Jamie has mounted numerous expeditions including: spending one month living and working with Kirghiz hunters in South East Tajikistan, a 100 mile, multi-day, camel supported run across the Red Sands Desert in Uzbekistan, chronicling the lives of Kazakh eagle hunters in Western Mongolia and Winter packrafting down the Khovd River, Mongolia (temperatures down to -20 °C) in retrofitted and homemade packrafts.

In 2013, Bunchuk – alongside friend and colleague Matthew Traver – completed a 750 mile, 63-day-long, horse ride from Ust-Kamenogorsk to Almaty, in honour of the centenary of a historical journey through the region by the Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Charles Howard-Bury.

In the Autumn of 2014, Bunchuk lead the first expedition ever to cross the Betpak-Dala or the ‘Steppe of Misfortune’ from its easternmost extremity on the shores of Lake Balkash to its western edge on the Sarysu River. He also ran 190 miles, nearly eight marathons, back to back over the course of eight days within the region.

Jamie is a confident, engaging speaker whose original stories captivate his audience. He brings to life unusual places and experiences with ease and humour and he answers questions eloquently and succinctly.

Sophie Ibbotson, Royal Society for Asian Affairs