In the summer of 2001, I travelled by train, via Moscow to Kyzyl, the capital of the Republic of Tuva. The trip was organized by Sauli Heikkilä, a member of Cedip Tur, a Finnish throat-singing group. Eero Turkka (who also sings with me in Äijä) , Sami Jansson and Anna Johansson completed our motley group of travellers. It was fun and a hard trip with falling-outs and falling-ins, and well worth it. Tuva is a strange place, both modern and old. I grew up in Moscow in the 1970's and much of Tuva reminded me of that era. And Tuvans...well, Tuvans are wonderful people and one can only wish they weren't stuck in the armpit of modern Russian geo-politics.
   Thanks to Sauli's contacts (he'd been organizing gigs for Tuvans in Finland for a decade!) we got to meet most of the famous Tuvan throat singers and musicians: Tuva Kyzy, Chirgilchin, Huun Huur Tu, Kongar-ool Ondar, and many more. I bought the doshpulur that I still play and all of us even did a sold-out gig at the Culture Palace in Kyzyl! Interestingly, the audience was thrilled to hear us do half-baked versions of their own songs, but when we played "our" music, which we do very well, they quickly lost interest.

   If you are interested, this will take you to the travelogue I emailed my friends during the month or so I spent on the road in Tuva.