Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

The Latin Bridge in Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina is not top of everyone’s holiday destination list, yet it enjoys warm summer weather, beautiful scenery and its younger residents speak impeccable English.  The country also suffered a bloody and traumatic war during the 1990s and became associated, for many outsiders, with intractable ethnic divisions. While Nato’s intervention in Bosnia, the siege of Sarajevo and the horrors of Srebrenica shape modern perceptions of the region, younger residents are apparently less aware of its role in the events which sparked World War 1.  That’s one of the conclusions reached by Tim Butcher, a former Telegraph journalist, in The Trigger , which centres on the story of Gavrilo Princip, the young Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and plunged Europe into conflict. The book - part travelogue, part history - investigates how a figure who made such a profound impact on twentieth century history ended up being ...

Yerevan, capital of the Republic of Armenia, is a cheerful place to visit in summertime.  The city, many of whose buildings are constructed out of a distinctive pink stone known as tuff, is laid-back and full of parks and cafes. Republic Square, Opera Square and The Cascades, a giant stairway decorated with fountains and artworks, form an axis, running at a diagonal to Yerevan’s grid system.  These hubs are linked by a modern avenue of swanky shops.  If you’re tempted to clothe your children at ‘Armani Kids’, Armenia could be the country for you. At Republic Square, crowds gather in the evenings to watch fountains ‘dance’ to lightshows and music.  Around Opera Square, people mingle in a series of outdoor watering-holes, like VIP Café, where we were moved on for (presumably) not being sufficiently important.  At the bottom of The Cascades they loiter around the artworks, older Armenians staying entertained with the odd game of backgammon and their yo...

Some of the people traditionally most opposed to the idea that the Caucasus is in Europe were French alpinists.  Mount Elbrus is generally now recognised as the highest European mountain, and five other peaks, including three in Georgia, are taller than Mont Blanc, the only mountain from outside the Caucasus range to make the top 10.  One of these Georgian giants is Mount Kazbek, which towers above the Terek River valley and a small town called Stepantsminda, commonly known by its former name, Kazbegi.  To reach this region from Tbilisi it’s necessary to take the Georgian Military Highway, whose high passes were the Russian Empire’s overland route into Georgia and Armenia. Charles King’s history of the Caucasus, The Ghost of Freedom , describes postal caravans, heavily militarised and including everyone from diplomats to curious foreign tourists, which formed in Vladikavkaz to take mail south.  The poet, Alexander Pushkin, was one visitor who joined such a con...

The historian, Simon Sebag Montifiore, once described Georgia as “the most romantic and dangerous land in the world”.  He was reviewing Wendell Steavenson’s book, Stories I Stole , a quirky account of the author’s years living in Tbilisi, which I took with me to the Caucasus.  It described the chaotic 90s and early 2000s when the majority of Georgians’ homes received only a few hours of electricity each day, members of the public frequently carried guns and some areas of the country were notorious for robberies and kidnappings. With Tbilisi’s streets now completely unthreatening and everything from bridges to Ferris wheels illuminated showily after dark, it was difficult to believe that I was in the same city which Steavenson described.  Georgia, like many other post-Soviet states, has clearly changed dramatically in a relatively short period of time. The country’s capital is now a vibrant, modern place, centred around its atmospheric Old Town and Rustave...

Tbilisi looks a little like Prague from its hillside fortress. Georgia and Armenia – are these countries in Asia or in Europe?  Their status has been debated for at least a century, with commentators from outside the Caucasus region usually plumping for south-west Asia, until relatively recently.  Now, more frequently, they are described as European, although that trend is influenced at least as much by politics as geography. I can’t answer this thorny question.  It is a sensitive matter, linked to the identities and perceived futures of Armenians and Georgians.  However I can give a few impressions of how it feels to visit two fascinating countries. Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia is a sprawling, modern city, congested with traffic and, in July at least, hot and dusty.  Yet it also feels distinctly European.  Looking down from the Nariqala Fortress at the Old Town, with its narrow streets of stone houses and churches bisected by the K...

In 2003 I travelled to Ukraine with supporters of the Northern Ireland football team, a trip that cemented a long-standing interest in the countries of the former Soviet Union.  I was with a group of fans who visited Kiev, before taking an overnight train to Donetsk - the capital of the Donbass coal-mining region - where the match was played.  I found the country hospitable and fascinating, although, at times, it could be a little rough around the edges.  I remember the pitiful brown trickle which emerged from the shower in our first hotel room and being startled by lumps of falling masonry, which crashed into the pavement beside buildings undergoing refurbishment.    Only a short distance from Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Kiev’s main square, we had to stumble along unlit streets when we made our way back to the hotel at night and, in a bar in Donetsk, a drinker took out a gun and waved it about, after a dispute over an arm-wrestling match.  Whether it ...

