Author: Jonathan Campion

Drinking camel’s milk (shubat) and horse’s milk (kumys) in Almaty, Kazakhstan

December 11, 2019

Kazakh nomads say that shubat and kumys lower blood pressure, and swear that they cure all sorts of illnesses and diseases. They are popular throughout Central Asia: on my first trip to Kazakhstan I tried a little bottle of supermarket-brand shubat. But the milks from the bazaar, in recycled plastic bottles, came straight from someone’s herd of camels and horses, somewhere on the steppe outside Almaty. … More Drinking camel’s milk (shubat) and horse’s milk (kumys) in Almaty, Kazakhstan

A day in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)

December 2, 2019

Artsakh is the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed territory between it and Azerbaijan. The two nations have been at war over Karabakh for over 30 years. Both feel that the territory belongs to them: the land became part of Soviet Azerbaijan during Stalin’s era, but most of the people living there are still Armenian. The conflict has killed tens of thousands on both sides, with no resolution in sight. … More A day in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)