Kazakhstan
When I was working in Russia with my colleague and close friend, Zhenya Giria, we had the opportunity to visit an excavation in Kazakhstan. Although not a Palaeolithic project, it was of interest. The site was Botai and the research was directed by Victor Zaibert. Zhenya and I took the Trans-Siberian Express to the city of Petropavlovsk; a three day and two night train ride from Moscow. Botai is a well-known Eneolithic (terminal Neolithic) village based on horse exploitation. At that time it was unclear in what way horses were being exploited ranging from hunting to a mixed economy to fully domesticated horse pastoralism. The visit was interesting and resulted in a number of stories, some amusing and some not so. This didn't result in my becoming involved in the archaeology there but was a prelude to another project in which I was co-PI.