Monks, Rock Gardens and Bamboo Drifting All Over the Place

All Over The Place Asia.

Are you ready for an amazing

adventure?

Then join Ed Petrie...

..and his CBBC mates...

Wow!

On a bonkers and brilliant

journey around...

Asia. Asia! Asia!

It's going to be epic!

That's amazing.

We'll take part

in some of Asia's

most spectacular and crazy events.

Like bamboo drifting in China.

Actually, I can't wait.

Whoa.

Whoa!

That's how you celebrate

in style.

So, are you ready to go?

# All Over the Place

# All Over the Place

# North, South, East, West

on a bizarre quest

# Me and my mates

All Over the Place

# It's true what you've heard,

everything is absurd.

# Whatever we do is strange

but true

# All Over the Place

All Over the Place

# There's stuff to do in Asia

that is totally ace and it turns up

# All Over the Place. #

All right, Rich?

What are you doing?

The script says

we're off to meet some monkeys

and give them some food.

Hang on.

"Ed and Rich visit the ancient

temples of Luang Prabang

"and offer the Buddhist monks..."

That's monks. "..some food."

What? What are the monks going

to do with all these bananas?

"Ed and Rich will pass the monks

rice..." That's rice.

"..at a special service known

as alms."

Give me that.

The script also says,

Rich walks into shot with a bunch

of bananas because he thinks

he's off to feed monkeys,

resulting in a hilarious

misunderstanding between Ed

and himself, therefore explaining

what is actually going to happen

in the film. Ha!

Ha. So it does.

Hang on.

Er... Does anyone know

what's happening next?

Luckily, I do, Ed.

You two are about to get

a sneak peek

into the life of a Buddhist monk.

Here in Laos, most schoolboys spend

a year studying this way of life

and it's not easy.

During this time, they give up

most of their possessions,

so they rely on offerings of food

and gifts from locals and tourists.

Ed and Rich are up before sunrise

to hand out some breakfast.

Ed and Rich are up before sunrise

to hand out some breakfast.

When the monks reach us, we're going

to give them rice from our bowls.

Don't worry, I washed my hands.

Also, everyone is kneeling because

we have to be lower than the monks.

It's a sign of respect.

Even when we're kneeling,

we're still probably taller,

but we'll do our best.

The most common offering is sticky

rice,

but people offer fruit,

water, even cake.

I'm hoping that they like tomato

ketchup flavoured crisps.

Ed and Rich are whispering because

the monks have taken a vow

of silence, which means they don't

talk between four and seven

in the morning.

Here they come. Here they come.

I felt really sorry for the ones

I couldn't give rice to.

I kept missing out. Some of them

didn't get crisps either.

You were just kind of doing

basketball shots

to try and get it in there.

Oh, no, there's more monks coming.

I've got no more rice.

I'm running out of crisps.

What do you want from me, monks?

It's never-ending monks.

My knees hurt a bit.

I'm exhausted.

Look how many baskets

we've got through.

That was really intense.

There were a lot of monks.

I've had a work-out.

I know.

The irony is, we haven't had any

breakfast.

That's true. Shall we get some?

Oh, dead leg.

My knees!

I need your hand.

Once the monks have collected

their alms,

it's back to their temples

for breakfast, but remember,

it's not 7am yet so be sure to

stick to the vow of silence.

Ssh.

Ahh-ahhh!

Ah-choo!

Right, that's it, you can't keep

quiet for one minute, can you?

Ssh.

Sang-Dao, can we talk to you now?

TRANSLATION:

Yeah, yeah, you can, yeah.

Oh, right, so after breakfast,

you're allowed to talk?

Yeah.

So what do you do

for the rest of the day?

Well, I go to school and then

for the rest of the day,

we've got workshops, including

carving, stonework, painting,

as well as cleaning chores

like sweeping.

Then do you get to have playtime,

play computer games, watch TV?

No, there's no TV in the temple,

mate,

and we're not allowed to watch

movies.

I think I saw a monk with a mobile

phone earlier

or was he being naughty?

I've got a mobile phone so

I can call home

and speak to my friends when I want.

You know, text them and that.

21st-century monk.

It looks like you're very busy

with all the sweeping.

Can we help you out?

That would be great.

Maybe you could help me sweep.

Over here.

Nice one, Ed, now we have to do some

sweeping.

It's good karma.

You know, it's amazing,

seeing these monks accepting help

from others and giving back and

having so few possessions

of their own and leading such

a timeless and ancient way of life.

Aw, I bet that's his mum.

I wonder what contract he's on.

I don't suppose he's using many

minutes between four and seven.

No.

Hello, muggle. I'm Professor Snipe.

I'm in Chandigarh to build

an army of magical creatures,

an army made of...

..marvellous monkeys...

..massive moo cows...