Sultanahmet from the Galata Tower. A short travel post by way of something a little different. During balmy Ramadan evenings this August, Istanbul’s old town - Sultanahmet - teemed with bearded men and head-scarved women, who awaited the evening call to prayer, before breaking their fasts around festive family picnics. Meanwhile, across the crowded waters of the Golden horn, a gleaming minimalist art gallery, Istanbul Modern, housed German anatomist Gunther von Hagens’ controversial ’Bodyworlds’ exhibit of plastinated corpses. And the current European Capital of Culture prepared to host a World Basketball Championship and U2‘s latest show. In the Turkish capital, European chic and Middle Eastern bustle form a happy blend, scorched by a hot blast of Central Asian steppe. Yet, despite its undoubted exoticism, Istanbul is easily accessible from the UK and can be experienced on a tight budget. In Sultanahmet cheap accommodation is plentiful. The friendly hostel ‘Second Hom...

Last summer my girlfriend and I experienced a hair-raising landing at George Best Belfast City Airport, courtesy, I suspect, of its infamous short runway.  Returning from a holiday in Brittany our Flybe flight, routed via Southampton, touched down on the tarmac, only to rear up and take to the air again, with the captain muttering ‘landing aborted’ over the intercom. We proceeded to circle for ten more minutes, with some passengers now in a state of understandable distress, before a successful descent was executed.  On that occasion cross winds were given as an explanation, and, no doubt, the hefty gusts which funnel down Belfast Lough didn‘t help.  However, during its aborted landing, the plane did spend quite a few seconds on the tarmac.  It certainly felt like the pilot thought there was not sufficient runway left to brake safely and decided not to risk attempting to bring the aircraft to a halt. No doubt Michael O’Leary, announcing Ryanair’s decision to pull ...

A locomotive trundles out of Yaroslavsky Station, Moscow. This is the Trans Siberian and it’s bound for Vladivostok, more than 9,000 kilometres distant. It is a journey which will take more than 150 hours to complete. And now you can take the trip without a Russia Visa, without negotiating Komsomolskaya Square, its dubious cast of characters or its pervading smell of urea and without the risk of sharing your carriage with a pair of alcoholic migrant workers. Google have introduced the ‘virtual’ Trans Siberian , courtesy of Google maps and an awful lot of Youtube footage. Listen to Gogol’s Dead Souls, stare out the window and enjoy. But whatever happens, you’re not going to be able to get off at any of the stations and you‘ll have to visit your own kettle, rather than the communal samovar, for a cup of tea. My advice is definitely to jump to the interesting bits.

It is impossible, as a first time visitor to Moscow, not to be impressed by the city’s Metro system. It was conceived that the stations should be ‘people’s palaces’ representing their putative shared ownership by Soviet workers. Exploring underground for just an hour or two, a passenger can discover facilities which are sumptuous, ornate, resonant with symbolism, and comprise, in themselves, popular tourist attractions. Construction of Lazar Kaganavich’s plan for Moscow, of which the metro was an integral part, was begun in the 1930s, with the first line opening to the public in 1935. The underground railway and its stations are, largely, achievements of Stalin’s regime. It is hardly surprising that the troublesome dialogue which Russia periodically engages in with its Soviet past has once again arisen in relation to the Metro . Renovation of Kurskaya Station, returned to its original glory, has proved a little too thorough for some observers . A verse from the 1944 Soviet natio...

A treat for the Russophiles and travel enthusiasts amongst you, as well as the Russophile travel enthusiasts of course. Down and Out in Lenzie and Lossiemouth has ferreted out a video diary recording Marcel Theroux’s adventures on the Trans Siberian Railway, carried by the Guardian’s website. In common with Hernandez, I nurse ambitions to cross the breadth of Russia by railway, travelling to Mongolia or Russian Far East. The costly packages which agencies offer can be avoided by booking only the train tickets , independently and roughing it (a little) in second class. Theroux’s first diary evokes some great memories of the train travel which I have experienced in Russia and Ukraine. Moving between carriages over clanking pieces of metal with yawning gaps which reveal fresh air and speeding tracks is rather invigorating. Although the restaurant cars I visited looked substantially better than the equivalent here. The second diary becomes rather aspirational. If you’ve got upwa...

If I'm honest July has been rather patchy in terms of traffic in any case, so it's an appropriate time to take a break. I'm off to France, Brittany to be exact, and I'd be very surprised if I find the time to post anything. Comment moderation will shortly be operating, purely because of the enormous quantities of bile and rubbish which have surfaced over the past couple of months.

In the teeth of Conservative and Ulster Unionist opposition the government has been forced to postpone its plans to scrap the Common Travel Area between Ireland and mainland Britain. Immigration Minister, Phil Woolas, indicated that whilst the pertinent clause, which formed part of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, would not be forced through by Labour, the party will not change its position on the CTA for the long term. So although the people of these islands will be spared passport checks and other inconvenient and impractical measures, thanks to steadfast Conservative and Unionist opposition, the government remains committed in principle to their instigation. Resisting Labour on this issue remains a rolling imperative, and in today’s Belfast Telegraph Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Owen Paterson, explains the matter’s special relevance to the province and the manner in which integrated political involvement at Westminster can allow voters here a real say in natio...

