Bald and Bankrupt

???????? A few days ago I returned to the Hindu refugee camp in northern Delhi with the money that you guys raised for them. I handed over roughly 300,000 Rupees that will be used to bring clean water to the more than 100 people who live there. This is a quick video to show you what happened. I will make a longer video in the future. A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the cause and those who helped behind the scenes in other ways. I could not have done it without you. The first video is here which shows how I originally met them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gqv4ZvWXLg

I had always been fascinated by the mysterious north eastern region of India and so I took a flight to Imphal the capital of Manipur to explore the city.

Do you like spicy food? If not then stay away from this fish curry thali I ate in North East India. Watch and see if I could handle that spice or not...

In the Indian city of Imphal is a market where only women are allowed to sell their goods. A unique place in India and the wider continent. I headed there to explore and to talk to some of the women venders who earn a living there. No men allowed!

Whilst in the North Eastern Indian state of Manipur I decided to take a journey to the very edge of the nation to a little known border town called Moreh that has been hacked out of the surrounding jungle just across from Myanmar. On the ride I was stopped at military checkpoints in what is a volatile area of the country but the scenery of mountainous jungle made it all worth it. Moreh has a reputation as a smuggling town and so I was intrigued to see what it was that lay there exactly. Join me on this first of a three part series as I journey to India's eastern edge...

Moreh is a town on the border with Myanmar. A town that is built on the smuggled exotic wood that has been cut from the endangered forests of Myanmar. I went there to have a look around...

Just across from the Indian smuggler's town of Moreh is Myanmar ( Burma ). I decided to walk across the border and see what life was like on the other side. Was it the same? Was it different? Watch and find out...

Ever wanted to try cold noodles for breakfast? No me neither, but I did it so that you don't have to! That's just the kind of guy I am! Check out the slimiest meal in Myanmar and feel lucky you never have to eat it

Whilst travelling in Burma I found a street barber shack and headed in to have a beard trim. I expected it to be cheap, but not this cheap! Amazing people in Burma...

My journey across Burma continued with a road trip to the mystical Asian city of Mandalay. A city whose name conjures up images of the Orient. But first I had to buy a bus ticket...

How do you find your hotel in a land where nobody speaks English and the nation's language is a collection of squiggles

Bald you must try Diablo when you are in Burma people said. Diablo is epic others promised me...Well I trust you guys, you watch my videos so you must be guys with refined tastes for the finer things in life. How wrong I was...

Whilst walking through the streets of Old Delhi I discovered a kiosk selling something I never knew existed. It was something that is unique to the country of India 'Bhabhi magazines'. I had to buy myself a copy and go and read it. Now I want a bhabhi

The question I am asked most by non Indians who watch my videos is 'Am I not afraid of having something stolen in India?' I always tell people that there is nothing to be afraid of in India from theft or violence but to prove my point I headed to the infamous Thieve's market in Delhi with a necklace made of real Indian Rupees. Would someone steal the necklace? Let's find out....

Do you complain about the traffic in your country? Well watch this video and you will never complain again! Milk sellers, crazy rickshaws, fake ambulances, pollution, bhabhis, Chinese tourists...It all happens at Delhi's craziest junction! Could you handle it???

The Tibetan Colony in northern Delhi is the place to try the foods of Tibet. I went there in search of the infamous spicy Laping noodles. Could I handle the spice? Find out...

In this the first of three short episodes that were filmed within 30 minutes on the same street I ask the question: Is you country this crazy? In the first episode we have street UFC... Let's welcome the contenders....and some Tony Ferguson jokes.

Do you like to read books? No me neither! But some old fashioned people do and so on a Sunday afternoon in Delhi I went along to see what these strange people were buying and it was mostly Stormy Daniels and German despots. Enjoy you the video you crazy bookworms!

Who will defend India's honour and finally defeat Pewdiepie? T Series have not managed it but there is hope: Meet India's future YouTube stars who will one day crush the second most popular vlogger in Brighton.

