Where Russia meets Asia lies the Caucasus.
A hidden land of dramatic peaks and ancient cultures.
For centuries wars and natural barriers
have stopped outsiders passing through.
But now I want to cross this mighty mountain range all the way to Iran.
Whoo! This is where the journey begins.
My name is Levison Wood.
It's a cold one today.
I've travelled the length of the Nile...
Can't see a thing.
..Himalayas...
This is hard-core.
..and the Americas.
Argh!
Now...
Whoa!
..I'm crossing the Caucasus.
Running up here was a bad idea.
..with the help of the locals themselves.
This is hitchhiking Georgian-style.
Starting from the foothills in southern Russia,
I'll track the mountains as they zigzag across five countries
to the shores of the Caspian Sea.
From the dusty peaks of the northern badlands
to the fertile valleys of the former Soviet republics.
Aiming to finish in the secretive nation of Iran.
Wish me luck.
I'll travel through remote...
There's a mummified cat nailed to the wall.
You'd think it would feel safe but it doesn't.
..volatile... GUNFIRE, DOG BARKS
Think we better leave.
..and spectacular lands.
That's gotta be one of the most mind-blowing views.
It puts the Grand Canyon to shame.
And I'll meet people...
Getting very friendly with his sheep.
..like no others on Earth.
What do you reckon? Suit me?
On the first leg of my journey...
Welcome to Russia.
..I'll witness ancient traditions...
..discover a lost world...
Wow. There's bones everywhere.
..fend off the Russian police...
Might get stopped filming here.
..as I try to reach my goal.
I'm taking a Russian military helicopter to the drop-off point,
right at the edge of the Caucasus.
This mountain range stretches all the way from Europe into Asia.
This is where east meets west, democracy meets dictatorship.
There's a hell of a lot of republics I can't even pronounce.
The forest beneath me is closed off to visitors,
as President Putin has a holiday home here.
When we're sure we're beyond his back yard we're allowed to
hit the deck.
Well...
Well, this is... HE SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE
..which literally means the back of beyond.
And this is the gateway to the Caucasus.
This is where the journey begins.
That's it, the helicopter's gone.
There's a road up there.
The place I'm trying to get to is a small town called Mezmay.
First stop - Mezmay,
where I've arranged to meet my guide.
From there we'll track the mountains east, through traditional
Orthodox Christian communities and ancient Muslim republics.
To the notorious state of Chechnya.
And on to its neighbour Dagestan,
a violent region that's a hideout for Islamist insurgents.
DOG BARKS
Hopefully I'll be able to find someone to give me a lift.
Looks like the village train.
HE SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
Fair enough.
A car's just stopped up ahead.
There's a guy waving at me to go over.
I want to get to Mezmay. Yep. Thank you.
You're welcome. You speak good English.
A little bit. Yeah? Great. Perfect.
She's coming as well? Yep.
He's clearly the unofficial taxi service around here.
You don't like the cameras.
God will forgive you. I'm sure he will.
Why don't you like cameras?
But you're driving a car.
That's civilisation, no?
No. Who's that?
MUSIC PLAYS
You're enjoying the music.
RADIO TUNES IN AND OUT
MUSIC PLAYS
I thought you didn't like civilisation?
OK, good.
Perfect. Goodbye. Bye.
Thank you so much for your lift.
Very good to meet you. Thank you again for English.
It was a good drive, thank you very much. You're welcome.
So this is Mezmay.
The plan is to stay here for the night.
I'm just gonna go and find Rasheed.
This one?
My guide Rasheed told me to meet him at the house with a blue letterbox.
Hey, Rasheed, how you doing?
Nice to meet you. I've heard all about you.
Good to meet you. Good to meet you. Welcome to paradise.
Paradise. This is Mezmay.
VOICEOVER: 36-year-old Rasheed was born and bred in the Caucasus.
A guide for over 20 years.
He's left his wife at home to cross Russia with me.
What do you think of the challenges of hitchhiking? It's gonna be tough?
We might run into some tricky situations where we'll be
asked maybe for documents or special forces might think,
or police might think, we're spies or something.
Hopefully we won't get arrested too many times. Yes, yes.
After dinner Rasheed insists I experience a rite of passage.
Where are we going?
We're going to have a bath, a banya. That's a Russian tradition? Exactly.
We're in a Russian village so we just gotta take one.
This is what the local guys do after dinner.
They have a good sweat session.
Come on.
You have to go in the buff for a banya.
And I've only just met Rasheed so I'm not sure how I feel about this.
This is made from oak.
