From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontier
Explorer Levison Wood - famous for Walking the Nile, Walking the Himalayas and Walking the Americas - is taking on a new expedition in this four-part series: to cross the mighty Caucusus mountain range that lies between Russia and Iran. And as well as a new region of the world, Levison is taking a new approach to exploring: making his way by any means necessary. Travelling with the locals and living as they do, Levison's epic, 2,600-mile journey takes him through five countries, crossing the wild lands on the tense frontier between Europe and Asia and visiting some of the most fascinating and diverse people's on earth.
Episodes
Levison experiences breath-taking landscapes, bizarre ruins, and a sufi ceremony and crosses Chechnya - now ruled by a terrifying strongman - into Dagestan, where terrorists hide out in the mountains.
In Dagestan - which the Foreign Office warns against visiting - Levison experiences warrior clans' hospitality, stunning beauty and ancient cities. Then it's on to country-of-contrasts Azerbaijan.
Levison and Rasheed head into the remote mountains on the journey to Igushetia, accompanied by a government minder as the area has had problems with Islamist terrorist attacks. Walking through what feels like an unknown paradise untouched for hundreds of years, Levison finds piles of bones - the remnants of ancient Ingush burial ceremonies - in centuries old fortified towers.
Levison meets nomadic shepherds and dangerous dogs in the Gobustan desert, climbs to a castle halfway up a cliff, visits Stalin's birthplace and meets a hermit monk who lives atop a 45-metre monolith.
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