0:00:03 > 0:00:04'Southeast Asia.
0:00:05 > 0:00:11'Where ancient religions jostle for space with superhighways.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14'One of the most rapidly changing places on earth.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21That was genuinely amazing.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23'My fellow comedian Ed Byrne and I...'
0:00:23 > 0:00:26I don't understand anything that the board says.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27'..are on an epic adventure...'
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Difficult to get the rhythm right.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'..to three of the most vibrant countries in the region.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:35This is an astonishingly beautiful sunset.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38'From the economic powerhouse of Malaysia,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42'the holiday paradise of Thailand, to Myanmar,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46'a fledgling democracy unlocking its doors to the world.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50- There's a lot of people. - There are lots of people here.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'It's a journey that takes us over 3,000 miles
0:00:53 > 0:00:57'from Kuala Lumpur across the Malaysian peninsular
0:00:57 > 0:00:58'to the historic city of Mandalay.'
0:01:00 > 0:01:03- This is a taste of real Malaysia now.- Ladies.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06That's a nice feeling, isn't it?
0:01:06 > 0:01:09This could prove to be a very long night.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13'We want to explore how Thailand is sinking under the worst excesses of tourism.'
0:01:13 > 0:01:16To me, Phuket is now like the Titanic.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19We're moving to the huge iceberg ahead.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23'Meet the indigenous tribes of Malaysia struggling to survive.'
0:01:23 > 0:01:25They're really shy of new people.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27We're going to be just as shy.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31'And discover how Myanmar is grappling with its new-found freedom.'
0:01:31 > 0:01:33The perception was that I was watched
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and I could be thrown into jail at any minute.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40'We want to understand how the clash between East and West,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42'the traditional and the modern,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'is transforming these countries forever.'
0:01:45 > 0:01:49It does seem odd. It felt like I'd stepped into a time machine.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Do you know what this trip needs?
0:01:51 > 0:01:52A giant golden Buddha.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Would there be one of them nearby, by any chance?
0:02:05 > 0:02:08'We've now reached Yangon in Myanmar.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11'The former capital is still the largest
0:02:11 > 0:02:15'and most populated city in Myanmar, with over five million residents.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22'We're eager to explore, once we've learned the basic from our guides.'
0:02:22 > 0:02:24What was hello again?
0:02:24 > 0:02:27- Mingalaba.- Oh, mingalaba! - Mingalaba.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31- Mingalaba.- Mingalaba. - Mingalaba.- Mingalaba.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33- What's thank you?- Thank you is...
0:02:33 > 0:02:36- Kyayzuba.- Kyayzuba.- Kyayzuba.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43'Myanmar was known as Burma until the military junta changed its name in 1989.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48'Until recently, it was shut off from the world.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51'Ruled by the infamous generals who, for 50 years,
0:02:51 > 0:02:53'ran a brutal regime of house arrests,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55'censorship and imprisonment.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03And we're likely to get killed at any moment.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11'In 2015, after a long campaign for democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13'the first civilian government was elected.'
0:03:14 > 0:03:18The only thing I come here with is the excitement of seeing somewhere
0:03:18 > 0:03:20which is at a really interesting stage of its development.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24I mean, it's one of those journeys which is like a holiday in living history,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26so you get to see where the news stories occurred,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30and also we are a number of months past their first ever democratic elections.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36This is very much a country which is undergoing enormous change.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40At the same time we know that we're in the middle of one of those timelines
0:03:40 > 0:03:43that will be written about in history books.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47'I have my own more personal reasons for being here.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51From the mid-'90s, I got quite involved doing stuff for Amnesty International
0:03:51 > 0:03:53at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58Then we started campaigning particularly for these guys in Burma,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02these comedians, U Lu Zaw and Par Par Lay, The Moustache Brothers,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06who got arrested for doing anti-government satire.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09And that's when I really started to take an interest.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11I would MC the gigs every year,
0:04:11 > 0:04:13and even when I wasn't going to Edinburgh to do a gig,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15I'd go specifically to do the Amnesty gig.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18'I'd love to find out what The Moustache Brothers are up to now,
0:04:18 > 0:04:19'and I've heard they're in Mandalay.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24I'm also looking forward to being able to hit the ground running
0:04:24 > 0:04:27as regards to seeing the real Myanmar.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- Are they cockroaches? - No, they're grasshoppers. Yeah.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34- Oh, there's flies on them!- I know, it's weird that you should care
0:04:34 > 0:04:37that there are flies buzzing around the grasshoppers.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39'It's a fascinating time to be here.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43'Not only because of the recent elections,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47'but we've arrived in the middle of a Buddhist Light Festival.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51'This marks the end of Buddhist Lent,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53'and it's hugely important in Myanmar
0:04:53 > 0:04:55'to remember when Lord Buddha returned to earth
0:04:55 > 0:04:59'to teach the people about enlightenment.'
