five thirty pm in moscow these here are t. headlights afghanistan's president tells r t security in the country is under control despite incessant violence and the plans of key nato members to pull out early from the costly war. led another state where the alliance left its footprints a human rights group wants nato to be brought to justice over claims that it killed dozens of civilians in libya or killed after the military campaign there. led syrian unarrest parts three days of deadly clashes in neighboring lebanon while in syria itself terror groups try to drive the opposition's point home with

a series of suicide bombings. now it's time to experience the simple life in the sunny south of russia stay with us that's coming up. if there's anywhere in russia that i love returning to again and again it's the cool casus. with beautiful scenery great food and fantastic hospitality it's my favorite region in the country this time i was visiting at a gala one of russia's smallest republics and hopes just on the hof a million people. spring is in the air and out again specially here in the capital michael which appropriate enough. means valley of the wild. the republic actually law is wholly within the krasnodar region but it has its own

distinct culture the native out again population has lived in the north caucasus since the thirteenth century and it's known for its music craftsmanship and some rather delicious treats. it would come as a great shock to you to know that i am a man who likes his so i was very excited by head out again as most famous export if you treat a line yet again to see. how it's made. a meal or it comes from a very traditional recipe the production process is distinctly modern. again cheese is extremely popular throughout russia mild and salty it's a great aperitif and a favorite in solids and waving at the mill. and these. literally float to the top. and so alive that. you get a good step in and out of the fall and the full of these. lovely and of the kids

supposedly she shares taste different than any other place in the whole of the country because of the power of the mountain. it's a simple recipe that's been used in the republic for generations in the factory staff are careful to make sure it looks as well as taste right cheese gets clipped like a pancake given its nothing wrong. once the cheese is already the central to cool the fall being packaged up to be sold around the country unless someone gets them first to. make so much of the stuff though and this little bit. is creamy like fresh mozzarella but it got sold to pick up something well. believe me there. are you me out again. but they're delicious cheese isn't the only specialty you can find in this republic. i remember when i was

a child one of my favorite stories was the tale of moses in the bowl russ's and as you can see the lakes and ponds around here are absolutely covered in them and the other guy have been making use of them as a cross for tiriel for literally thousands of years. zuma dreamed of still pursues a mob that's almost died out and out again weaving traditional bull rush markets and he offered to show me his collection of. mantua agrees were discovered in graves dating back to two thousand b.c. and secrets and techniques have been passed down through families ever since. they created composite patterns they could be likened to a soem yes they are like music needless to say i am aware of numerous patterns but i want to make some of my own. you can see the differences for yourself do you want to know how they are made please take

a seat. before anything can be done the reeds need to be cut off in small manageable pieces. might be a lengthy process this one. and once the slicing and dicing is complete everything gets a good soak. water here as it speeds up the process and hopefully the end of it. flexible and will be formed in days gone by it would have been very strange to see men at the loom traditionally weaving was always done by the ladies of the house but some were deemed traveled far and wide to learn the secrets about a gay as master crafts woman and he was ready to teach me a trick or to. brush the string. be generous with. nimble thing. each rush must be threaded through the strings total for the ends and then given a good bass with the loop handle suddenly moved to cool than it looks worrying

thing was that apparently in olden times that the guy girls were judged on how good a wife they would be by the quality of the carpets that they brought to their wedding. how this rate would definitely destined for a life on the shelf. fortunately zama dean was on hand to correct my mistakes but if anything was ever going to get finished. it was time for him to take over. but make eight seconds in the yeah i think somebody is going to speed up the process an awful lot. and i do again bryant was supposed to present three maps on her wedding day one for the living room one for the bedroom and one for prayer and nowadays many of them are deans commissions are made for the islamic community. this is that against cathedral church but there's also a large muslim minority in the republic and until recently there was nowhere as

impressive for them to worship but then the local government decided they wanted to change and. they received a million dollar grant from the united arab emirates and all about a good top architects were invited to submit a design for a brand new mosque and i'm about to meet. it's safe to say that i'm sure of success has been very good for business this works tower is a scale model of the new national monument he's designed for the republic and his triumphant mosque holds pride of place in the center of the capitol the exterior is designed to reflect elements of the male and again national costume and it stands out starkly among the surrounding buildings this is one of the largest mosques in the entire caucuses made distinct by its square minarets and the inside is no less impressive. coming. the columns that blend in with the dome meant

