Bettany Hughes on Turkey’s epic rail journey and off-season wonders

The Doğu Express cuts through the snowy steppe of Eastern Turkey, loosely following the path merchants took along the ancient Silk Road. Bettany Hughes sits by the window of a half-full carriage gazing out at the terrain. Soon, giant pots of Turkish honey (someone had heard she enjoys it) are delivered to her seat table, before she dances with a group of women in the café carriage. The scenes invite more than a twinge of travel envy. “It’s an epic adventure,” Hughes tells The i Paper of her journey across ancient Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) – the 800-mile overnight rail route, between the city of Kars in northeastern Turkey and the capital of Ankara in the Central Anatolia region, is just one leg. “The train was genuinely magical. We were seeing wolves and eagles hunting as we went throug