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- That's a lot of people. - There are lots of people here.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06'The Shwedagon Pagoda,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10'Myanmar's greatest temple, glows with thousands of candle offerings.'
0:05:13 > 0:05:16I can't help thinking of the Glastonbury Festival.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20- Just people just walking.- Yeah, yeah. Towards the Pyramid Stage.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22It's a hell of a sight, though, you know.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31'Next morning,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'we're heading to an iconic political landmark in this emerging democracy.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38'This is the place where Aung San Suu Kyi,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40'the country's leading pro-democracy activist,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42'was once imprisoned.'
0:05:44 > 0:05:47It's an interesting notion to go on a tourist trip
0:05:47 > 0:05:49- of modern political history.- Yes.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52- It just seems a little weird. - Oh, there we go! That's it.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54There, right there.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57So those are the gates to the house that Aung San Suu Kyi
0:05:57 > 0:06:00was in under house arrest. OK, let's go and have a look.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Don't get killed!
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Jesus.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08'Aung San Suu Kyi spoke out against the regime
0:06:08 > 0:06:14'and was placed under house arrest for 15 years.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18'She continued her non-violent campaign from behind these gates.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:23There's her dad, who liberated Burma from the British in 1948.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28There is something about seeing an artefact,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31something that you've seen in the news for years and years and years.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34However, they never had, "This is John Simpson for the BBC.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"Jesus, six lanes of traffic!"
0:06:36 > 0:06:41I would imagine there were plenty of times when ordinary people with vans
0:06:41 > 0:06:44trying to do deliveries are going, "Bloody democracy.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46"Bloody freedom."
0:06:46 > 0:06:50People are always holding up Abbey Road, walking across.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52- They're the worst. They're the worst.- Walking over the pedestrian crossing.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55People trying to recreate Aung San Suu Kyi's famous walk to freedom.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06'Myanmar recently held its first free general election.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10'Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won a landslide victory,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13'ushering in a new era of democratic government.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18'A few of the 23 million people who voted have agreed to meet us
0:07:18 > 0:07:19'to discuss what's changed
0:07:19 > 0:07:22'and the novelty of talking politics in public.'
0:07:24 > 0:07:27The perception then was that I was watched.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Anything I said could be heard
0:07:29 > 0:07:31and I could be thrown into jail at any minute.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35I was basically very uninformed and ignorant about things.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37And this was not an accident,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40this was the design of the ruling regime,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42that the population should know nothing.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- Yeah.- In the past, I was like so isolated.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I didn't know anything about the world and also didn't care
0:07:48 > 0:07:50because I didn't know.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53But then in 2009,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55I got out of the country then went to Thailand to study
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and then it opened up my mind.
0:07:58 > 0:08:05And the problem is now we're sort of another extreme of openness.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07For example, social media.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12Nowadays we have more noises than voices.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Are people now realising that change is actually going to take a long time
0:08:19 > 0:08:24and that politics moves very slowly?
0:08:24 > 0:08:26People have high expectations.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29People thought that everything would change with the new government,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31new regime, but not yet.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36It is the problem. The government is still not walking the dog.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Welcome to democracy.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Get used to more disappointment.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Get used to a feeling of impotence that will continue.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48That is the way democracy just tends to let you down a lot, so...
0:08:48 > 0:08:49But that is the joy of it.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51LAUGHTER
0:08:59 > 0:09:04'It's still just 190 days since Myanmar's new administration took over,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06'but already the young people of Yangon
0:09:06 > 0:09:11'are finding creative ways to express what change means to them.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15'And I've come to see some permanent evidence.'
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Oh, that is incredible. That is beautiful.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23So this is a portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi over the map of Myanmar.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Why? Why have you gone for this tattoo?
0:09:28 > 0:09:30So they're heroes of yours?
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Because, I presume, a few years ago you couldn't do this, could you?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45And what are the words that you've written on the tattoo?
0:09:47 > 0:09:49And is that how people in Myanmar are now?
0:09:52 > 0:09:54I mean, that is lovely. You're doing great work.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57But I'm just thinking, you have an area here.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Do you know Arsenal Football Club? They play in London.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06Yeah, well, just a big logo there for my football team.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08- Yeah.- Can you put that on there? Is that all right?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12No. Because this team is not...
