the caucasus was a which is literally the size of finland so i've met up with very experienced. it's fair to say that if you're driving up here then you're in for a bumpy ride it's you might be lucky and find some tama but mostly it's just to try and. fortunately alexei's wonderfully named is up to the top. model much of this is spent in on this the second to. give up and down the trashed. you know it's. just a couple of days in the caucuses reserve. it's only for the mountains the biosphere here is filled with unique forum for some of the best hiking trails in the country . but getting to them wasn't going to be easy especially as there are plenty of

places that even though can't go. james take this one place it'll be my bike. home on the blue one. to get into the forest we needed to cross the nearby river but along the road paul's like these you need to be careful where you're putting your wheels. problems of. simple he's pretty easy to. hold. and once we were up and rolling it was time to head across the also. the bit. we're going to avoid. this.

alexei works as the head of a conservation and knows almost everyone based in the caucuses national reserve gets to go home most nights but they're all forest rangers that live here with their families three hundred sixty five days a year and their little enclave was on next stop. the rangers are here to police the reserve and keep it as unspoiled as possible and even though it's still late summer they're already preparing for the winter. area comes a total of fifty four thousand take to us means we've got a lot to do considering that is a very small the season is almost over shall we help out of course. help is always welcome. it was great to eat some real food after a long ride and lending a hand in the field seemed like the least we could do. to

quite a lot of this place and that includes several hungry horses so the more hay we collect now. ship enough to the police see them all through the winter. right how much balance off could and. i'm sure a couple of hours we've gathered a mini mountain and range alexander took us off to collect all reward we still had a fair way to go and i was pleased to have someone else doing the hard work. ok in the stirrups. so i'm on here. which i guess means that i like says on sunday. hoping that it should make going up the hills a little easier anyway oh boy.

was all going to go out his role the spirited mountain to control we rode off into the forest. got the calm one here the polls here can be a little treacherous and i was glad to have alexander leading the way down to the water's edge. we managed to cross over but with the pathway getting narrower alexander was forced to turn back with the horses and alexei and i were on foot again but not for long. we're way past the river spring the high point but the water here is still fairly blowing so alex and i going to need something quite sturdy we're going to get down in one piece and i think. that mission do the trick nicely. as i'm.

ranting is one of the most popular summer sports up here in the mountains and various. companies offer trips down the river and extra crew to make up the numbers and it certainly helps with the public. but it wasn't exactly white water as you can probably tell because of the fact that i'm still dry but we've made it way down here and now. we get to tackle the cliffs themselves. i was expecting a nice hike up in the reserve and apparently one does exist you just have to climb up to it. but i'm worried about. is that this is supposed to be the easy.

grabbing a helmet and harness from the group at the bottom of the cliff i prepared for the ascent. of the a couple of old clothes before this is particularly steep. hill has got me through everything so. i can put my faith and again. first attempts didn't exactly inspire confidence. that's a term that's for sure he's having a bit of trouble i might need some. day . are you coming ok here goes nothing. lets see how far we

will get out. it seems to do this well you have to haven't. credibly strong finger it's as it's impossible. with the whole hand otherwise it can be a very painstaking process but after some long breaks and the old cut and bruise we made it to the polls above. well we've made it to the top. broken. feeling sort of. my shoulders i can say but. i. finally we have mountains all around us and a clear road ahead and i could start our trek into the middle of the reserve we still had a long climb in front of us but at least it wasn't vertical this time. the

trails just stops it's even absent it like it's been really tough so far it's the specific. because i think it's all going to be worth it. this trail has only been created in the last few years and it's made the tough journey up into the reserve considerably easier meaning more people have a chance to enjoy it but there's still plenty of work going on up here to make the area more welcoming for tourists. something like a four hour hike into the mountains followed immediately by some construction work but as kindly guiding me up here we have the least i can. do my bit for the national park. all the building is done using ecologically

friendly material and the team up here are busy creating two new houses for those visitors who prefer not to sleep out in the elements but for now. it's a case that if you want a decent kip you bring your own tent. she's going to try to get her out quickly before the weather changes. or did the grey suit. fortunately we brought a modern tent with us and it was only a few minutes before everything was staked out and ready to go. home sweet have. time to think.

