Himalaya with Michael Palin

2004 • BBC
4.9
8 reviews
Eligible
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Season 1 episodes (6)

1 North by Northwest
10/3/04
Season-only
Intrepid adventurer Michael Palin embarks on an epic journey. He travels through the North West Frontier province of Pakistan, starting on the Khyber Pass and ending five miles from K2 on the Pakistan-China border. He passes through Darra, visits a street dentist in Peshwar, goes bull racing with a Pakistani aristocrat and is almost trampled to death, and finally crosses over the Lowari Pass into the buffer state of Chitral.
2 A Passage to India
10/10/04
Season-only
Michael Palin continues his Himalayan trek by travelling from K2 in Pakistan to Ladakh in India - a short distance as the crow flies, but, due to politics, a huge loop. He passes through the Sikh city of Amritsar, with its Golden Temple, and through Shimla with its Vice Regal Lodge, Gaiety Theatre and cosy half-timbered tea-houses. He then meets the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala where the Tibetan government is in exile.
3 Annapurna to Everest
10/17/04
Season-only
During a Gurkha recruitment day Michael Palin is disturbed by Maoist insurgents, but survives to suffer as he climbs to 15,000 feet and sees the majesty of Annapurna Sanctuary. In Kathmandu he is blessed by the Nepalese king before meeting some holy men. Crossing into Tibet he meets his first yaks at the highest monastery in the world before heading up the Rongbuk glacier towards the summit of Everest.
4 The Roof of the World
10/24/04
Season-only
Michael Palin continues his Himalayan trek, leaving Everest base camp to take the high road to Lhasa to see what the Chinese have done to Tibet. He sees that religion is once again tolerated, while the old Tibetan centre of the city is being replaced with modern Chinese shopping malls and nightclubs. Following the pilgrims to the holy Namtso Lake, he gets warm in a hot spring before learning how to milk a yak with a nomad family.
5 Leaping Tigers
10/31/04
Season-only
Following the Yangtze along Tiger Leaping Gorge into Yunnan in China, Palin reaches the easternmost end of the Himalayas. He gets a medical check-up before exploring medieval Lijiang with the director of the local orchestra. Heading over Myanmar to Nagaland in India he rides the steam train to Tipong Coalmine. In Assam he rides an elephant and then stays in a strange monastery.
6 Botan to the Bay of Benghal
11/7/04
Season-only
In Bhutan, Palin has a last look at the high Himalaya. Trekking to Chomolhari Base Camp he meets a nomad with a penchant for yak songs before reaching Paro to witness the Buddhist festival of Tsechu. En route to Bangladesh he sees rare black-neck cranes. In Bangladesh he visits the beaches of Chittagong and grid-locked Dhaka and completes his journey on a fishing boat in the Bay of Bengal.

About this show

Michael Palin begins a 2000-mile journey across a region of might, majesty and mystery, encountering new extremes of wealth and poverty, intense heat and freezing cold. Once again, the former Pythonian brings his unique brand of wit and wisdom with him. Whilst on his travels, he passes through Afghanistan, across India to the feared Death Zone near the base of Mount Everest and then on to the Bhutanese capital before arriving in the Bay of Bengal.

Ratings and reviews

4.9
8 reviews