Sites like the Twin Dragon Bridge are become rarer every year. This is the type of place that you have to take the local mini-bus to get to and then show its name written in Chinese to the driver. When he stops to let you off, he needs to point you in the right direction [...]

My former classmate Alexey and his friend By Nelya Rakhimova There are places on the Earth where winter lasts almost 9 months. Yar-Sale is one of them. Located above the Arctic Circle, it is a small town with population about 5,000 people. It’s the administrative center of Yamal Region, which occupies the whole Yamal Peninsula. [...]

By Beau Miller “It’s governed by a council/ All good souls and wise./ They’ve only $5 for armaments/ And the rest for cakes and pies.” -Pete Seeger, “Andorra” As your attorney, I advise you to rent a fuel-efficient automobile and drive at top speed to Andorra, but before you start packing the trunk with ether, [...]

By Beau Miller To tell somebody you are traveling to Oman is often met with confusion. “What are you doing in Amman?” is a typical response. “Where is that, exactly?” might be another. For those who hear correctly and know where Oman is, a feeling of befuddlement may give rise to such self-reflecting as to [...]

By Nelya Rakhimova Tobolsk is an average Russian town located in the middle of the western Siberian plain. It used to be the capital of the whole of Siberia until the 20th century when the Trans-Siberian railway was built just south of here, when Tolbolsk reverted to being a small provincial town. Nevertheless, Tobolsk remains [...]