From oak? Yes. Oak leaves. What do you do with that?
You put it into water, you soak it in the water
so it becomes more softer and, like, you know, elastic.
And then you start smacking the back, the legs.
So this is what you're gonna do to me, you're gonna whack me with this?
Yep. When you hit the skin,
when it's hot inside, it opens up... Pores.
Our pores. They open up and everything, all the dirt comes out.
Banyas are a serious business.
They can reach 90 degrees Celsius.
This is your brand-new hat. Oh, right.
It keeps your head from overheating.
On your front. Lie on my front? Yes, exactly. This way? This way.
I've only just met Rasheed and I'm now getting whacked by...
this crazy man with a load of sticks.
And now we go... Argh!
There you go.
I'm gonna beat that dirt outta you.
Think you're enjoying this.
I never get to beat an Englishman.
Probably never again.
Now turn around. It's like a thousands bee stings all at once.
That was one of the most painful things I've ever experienced.
Now let's go to the cold water.
It's the rebirth. It's torture.
Russians are insane. Yep.
This morning, Rasheed and I are leaving the foothills
and heading up into the mountains.
Do you know the way? Yep.
In front of us lie over 100 miles
of sparsely populated highlands.
Spring is here, everything is blossoming.
This part of Russia was hit hard by the collapse of communism
in the '90s.
It says for sale.
And a lot of young people in Russian villages leave the areas
and go to the bigger cities and, of course,
the older generations... They die out.
Yeah, they die out and the villages die out.
It feels a bit like a ghost town, not many people are around.
Just the dogs.
THEY LAUGH
I wasn't looking at the goats in that way.
He's 94 years old. 94?
You're looking very strong.
THEY LAUGH
Bye.
94. Wow. 94, yes, and he's still thinking about women.
Still thinking about women at 94.
God help us!
Everywhere we go, people seem pleased to see us.
OK, there's a few coming now. Let's see what we can do.
Catching a lift rarely takes long.
Nice to meet you.
Local salesman Valery
is going fishing and he invites us to join him.
The destination is unexpectedly breathtaking.
I'm completely blown away.
Different world, paradise.
Puts the Grand Canyon to shame.
Valery swears this deserted lake is full of huge trout.
When was the last time you caught a fish?
A year ago?!
Dare I ask how many times a day you come fishing?
THEY LAUGH
Let's just go, hit the road. Yeah?
Over the next five days we wind our way further into the mountains.
We're not having much luck today.
I don't mind walking.
Bearded Muslims like Rasheed aren't welcome everywhere.
Christians and Muslims mostly coexist peacefully here.
But a continuing terrorist threat in the east has deepened divisions.
And from here on Russia's police and army will be virtually everywhere.
What's going on there? This is Mr Vladimir Putin and there's writing -
"We're proud of our country."
If it wasn't for Putin, at this time Russia would be already torn apart.
He's like a guarantee of peace in our country.
The Russian government is in control here.
Yes. Definitely.
You find a lot of FSB, FSB agents.
The FSB are Russia's secret police force.
You can't find them, of course, but... They're here.
Yes, they're here. And do you think they're watching us?
Do you think they know we're here? They could be, I don't know.
I'm actually an FSB agent.
THEY LAUGH
Who knows? Welcome to Russia.
50 miles on, we reach the town of Myski,
which was once a stronghold of the legendary Cossacks.
From the 16th to the 20th century the ancestors of these
townspeople were feared cavalry officers for the Russian army.
Those days maybe gone...
Let's do it.
..but the people here still clearly cherish their Cossack identity.
How you doing, Andre, good?
We catch a lift with Andre. Dressed up in his finest Cossack uniform,
he invites us to Sunday lunch.
Right, there's a lot of singing and dancing going on.
Welcome, welcome. Thank you very much.
I should have put some smart clothes on for this. Hello!
Yes, he will definitely have some vodka.
Our host is the ataman, the leader of the Cossack community.
And tradition states that guests can't turn down a drink.
This is number three
and I think there's a lot more where this came from.
Rasheed thinks that the two awkward looking men
at the end of the table might be FSB agents.
Five vodkas down
I haven't figured out yet that I'm actually toasting myself.
It's quite interesting. The guy that we think is the secret service agent
is filming the whole thing. I guess he's just checking up on who we are
and making sure we're not up to any bad stuff.
It's quite weird, isn't it?
Amazing hospitality but contrasted with the paranoia of having a...
having our own security detail.
I can barely speak, I've had five vodkas and I'm pissed!
SINGING
Wow. That's what you call hospitality.