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- Your team?- I don't like this team.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17My team is Manchester United.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Don't do that. Don't get a tattoo of Manchester United.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21I think it's lovely with that.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25- It works better without it.- Yes.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27HE WHISPERS: Do it anyway. Do a big Arsenal.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Tell him you're doing Man United and do a big Arsenal.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31He'll never know, he'll never know.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43'And now Dara is in with the cool kids, we've been invited to
0:10:43 > 0:10:46'a local tea shop where all the serious tattoo junkies hang out.'
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- How are you? How are you?- I'm Ed. Dara.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54- How are you?- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you. How are you?
0:10:54 > 0:10:56We are not mucking around with the ink at this table.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Yeah. You've got...
0:10:58 > 0:11:02So that is General Aung San.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Oh, look at that. That's fantastic.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07- How long did that take? - That is beautiful.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Five hours.
0:11:09 > 0:11:10- Five hours?- Yes.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Hero of Burma.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17- This guy. That's the General... - As a much younger man.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Do you have to be careful not to work out too hard
0:11:19 > 0:11:20or the faces will get stretched?
0:11:20 > 0:11:22That's a good excuse not to exercise.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24And where...?
0:11:24 > 0:11:29- He's got it here. - Oh, lovely!- That's really good...
0:11:29 > 0:11:30I like that. That's very beautiful, yeah.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33There's only a handful of political figures
0:11:33 > 0:11:36that people would have that level of iconography over.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39Your Che Guevara, Gandhi, Mandela, I suppose.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43I don't know, maybe would British people have Churchill tattooed on them?
0:11:43 > 0:11:47I can't imagine. He's the only person, of all the British leaders,
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Jeremy Corbyn maybe.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I think we may well see Corbyn tattoos before the year is out.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Hello, here is my friend. How are you?
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Let's see. Show them all.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59- This is good.- It's a floor show. - Yeah.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03Look at that.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08'When the regime was in charge, for 50 years they controlled the media,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11'they controlled the amount of information that was coming in,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13'there was no right to free assembly,'
0:12:13 > 0:12:16people used to meet in tearooms exactly like that
0:12:16 > 0:12:17to quietly discuss what was happening
0:12:17 > 0:12:20and to hand out illegally printed pamphlets,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24to essentially ferment some rebellion to the regime.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28But now, you can sit in there with a tattoo of Aung San Suu Kyi
0:12:28 > 0:12:30and you can celebrate.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34- That has earned you a seat at this table at which we do not belong.- No.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Hey, put your shirt back on, you're a bit ripped.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45'Myanmar remains one of the poorest countries in the world,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49'having been closed off for more than 50 years.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52'Life in Yangon is still pretty unchanged,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'with most people earning around 3 a day.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59'Nevertheless, the people here seem unfazed by a couple of Irish men
0:12:59 > 0:13:01'walking through their city.'
0:13:01 > 0:13:03- Hello. How are you? - Hello. Where you come from?
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Ireland, originally.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Via England.- The UK.- Ah.- Yeah.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- It's beautiful.- It's very lovely. - Lovely.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23- Oh, we do a Paris dance, looking out at the world?- Of course.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'It's been an amazing day tapping into life in Yangon,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30'so now we're heading to the pub, or beer station as they call it.'
0:13:30 > 0:13:31Now, that's what I call service.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- Hello. Hello.- How are you doing? You all right?- Where are you from?
0:13:39 > 0:13:42From Ireland, originally.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44We live in England.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48- In London. - Do you know Cliff Richard?
0:13:48 > 0:13:49- Pardon me?- Cliff Richard?
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Do we know Cliff Richard? Yes!
0:13:51 > 0:13:52We're familiar with his work.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54I don't claim to be friends...
0:13:54 > 0:13:58- I didn't claim to be friends... - Are you a big fan of Cliff Richard?
0:13:58 > 0:14:01- Yes.- Really? - Do you know The Young Ones?
0:14:01 > 0:14:06We were more fans of the sitcom than the Cliff Richard song.
0:14:06 > 0:14:111968, Cliff Richard, The Young Ones show at the cinema.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15So I like him.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17You saw Young Ones here?
0:14:17 > 0:14:20It was on in the cinema here? Was it a big hit?
0:14:20 > 0:14:22The movie, movie.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Two movies came here. Summer Holiday and The Young Ones.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28And you saw that and you said, "That's it."
