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Forbidden Lands: Journey Across the Russian North Caucasus

Alan's passion for travelling to the Russian North Caucasus was hardly infectious. A cluster of warring, war torn republics known mostly in the West for insurgency, terrorist activities and kidnapping of foreigners, together with a very firm "DO NOT TRAVEL" warning from our Australian Government, was not a great selling point. Even for us.... And for many years we couldn't even find a travel agent who was prepared to take tourists into the area. We had visited the independent countries of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus in 2015; three remote yet fascinating and beautiful nations with which we had been truly impressed. During our travels we had skirted the Greater Caucasus Mountains, home to the highest peaks in Europe and the very border with the Russian North Caucasus. And as with so many of our travels, we were once again transfixed with the seduction of the elusive bordering regions. We had read that the much feared Russian North Caucasus comprised a series of culturally fascinating and stunningly geographically magnificent republics. "But just what was the countryside and life like over that border?" we wondered.... Our opportunity to visit the North Caucasus arose in 2018 when a number of travel companies began to conduct tours in the region. And in June 2019, our travels took us across the entire North Caucasus region from little known Makhachkala, Dagestan on the Caspian Sea to the much famed city of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai on the Black Sea. Alan's dream was fulfilled. Here is our story.
Planned Dates
2019-06-02 to 2019-06-17
Countries
3
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