Surprised I'm still standing, to be honest.
Thank you very much!
That was an amazing welcome to Cossack culture.
I think anyone that wants to go and cross the Caucasus,
I'd highly recommend that you invest in a new liver.
I'm crossing the Caucasus Mountains
from Russia to Iran with my guide Rasheed.
RASHEED SPEAKS IN OTHER LANGUAGE
LEVISON REPEATS PHRASE
Yes!
That means "have a good day".
Over the last 10 days, we've covered 260 miles.
And now, we're deep in the mountains.
What an incredible place this is.
Happy with this? Yeah, absolutely.
Hotels are thin on the ground.
I think the problem we're going to find is trying to find any dry wood.
Absolutely mental.
THEY CHUCKLE
All right... Sleep well. Early start tomorrow.
Ready, Lev? Yeah, let's go. All right, then.
We're now leaving Christian enclaves behind
and heading for Ingushetia,
the first of the Islamic republics along Russia's southern border.
In Ingushetia, we plan to follow an ancient silk route path,
home to a mystical form of Islam.
And on to Chechnya,
a battleground that was home to the most destroyed city on Earth.
And then, the volatile state of Dagestan,
where insurgent rebels hide in the mountains.
HORSE WHINNIES
It's one of the wildest frontiers of Russia.
Hopefully we can stay safe.
The fun starts from here. RASHEED CHUCKLES
Ingushetia has its own problems with terrorism.
Less than a month ago,
Islamist fighters bombed one of the local police stations.
To get into Ingushetia, you need a lot of special permits.
So we might get stopped filming here.
After an hour of questioning...
..we're allowed in.
But the police won't let us proceed without a government minder.
THEY GREET EACH OTHER IN OTHER LANGUAGE
Let's jump in.
Mohammed isn't quite what I was expecting.
Mohammed here is rocking his own handbag
and he's got entirely gold teeth.
Fashion icon.
It feels like this is some unknown paradise.
A land that's just been untouched for hundreds of years.
Lining the valleys,
ancient fortifications are a legacy of Ingushetia's violent history.
Look at these towers,
guarding over the mountains and the valleys.
Built more than 500 years ago, these towers were constructed
to defend the locals against marauding invaders.
Entire families would live in these towers.
The watchkeepers of the Caucasus.
Today, this tranquil spot attracts a rather different kind of visitor.
CLAPPING, HIGH-TEMPO TRADITIONAL MUSIC
Bizarrely, you know, in the middle of nowhere,
there's a party going on.
Utterly bonkers.
MEN SHOUT
LEVISON BREATHES HEAVILY
Goodness knows how they managed to build towers on top of this hill.
What's that?
Wow.
Wow!
There's a lot of bones in there. A lot of bones.
So this is an actual tomb, an ancient tomb.
They were burying above the ground at the time.
The ancient Ingush would place dead warriors in crypts like these...
There's bones everywhere.
..with enough food, weapons and clothing
to carry them to the afterlife.
You can see down here there's the remains of a skull.
It's quite surreal.
You kind of don't see that sort of stuff back home.
Who's that guy? Jigit.
What's the jigit? Jigit is a mountaineer.
THEY GREET EACH OTHER IN OTHER LANGUAGE
So, where are you guys from? Do you live locally?
Wow. Family home of their ancestors.
I've got the most incredible admiration for your ancestors
because to build that castle on top of that rock is very hard work.
Very strong men.
This is a warrior suit. This is... Cartridges?
Yeah, the cartridges, they're called gaziri.
Wow. Where is this made?
Dagestan. In Dagestan.
That's very sharp. Is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah...
THEY CHUCKLE
So, this is made from the sheep in this valley?
You will never have a headache... Really? ..when you wear this.
Can I try it on? It's OK?
What do you reckon? Suit me?
LEVISON CHUCKLES
Wow. Very beautiful. Very nice.
THEY SPEAK IN OTHER LANGUAGE
Wow. Real Ingushetian mountain men.
They're still wearing the traditional clothes of the Caucasus.
After a trouble-free drive, Mohammed drops us off at a checkpoint.
Spasiba. Thank you very much.
HORN BLARES, TYRES SCREECH
We catch a lift up to Nazran, the old state capital.
Many Ingush belong to the mystical Sufi branch of Islam.
And tonight, there's a sacred ceremony called a zikr
in memory of a young boy who recently died.
I've been granted permission to attend.
So, I've been given...
..a traditional hat. I've got to wear this for the ceremony.
