Four burly Mongolian men huddle around the black, steaming vessel. Words, incomprehensible to my ears, are uttered under breath as glances bounce between eight intense eyes.

Then, in one fell swoop, the lid is removed. Great wafts of steam exude from the pot, culminating in fragrant swirls of smoke. One by one, hot stones are removed with tongs and placed on a shiny steel plate. The whole process resembles a medical procedure – each movement is exact, and done with the precision of a surgeon.

But this ain’t no operation. What I’m witnessing here is the opening scene to a memorable dinner date spent with a local Tuvan family. Along with the rest of the group on Intrepid’s first-ever Uncharted Expedition, we’ve been invited into a traditional ger in Tsagaan Gol Valley, inside western Mongolia’s Altai Tavan Bogd National Park,  to experience a staple of the Mongolian culinary landscape. 

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My shoes are soaked to the gill, my feet cold as ice. Crossing over these marshes without sinking into six inches of icy water is proving to be an impossible task.

But in the face of Mongolia’s largest glacier, surrounded by the country’s highest peaks and located in a remote pocket of the Steppes considered sacred by the Kazakh and Tuva nomadic tribes that call this part of the world home, a little discomfort is negligible.

I’m hiking to Potanin Glacier inside the Tavan Bogd National Park in Mongolia’s westernmost frontier on Intrepid’s inaugural Uncharted Expedition. Wedged in an isolated corner of Bayan-Ölgii province in the Altai Mountains, this glacier is about as remote as you can get. Not surprising, then, that getting there is a challenge.

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It’s day eight of the first-ever Uncharted Expedition and I’m hiking to the Blue Lake (2,840 metres) in the Altai Mountains in a remote pocket of southern Siberia, Russia.

On paper, this 12-kilometre trek from Aktru Base Camp should take about six hours to complete, up and back. But I’m not making good time – in fact, none of us are. And it’s not the altitude and thinning air that’s slowing us down; at least, it isn’t for me.

Instead, I’m repeatedly lured, dare I say, compelled, to stop and attempt to capture these incredible glacial vistas through the viewfinder of my camera. So it’s two steps forwards, one step back as I frame and zoom and turn and click my shutter, again and again and again. Of course, it’s never really possible to fully capture such dynamic beauty in a two-dimensional image, but I’m getting mighty hopeful that at least one of these shots will do the Aktru glacier justice.

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Tran-syl-vania. The name itself is enough to send shivers reverberating through the spine, bringing to mind visions of vampires, werewolves, and dark brooding forests you dare not enter. Of course, these associations belong to the world of fantasy and fiction, but what of Transylvania itself?

Contrary to popular belief, Transylvania actually does exist, but it’s nothing like what it’s been made out to be.

Instead of lip-smacking plasma guzzlers, hairy mythological creatures with a penchant for human flesh, and foreboding woodlands, this vast swathe of land in central Romania, flanked by the Carpathian Mountains in the east, is actually home to immaculately preserved medieval towns, a dynamic university city, boundless hiking trails, and the largest concentration of bears and wolves in Europe.

Here’s a guide on where to go, what to do, and what kind of garlic to buy in Transylvania.

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Sliced in two by the Danube, Budapest has something of a split personality. On one side of the river, the flat districts of Pest teem with ruin bars, a buzzing foodie scene, and more shopping options than you could poke a Hungarian chimney cake at.

Whilst on the other, hilly Buda and its Castle District cut a more refined shadow over the city, all gloriously culminating in the stately grounds of the Royal Palace. Yet a compact city centre and fantastic public transport all conspire to resolve these two halves of the Hungarian capital into a city easily explored and thoroughly enjoyed. Here’s a short guide on what you can tick off in a weekend in Budapest.

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Granada is the most dangerous city in Spain, for real. Nowhere else on the Spanish mainland is there city so capable of clutching you firmly in its grip and taking you under its spell.

In fact, so exotic and incredibly alluring is Granada that you’ll kick yourself for not dedicating more time to this Andalusian jewel of a city in southern Spain. But resign yourself to at least a few days here and what you’ll find is a city alive with magic and wonder, where the tapas are free and the smiles given freely, a dynamic university city with long-cherished links to the past that knows how to break with tradition and embrace the new.

Here, the sound of flamenco echoes off the cobblestone streets and through the narrow lanes of the historic Albayzín district, and the 11th-century former Islamic palace, the Alhambra, throws its shadows over the city’s compact centre, a constant reminder of Granada’s multicultural heritage.

Here’s a local’s guide to experiencing the seductive allure of Granada. 

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