0:14:28 > 0:14:32# Got myself a crying, talking, sleeping, walking
0:14:32 > 0:14:33# Living doll
0:14:33 > 0:14:38# Got to do my best to please her, just cos she's a living doll
0:14:38 > 0:14:40# Got a roving eye
0:14:40 > 0:14:43# And that is why she satisfies my soul
0:14:43 > 0:14:45- # 'Fies my soul... # - Where's my soul?
0:14:45 > 0:14:48# Got the one and only walking talking
0:14:48 > 0:14:49# Living doll. #
0:14:49 > 0:14:54- Yeah, that's it.- What's your name? - Robert O'Hara.- Robert O'Hara.
0:14:54 > 0:14:55Yeah, my father from the UK.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58- Really?- Yeah, he came in second war.
0:14:58 > 0:15:00British Army.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- Your father was stationed here in the Second World War?- Yeah.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05Robert. Ed.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09- Dara.- Lovely to meet you, Robert O'Hara.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13- I've got to admit, you don't look like a Robert O'Hara.- You don't.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- Do you know Summer Holiday?- Yes!
0:15:15 > 0:15:19- Beautiful film.- We'll sing together. - We'll sing together, my friend.- OK.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23# We're all going on a summer holiday
0:15:23 > 0:15:26# No more working for a week or two
0:15:26 > 0:15:30# Fun and laughter on our summer holiday
0:15:30 > 0:15:33# No more worries for me or you
0:15:33 > 0:15:36# For me and you
0:15:36 > 0:15:40ORIGINAL SONG PLAYS: # We're going where the sun shines brightly
0:15:40 > 0:15:44# We're going where the sea is blue
0:15:44 > 0:15:47# We've seen it on the movies
0:15:47 > 0:15:51# Now let's see if it's true
0:15:51 > 0:15:55# So we're going on a summer holiday
0:15:55 > 0:15:59# To make our dreams come true. #
0:16:04 > 0:16:05'It's time to leave Yangon
0:16:05 > 0:16:08'and continue our journey towards Mandalay.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16'Railways were introduced here in 1877 by the British
0:16:16 > 0:16:18'and we're told they haven't changed much since then.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24'We'll be heading into the rural heartland of the country.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29'Providing we can find the right platform.'
0:16:30 > 0:16:33I don't understand anything that the board says.
0:16:33 > 0:16:34There are ticks.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Everything seems to be OK.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38- Yeah.- Everything is on time.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- There's no Xs or skull and crossbones, it is all...- Yes.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48English script.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50Right. Tick.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Here, here, here.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04We're in carriage two and that's J.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Oh, good, OK.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09That one is carriage backwards C.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12Yeah, I think we may have a problem here.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14OK. OK, cool, thank you.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Oh, it's the other carriage J.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25It's nice that we get to sit together anyway.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29It's good. Well, you know, it's a nine-hour train journey, Ed.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Are you going to kick the back of my seat for nine hours?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Repeatedly.
0:17:34 > 0:17:35This is going to be great.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38For about half an hour.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Farewell, then, Yangon. Farewell. You'll always be in our hearts.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59I liked Yangon a lot, but I think I mainly liked the Yangonese,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01the Yangonians.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06The people of Yangon. I'm a Yang-aholic.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13'From Yangon we'll travel through the countryside north towards Inle Lake,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17'stopping in at a Pa'O village on the way to the ancient city of Bagan
0:18:17 > 0:18:20'before we hit the historic road to Mandalay.'
0:18:26 > 0:18:27People just on the tracks.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30People just wandering across the tracks.
0:18:30 > 0:18:31Well, trains are one an hour,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I'd imagine there's enough time for them to...
0:18:33 > 0:18:34Still just looks weird, doesn't it?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36..to formulate a plan to get out of the way.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39"Oh, there'll be a train in ten minutes. Maybe we should move."
0:18:49 > 0:18:54'We're so used to very rigid rules back home where the train doors shut
0:18:54 > 0:18:57'60 seconds before the train even starts moving.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59'Nobody can be on the platform when it is moving,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01'whereas this, the train starts
0:19:01 > 0:19:04'and you can jump on it or jump off it
0:19:04 > 0:19:06'and you get these guys selling stuff
0:19:06 > 0:19:08'and walking through the carriages with it
0:19:08 > 0:19:10'or selling beer out of coolers.'
