The remote Russian-Norwegian-Finnish borderlands offer some of the starkest contrasts between cultures and history you will find anywhere on Earth.

For years, photographer Igor Shpilenok has sought out the elusive wild tulips of Southern Russia and Kalmykia. Last spring he finally saw them. Sort of.

The North can bewitch you, as Nikolai Gernet is reminded when he visits one of Russia’s most remote and attractive outposts.

So you, dear readers, think that the Olympics is all about sports? Nay! It is of course all about the souvenirs! And about how a miserly correspondent is supposed to buy them in sufficient quantity for the many friends and family left behind on the "mainland" while he is "roughing it" in Sochi...

Is Russia a dangerous, expensive, complicated place to travel to? Is it full of mafia, alcoholics, communists and poverty? Sounds like it's time to debunk some myths about travel to modern Russia.

After the games are over and the crowds have gone home, Sochi will still be Sochi. We look at what this Black Sea resort has to offer visitors beyond Olympic wonders.

Just beyond Krasnoyarsk is a national park catering to adventurous travelers. Recent upgrades show what Russia’s national park system could become.

A compendium of 13 useful websites for persons interested in traveling to Russia, covering everything from the latest visa information to cruises, to what not to do when in Russia (etiquette).

The Great Siberian Tea Road, a historic and legendary route that once connected China and Siberia with European Russia, was one of the world’s longest trade arteries. We retrace its path, geographically and culturally.

It was the last, most difficult part of the Trans-Siberian to build – a 90 km stretch of railway bending around Lake Baikal’s southern coast. To this day it preserves the ethos of its age and is the symbolic heart of the 9,289 kilometer rail line.

Just a few hours’ drive from Moscow is the wonderfully preserved, ancient town of Kolomna. And here, amidst golden-domed churches and a beautifully restored kremlin, there is a hidden gem of a museum.

Two young Americans decide to ride across the breadth of Eurasia, and spent 162 days traversing 6000 miles of Russian roads (and non-roads). They survived. And they brought back this tale.