itinerary at the top of the screen, you can virtually visit the train stations in Krasnoyarsk and Vladivostok, including the end of the line mileage marker. I have a picture of myself there from my 1999 adoption trip!

The Rossiya is one of the grande dames of Russian trains, so don't expect the train you take on your adoption journey to be this well appointed. But while you are waiting for your invitation to travel, this Web site makes for a very interesting trip.

Thanks, snowsquare.