Grozny Tours – Berkeley Square Barbarian

Off the grid – Europe’s only Buddhist region: Kalmykia – Guest post by our friend Nils

Mr BSqB is an old friend of mine and has invited me to write about my recent Kalmykia experience. Is Kalmykia travel destination for everyone? Certainly not. But if you’re looking for something off the grid, this might be just what you were waiting for. Kalmykia is the only Buddhist region within Europe. I know about this Russian province because I’m married to a Kalmyk lady. When I first met my wife eight years ago, it seemed a bit fantastic to me that there were a group of Mongolians in Europe for more than 400 years, who lived in their yurts until the 1920s. I googled it and – yes, it turned out to be true. We then visited her friends and family in Kalmykia several times over the past few years, and I gradually got to know this fascinating stretch of land and its hospitable people better. How to […]

Grozny Day Trip – No bazookas, lots of bling – Guest post by our friend Nils

While staying near Elista in Kalmykia for three weeks this April (more on Kalmykia, check out this blog post), I visited the capital of Chechnya, Grozny, a city of roughly 300,000 residents, together with a Russian friend of mine. The 520km ride takes six hours. The bus left at 2am in the morning and arrived at 8am with 30 hungry people, mostly heading directly for the national shashlik competition; Chechens and Ingush are known far beyond their borders for their expertise with lamb skewers. The Kadyrovs, some history and a museum that will blow your mind I’ll come to this later because first we visited the Akhmad Kadyrov Museum. Opened in 2010, with no expense spared, the building is an eclectic mix of Soviet, Renaissance, and other styles with a bit of Graceland thrown in on top for good measure. It is dedicated to the first post-war president of Chechnya, […]

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