0:19:11 > 0:19:14I'm expecting someone to bring livestock through at some stage.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- It's a great alternative to a buffet car or even a trolley service.- Yeah.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31'It's important when you're in somewhere like Yangon to talk about Aung San Suu Kyi,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34'it's important to talk to people with first flowerings of freedom.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'When you move obviously into a more agricultural society,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40'day-to-day, that won't have affected their lives as much.'
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It's utterly charming. Stunning, stunning,
0:19:45 > 0:19:49beautiful tropical landscape just spooling past you at a sedate rate.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58'After nine hours, we've only covered just over 220 miles,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00'and we've reached the final stop on the line.'
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Come on, let's hop off.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11'To go any further we'll have to continue over the mountains by road.'
0:20:16 > 0:20:18'We're heading east into the remote rural areas
0:20:18 > 0:20:21'where 70% of the country live.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28'There are 135 tribes in Myanmar, each governed in their own way.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37'Most people here have had little contact with Westerners
0:20:37 > 0:20:40'and still live very traditional lives.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47'We're coming into the Kayan village of Panpet.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49'One of the smallest tribes in the country,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52'the Kayan here take advice on crops,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56'health and relationships from their famous local fortune-teller
0:20:56 > 0:20:58'and his chickens.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03'We've got an appointment with Grandpa Yu,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05'who comes from a long line of soothsayers.'
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Dara. Ed.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- Sandra.- Sandra.- Sandra, how are you?
0:21:14 > 0:21:19'Our translator explains how a dead chicken will give us a look into our own future.'
0:21:19 > 0:21:23First, you have to ask the question like health, love,
0:21:23 > 0:21:24business or something like that.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- Yes.- And he will kill the chicken.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- I'm sorry, what?- Kill.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31- He'll kill the chicken. - He kills the chicken.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34That's a detail that is, I think, important to know here.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- Right.- Are we going to eat it, then?
0:21:37 > 0:21:40- Yes.- OK.- It's not just dying for a couple of yes or no questions.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42After killing the chicken,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45he looks at the fortune and he tells yes or no
0:21:45 > 0:21:47- and it will be or it is possible. - Fine.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49Right, well, let's bring out the chickens.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- Here we go.- Here we go. This is our oracle.
0:21:55 > 0:22:02This is what I want to ask. Ed and I have done two long journeys.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07- Will we make another...- Another? - ..long journey?- Yeah. OK.
0:22:07 > 0:22:08SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:22:08 > 0:22:10'On the one hand, an animal is about to die,'
0:22:10 > 0:22:13so you don't just want to make like a cheap joke.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16But on the other hand, you also don't want to ask a genuine question
0:22:16 > 0:22:20about you or your loved ones or your family or the actual future,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24so you've got to pick something which is a little silly,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26but also has, I was going to say, has some meat on the bones,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29but that's a bad phrase to use.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40That's the bad bit.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- OK, so the chicken is now dead. - Dead.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50'We all do this.'
0:22:50 > 0:22:53Like, there's a version of this everywhere whether you're rolling dice
0:22:53 > 0:22:56or whether you're opening the back of the paper and going,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58"When I was born under the sign of Pisces..."
0:22:58 > 0:23:01So, yeah, a long journey ahead...
0:23:01 > 0:23:03And this one comes at lunch.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09It's important, by the way, to stress that the chickens were going to be used for food anyway.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11The chickens were going to die anyway.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- Have you butchered a bird, Ed? - I've done a squirrel.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18I've made a squirrel stew.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21Were you trapped in the wilderness trying to survive?
0:23:21 > 0:23:24No, there was a squirrel on me bird feeder and I shot it with an air rifle
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and then I skinned it and then ate it. That is a true story.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29That's the most horrible thing I've ever heard.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32- Did you not know that about me? - I did not know you did that.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37After removing the thigh bone,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Grandpa Yu inserts sticks to read the bones,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43a bit like reading tea leaves.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:23:54 > 0:23:58He doesn't know exactly where, but you have to go another journey.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00There will be a third journey?
