Overland | Season 14 | Episode 7 – Russian Caucasian Republics 1
The conflicts and the bureaucratic difficulties associated with permit for transit complicate our journey. We pass the border at the Darial Gorge, one of the most spectacular canyons in the Caucasus. The statue of Saint George, the national protector welcomes us to North Ossetia: a slice of the Middle Ages that sits against the backdrop of icy peaks of more than 5000 m. In Vladikavkaz, the elegant and orderly Ossetian capital, we see training for Greco-Roman wrestling, the national sport. We could not fail to visit the memorial of the Beslan School, where many children were massacred in 2004. It seems impossible to continue east and enter Ingushetia and Chechnya, the areas most heavily affected by Islamic terrorism. But we surprisingly get the transit permit and are amongst the first westerners to document live the consequences of the two wars with Russia.