Can you believe that there are people in the world who have never tried Indian food?! Well I know two of them and so invited two of my Russian friends to try Indian food for the first time. Would they like it or not? Let's find out....

Wanting to escape Minsk for a bit I took a short trip to a provincial town in Belarus called Bobruisk in search of some of the nation's Soviet past. It didn't take long to find it...

This is part two of my journey to a provincial city in Belarus. In it we have Lenin statues, vodka and a strange pink sausage made of...Well I have no idea. Join me once again on my trip to Bobruisk. Part One of this series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X74KhXTAigs

Belarusian cuisine may not be famous but it certainly is good! I was invited by Dua Lipa to try some traditional recipes that fortunately did not include belly buttons. Join me as we try solyanka, vodka, kvass, draniki and perogi. Instagram for my restaurant companion is: tanya_smaltser

I wanted to take you on a journey with me in this episode to a village in rural Belarus. So I headed to Gomel and from there took an early morning bus out into the windswept provinces to see what life is like in a Belarus village. Hope you like bleak landscapes and Ladas. Attention! Don't forget to check out my book: The Burning Edge by Arthur Chichester ( available on all Amazon sites ). Full of crazy tales from Belarus. You'll love it!

I finally made it to the virtually deserted village of Horoshevka where only a few residents remained and was told that I had taken quite a risk in getting there... Attention! My book 'The Burning Edge: Travels Through Irradiated Belarus' is available on all Amazon sites. Check it out. It's cheap!

Meet Viktor. Viktor is 50 and likes to drink. I like Viktor. I also like to drink. And so we went to a Soviet apartment to drink vodka. And then he started talking about the War...The rest as they say, is history.

Always wanted to travel to Europe but can't afford it? Well I've discovered a place everyone can afford. Whilst travelling through the provinces of Belarus I stumbled upon a hotel that wouldn't break anyone's budget. Welcome to what must be Europe's cheapest hotel.

So many vloggers have made the trip to Pripyat to make Chernobyl films that it has become an embarrassing cliche. So I decided to enter the real unexplored Chernobyl zone instead. The one across the border in Belarus. No tour guides here. Just me and my knife ready to face whatever came my way. Join me on a solo journey across the Zone...

I had survived wolf country, radiation and Viktor but now I was being led into the windy swamps of Chechersk as night approached by a gang of tough looking dudes. Would I survive or had I finally met my match.... Don't forget to purchase your copy of my book about Belarus 'The Burning Edge' by Arthur Chichester. Available on Amazon.

Well that is the end of my trip to Belarus ( going back there after one month ), new adventures await in a brand new country next week... Here is a compilation of clips that didn't make the final videos. You will recognise some old friends in there...

Moldova is the least visited country in Europe. And so I came to its capital city Kishinev to see why...It did not take long to find the answer. Years of theft and corruption by politicians has left the locals of the country tripping up on broken pavements and walking past abandoned buildings on their way to collect their 40 Euro pensions.

Ever been to Ratus in Moldova? Me neither and so I decided to go and investigate the place so you don't have to. On the way I met some great Moldovan people and of course visited some abandoned Soviet buildings.

Look at a map of Europe and you won't see this thin sliver of a country but it's there and so I went to explore. Get ready to visit the country that does not exist...Welcome to Transnistria or as locals call it Pridnestrovie.

Moldova is famous for it's wine but I wanted to try the real stuff, the home-brew that people make so I set off for the villages in search of some wine and drinking partners. I soon found both. Meet the epic babushkas of Moldova...Oh and they want to find me a Moldovan wife

On my last day in Moldova I had invitations to hang out with some different people but there was only one dude I wanted to spend my final hours in the country with and that was my favourite Moldovan of all, the legend of Kishinev himself. Introducing my friend 'Vova'. Get ready English girls!

I have always admired the Russian gopnik lifestyle, the beer, the fashion, the freedom and so when my Slavic friend Alina arrived in Minsk I asked her to teach me the ways of the gopnik. Get ready for semechki, squatting and Adidas in a gopnik adventure!