The aim of the zikr is to achieve the complete surrender
of the soul to Allah.
Shoes off.
DISTANT CHANTING AND STAMPING
THEY SING AND CLAP
THEY STAMP FEET IN UNISON
The heat is incredible. It's so hot in here.
The men repeat "la ilaha illallah",
meaning "there is no God but Allah".
THEY CHANT IN UNISON
THEY SING
HUSHED PRAYING
The prayers have started,
and I leave the family so they can grieve in private.
It was kind of weird standing there watching
this ceremony from the sidelines.
they way of displaying grief, which is meditation
in this quite unique form of Islam
that is very visceral, very...physical.
You know, quite surreal, but a real insight into that culture.
I'm crossing the Caucasus
and I'm in the town of Nazran, Southern Russia,
with my guide, Rasheed.
We're trying to get to the notorious state of Chechnya,
just 20 miles away.
As we look for someone to take us there,
we get a tap on the shoulder.
Oh, he's the Mayor of town.
He's, for some bizarre reason, offered to give us
a lift out to the edge of town.
And this guy you can see, the guy there,
he's the bodyguard,
he's got a gun and he's talking to his lapel microphone.
It might be well meant, but this lift doesn't seem optional.
OK, we've been released!
Spasibo, spasibo. Thank you.
CAR HORN BEEPS
Political strongmen dominate these regions.
None more so than where we are going next -
Chechnya, one of the most heavily controlled states in the world.
Looks like there's a lot of police standing guard to this place.
It means yet another border crossing.
Rasheed tells me to turn off my camera.
So, that's it, we've just entered Chechnya,
and the outskirts of Grozny.
It's not at all what I expected it to look like.
Two devastating wars of independence against Russia left Grozny
officially known as the most destroyed city on Earth.
Now, the rubble has been replaced.
Brand-new cities, hotels.
President Putin has spent billions on Chechnya,
and he personally installed a hard man president, Ramzan Kadyrov,
who some accuse of murdering his political opponents.
So, we've just been let into the central square.
This is, bizarrely, a kebab festival.
CHECHEN FOLK MUSIC PLAYS
It's quite a surreal place, it's not at all what I expected it to be.
Is it true he's a wrestler?
Oh, wow!
There's nothing left of them!
He's got the biggest head I've ever seen!
Don't tell him that, don't tell him that!
And arms. Incredibly strong.
We should... We should do an arm wrestle. Tell him not to break me!
Adam Saytiev is a former Soviet wrestling champion,
and he's a bit of a hero round these parts.
HE GRUNTS AND LAUGH
He's going to pop my head off!
Well done.
Yeah, I give up!
Oh, it's very good.
Very good food, yeah, I'm very full.
Thanks to Ramzan Kadyrov.
He makes all the celebrations.
Kadyrov won a rather suspicious 98% of the vote in the last election.
Everyone round here proclaims to love and revere Ramzan Kadyrov.
The reality is, there's a lot of human right abuses.
In the past few weeks, there's been a real nasty horror story of, um,
gay people being rounded up and even being killed.
So, you know, despite what you can see,
there's definitely a dark side to Chechnya.
Kadyrov denies the attacks,
claiming that homosexuals don't exist in Chechnya.
Having acquired vast wealth,
he's known for a love of supercars, martial arts
and most of all, football.
This is his beloved Terek FC,
Grozny's home team.
And the president of the club is none other than Kadyrov himself.
They're cheering for him.
Kadyrov attends almost every game,
and hires and fires the team coaches.
It's quite weird to be sat here in the presence
of someone who is basically a dictator, um,
and is an incredibly controversial, notorious figure.
And there he is, watching the football from up on high.
You can see the lights rolling up. Yeah.
And it says there, Ramzan, thank you for Grozny. Thank you for our city.
Yet despite the cash injections from Moscow,
people in Grozny earn less than almost anywhere else in Russia.
Our taxi driver, Ibrahim, he says
the salaries are just so small.
He's got a wife, a three-year-old boy,
a two-year-old girl,
he says, "I'm feeding them with porridge, oatmeal,"
stuff like this, you know?
Yeah, there's an obvious disparity
between rich and poor,
but not everybody's benefiting, that's for sure.
The next day, we're aiming for the town of Shali, 10 miles away,
where we're hoping to join in a celebration
that Rasheed's heard about.
We've been told that if you just happen to be walking past,
then anyone can just go in and do a bit of wedding crashing.
So, we're going to go and see what's going on.
No alcohol, by the way.
No booze! No booze, yes.
I thought it was a free wedding!