it wasn't exactly going to be haute cuisine but as long as it was hot and there was plenty of it it was fine by me. here take this you can warm up with some tea. i recommend drinking it with some honey from our local bees because it's naturally effective. in the meantime i was enjoying a brew with a good dollop of honey and it's a bit of a local specialty here. the reserve is full of beautiful flowers like these and that means millions of be nice gray caucasian mountain bees to be persuaded makers of the tastiest honey. in the region. miller has been a beekeeper in this beautiful spot for more than twenty five years and has dozens of hives in her back garden and the residents are incredibly well behaved. that's the first time i've ever seen anybody open

a hive and not use smoke. told me that the bees were quite friendly and it. seems to be the case. the bees are perfectly adapted for the mountain flowers and supposedly have the longest tongues of all honeybees. all of them serving her majesty the queen. breeds the queen specially and uses them to start new hives here and across the region. the highly prolific and it doesn't take the workers long to produce a honeycomb like this just don't expect them to give it up easily. to share it with. sugar and energy the honey was a great start but i was ready for my main course.

there are many wild animals out here. we could even see bears today for lucky. they might come to our tent even. because there aren't any berries out there so. for food because there hibernation is. so let's not leave any empty cans. to meet the hungry. take precautions. when you camping there's always room for more calories and who can resist chicken from a can. that moment's everything because it's good. and

after just four or five minutes on the boil it was time to dig in. the gym and your ball over. this is porridge or soup or i don't know what exactly to call it. just need to eat with food we eat out here needs to be filling with lots of calories so you have plenty of energy. and some for me. so how is it. surprising that eight out of. it was completely exhausted and with darkness closing in i was ready to crawl into my sleeping bag and just took that alexei didn't smell too much.

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america international airport in the very heart of moscow. with another long day ahead in the caucasus reserve aleksei was keen to get going shortly after sunrise and i secretly wandered down to a nearby street. for a. morning. very misty mountain day. and

told me to try and wake up. and that. will certainly do all. plants in a decent cup of tea of course and around here it has to be some of the local brew. one thing that the russians and the british certainly share is a great love of tea and here in the sub tropical south the lucky russians actually have the climate that they can grow themselves this is the tea plantation and it will be hard to believe that it's the biggest in the country it's been here since the late one nine hundred forty s. but the whole operation was restored and modernized back in two thousand and six the plants themselves are extremely robust and able to survive winter temperatures which can drop below freezing but they have to be harvested carefully and one man

who knows all about that the man who's worked in the tea business all his life. with those not. just the tips that the work we make green tea from these leaves why don't you try some of the best and very healthy the healthiest and tastiest part of a tri. of course one. it's a little bit bitter because of the turn and. i think i prefer mine in a cup. becoming an expert tea pick it takes time and experience but they're always looking for new recruits. each plant has to be harvested up to eleven times a season and they certainly into the jewel. like of us come out of one of these bushes and you'll absolutely so you can see why you need these sort of clothes but

. when you think of a bad hole and each one of these sacks weighs around forty kilos and they're delivered daily to the new processing plant. is part of all the load from the fields and we're going to see how it's turned into the sea. might seem works only automated production line and that's a two man job. just about but if. they hear they go to the steamer the temperature is ninety degrees but i thought if you got. it in you know after that there cooled by this ventilator. which then there we did. it but then they're dumb to go into a roller which whips them. what they teach on the tealeaves then subject it to

