Veronika Wild

This says "Russia" in Russian. Reading Russian is a bit like cracking a secret code. I was really excited when I first worked out that CTON meant STOP. I am glad I didn't drive. It would have taken me so long to decipher the road signs that I would have ended up in Vladivostock. There weren't many roads in Siberia though. Trains are the main form of transport. I'll tell you about them in the next couple of posts. Also about some of the great places I visited and the people I met in a journey of over 10,000 kilometres. The Russian Odyssey I had always wondered about Russia . For most of my life it was shown as a large blank space in the Philips World Atlas. Now that Russia is finally letting in independent travellers – even shoestring ones like me, I thought I should have a look around and give you an idea of what it is like. I can tell you now that it has 145 million people, at least twelve different ethnic groups and eleven time zones! I’d always ...

Taktsang Monastery (Tiger's Nest), 1000 metres above the valley Bhutan, the Land of the Thunder Dragon, is a quaint and chivalrous country about the size of Tasmania, tucked into a fold in the Himalaya just below Tibet. It is quite difficult to visit since it only admits about two thousand visitors a year and both they and their itinerary must first be approved by the government. Most people come in organised tour groups. All charges including airfares are set by the government and no one may travel without a guide and a driver. Sonam - The guide. Behind him is Paro Airport, one of the few flat spots and the only way into Bhutan Siri - The driver Both young men wear the national dress of Bhutan as do the waiters and service staff in the hotels Most men still wear the Gho with it's white sleeves representing the pure heart of the Bhutanese. Girls wear the Kiri, a sort of tartan sarong. In December 2006 King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck resigned from being an absolute monarch...