Michael Palin revisits his fifth travel sequence – a journey to explore the Himalaya. Featuring supporters together with Levison Wooden and Ade Adepitan as they replicate on his accomplishment.
This distinctive episode sees Michael revisit his fifth travel collection – Himalaya.
For Michael, this epic journey throughout the world’s maximum mountain variety is the fulfilment of boyhood goals impressed by the 1953 ascent of Everest by Hillary and Tensing. Beginning in the renowned Khyber Go, he travels by means of Pakistan and India and ascends into Nepal and Tibet to reach Everest foundation camp itself, in advance of venturing into the mountain kingdom of Bhutan.
But Michael’s journey isn’t all about scaling peaks – it’s also about finding out what daily life is like for the individuals who reside in some of the harshest environments on Earth. He is curious to see international locations that had been slice off by the mountains for centuries and that have made their possess distinctive cultures and ways of survival, to discover the unique ways that faith influences culture below, and to meet the hardy inhabitants of the mountains.
Along the way, Michael sees Pakistan’s traditionally volatile North West Frontier area and narrowly avoids a bull all through a bull-racing festival. Crossing the border into India, he visits the Sikh town of Amritsar and the Golden Temple, exactly where he learns about Sikhism and eats with the countless numbers of pilgrims who come there. And in Dharamshala, he learns about Buddhism and satisfies the Dalai Lama – who turns out to be a Palin fan.
Going ever upwards into the mountains, Michael suffers from altitude illness, and at just one point thinks he may possibly have to give up. But he recovers and is rewarded with breathtaking views of the Annapurna assortment. Sooner or later, he reaches Everest foundation camp, where he reflects on the accomplishment of walking in the footsteps not only of Hillary but of the before British explorers Mallory and Irvine, who had been childhood heroes of his.
Currently being curious to discover out how people live up at significant altitude, he spends time with a Nepalese yak-herder and his household, making a actual connection despite not speaking their language. In Nagaland, he has a chat with an aged headhunter, who turns out to be a lot friendlier than he appears to be like. Lastly, Michael journeys via the isolated and magical nation of Bhutan, right before descending to sea-degree in Bangladesh.