to create a shape like a woman's body symbolizing the spiritual link between the two sexes as women coming from within. in the decades since the mosque has been built it's attracted a thriving congregation and according to local mufti no to be a mish it's been hugely positive for the whole community. for the most came into being the muslim community was disunited because muslims used to pray in their home . today of men and women come to the mosque and young people receive a moral education nearby churches to contribute to this mission joining forces to fight the evils of drugs and alcohol addiction. and as i stood back to listen to the a mom service it was easy to see just how popular the mosque has become. it was time for me to leave my car and start exploring some of that

again is glorious scenery and i have a special place in mind to start off. now this really is that again is my spectacular natural attraction the rooftop canyon and people come from miles around to hike and take a look at a seven beautiful wall. and it will easily take you a day to see it all. but some people prefer to take a closer look than others. or guess that's what they call the quick way down oh me. her son and his friend yvonne mccann the units on the hike climb and i'm silent out every was full they can then sometimes they bring guests. by will's up today. we were going to tackle waterfall number four nicknamed the goals plot because of its twisted appearance apparently it's perfect for beginners as

long as they pay attention. and. safety is on. very tight. and it helps if your instructor has a sense of humor this is a serious waste of my lettuce when i'm going to say it's most of the water coolers around twenty metres high but that looks a lonely down when you're still me and sometimes i wonder. just like. failed. to get nothing there was no backing out mt very tentatively i dropped down the sign by the abseiled before all of the water makes everything very slippery that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun. my rice was almost numb by the end so i made it to the bottom and then there's just

a refreshing swim to the full. they. said. it was definitely time for a change of clothes and a hot drink but i was determined to see as much about again as countryside as i could even if the weather did have a surprise. still for me. to

what extent and i would call them paid mercenaries how much are they going to be at your defense to protect your administration and your successors none none of you saying the mercenaries like blackwater will not play a major role absolutely obvious kind of should have dug this is one of the issues over which we had immense gentian but they will be here they will be knocked as far as the afghan government's goes and no way no mercenary no way way no.

russia would be so rich brighton if you only bounce songs from friends to impressions. whose friends talk totty dot com. there's no doubt that our game is nature is its greatest asset the mountains and canyons are some of the most beautiful in the caucuses assuming you can actually see them of course. but this gives you an idea of just how changeable the weather can be up here in the mountains for most of the days it's been green sunny and lovely and now so we're plunged back into the middle of winter. by waterproofs. and within hours everything can turn stark white. but if it hadn't happened i

wouldn't believe this amount of snow could fall in such a sort period of time but it's not going to stop us because even though we are outdoors there is are all the beautiful indoor attraction that we can still visit. and that meant heading almost forty metres down onto the earth. it's not exactly dry but wow isn't this incredible it's the big a sheer sky katif translated from the russian and it's the largest open limestone caves in the area. this is one of the most spectacular caves in europe because of its wealth of stalin tights and style of mines and it's one of the area's most popular tourist spots. take a look at these stellar toilets here pertly it takes hundred years for them to grow just one centimeter so you know margin the thousands of years it's taken for it to get to that length purple. there's

a lot of ups and downs to this cave if you want to see it in its full glory but if you do get time and there's a natural pick me up you can try. for the gator is a land of legend and this cave has its share now these two pillars supposedly have a positive and a negative charge and if you touch them similar taney asleep. specifically with energy. must pass. by the following morning it was like our little winter interlude had never happened and down by the water's edge there are some fascinating discoveries to be made. this is the whites river and it's a real off the logical treasure for the other gay republican because it's lit sits with beautifully preserved examples of common light for souls all of which state that more than a hundred million. hopefully. be

a great example rights over here. is a lesser yeah. he said he said he had more experience when the. boss has been studying it against fossils for more than twenty five years and has helped move the best examples to the republic's stone hawk museum. become a look here kind of a cross-section of the amulet itself and the actual forward manes of the animal here and all these layers that it's built up over the millions and millions of years to create this false top of. the pot both some of the largest and best preserved dominants in the wolds i'm nobody has his own ideas about what they all look like. a mongolian sitting on his course here. but right this one is supposed to resemble a road through the mall kind of brushing grandma than julius caesar but not in the

case of perception that. the king of the jungle is well represented to put on the whole. family of lions there with a male at the top children from the lioness head from that i'm going to hold pride in the law and here the line about spring will slide. resembling any from south park maybe they may be open to some artistic interpretation but it's impossible to forget that these huge natural sculptures so ancient they were formed when this whole area was still covered by ocean and the locals believe they have missed the call properties so here they've taken inspiration for some. added guy legends apparently if you climb up to the highest point in the stone museum and if we shout a particular word it will get rid of all negative energy and vibrations so what do

