Michael Palin - Himalaya [DVD]

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Michael Palin undertakes his most challenging journey yet in this BBC travel series, across the Himalayas, the greatest ain range on earth, made up of a virtually unbroken wall of rock stretching 1800 miles from the borders of Afghanistan to south-west China. Along his journey Michael Palin encounters extremes of wealth and poverty, altitude and freezing cold, and meets, amongst many others, the Dalai Lama, the Bhutanese Royal Family and the once-feared head hunting tribe of the Konyak. His travels take him through Afghanistan, across India to the feared 'Death Zone' near the base of Everest, and then on to the Bhutanese capital before finally arriving in the Bay of Bengal. From .co.uk ----------- You might think that Michael Palin has visited pretty much every nook and cranny of the globe by now, but not so: he's managed to find a few previously unexplored hectares in Himalaya, his latest jaunt for the BBC. Here the format, established originally in his Phileas Fogg-inspired Around the World in 80 Days ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AISJE/%24%7B0%7D ), remains unchanged: always affable, seemingly unflappable, Palin journeys through the various countries along the world's greatest ain range, getting friendly with everyone he meets and offering gently witty, gently affectionate observations on the customs and cultures he encounters. From the Khyber Pass through dangerous territory along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, via Nepal then up into Tibet to Everest and down into China, and finally to Bangladesh, Palin is, as ever, unfazed by whatever the world has to throw at him, be it chaotic bull-racing in Peshawar, the threat of kip by Maoist rebels in Nepal, Tibetan Yak herding, or rafting down the Yangtze. Even if both the once indeigable traveller and the programme format itself seem a little tired at times (in Palin's case probably a side-effect of the high altitudes), the trek still provides manna from heaven for armchair travellers. On the DVD: There are two hour-long episodes on each disc, accompanied by a series of extended scenes which are accessed separately. Palin provides a brief introduction, filmed before he began his journey. --Mark Walker