Travelling on Russian or Belarusian trains isn't like anywhere else. There are things to know and do. Here I'll show you on the Moscow to Grodno train.
When travelling into the centre of Moscow by train early in the morning we did not see a ticket machine. It will be ok we thought, nobody will check our tickets...Wrong.
Want to visit all the former Soviet republics on a scooter and without leaving Moscow? Well I will show you how....Welcome to Stalin's Soviet theme park in the heart of Moscow.
New country time and I chose the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Straggling the Caucasus and hugging the Black Sea, Georgia is an ancient land of wine, incredibly friendly people and abandoned Soviet buildings...Get ready.
Tskaltubo is an abandoned Soviet spa resort nestled up in the sub-tropical hills of Georgia. Off limits to everyone and patrolled by a security team it is not an easy place to gain access to. However I thought it was important.
In an attempt to try something different I wanted to do a one take, zero edit film. Just press record and see what would happen in those 10 mutes or so.
We had travelled up through the hills on an old bus to reach the town go Chiatura which was famous for its Soviet cable cars, something I had always wanted to do.
After the fall of the USSR ancient resentments and rivalries that had been kept in check for 70 years suddenly rose up leading to outbreaks of civil wars in various former Soviet Republics.
I have travelled to many places in the former Soviet Union but none quite matched the eerie strangeness of this semi-derelict former Soviet spa resort called Tskaltubo. I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Georgia sits on the far eastern edge of the Black Sea and so we decided to head to the semi-abandoned ex-Soviet tourist resort of Kobuleti to try our hand at a spot of fishing to catch our supper.
Lunik 9 is an old communist era housing estate built on the outskirts of Kosice in the east of Slovakia. Now it is better known as being Europe's largest gypsy slum.
Buying a Soviet bicycle, climbing an abandoned Soviet tower, finding a snake in the toilet, buying village home brew, drunken motorcycle journey and much more....Welcome to what might be Europe's most fun country...Welcome to Ukraine.
Unfortunately I picked up a pretty bad chest infection and have not been able to film anything. I will go home to recover for a few weeks but before I do I have to ask...would you do this?
