Thursday
16Jun2005
Michael Palin's Himalayan Journey
Thursday, June 16, 2005 at 2:15AM 
Palin on the shores of a Tibetan Lake
I never used to watch much TV, but there was one series I used to watch religiously and it was Michael Palin's "Round the World in 80 days". There are many celebrities who anchor travel shows but most of them I don't like. I enjoy Palin's travels as I feel he is genuinely interested in the places and he has a great sense of humor.
Palin now has a new series called "Himalaya". He travels to some remote and end of the road places like this one
In the remote hill village of Longwa I can stand with one leg in India and the other in Myanmar, or Burma, as it used to be known. (I like the word Burma and take heart from the fact that Myanmar's national anthem remains 'Gba mjay Bma' – 'We Shall Love Burma for Ever'.) Longwa, a collection of palm-thatched huts, a tin-roofed church and a huge satellite dish, isn't marked on any maps I have. It's at the end of the line, on the very edge of Indian administration.
It's also the home of the largest building made entirely from vegetation that I think I've ever seen. The chief's hut, or in this case, mega-hut, is some 200 feet long and covered with a striking roof of palm leaves that sweeps down from an apex of 50 feet or more to within 3 feet of the ground.
The hut occupies the highest point of a 4700-foot (1430 m) ridge, on either side of which the land falls away in a series of crinkly valleys. Along the top runs the India-Myanmar border. In fact, it slices right down the middle of the chief's hut, so he can walk between the two countries without ever leaving home.
The book and some pictures are on Palin's site.
Reader Comments (8)
I’m a new reader of your blog. U did a great job there n 2 thumbs up for the creative effort. Keep blogging…
Ray
http://www.ray7nyc.blogspot.com/
I loved those Michail Palin documentaries. Apart from "Around the world in 80 days", another couple that came on TV were "Pole to Pole" and "A round Circle" (or something like that where he travels the pacific rim).
hi! sorry about this unrelated post but I am trying to locate your e-mail address to ask for your permission to reproduce a photo of yours on flickr.com for our website which we are revamping. could you pls reply to my e-mail: sulin@dramabox.org to discuss this further. hope to hear from you soon. many thanks!
Can I purchase a video tape or DVD or Michael's trip through the Himalayan's?
Due to my work schedule, I am not at home when it is played on TV. I taped the first episode but missed the second one.
Thanking you in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
Joan
Hello Siddhi, yes.. that was called Full Circle. I liked it too.. he goes along the pacific rim. I didn;t watch it but heard the audio book.
Joan, you can now buy the DVD at Amazon, i think it is available in stores in the UK too.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0009GX1EC/qid=1119973443/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-9839377-3293728?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846
I lucked out and saw the show Sunday night on Travel Channel. I saw the other series of his and own the books Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole and Pacific Rim. I want him to do a book strictly about the U.S. Would be interesting as a modern British DeTocqville.
I was most interested in his visiting Tibet because I wrote my Masters Thesis on Tibet. I now have a blog called Why China Matters and I just put up a piece about Tibet, which I will now add to.
www.whychinamatters.blogspot.com
Mike
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