Into The Elsewhere

  • The Resilience of Ushguli: Preserving Svaneti’s Heritage

    The Resilience of Ushguli: Preserving Svaneti’s Heritage

    Just occasionally, a place can act as a time capsule. In a world of smart devices, instant connectivity and endless possibility, they can serve a reminder that things were not always this way, be it 50, 200 or nearly 1000 years ago. 

  • The Blue Eye and Gjirokastër: A Tale of Two Albanias

    The Blue Eye and Gjirokastër: A Tale of Two Albanias

    Sometimes, despite my best instincts, I feel I should go to a tourist spot regardless of whether I think it’ll be worthwhile or, more likely, a complete waste of time.

  • Pilgrimage and Peace in Kyrgyzstan – Exploring Osh

    Pilgrimage and Peace in Kyrgyzstan – Exploring Osh

    The sun beat down on my back as I steadily made my way up the mountain, following in the footsteps of countless others before me. The difference was that I wasn’t in Osh for the reason so many others visited.

  • Twisting Roads and Tunnels – Bishkek to Osh Overland

    Twisting Roads and Tunnels – Bishkek to Osh Overland

    There are some routes that, by many accounts, should be flown rather than taken by bus. As my alarm urged me to get up at 5am I first began to understand why the journey between Kyrgyzstan’s two biggest cities, Bishkek and Osh, fell firmly into…

  • Lima: on the Trail of Peru’s Culinary Identity

    Lima: on the Trail of Peru’s Culinary Identity

    For those not in the know who consider the world’s culinary capitals, South America would often be brushed over with an assumption made that the meat, rice and potato-based diet of the continent wasn’t even worth exploring.

  • Brutalism and Beauty – Bucharest’s Concrete Jungle

    Brutalism and Beauty – Bucharest’s Concrete Jungle

    Nowhere is the term “concrete jungle” more applicable than Bucharest. At first, only the imposingly wide boulevards provided some respite from the endless and identical communist-era blocks adorned with oversized advertisements and air conditioning units clumsily stuck to their walls.

  • The Salar de Uyuni: Unforgettable Adventure or Instagram Fake?

    The Salar de Uyuni: Unforgettable Adventure or Instagram Fake?

    “Yeeeeaaahhhh!”, Roger Daltry’s voice screamed out over the Land Cruiser’s stereo, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, followed by Pete Townshend’s closing guitar segment to the Who’s rock anthem Won’t Get Fooled Again.

  • Kokand: Uzbekistan’s Forgotten Khanate

    Kokand: Uzbekistan’s Forgotten Khanate

    Samarkand has an almost hypnotic effect on people; even the mention of its name evokes images of far eastern merchants travelling from unknown cities in caravans of camels, mixing with their European counterparts and trading in precious stones, gold and spices.

  • Scaling Heights: My Journey to Huayna Potosi (Part 2)

    Scaling Heights: My Journey to Huayna Potosi (Part 2)

    The consequences didn’t bear thinking about. As I hung there, held in place by an ice screw, ropes and harness, it dawned on me that my life was entirely in the hands of my Bolivian guides.

  • Scaling Heights: My Journey to Huayna Potosi

    Scaling Heights: My Journey to Huayna Potosi

    I tried my best to hammer my left foot into the ice. Shards splintered away from the wall as the crampon struggled to gain a foothold on the slick wall as it eventually stuck.