Most apartment buildings are old, gloomy crapholes well-stocked with New England's most gregarious cockroaches.

You can arrange camel trips into the desert but to really get a feel for this allow yourself a couple of extra days and be prepared for what at times can be an uncomfortable journey: Xuan Zang tells us that as he left Khotan he was ‘attacked by tornados which bring with them clouds of flying gravel’.

Now, throat singing is being carried on by women like Maria and Lois, as well as being re-defined by solo artists like Tanya Tagaq, who is mixing traditional sounds with modern beats, instruments and English vocals.

However, mysids, phytoplankton, amphipods, small fish, muddwelling tunicates, and vegetation have been obtained from bowhead stomachs during fall migration.