What is a Numbers Station

There is a famous quote from a spokesperson in what was at the time the Department…

Spango Valley

Just south of Greenock, in Inverclyde, western Scotland, is a derelict business park called Spango Valley,…

The Russian Woodpecker

On my visit to Chernobyl and Pripyat, one of the places I was taken to was…

Visiting Pripyat

Whenever anyone thinks of visiting Chernobyl, what they think of often isn’t the power plant itself.…

Chernobyl City and the Exclusion Zone

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was the scene of an explosion in April 1986. It was…

How to Visit Chernobyl

At the time of writing this blog post, Chernobyl has been off-limits to visitors for a…

I Was Born In Year Zero: The Killing Fields

I was born in Year Zero. To be absolutely precise, I was born a few months…

Apartheid and discrimination in South Africa

When I mentioned about Apartheid on my Twitter timeline, I assumed it was a reference that…

The Other Dead Sea

The Aral Sea shoreline. It’s pretty cold; I’m even wearing socks. The sky above, coupled with…

Timor-Leste: Occupation and Independence

Timor-Leste had been a country on my ‘hit list’ for quite a few years, although the…