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Wow, I frankly think that's up for debate.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- Take me to there.- Yeah! - You want to come too, do you?- Yeah.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07We've been to some great places in the world.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09We've seen some fantastic things.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11That's an interesting answer, that.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Are we going again, do you think?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Well, it was a difficult conversation I had to have.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19The BBC are very happy with the work you've done,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23but there's a whole new generation of younger comics coming through
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and it just, you know, might be their time,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28might be their time. I sort of wanted to see that in the chicken,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30but I didn't. It calls into question
0:24:30 > 0:24:33the whole veracity of the chicken thing, really.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35It better taste nice at least.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It does seem odd.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01It felt like I'd stepped into a time machine,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03to come back to this era,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and then ask a fortune-teller to tell me the future.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I enjoy the sensation of feeling like I'm going back in time.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16If you think about it too much it can depress you ever so slightly
0:25:16 > 0:25:20because you start thinking about the reasons why certain parts of
0:25:20 > 0:25:22the country are preserved in aspic.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26In a way it's because the country has been held back from development
0:25:26 > 0:25:30because there's been a desire to keep the rest of the world out.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37'Consulting chicken bones is part of Grandpa Yu's Kan Khwan religion,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39'which the Kayan people have practised
0:25:39 > 0:25:42'since they migrated from Mongolia in the Bronze Age.'
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Traditional awkward sitting position.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56- Oh, there's our friend, the chicken. - The chicken of knowledge.- Yes.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59What else could the chicken have told us if we'd simply let it live?
0:26:01 > 0:26:05This feels like the kind of lifestyle that has been ongoing for centuries
0:26:05 > 0:26:09and remains relatively unchanged.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13'The people of Panpet and the surrounding villages live a communal life,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18'still sharing responsibilities for farm work and family.'
0:26:18 > 0:26:24You hope it doesn't reduce down to them shrugging as another busload of
0:26:24 > 0:26:26tourists arrive in with chickens in their hands
0:26:26 > 0:26:29waiting for the chickens to be slaughtered. But then again,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33am I just doing what every backpacker does where you go, "It's all changed."
0:26:33 > 0:26:38We saw it back in '16 when it was very new.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41It's not the real Myanmar any more.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43We were the ones who ruined Myanmar.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45That's how history will recall
0:26:45 > 0:26:48because I made you all want to come here.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'An hour's drive northwest of Panpet is Inle Lake,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00'the next port of call on our journey to Mandalay.'
0:27:08 > 0:27:11'The fishermen here have used this delicate leg-rowing technique
0:27:11 > 0:27:14'for over 900 years.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19'It leaves their hands free to set and check their nets.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29'There are still hundreds of families making their living like this today.'
0:27:51 > 0:27:53You look like a man on his holiday.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55I look like a man on an adventure.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58I can't even see you you're wearing so much camouflage.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Just a floating head.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05'We're now taking to the water to explore the lake,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'which is the second largest in the country
0:28:08 > 0:28:12'and sits 3,000 feet above sea level in the Shan Hills.'
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Just the places that people live always wrecks my head.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20Just that people will create towns high up Everest
0:28:20 > 0:28:24or on the edge of a cliff, or there.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25It's insane.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33'Some 70,000 people, called the Intha, live along these shores
0:28:33 > 0:28:35'and even on the lake itself,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38'mostly living off fishing and floating gardens.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46'But the fishermen leg rowers of Inle have another passion -
0:28:46 > 0:28:50'boat racing between rival villages.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53'And today, we have the honour of being among the first Westerners
0:28:53 > 0:28:59'to be invited to take part in one of these fierce rowing competitions.'
0:28:59 > 0:29:01"Did you find parking all right?"
0:29:01 > 0:29:03"Oh, it was grand."
0:29:03 > 0:29:05'But as we're not natural oarsmen,
0:29:05 > 0:29:08'one of the lead rowers has offered to give us a lesson
0:29:08 > 0:29:11'with only four hours to go to the race.'
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Sorry, children. Hope you don't mind.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20'Kalari comes from generations of leg rowers.'
0:29:20 > 0:29:24Can you ask Kalari how difficult is it to learn?
0:29:24 > 0:29:30THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:29:31 > 0:29:34He said, a bit difficult.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Is it easier if you're a very big person
0:29:38 > 0:29:42or if you're a skinny, smaller person?
0:29:42 > 0:29:48THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:29:52 > 0:29:57The fat person, also they can learn, but it takes more time.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02When you stand on the canoe, it's more difficult to balance.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04I never said the word fat.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06I never brought up the word fat.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10He's definitely repeatedly said fat.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14I think the man meant tall or just generally...
0:30:14 > 0:30:16- Of great stature.- Yes, exactly.
0:30:18 > 0:30:24'Whatever size you are, mastering leg rowing looks far from simple.'
0:30:26 > 0:30:29- OK, that's...- Hardly a doddle.- Yeah.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31There's a lot going on.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35- Yes, he is twisting that oar. - The blade goes like that
0:30:35 > 0:30:38and then goes forward like that and has turned back like that.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42- Otherwise...- Trying to do the robot. - Yeah. That will be easier to do now.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51'My time has come and, close up, the boat looks even more flimsy.'