Are they going to be OK with us just turning up? Hopefully.
Salaam aleikum. Aleikum salaam.
So, we just, like...
Who do we need to speak to, to get an invite?
Nice to meet you. How are you? Zhanna?
As a foreign guest, I'm granted a place in the motorcade itself.
And off we go!
In Chechnya, bride kidnap still goes on in rural parts.
But urban Chechens just stage kidnappings for tradition's sake.
SIREN WAILS
GUNFIRE
Really? With live rounds, or blanks?
No, with live rounds, of course.
GUNFIRE
And I take it that's not legal?
Yes, of course, it's not legal.
There they go!
Whoo! That was a wild ride.
TYRES SCREECH, SIREN WAILS
Is that a policeman?
Yeah, obviously a policeman, they work as policeman,
it's probably a relative, maybe her brother, or whatever.
It's his day off, is it? Yeah, it's his day off!
Everyone's armed to the teeth as well.
It's pretty normal at a wedding round here! Yes.
The party is a chance to see the Lezginka,
the national dance of the Caucasus.
The guys, who can't touch the ladies,
must mimic eagles as the women glide like swans.
A lot of the blokes seem more interested in showing off
their moves to their mates than to the girls!
But when Zhanna, the groom's aunt, asks you to dance,
you can't turn her down.
I'm not sure my eagle impression has won me many fans.
Best leave it to the pros.
I'm crossing the Caucasus from Russia to Iran
and after two weeks I've covered 690 miles with my guide, Rasheed.
No. I've got my passport, don't worry.
We're leaving Chechnya
and approaching the little-known but highly feared republic of Dagestan,
which the British Foreign Office warns people not to visit
under any circumstances.
So, down there is the town of Andi
and it's the first town inside Dagestan and apparently it's got
one of the highest concentrations of Islamic insurgents
in the whole of the region.
The Russians call them terrorists
but a lot of the local people call them freedom fighters.
There's a police checkpoint just ahead
and this is the official border post into Dagestan.
Can I have your passport, please?
There's three policemen and they just wanted to know
who we were, what we were up to.
I can't imagine that many foreigners pass through this way.
But, actually, after about ten minutes chat they just said,
"Right, just go." So we've left now.
They're all really hyped up because of the situation in the mountains.
This volatile state has been called the most dangerous place in Europe.
Insurgents continue to fight Russian occupation
under the banner of Islam.
During the 1990s, when the Chechen War was happening,
just over the border to the west a lot of the Chechen rebels
tried to escape from the Russian army here to the east into Dagestan.
Today, the rebels hide out in these mountains,
and just two months ago
security forces found an arms cache in this town.
So it looks like we're getting into the centre of town.
This is the centre of Andi.
It's difficult to know who's the good guys
and the bad guys around here.
Yeah, here we are, in the heart of the wasps' nest.
As-Salaam-Alaikum.
Is there anywhere to stay around here?
Is there any, like, guesthouses?
Thank you very much.
We can just... Shall we just walk towards Gagatli? Yeah.
Do you think we go this way?
We can get up onto the main street, the main street was up there.
It's six o'clock already so it's gonna be dark within the hour,
so we really need to find somewhere to stay.
We're gonna walk up to the next village,
which is another mile away, and hopefully find somewhere there.
Which way is Gagatli?
HORN HONKS
We make it half a mile out of town
when we're stopped by two men in a 4x4.
They say they're police
and that they're taking us back into Andi.
After ten minutes of questions the police seem to accept that
we're harmless.
Yeah, guys, he says...
What's that?
What's that? He says, "You're staying in my home." Yeah? Yes.
That's very kind.
The local policeman who just picked us up has now invited us
to stay in his house.
You get in trouble but you find a solution.
Back at his home, Andi's chief of police
treats us to a Dagestani delicacy.
Nettle dumplings. Never had that before.
When we were walking through the village and you saw us
and you got the phone call, were you actually nervous about,
you know, who we were?
In a dangerous corner of the world, supposedly hostile to outsiders...
Thank you so much.
..we've received an incredibly warm welcome.
When you come to their home, they say to you, "You're a guest,"
and being a guest is sacred.
DOGS BARK
Still to come - volcanic deserts...
It's like we've arrived on the surface of the moon.
..drunken locals...
He's gotta be the worst shepherd in the world.
Nice to meet you.
..hermit monks...
I found the biggest one in history.
..strange spas...
Well, this is quite a welcome.
..and a secret world.
Our minder's still following us everywhere we go.
Watching our every move.
Subtitles by Ericsson