Last week I travelled reasonably intensively on the Italian rail network, Trenitalia. From Wednesday to Saturday there was only one day when my girlfriend and I did not take a train. We suffered no delays to speak of. Our second class carriages were clean and comfortable and we covered fairly long distances both quickly and inexpensively. Contrast this experience to the misery of rail travel in Britain. Although I am not a particularly frequent user of the mainland rail network, nevertheless I have spent many hours waiting in stations for delayed services, staring forlornly at sidings where the train has come to an unaccountable and interminable halt, inhaling noxious air which seems to emanate directly from adjacent toilets. All of which comprises an unimpeachable service when it's set against Translink’s efforts to deliver public transport to long suffering travellers in Northern Ireland. Not that Italian trains are uniquely superior to those in Britain. Swiss trains, Ger...

I intend that normal service should resume this week. Indeed I had rather hoped to post something about the San Marino trip yesterday, but starting the day at 3.45am (Italian time) rather militated against anything more ambitious than slouching on the settee yesterday evening. First things first, thank you to Hernandez , who responded to my tweeted entreaties and reassured an anxious group of snowbound Northern Ireland fans that the match was in fact on. It had looked desperately unlikely earlier in the day. It would be unduly churlish to complain about Northern Ireland’s performance on Wednesday night. Although the San Marino team proved every bit as bad as it had appeared at Windsor Park, Nigel Worthington’s men did their job with minimum fuss. Given the ease with which Northern Ireland took a two nil lead, I did feel that a more whole hearted display in the second half might have yielded a truly resounding result. Additionally, three players have picked up suspensions for the ...

Part of the rationale for constructing a third runway at Heathrow, an airport transparently unsuited to that type of expansion, is an ambition to enhance its reputation as an ‘international hub’. Several of these eerie, parallel worlds exist throughout Europe and include Amsterdam and Frankfurt. I spent a few hours in the latter during the summer, hopping between Lufthansa flights in order to get to and from Russia. It is a horrendous place to spend time, negotiating multiple security checks and eating plasticky German bratwurst. There is little sense that the visitor is on planet Earth, never mind in Germany. He spends a trance like hour or two in the chill of too efficient air conditioning, impatient to be spirited away to his ultimate destination. Such is the future which the government seeks to encourage at Heathrow. Outside the narrow confines of the aviation industry, ‘hub’ status yields limited benefits. It isn’t an especially difficult decision for the Conservatives to ...

A purely personal post through which I aspire to tap the urbane cosmopolitanism and richly cultured nature of ‘Three Thousand Versts’’ readership. I know you must all have travelled widely given the breadth of knowledge betrayed by your commentary. And as no doubt you are much too sophisticated to be seduced by flattery, I shall spare you preliminary compliments and hasten to the nub of my query. My girlfriend and I have a trip booked which commences with Green and White Army duty in San Marino, but leaves us the best part of three days to explore the micro-republic’s locality. Our itinerary will initially be reasonably straight forward. We arrive in Bologna on match day, must transport ourselves to San Marino city where we have a room booked and then we must get to the stadium. From Thursday morning until our return flight on Sunday we are free to explore the region. That is where my august readers come in! Florence does not seem to be far away from San Marino and it is certai...

I first became aware of Philip Marsden’s travel writing when I read ‘The Crossing Place’ , his nuanced journey examining Armenian history and identity. I've enjoyed re-establishing the acquaintance, having got my hands on Marsden’s ‘Spirit Wrestlers’ , an account of his travels in southern Russia and the Caucasus, examining the ethnicities and religious sects who subsist in that region. The book is ten years old, but it is particularly relevant given recent problems in areas the author visits. Marsden actually travels through South Ossetia, living with a local doctor named Pushkin and meeting the breakaway republic’s president, on his way to 'Georgia proper'. Even discounting contemporary relevance, it is simply a joy to read writing of the calibre Marsden produces. His prose is rich, nuanced, perfect in pitch and tone. It makes me profoundly jealous. He shares none of the cynicism which characterised Daniel Kalder’s account of travelling in Russia’s ethnic repub...

St Petersburg as an illusion, as a confection in which reality is mutable and nothing is quite as it seems, has become something of an easy cliché. It has its roots in the city’s history, geography and literature and it reflects conflicting strands of Russian culture which manifest themselves graphically in Petersburg. In common with many clichés, there is a nugget of truth around which it has formed, but simultaneously it casts an occluding shadow upon its subject which compromises those accounts submitting unquestioningly to its logic. St Petersburg is not an ancient city and its development did not have the organic quality which confers a more natural, inevitable feel upon other great world centres. The story of its foundation even dates the city to a specific day, May 27 1703, when Peter the Great is said to have thrust his sabre into the soft turf on which was built SS Peter and Paul’s Fortress and declared ‘here shall be a city’. Peter moved his court to St Petersburg in 171...