0:30:53 > 0:30:54Oh, Jesus!
0:30:57 > 0:30:59OK.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01That's not a confident noise you're making.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07Look at that.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Yeah, there you go. See, that's how it's done.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13- Oh, show me the little girl doing it.- There you go.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19'If small children can do it, surely I can.'
0:31:19 > 0:31:21Go on. Go for a standing on one leg.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24No!
0:31:24 > 0:31:26- You're not helping.- There we go.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Look at that. That was a stroke, that was technically a stroke.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31If you can get the forward bit now.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Jesus.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37'But after a couple of attempts, I use a more familiar method
0:31:37 > 0:31:39'to get back to dry land.'
0:31:39 > 0:31:42This has worked for thousands of years.
0:31:42 > 0:31:47What is wrong with you people that you don't want to do that?
0:31:50 > 0:31:52- Right.- That...
0:31:52 > 0:31:55- You know.- It's the most exhausting thing.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- You stayed dry.- I am.- I'm impressed.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01The most important thing to remember is it's not as easy as I made it look.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04No, well, you were very graceful, it has to be said.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07- Will you take these for me, please? - Of course.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Now where is this boat?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16There you go. There you don't go.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22Now! Take some time to find your bearings. I took about an hour.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31'It's looking like I'm more the natural leg rower than Dara.'
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Mum, I'm doing it, I'm doing it!
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Are you feeling you're getting any power into it?
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Not especially.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39Oh!
0:32:46 > 0:32:51- That had an air of the inevitable about it, didn't it?- It did.
0:32:51 > 0:32:52'After that display,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55'I don't think the leg rowers will be fighting to have us on their team.'
0:32:55 > 0:32:59- I think we're ready for a race now. - Oh, I am competition ready.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04'And with the race due to start,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07'it's time to head to the middle of the lake.
0:33:09 > 0:33:13'For 100 years, leg rowing teams from the villages have raced for
0:33:13 > 0:33:16'the honour of being the fastest on the water.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21'Races start from Government House,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23'a wooden building on stilts in the middle of the lake.'
0:33:37 > 0:33:41'What we hadn't been told is that leg rowing races
0:33:41 > 0:33:43'are like something out of Ben Hur.'
0:33:47 > 0:33:50CHEERING AND DRUMMING
0:33:50 > 0:33:51DARA LAUGHS
0:33:52 > 0:33:55We're doing that next.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Oh, we're not ready for that.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01No. We're going to be disappointing some of our team-mates.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11'It's time for the teams to find out who their new star player is.'
0:34:14 > 0:34:16And then falling into the water.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Falling into the water.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20You take the first one, I'll take the second one.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25- Good luck, by the way. Good luck. - And to you. May the best men win.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27CHEERING
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Come on, the boys in green. Come on, you boys in green.
0:34:30 > 0:34:31Come on, you boys.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39'This is our chance to write ourselves into the leg rowing history books.'
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Are we going? Is that going? OK, come on!
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Come on! Come on, the greens.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52'There are 60 people on each team.'
0:34:52 > 0:34:53That's too many for a team.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56It's so huge a team that when the race started,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59the back of the boat didn't know it had happened
0:34:59 > 0:35:02until word got passed along from the top of the boat.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05That seems slightly unwieldy as a sport.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07It's difficult to get the rhythm right.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14'Our technique lacks finesse, but nobody seems to have noticed.'
0:35:16 > 0:35:19'We're definitely running before we can walk with this whole leg rowing business.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22'There was a point where I realised the best thing I could do for
0:35:22 > 0:35:25'my team would be to take my paddle out of the water'
0:35:25 > 0:35:28and not put it back in for again the rest of the race.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Screw this. Screw the leg part of this.
0:35:36 > 0:35:37Come on, the green team.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43We're going to do it. Come on the greens.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45'Heading for the line, it's neck and neck.'
0:35:50 > 0:35:51Yes!
0:35:53 > 0:35:55We were the winners.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59'Eventually my superior technique made all the difference.'
