In a country containing 22% of the world's forest, where trees cover an area larger than the USA, one might imagine that nowhere could be that far from a patch of woodland. However, the name of the 40,000 strong town in Yaroslavsky Province where I spent last weekend translates as Pereslavl Beyond the Woods. I was interested to find out if it really merited the name by being any further beyond the woods than your average Russian town or whether it was just that in 1152 its founders realised that to everyone other than the Welsh a nice, short, easily pronounceable name like Pereslavl Zalessky would sound better than a long, difficult one like Pereslavl Natakomzherasstoyaniiotlesakakilyuboydrugoygorodvrossiisky (Pereslavl at the Same Distance from the Woods as Any Other Town in Russia). Beyond the railway line it certainly ... read more

The train chugged out of snow-blanketed Moscow, through its heavily whitened suburbs and into the Russian countryside on the first of three days it would roll north west, eventually crossing the Northern Ural Mountains and stopping on the Arctic Circle in Western Siberia. I, having loped up to the platform minutes before departure, had been forced to enter at wagon fifteen when in fact my bed was in wagon one, in order to be sure of not missing my ride. I now had fifteen heated wagons to traverse with a large backpack on, a gargantuan pair of almost knee-high super-padded boots tucked under my left arm and my ridiculously large super-padded jacket under my right. The aisles on Russian trains are narrow enough that not only the stuff under my arms but my back pack too ... read more

What was it that made me fall in love with the place? I like challenging and remote destinations, but here Soviet-constructed roads link every settlement to its nearest town; I like culture, but here much of that has, on the surface of things, been lost, men wearing T-shirts and caps, often drinking vodka and almost invariably leaving, at least temporarily, to work in Russia, the old pre-Soviet ways of feeding one’s family having been forgotten. The scenery here is stunning, with several peaks towering above 7000m, but scenery is never the reason I travel or something that endears me to a place other than as a secondary factor. It was, of course, the Tajik people that I found so amazing. Of the fifty five countries I have visited, only the people of Vanuatu and Yap State ... read more

I realised something was wrong in Ishkashim as soon as I arrived. It took an extraordinary event to help me put my finger on exactly what was strange about the place and when it happened I was gobsmacked that I had not noticed before. The event occurred after I had been wandering up and down the town's two central streets, lined with shops selling clothing, carpets and household utensils, for thirty minutes: it was the appearance of four blue ghosts who floated silently down the dusty, pebble strewn main street. This, my first sighting of Aghan women, was in fact no sighting at all, because not one of them was showing an inch of skin or hair; there were not even slits for their eyes in their veils. Before this the street had been bustling, but ... read more

After the June's Uzbek / Kyrgyz ethnic clashes that may have left over 2,000 dead I was somewhat wary of visiting the city of Osh. Stories of burnings, torture, rape and indescribably gruesome killings abounded throughout the rest of Kyrgyzstan where many people believed the war in Osh to be still continuing. But, reading and listening to the news, the actual situation seemed to be back to normal: there had been no disturbances in two months, the city was gradually being rebuilt and the extra armed forces that had been put in place to get the situation under control had finally been moved out. Osh being the only way I could continue south into Tajikistan, I made an informed decision to go there and leave on the first southbound transport available. "Where's the bazaar?" I ask ... read more