One of the most beautiful places you’ve never seen

There is something tantalisingly mysterious and exotic about the Siberian region of Altai, a place so remote many in the West have never even heard of it.

Located near the borders with Mongolia and China, this is one of Russia’s least populated places where the few humans who live there share their land with brown bears, wolves and the occasional snow leopard.

Hundreds of miles from any major city, the name in Mongolian means ‘Golden Mountains’ and the Altai landscape lives up to that promise.

Meadows emerge from their deep winter blanket of snow in late March and quickly transform into vast colourful floral carpets. Higher up into the mountains a whole different kaleidoscope of blossoming flowers and herbs takes over, all providing yet more nectar for the busy Siberian bees.

And those bees are among the most fortunate on the planet. Theirs is a world far away from the chemicals and pollution of the modern world. Altai has no industry. There aren’t even any major roads to disturb the healthy lives of the bees who make their honey in the same way they’re done for centuries, cared for by farmers using only traditional methods. It’s very different from the brutal realities of global factory-based, pasteurised, homogenised honey production