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Great Continental Railway Journeys

Series 6 - Reversions: 4. Batumi to Baku Part 2

Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide Michael Portillo resumes his rail journey through the former Russian empire from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, taking in present-day Georgia and Azerbaijan. From Tbilisi Michael takes a trip along the 120-mile Georgian Military Road, built by the colonising Russian army in the early nineteenth century.\n\nSkirting disputed Georgian territory occupied by Russians today, Michael discovers that a Briton was the first to conquer the highest mountain in the Caucasus range. To capture his own view of the mighty Mount Kazbek Michael boards a helicopter to soar above the 5,000 metre peak first climbed in 1868. Coming back down to earth, Michael samples the amber wine of Georgia and learns about its role in Georgian national culture. The overnight service from Tbilisi to Baku delivers Michael to Azerbaijan, the so-called 'land of fire' because of the natural gas which seeps from the ground and ignites the hills. In Baku, Michael explores the thousand-year-old walled quarter and is treated to a thrilling display of Chovgan, the national horseback game of Azerbaijan. He finishes his journey at the vast Sangachal oil and gas terminal, one of the world's largest, and discovers how the oil industry began here during the nineteenth century.

Source: BBC 2

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