The Medieval Cave City of Vardzia, Georgia
Vardzia was built after 10,000 Turkish troops marched into Georgia but were defeated by a bold Georgian army of just 2,000 men.
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Central Asia
The Hippie Trail: A Counterculture Movement
A form of ‘alternative tourism’ that focused on travelling cheaply and for as long as possible, the Hippie Trail is still famous today for influencing the way Westerners travel – with an increased focus on interacting with the local culture.
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Along the Spice Trail
The Egyptians mummified their dead with cumin, the Chinese burnt cloves to commune with the spirit world, and some medieval Europeans believed nutmeg was the only cure for the Plague…
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The epic Manas poem of Kyrgyzstan
The Kyrgyz people have a unique cultural form – the Manas poem – which is the peak of their spiritual life. This spoken epic is incomparable to Western poetry in its volume and rich content.
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The Journey of Spices
Spices conjure images of tempting culinary art, fascinating travels and bitter struggles for supremacy. Expressions like variety are the spice of life and sugar and spice and all that is nice illustrate how spellbound were people of letters about the fascination of spices.
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