Two months ago on a cold morning I headed into the radioactive Chernobyl forests north of the Belarusian town of Vetka. Now I was back to re-trace the people who had invited me into their home and generously shared their food with me. But this time I was bringing shopping... Original video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIC73xZPLgU

Whilst driving the back roads of the Belarus radiation zone an old man flagged me down and before I could say anything he had climbed into the car and started barking instructions. Soon we were heading down forest tracks towards the abandoned radiated village he called home. And what a home it was!

If you want to be accepted as a man in the Slavic world you have to know how to cook a good shashlik and make a vodka toast. In this video I wanted to show you how to do that but then the party got crashed by someone who was more expert than me at drinking the sweet juice of the Gods. After that it all went to shit...

With only a day left until my time was up in Belarus, I had one final mission to complete. To head back into the radiation zone and find an old friend of ours. But before that I headed down an old radiated road and found something interesting on the wall of an abandoned house.

In this film containing three parts we explore a fist derelict village, then an abandoned Soviet palace in a remote village and finally Object 1180 which was a Soviet nuclear bunker built in the middle of nowhere.

Travelling on Russian or Belarusian trains isn't like anywhere else. There are things to know and do. Here I'll show you on the Moscow to Grodno train...

Situated on a side street in Moscow is the grand Hotel Soviet. A place unchanged since Stalin and some of the world's worst dictators stayed there. I checked in to explore its corridors and tried to imagine what the walls had seen over the years...

When travelling into the centre of Moscow by train early in the morning we did not see a ticket machine. It will be ok we thought, nobody will check our tickets...Wrong!

Want to visit all the former Soviet republics on a scooter and without leaving Moscow? Well I will show you how....Welcome to Stalin's Soviet theme park in the heart of Moscow, the incredibly beautiful VDNKh.

New country time and I chose the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Straggling the Caucasus and hugging the Black Sea, Georgia is an ancient land of wine, incredibly friendly people and abandoned Soviet buildings...Get ready!

Tskaltubo is an abandoned Soviet spa resort nestled up in the sub-tropical hills of Georgia. Off limits to everyone and patrolled by a security team it is not an easy place to gain access to. However I thought it was important to see such a place and imagine what it was that went on inside its lavishly decorated rooms.

In an attempt to try something different I wanted to do a one take, zero edit film. Just press record and see what would happen in those 10 mutes or so. And when I saw a friendly looking taxi driver leaning on his Lada Niva in the Georgian town of Chiatura I had an idea. I gave him 10 Lari and said let's go somewhere...well let's just say there isn't much to see in Chiatura...

We had travelled up through the hills on an old bus to reach the town go Chiatura which was famous for its Soviet cable cars, something I had always wanted to do. But when we got there we found out some bad news. So instead we went out for a wander around town to meet some locals.

After the fall of the USSR ancient resentments and rivalries that had been kept in check for 70 years suddenly rose up leading to outbreaks of civil wars in various former Soviet Republics. Once such war broke out in the small sub-tropical region of Abkhazia on Georgia's north west coast. The Georgian people were forced to flee over the mountains leaving everything behind. I found some of those refugees still living in the empty shells of Soviet hotels some 25 years on and went to ask them about their story.

I have travelled to many places in the former Soviet Union but none quite matched the eerie strangeness of this semi-derelict former Soviet spa resort called Tskaltubo. I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Georgia sits on the far eastern edge of the Black Sea and so we decided to head to the semi abandoned ex Soviet tourist resort of Kobuleti to try our hand at a spot of fishing to catch our supper. Well, we weren't the best...but we did see a dolphin. Oooh!

For years Alina has suffered with sinus infections. And so when someone in Georgia suggested there was a local way to cure it she was ready to try. Join us on the search for what I called a witch doctor but what locals probably just call' the lady who lives down the road who helps people out sometimes' . Oh and you will also get a taste of a lengthy Georgian toast...

Lunik 9 is an old communist era housing estate built on the outskirts of Kosice in the east of Slovakia. Now it is better known as being Europes largest gypsy slum. Everyone told us not to visit because it was dangerous and so I had to go and investigate to see if it was as dangerous as everybody told me or if it was something different. What I found surprised and shocked me. Welcome to the party at Lunik 9!