..and dynamic dancers.

Every magical army needs dancers.

Also, I just fancied a holiday.

Haven't had one in years.

I even bought some new clothes.

Everything you see here is rubbish,

or rather,

made out of recycled rubbish,

like broken dishes or rubble.

This incredible fantasyland

was one man's dream.

Mr Nek Chand.

He started this rock garden

in secret in 1958,

but now his son carries

on the work.

Anuj, what was the most unusual

material that you used?

TRANSLATION:

The most unusual

materials used were human hair,

bird feathers and old-style

light bulb fittings.

What happened when this chamber

of secrets was discovered?

1975 it was discovered and most

people were really happy about it

and asked my father to carry on.

This made him very happy of course

and I played here as a child

so I was essentially very happy too.

Thank you for your time. I know

you're a busy man so, Snipey,

are you going to show me around

then?

I'm not a tour bus, you know.

Come on.

All right, then.

Let's play Professor Snipe's

Totally Rubbish Quiz.

Question one.

Nek Chand started his rock garden

in 1958

but to keep it secret, did he A -

only work at night

or B - wear a cloak of invisibility?

A - work at night?

Correct.

Why didn't he just wear

an invisibility cloak

like a normal person?

Because the rock garden

was built in secret,

there were some people who wanted to

demolish it when they found out.

What stopped them?

Was it A - a force

of positive public opinion

or B - a magical persuasion potion?

I'm going to go for A again,

because as we found out,

loads of people absolutely

love this place.

Correct. A potion would have been

simpler, but what do I know?

This rock garden is famous all over

India and even the world,

but how was it honoured in 1983?

A - the postal service

issued a rock garden stamp.

Or B - Nek Chand was given

a magical,

self-sweeping broomstick to help

keep the place tidy?

I'm going to stick with A and go

for rock garden stamp.

Unfortunately, you are correct.

Which means you get a prize.

Oh, yes, bring it on, what do I get?

I'm going to turn you into stone

so you can stay here forever

and always.

No, I don't like this place

that much.

I want to change all my answers

to B.

Well, that was fun.

Who's for ice cream?

Mongolia. Erdene Soum.

Sorry, Ed, am I a bit late?

Only by about 800 years.

You what?

Just put this on.

And follow me.

# 13th century

# Spend a day back in time with me

# 13th century

# This park shows how it used to be

# Not far from the small town

of Erdene Soum

# Is this tourist attraction

# So pop on that Mongolian costume

# For 13th century action.

# Six different camps show how they

lived in times of Genghis Khan

# Let the guard check your tickets

# There's no cause for alarm

# 13th century

# Whoa, whoa

# So much ancient culture to see

# Oh, yeah

# 13th century

# Yeah, yeah

# Looks so realistic to me

# Here at the craftsman camp

# You will see traditional

things being made

# From weapons to tools

and jewellery

# I can learn the tricks

of the trade

# The education camp is next,

try some calligraphy

# Fancy a go? Remember, they wrote

top to bottom, see?

# 13th century

# Oh, yeah.

# Unique culture of literacy

# Oooh-oooh

# 13th century

# Yeah, yeah

# That's upside down, if you ask me

# Want the life of a herder?

# Well, this is where the work

with camels goes on

# These Bactrian camels

are pretty rare

# With two humps

for the price of one

# The shaman's camp learn of worship

and have your fortune told

# I can tell your future

# Yes?

You're going to get old

# 13th century

13th century

# The king's palace

I've got to see

# Oh, yeah

# 13th century

# Oh, yeah

# We can feast

like a king and queen

# The 24 poles represent

the Mongolian Empire

# But what's that interesting aroma?

# They put camel dung on the fire

# 13th century

# Ooh-ooh

# There's no place

that I'd rather be

# No place I'd rather be

# 13th century

# Oh, yeah.

# It happened long before

you and me. #

Where is Ricky? I'm supposed to be

meeting him at this water puppet

theatre in the city of Hanoi

in Vietnam.

You all right there, Ed Petrie dish?

All right, Hacker, what are you

doing here?

Well, I just thought as you're

sitting at the puppet theatre,

I'd come along and give you

some advice, Cocker.

Oi, you're not the real Hacker.

You?

Hi, Ed, I just thought,

you know,

you'd find this funny because

Hacker's a...

Dog. Talking dog, yeah, I know,

I'm not an idiot.

Ed, come back, don't you want to

know how I did the voices while

wearing a snorkel?

Oh, Ricky, everyone knows you

shouldn't speak with

your mouth full.

Now, pay attention because

Ed is right about one thing.

This is a puppet show in water.

The Thang Long Theatre

has been performing

for audiences in Hanoi since 1990,

but Vietnamese water puppetry

is over 1,000 years old.

