A voyage to the most northerly corner of Europe starts with a train journey from London to the port of embarkation – Bergen, Norway. It takes a week. We revisit Hamburg for the first time in 50 years for a stroll down Memory Strasse, plus stop-overs in Copenhagen and Oslo. October, 2018. 27 minutes.
A 12-day return voyage threading through the islands along the Norwegian coast from Bergen up across the Arctic Circle to the most northerly corner of Europe, near the border with Russia. Since 1893 the remote villages in the Norwegian fjords have depended on the Hurtigruten shipping line to deliver goods, people and post. We travel 1,300 nautical miles and visit 34 ports of call, each way. October 2018. 54 minutes.
Colourful, musical, theatrical, passionate and, to outsiders, sinister – Semana Santa (Holy Week) is celebrated throughout Spain, but most spectacularly in Andalucía and its capital city, Sevilla. This video was shot in 2009, but the centuries-old rituals are unchanging. 46 minutes.
Exploring the steepest island in the world, La Palma, April 2018. 26 minutes.
We leave the colourful streets of Bogotá, taking the train to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, then travel by bus to the charming Spanish colonial villages of Villa de Leyva and Barichara. Onwards to Barrancabermeja where we board a launch to take us down the Río Magdalena to Mompós, the city that time forgot. February 2018. 44 minutes.
From vibrant Cartagena on the Caribbean coast we return to the southern mountain ranges, where we tour Medellín – once the murder capital of the world, now a groovy tourist destination – before chilling out on a coffee plantation near Manizales in the Zona Cafetera. Finally, we return for another taste of the funky barrios of Bogotá. February 2018. 32 minutes.
A tour of West Bengal begins in November 2016 as sudden demonetisation thrusts all of India into economic chaos. We roam the colourful streets of Kolkata, journey by train to see the unusual terra cotta temples of Bishnupur, and visit Darjeeling, with its lingering colonial memories and famous toy train, in the Himalayas. 49 minutes.
After a stay at a remote former Himalayan tea plantation, we return to Darjeeling, and take the toy train down to Siliguri. We then visit the neglected temples around Malda, before retunring to Kolkata for a journey through the Sunderbans delta. 50 minutes.
A journey by light plane and car in November 2015. 44 minutes.
A journey by car from southern to northern Damaraland and the Erongo mountains in November 2015. 46 minutes.
Burma (Myanmar) is surfing down a wave of rapid change set off just 18 months ago by the release of Aung San Suu Khi and the legalisation of her party. Now tourists are straining the infrastructure. 57 minutes.
Okay, you’ve written a play. Now what? 45 minutes.
A return journey up the Ayerawady River from Bagan to Mandalay and onward by rail up into the mountains of Shan State. 41 minutes.
The birthday card from the Queen has arrived. Time for a celebration. 7 minutes.
A journey through the eastern states of Mon and Kayan, where the National League for Democracy party seems to have an office in every village. 37 minutes.
What’s on the other side of the strait from Corfu? 44 minutes.
A train journey across Europe to visit Syria after the uprising began in spring 2011. 58 minutes.
Continuing a tour of Syria in spring 2011 during the early stages of the uprising. 55 minutes.
Tibet: the start of a 9000 kilometer rail journey. 45 minutes.
Crossing China: continuing the rail journey from Tibet to England. 57 minutes.
Beijing: breaking the journey. 57 minutes.
The Trans-Siberian Railway: concluding the 9000 kilometer jounrey from Tibet to England. 59 minutes.