easing with. the results look a bit like this. the process to use them to the packing factory and it's ready for the shops. that is the team making process from start to finish now all that remains is for me to sample the goods myself. and i have to say that drinking mountain tea in the mountains takes particularly good energised and i packed up and. set off again ready to make our way right into the center of the reserve. james check this place out. it's very interesting because it is here about the russians german troops operating in the mountains that was during world war two otherwise known in this country is the great patriotic war. the germans were aiming to break through to the black sea and seize its oil deposits there. the fighting in the mountains was

a tough job considering the local terrain around us. that there weren't any tourist routes back them. and nearby was some considerably older landmarks. or the the more these stone structures might well date back a thousand years people began breeding lifestyle kier an attempt century shepherds use these structures as shelters if these twelve ruins are anything to go by and doesn't shepherds would stay here at a time while their animals graced up in the mountains or. as we move forward into the mists we passed on the travelers making their way towards camp and they told us we were close to an oasis. you can swim here. you're. thinking about having

a swim. every weather was better go ahead. it's not cold. this is the round lake it's fed by six surrounding springs and it's clear waters team with wildlife and you know this lake formed as a result of glaziers making depressions in the ground whether it's likely to be hundreds of thousands or even millions of years old. and just beyond its banks there's a view that's worth all the effort it takes to get here. so i said i want to see the most beautiful parts of the mountains and i think definitely counts it might have taken on with the day of walking on

a pretty uncomfortable night and finally made it right into the heart of the caucuses that there. is a been an amazing journey but i wasn't relishing the thought of lugging my pack down the mountain on foot but one of sorties a limb. development's was about to come to my rescue. to the well obviously you know. the fun of civilized way of getting down is about the best thing. in the last twenty. and. i said goodbye to alexei and prepared to head down back to the city of sochi but before i did i thought i deserved a little or no the only thing that i want to do now is steal away my aches and pains in the banya or the bath house and it's probably one of the most russian thing. or in this case is.

a love l.o.l. i mean it's the british band yeah that's right can i come in thank you very much. i j i j that's all i was thinking and i can see pictures of the queen on the wall the old cricket back here in there so what's a british about the british. while leaving only very british anyone. to do with the fact that it's like a british tradition to get. them in one place like. james looking has lived and worked in russia for more than fifteen years and he's turned his pandya into one of the areas most popular sport but it's not always been easy to retreat didn't work because people will include russia they want to come on holiday to drink. and you know barbecue specially so their idea of vegetarian teaching and walking in the mountains you know it wasn't very good. but in the end we built

a body in the banya works and it all went from there. and as i went away to get changed the first room was heated up well wait and see what. the temperature inside the banya pushes one hundred degrees celsius more than two hundred foreign oil it's the process is all about getting rid of the body's impurities stiffen the system and having the man tell me and hold it. and it'll be something that's all come up. the whole experience is very intense and feels more like a tribal ritual than a sponsor but if you find yourself getting into light headed there's a sure way to wake you up again. body and soul.

space was less fun. it's. fortunately the pain is temporary and they have an extremely original recovery method. this really felt. ok so being covered with honey beaten with sticks and then boiled in a large pot might not be traditionally british but some things never change jancsi wanted something. this.

is is actually cd i bring back from england the time i travel the. winds. of course change you know. enjoy. it was an eccentric but wonderfully relaxing and to my trip into the reserve the scenery out here is incredible and a stark contrast to the bustling city a short distance below it is another side of sochi that no one should miss. dangerous experiments on prisoners they want to make money and they have to use

healthy guinea pigs in the regular society and i'll able to use prisoners i mean more they wish they could. drug tests on human guinea pigs. paid to pop a deadly pale skin he didn't pass away he was killed. he didn't pass away they let him get. his pharmacy really about helping people. hold it. hold it hold it. i. could speak. to. her.

and i. wish i. could bomb it so good but if it were. just some. animal. that i could almost run away a little. too many speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic in school here on. the team from the world's hot spots of the ip interviews intriguing story are you. trying. to find out more visit or

a big dog called. the news a secret lab or tori kirby was able to build the most sophisticated robot which will unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only on the dog call.