Tag Archives: travel

Beneath the walls of Novgorod

A quick tour to Russia’s oldest city revealed more than grand architecture and a good opportunity for a few photographs – it revealed some of the depth and horror buried in Russia’s past. Each year on February 23, Russia celebrates the Defender of the Fatherland Day. This February events in Ukraine were far from my mind – my thoughts were…

Rivers of ice

Heading west from Christchurch, Peter Campbell travels through some spectacular scenery to visit New Zealand’s glaciers, and discovers an imposing new landscape left by the retreating ice. It is one of my many regrets that I am not a geologist. The closest I come to geology is reading Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, and as far as…

A great New Zealand road trip

If ever you are at a loss as to how to spend a few days in New Zealand, a road trip is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and see some of New Zealand’s spectacular scenery, as Peter Campbell reports. Located on the edge of two continental plates, New Zealand has a dynamic geological history – clearly demonstrated by…

Snapshots of subjectivity

Witnessing a random incident of thuggery in St. Petersburg’s historic centre, Peter Campbell raises the question of how and what we observe, experience, remember and report. When it comes to describing any culture or society, a relationship is always developed between the observer and the observed, making the description as much a reflection of the narrator as it is of…

Ivan the Terrible with his Oprichniki, overseeing his treasury. The Oprichniki were the tsar's dogs responsible for sniffing out treason. There were the forerunners for Imperial Russia's history of political police which carried on into Soviet times.

Colliding cultures in Kazan

They say first impressions are important and my first view of Kazan was beautiful. Rising slowly from the haze of the Volga River, the Kremlin, cupolas of the Orthodox churches and the minarets of the mosques, shimmering in the afternoon heat was like a twisted fantasy from the 1001 Nights. This impression was enhanced by the greeting I was given…

Cruising the Volga

The glazed surface of water reaches into the distance. A faint haze obscures the horizon and the sky melds with the water. It gives a strange sensation, as if you are encapsulated and isolated in a world of stillness. The water is calm and the sun burns overhead. I could be in the doldrums in the middle of the Pacific…

Stalin’s secret bunker

Once a top-secret Soviet facility, Stalin’s secret bunker is now open to the public. Peter Campbell from Intrepid Adventure writes the first full account of the bunker to be published in English on the internet. Thirty-five metres underground the air feels denser, cold and clammy. Welcome to Josef Stalin’s secret bunker. The bunker, located in the centre of Samara (known…

A different Russia – Samara

Samara sits concealed on a bend in the Volga River. Inconspicuous and forgotten, Samara is Russia’s sixth largest city and a major contributor to Russia’s aerospace industry. This little known city was closed off to foreigners during the Cold War and this has perhaps contributed to its obscurity. Despite this, Samara is an exciting, dynamic city with good restaurants, hotels…

A city that changes and remains the same

Returning to Russia is not returning home but as Russia has played an important role in the last 14 years of my life, returning after a five year absence felt like a homecoming. I left Russia at the beginning of 2008 shortly before the financial crisis in mid winter. Snow clung to buildings and streets alike. Cold permeates everywhere and…