We need two puppet pros to educate

these two muppet pros!

DEEP VOICE: Ed and Ricky,

you have 43 seconds to find out

as much as you can about water

puppetry.

Ed, you have Binh Minh, who knows

all about the theatre.

Ricky, you will have Thu Huyen,

who looks after the puppets.

The one who finds out the most

facts is the winner.

The one who finds out the most

facts is the winner.

VOICEOVER IMITATES WRESTLING CHANT

Xin chao.

Xin chao.

So what are the puppets made of?

TRANSLATION:

They're made of wood.

Where do the puppeteers go?

Under the water?

TRANSLATION:

Well, the puppeteers

are behind the curtains.

All the puppets are stored there.

They're in the water

up to their waist.

So, how do you control them?

We use sticks and strings

to control them.

Where is the best place

to sit to watch the show?

Well, you get the best view of the

performance from the front row down

there, but there's a chance you

might get wet when you sit there.

A very small chance, not much,

but there's a chance.

How many puppeteers can act at one

time?

Ten people can be in the water

and puppeteer at the same time.

Quite a lot. It might be quite busy

down there.

Oh.

The person who found out

the most facts is...

Ricky.

Yes!

And your reward is getting your feet

wet backstage

with some pro-puppeteers.

Time to get kitted out

with some water-tight gear.

What's the water like?

Actually, my waders are leaking.

Seriously?

Whoa. No way. Hey, dude.

Oh-ho-ho! That is sweet.

DEEP VOICE: Puppet one - The Dragon.

I've got a little pulley stick here.

You pull that back.

And then as you come up...

Wah!

..it squirts out.

Is it easy to manoeuvre?

Yeah, it's really, really easy.

It's not really easy at all.

Puppet two - Funny Hair Man.

I control the hip swing and these

guys have the separate arms.

Then his face. I'm guessing he's

just a free spirit.

This guy could clear the dance floor

in about three seconds.

Ricky, your puppeteering is utterly

life-like.

Puppet three - Backstroke Man.

This one is so tricky, because you

have to use two separate poles.

One for his hips, moving him up and

down and the other one rotating the

arms so he's got a nice swimming

motion.

It is quite splashy.

He swims a bit like you, Ed.

He's got better backstroke,

actually.

Yeah, this is really easy.

This is one of the best ones yet.

These guys have got years of

experience. You've been doing it for

about a half an hour.

Have you mastered it?

Yeah, man,

I've totally mastered this.

I think it's time for the big

performance.

Thu Huyen and Ricky Martin star

in an All Over the Place puppetry

production.

On televisions now.

Big Fish wants to be a bird.

He tries to fly and the man,

with his basket, is like,

"Hey, check out my basket, fish."

The fish is like, "I don't care

about your basket,

"I want to be a bird."

He's like, "I can't really be a bird

because I'm a fish."

So, I'm going to go home and watch

something on TV.

The swimmer went for a swim one day

but he could only keep his bum

in the air

and his arms weren't very good.

Right, Ricky is definitely

puppeteering that swimmer!

So he asked the snake, "Hey, snake."

And the snake was like, "Hiss."

Exactly. And then he didn't really

learn anything

from what the snake said,

but he tried to mimic his movement

and from then on,

he was known as Mr Snaky Swim.

I think this is genuinely the worst

piece of theatre I've ever seen.

Now it's time for the grand finale.

The tale of the two dragons.

Once upon a time,

there was two supercool dragons

and the supercool dragons

wanted to start a band,

but unfortunately, when they went

out, they caught a cold

and it gave them a really bad

sneeze.

Time to squirt the audience.

Oi, oi, oi!

Clear off, you pesky dragons!

And then they thought,

"This is a great name for our band,

Pesky Dragons."

Nice outfits!

Thanks, man.

The thing about these waders is,

they just keep the water in,

not the water out.

Knowing that you

were that uncomfortable has just

increased my enjoyment

of the performance 100%.

Ed, it is so nice to be here

in China, isn't it?

Standing on the bank of the river.

One of 22,000 rivers in China.

Luckily, not the biggest.

No, that's the Yangtze.

Because we've been given a bamboo

pole for today's main event.

Yeah.

I've got a horrible feeling

they want us to pole vault

across the river.

No, it can't be

that, mate, look how wide it is.

Do you know what it could be?

It could be a javelin event.

Chuck it and see how far

you can get it.

What's he laughing at?

It can't be more difficult than

that.

OK, it's more difficult than that.

It sure is.

This is bamboo drifting,

a traditional skill

in Guizhou Province

that has become a popular sport.

In days gone by, the area had a lot

of flooding

and a lot of bamboo handy,

so they would chop down a big bamboo

pole and drift on down the river.

Nowadays they use fiberglass floats.