Buying a Soviet bicycle, climbing an abandoned Soviet tower, finding a snake in the toilet, buying village home brew, drunken motorcycle journey and much more....Welcome to what might be Europe's most fun country...Welcome to Ukraine!

Unfortunately I picked up a pretty bad chest infection and have not been able to film anything. I will go home to recover for a few weeks but before I do I have to ask...would you do this?

You can take trains from Moscow to all kinds of romantic sounding places; St Petersburg, Vladivostok, Beijing...Well I didn't do that, instead I chose to go to Saransk the capitol of the backwater republic of Mordovia. Yeah I have no idea why I did it either.

Whist travelling the backwaters of Russia I heard about the Mordvoian people who speak a language called Moksha. And so began my journey to a village deep in Europe in search of someone who could teach me a few words.

Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet Soviet...

Greetings from the republic of Chuvashia in deepest Russia where I went on a hunt for the little known European language of Chuvash. And as usual on the way I met some real characters. Get ready to meet Yuri Alexandrovich, Chuvashia's most dapper gentlemen.

What do you know about the republic of Mari El deep in Russia on Europe's eastern border? Probably not too much right. What about their language? Well you're not alone and so I went out to rectify that and on the journey there found some weird things...like Barbara Streisand.

What do you think of when someone says the word 'Europe'? Maybe Paris or Milan? Maybe the beaches of Spain or the mountains of Switzerland. Well there is another Europe that stretches out along the eastern border of the great continent. There you will find cities and towns the names of which we were not taught in the West but yet they are as much Europe as Manchester or Munich is. I took a trip to towns named after men with blood on their hands to see for myself...

Sometimes Russia throws up some crazy experiences and yesterday was such a day when I discovered an ancient church located somewhere on the edge of Europe. The building was beautiful but the inside was just weird... Oh and I had to escape from a Russian village.

I recently met the popular Russian YouTuber NFKRZ for a tour of his hometown, Chelyabinsk which is a city that doesn't have the best reputation in Russia to say the least. So could he change my opinion about his Asian city or was everyone who told me not to come here right? Let's find out... Here is his channel link so please check him out for Russian content in English https://www.youtube.com/user/MultiNfz

Not long ago the town of Karabash was declared Russia's most toxic town due got the heavy pollutants that a mining plant was pumping into the air over the region. And so with my friend Roman from the popular YouTube channel NFKRZ we decided to visit the town and see for ourselves just how life was progressing there. Join us on the road to Karabash...

Greetings from Kyrgyzstan where I decided to check out the famous lake Issyk-Kul. However I found more than I expected whilst searching an abandoned building in the town of Balykchy...Oh and warning: I say the word Soviet quite a lot too!

Three days ago I travelled to Belarus to drive back into the radiation zone there and deliver supplies to some of the last remainers on that contaminated piece of land. I also bumped into an old friend you may recognise...

The bus driver told me I could get off and walk to the airport. The only problem was it meant walking along a busy highway for miles. Was it even legal?? I don't know. Oh and then I flew to a country where I could not breathe. What a journey.

South America has a reputation for danger and violence. And so whilst on my short stay in Bolivia I decided to take a cable car up to El Alto which is a part of La Paz known by locals as a place for theft and violence. Would I survive with my camera? Watch and find out...

Not every endeavour can be a work of art. David Bowie wrote the song Heroes but also The Laughing Gnome...Take this upload for example. Literally nothing interesting happens in it, just me being miserable in the rain and I'm even somewhat ashamed to upload it, but it's 3am in Bolivia and I can't sleep due to the jet lag. Even the shitty Adam Sandler movie I just watched on Netflix has not helped me fall sleep. So I thought why not stick something up and read some comments. Maybe someone will love it and think it's the greatest video ever made on youtube or maybe you have jet lag too and want to kill 10 minutes of your time instead of just lying there staring at the ceiling all night wondering if you will ever nod off and what the meaning of life is. Or maybe you are on the toilet having your morning pooh before going to work and would like to see a bald man randomly buy a bowler hat in South America to pass the time. I don't which one of those is you know but there you go. Have a great day/night/pooh everyone. Oh and in case you want to know, the f*king hat cost me $65!!! Unbelievable.