we need to shout hard. ok ross three. zero. and it's not just spiritual refreshment that's on offer in this republic you just need to take a trip out into the mountains to find it believe it or not these. no we haven't just hopped on a plane to china we'll still very much not again and this is the most northerly tea plantation in the world. according to head botanist. the tea plant is much more robust than you might think and i'm not sure. this region is one of the best places for growing t.v. because when temperatures here drop below zero it's normally accompanied by snow. our plants can withstand temperatures as low as thirty degrees below zero or about minus twenty to fire and it. although the cold weather does leave its mark.

sometimes we find damage leaves like this one maybe this happens because of the cold. this is a seriously cool my product but sells for up to ten dollars per one hundred grams and everyone here is trying to make the most of it. so this. pruning is a very important process because it allows the shoots to grow back even higher so when it does come to summer in picking time you get a much higher yield we need to give them a good trim. although you have to make sure you're cutting in the right places. that's just instruction given ok. each push takes around five years to reach maturity and when its leaves are harvested every time yields around two hundred fifty kilograms of precious black tea. well it certainly seems that this is

a pretty exclusive team but apparently it's going to be really special i need to go and find one more ingredients. and nothing goes with it better than another locally sourced product. is definitely the right place to be a little bit careful. a periods are commonplace in this part of a game and nicholai has one of the most successful apparently it's rare for the bees to attack you here but it doesn't hurt to take precautions to stick this on. on the side. and that is. a little frightening but it's one with a tasty wildflowers of the mountains to feed on a good high you can produce up to one hundred kilos of honey in a season and it was time to smoke out the bees well this supposedly makes the bees

think that the hive might need to be abandoned so they start and it calms them down so hopefully no stings. and with its three thousand residents feeding away i was free to grab a slice. ok and try and avoid the be sticking its tongue in the comb next to me so moment of truth get this off i'm. not beautiful and never had honey straight from a hive. that is not. really sweet but it's just delicious and with my side dish to cured i was finally ready for a brew ok now i am ready for a tea party so my t.v. has been brewing here so pour myself some of that. it's

just. this beautiful me. that. is a proper cup of. tea making is a relatively modern addition to our game culture but back in my car i had a chance to take a look at one of the republic's most ancient art. he had again have always been a warrior people and in olden times their weapons would never have been far from their hands in fact a man's most precious possessions were considered to be his horse his gun his sword and his daggers and more beautiful they were the more pristine he had. and even though the battles may be long gone there's still a demand for these antique items of war morat is one of only

a handful of weapon smith still working you know again and he offered to show me where he creates his pieces most of the time he's restoring old weapons to their former glory and it's a long and fiery process. for him and my chemistry correctly the. end of the blue flame that's supposed to be the hardest bit trying to get that on the silver. but the melting please. remember that. once the silver is molten it's poured into a mold and left to harden old very strongly so we have a little lump of silver here that should be hopefully used to decorate scuppered. it's a complete drag and needs months of effort so we were going to concentrate on one tiny piece but even that takes some very delicate handiwork still some more room with this one then adults give it

a good tug and now that we had our wire we needed something to attach it to. i think that is the. worst each of morris ornaments is an original design and once the pattern is in place it's welded together so there's a. little decorative pull for a dagger and that's taken already about ten hours of work to get to this states. look at this and that's three months definitely a labor of love but there's only one place where a dagger like this really fits and that's on a protocol case and comes to. mind you just want to find one that one thing i've learnt in my travels is how important the music dance and sing there is to the people of the corpus is by the sounds of things i think. is no exception.

some of. these talented musicians are members of i guess state dance company gnomes and they're preparing for a seasonal concert the drums are up against national instruments although pronouncing their name correctly is a bit of a tongue twister. that is sure. that. that is a sound that has not come easily. apparently it takes years to master this technique and i had around half an hour to catch up. look easy. going there but. this is. i decided that if i played quietly i might just get away with it especially with a spectacular show going on in front of me. so. i

could have your book over that's not the advocate. for one of russia's smallest republics either game leaves a big impression. this is a place that shows off the best of the russian caucasus a fascinating culture breathtaking and a genuine warm hospitality for those lucky enough to visit.

the.