They are only about 12 centimetres

in diameter,

and either compete in straight races

or bust out their gymnastic skills.

I've got to say, that was absolutely

amazing.

Who are these guys?

TRANSLATION:

These are the

championship winning students

from a national middle school,

and I'm their coach.

We're going to be learning how to

balance on one of these, like them?

Oh, yes, you can.

With practice, and that's going to

happen at the school today.

This is going to be interesting,

mate.

Actually, I can't wait.

Oh, I wouldn't be laughing

if I were you, fellas.

It can take a whole year to learn

to bamboo drift.

Ed and Barney, you've got the

morning.

To bamboo drift, you need to have

balance, grace, flexibility

and be extremely physically fit.

Ed, you'll be getting trained by

15-year-old ace paddler, Taixian.

Barney, you'll be getting put

through your paces by the powerful

Shongyong, also 15.

This pair are amongst the best

bamboo drifters there are.

They make it look easy,

but it ain't,

so don't you lot go trying this at

home.

First, upper body strength.

Essential for a bamboo drifter.

You having a laugh?

TRANSLATION:

You try it.

What?!

Not doing as fast as her, am I?

I think speed is the least of your

worries, Ed.

OK, Barney, let's give your chest a

work-out.

How's that?

Oh, he seems to have got the hang

of these.

I've got it.

Or not.

OK, surely this is a bit easier

for you, Ed.

Like this?

TRANSLATION:

Legs apart. That's it.

Legs apart. Like this, like this.

Ed, that is truly awe-inspiring,

I'm heading off to the gym myself

now.

Shongyong is making this look easy.

Which it is.

Absolute breeze.

Oh, yeah, no problem whatsoever.

If you cheat.

Next up, flexibility, as bamboo

drifters need to be supple.

Taixian is going to show Ed

a leg stretch.

Oh, no.

TRANSLATION:

You try it.

That one?

Put it up here.

Ah! Ow!

Ow, ow.

Painful, Ed, to watch.

Next up, balance.

No surprise that bamboo drifters

need amazing balancing abilities.

TRANSLATION:

Arms level.

Or maybe not.

Taixian is looking like she isn't

sure if Ed will ever make the grade.

Let's be honest, Barney's no better.

But as they say in life,

if at first you don't succeed...

Try something a bit more difficult

like a float that is free to roll on

the ground?

TRANSLATION:

Your foot can be at an

angle. At an angle, like this.

Oh, yes, I'm getting much better

now.

Oh, yes, yes.

There won't be someone holding

your float out on the water, Ed.

Cheers, mate.

Maybe a pole might

help.

Nope. Nope.

Ow!

How do you think I'm doing?

TRANSLATION:

Not very good,

I'm afraid.

Luckily for Ed, Barney is finding

this just as impossible.

TRANSLATION:

Hands wider apart.

This is the one.

This is not the one.

You're rubbish?

I'm not good at all.

There's literally no way I could

stand on one of these in the water.

What are we going to do?

I don't know.

It's not the fault of our coaches,

though, cos they are pretty awesome.

My coach is just off the charts.

Yeah, well, Taixian is pretty good,

she can walk to the end and back

and turn around on it.

It's quite impressive.

Why don't we

watch our coaches and whosever coach

wins, we win.

Bring on the coach-off.

It's basically an excuse for us

being no good at all.

You're not going to hear any

arguments here, Ed.

The rules are straightforward.

Race from the far side of the river

to the near bank.

First to touch it is the winner.

Simples. Now, these guys are

experts.

Expect this to be close.

Let's do this.

It's the bamboo drifting main event.

Over to the boys.

Here we go.

Taixian's pole is

drifting.

I think that's technique.

I think she's trying to barge him

out of the way with her pole.

Get ready.

Look at that.

And they're off!

I've got to say,

my coach looks a bit steady

on the old pole there.

Good point, Barney.

Shongyong has had a stronger start.

Come on, Taixian.

He's creating waves at the front of

his pole.

Cheating probably, yes.

No, look at him, he's just stepped

into overdrive. My guy's got it.

Come on, Taixian.

Shongyong is still in the lead.

Can Taixian close the gap?

Look how much strength he's got,

just to stay balanced and also to

use his arms like that.

Shongyong is still looking strong.

The gap is widening.

Can Taixian bring it back?

Come on, Taixian.

Come on,

Shongyong, you've got this.

One last big push for the shore.

Can Taixian bring it back?

Not looking likely.

Look at that.

A real crowd-pleaser from Shongyong.

He made that look easy.

Go on, do it. Did you see what he

just did?

That's how you celebrate in style.

Not just a winner but he's got his

own move for the win.

A fairly convincing victory

for Shongyong.

Let's hear it for the champion.

A huge round of applause please.

What a legend!

You've been watching

All Over the Place Asia!