Siberia holds a particular place in the western imagination. Most envision it has a mysterious, permanently snowy land of exile and prisons. In reality, Siberia is remarkably diverse place – both ecologically and culturally. It’s vast expanse covers tundra, marshes, forests and prairies. It hosts large cities, but also wide areas of undeveloped lands. It […]
An easy three-hour train ride from Moscow is a city known for two things related to tea: Russian gingerbread, known localy as “pryanik,” and the samovar, for which Tula has been the most famous production center for centuries. In fact, Tula is so well known for samovars that it has made it into a Russian […]
Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan, a semiautonomous republic within Russia. Roughly the size of West Virginia, but with nearly twice the population, Tatarstan has one of the strongest and most diverse regional economies in Russia. The Tatar people, for whom the republic is named and who still enjoy a majority in their republic, are […]
Bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east and by Azerbaijan and Georgia to the south and west, the Republic of Dagestan is often overlooked by tourists in favor of more well-known Russian destinations. During the late 90’s and well into the 2000’s, Dagestan’s reputation took a hit as conflict spilled over from war in […]