When I order a taxi I don't want much. I don't need a fancy car or even decent music. What I do expect however is that the driver will at least know where he is going! And then not overcharge me at the end of the ride. Unfortunately I met this guy and, well see for yourself...

Whilst in Boliva I thought it would be fun to go and check out a village somewhere and meet some locals. I randomly chose a place on the map called Patamanta and naively headed off expecting to make friends and be invited into people's homes just like I had done in the former Soviet Union...Well Bolivia isn't Belarus...

After being kicked out of the Bolivian village a few days before I decided I had to return and try to visit a village home again, but this time I had switched things up that would help me...A tweed jacket and briefcase. What could go wrong.

It was my last day in Bolivia and there was one thing that had been playing on my mind...what exactly was in the village beyond the church that I had been warned to stay away from? There was only one way to find out. Operative Babushka Boy would have to investigate.

I decided to head south to the snowy peaks of the Caucasus that divide Europe from Asia. But before I could board my train to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, I had to work out what exactly a bloody 'put and platform' is. Fortunately a one legged local helped me...Yes I'm back in Russia!

'Don't go to Chechnya!' the UK government website says. For sure you will be kidnapped and killed. Well, it turns out that they don't know what they are talking about. All you will find here is beautiful landscapes, friendly people and great shashlik. Oh, and very persuasive taxi drivers! Big thanks to Ruslan for the tour. Muzhik!

One year ago I was stranded on a mountain top in Dagestan when one guy saved me. We kept in touch and he invited me to return to his mountain village in Dagestan called Gagatli. Everything was great, except his car...

It's no secret that I have a somewhat over excited reaction every time I see something remotely Soviet, so imagine what I thought when I saw a Soviet barber shop in Makhachkala's old bus station...Yes I had a Soviet beard trim. Oh and where the bloody hell is Kalmykia?!

People often ask how I get around Russia, well often I hitchhike from town to town. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes I discover a weird place I'd rather not be in...

Just over 400 years ago a tribe left their homeland in western Mongolia and made their way to Europe. They settled on the windy steppe lands of southern Russia and continued their way of life. I went in search of them and discovered a Buddhist republic living in the heart of Europe. Oh and it is VERY windy there.

With the Russian winter slowly moving in I bought a ticket on the international train heading across Russia's southern border into the country of Azerbaijan and it's surprisingly modern capital of Baku. Join me as we skirt the banks of the Caspain Sea and head into Asia.

The truth is I did not know anything about Azerbaijan before I arrived except that it was rich with oil money and had an incredibly modern capital city called Baku. But I wanted to see beyond that and get to know the country beyond the glitz a little bit better. And so I hired a car, bought a map and set off in search of Ganja. Join me!

Whilst exploring an old Soviet village in Azerbaijan I was stopped by a polite old gentleman who asked for my documents. Who was he? Why did he want them? Who did he work for? Did I do the right thing? Who knows but I think I just me the Azerbaijan version of the KGB.

A couple of months ago I went into the Belarus Chernobyl radiation zone to visit a man who lived alone there called Kolya and gave him some money I had raised. I was now going back to check up on him. The only thing I had not considered however was this: What if he wasn't home?

I had been searching the radiated forests of the Belarus Chernobyl zone for my friend Kolya but with no luck. Then I drove to the nearest village where there was one last. inhabited house. I knocked on the door and waited....

After all of my trips to the Belarus side of the disaster it was finally time to travel to the source of the tragedy itself, Pripyat and the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Whilst there my guide Igor treated me to the world's greatest invention, 'Vodka cakes'. Oh and we also heard some stories from the re-settlers. I used a tour company for my trip called Solo East. This is their website. I can highly recommend them. https://www.tourkiev.com