London to Delhi

The Caspian Sea - the biggest inland body of water in the world.

The north Caspian is the shallowest section and also the lightest in colour.

The Volga, swollen with melt water during the spring, flowing into the Caspian Sea.

The Caucasus Mountains separating the Caspian and Black Sea.

The Tethys and Paratethys Sea towards the top right hand corner.

Satellite image of the whole of the Caspian Sea.

Europe's longest river, the Volga, meets the world's largest landlocked sea, the Caspian.

Volgograd, a major city 400km up-river from the delta.

A map of the Volga River drainage basin.

Algal bloom in the Caspian due to agricultural pollution in the Volga.

Statue to Mother Volga highlighting its symbolic importance.

St. Nicholas bell tower in Kalyazin, submerged by a Stalinist man-made resevoir.

The wooden churches of Kizhi, one of the many religious spaces along the Volga.

A shipping channel with waves of flooding along the Volga Delta.

Algae bloom in the northern Caspian due to agricultural pollution in the Volga.

The straight fishing lanes of the Volga Delta sticking out into the Caspian.

1901 - Astrakhan, a major trading city in the heart of the Volga Delta.

A small orthodox chapel marks the source of 'Mother Volga'.

Two types of caviar; the black Russian variety is more expensive.

Sunset over the flat Volga Delta wetlands.

White Tailed Sea Eagle hunting on the Volga Delta.

The fan-shaped Volga Delta with its ribbons of channels fanning out into the delta.

The main channels in the Volga Delta - dashed channels are man-made.

Black caviar - some of which can reach $80 per ounce.

A sturgeon fish; the eggs produce the most expensive caviar.

Typical wetlands near Astrakhan on the Volga Delta.

A Siberian Crane feeding in marshland like the Volga Delta.