From Russia to Iran: Crossing Wild Frontier

In Dagestan - which the Foreign Office warns against visiting - Levison experiences warrior clans' hospitality, stunning beauty and ancient cities. Then it's on to country-of-contrasts Azerbaijan.

Levison and Rasheed head into the remote mountains on the journey to Igushetia, accompanied by a government minder as the area has had problems with Islamist terrorist attacks. Walking through what feels like an unknown paradise untouched for hundreds of years, Levison finds piles of bones - the remnants of ancient Ingush burial ceremonies - in centuries old fortified towers.