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Eat our boat.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06This is what a traditional Myanmar boat man looks like.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15There's a lot going on here.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20An entire community built around being on the water.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Everything being about the water.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24I mean, I'd like to see what they're like on land.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26I mean, they're probably like manatees -
0:36:26 > 0:36:30sleek and graceful in the water, and on land they're blobbing about.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34I'm sure they'd all be knocking head on terra firma.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38Yeah, this is their whole life.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41They're just brought up in this aquatic environment,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43just this weird amphibious people.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48Even amidst all the buzz and noise of all the people who live on this lake,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51the thing I think I would miss more, and will miss when we leave,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54is the sheer size of the sky. It's huge.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56You can see full panoply above you.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59In fact, this storm that I'm currently sitting in,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01I've been watching that approach for about 40 minutes now,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03and now it's finally here.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05I think I'm going to get out of the road.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20'Before we head north on the final leg of our journey,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24'there's one more local event we've heard is not to be missed.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31'The Pa'O tribe are farmers, specialising in corn and leaf crops.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37'It looks like not much has changed round here for the past few centuries,
0:37:37 > 0:37:42'except this tribe are now more famous for making massive rockets.'
0:37:42 > 0:37:44This, I've been looking forward to.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47- The Rocket Festival? - The Rocket Festival.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Even the words Rocket Festival make my little nerdy heart leap with joy.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55A sentence that has either of those words in it has some excitement.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57Put the two together, though...
0:37:57 > 0:37:59Who doesn't like the ballistics of it, you know?
0:37:59 > 0:38:04Just the sheer equations of motion coupled with explosive power
0:38:04 > 0:38:08- of gunpowder. It's going to be great.- I'd say you're a barrel of laughs
0:38:08 > 0:38:10to go to a fireworks display with.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19'Traditionally, the rockets were fired at the clouds to encourage the rains,
0:38:19 > 0:38:24'but making rockets has become so popular, the Pa'O now stage regular rocket festivals
0:38:24 > 0:38:27'and have put this one on especially for us.'
0:38:27 > 0:38:28This is the rocket maker.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31You're the rocket man.
0:38:31 > 0:38:32Yeah, rocket man, yeah.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34And the making of rockets,
0:38:34 > 0:38:38is that something that you've always done and who taught you how to do it?
0:38:38 > 0:38:44THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Actually, they got it from their father, their teacher.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49- A family thing?- Passed through the generation.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53- Right, OK.- So what are they made of? What's inside those rockets?
0:38:53 > 0:38:57- Actually, inside is gunpowder. - Gunpowder.- Gunpowder and charcoal.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59- Charcoal as well? - Yeah, that's right.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01This is not just some fun little hobby.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04This is a big deal that brings in people from all over, doesn't it?
0:39:04 > 0:39:07- Yes, that's right.- So how many people are we expecting?
0:39:07 > 0:39:13Probably I hope there will be over 400-500 people will come
0:39:13 > 0:39:16- as part of this festival. - 400 or 500?- Yes.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23'Four entire villages have turned up simply to join in
0:39:23 > 0:39:27'the spectacle of setting off their home-made rockets.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32'Before blast-off, the villagers parade around the monastery
0:39:32 > 0:39:35'to give thanks for the festival and to bless their rockets.'
0:39:48 > 0:39:52'Before things kick off, we're checking out the spot where the sparks fly.'
0:39:54 > 0:39:57- This will be the launch pad, then. - I absolutely love it.- Yeah.
0:39:57 > 0:39:58A bamboo launch pad.
0:39:58 > 0:40:03I have to say, as low-tech methods of keeping somebody from climbing
0:40:03 > 0:40:08some steps go, just putting a dead branch in the way...
0:40:08 > 0:40:12That's your, "This way's barred. Do not climb these steps."
0:40:12 > 0:40:13And it's clearly respected.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16It's the velvet rope of the Myanmar countryside.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19I've been to one launch, one, let's say, proper launch in NASA,
0:40:19 > 0:40:21and there are some things which are different
0:40:21 > 0:40:23and some things which are the same. Bamboo, different.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26- They don't use bamboo that much. - Really?- They don't.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28They tried to, but it used to burn up when the shuttle went off.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30Would you feel comfortable at the top of those steps?
0:40:30 > 0:40:34I wouldn't feel comfortable if I knew there was a fuse going off behind me,
0:40:34 > 0:40:36but other than that I think this is fantastic.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39I wouldn't have kept that bit of tree there either, to be honest.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42- That seems to be slightly.... - I'd give that a bit of a trim.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44I think the rains are going to be excellent today.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53'With all this gunpowder around,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56'I don't know whether to feel excited or terrified.'
0:40:59 > 0:41:00Here we go.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04I'm not getting how this works.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06They just seemed to wander down and...
0:41:06 > 0:41:10There doesn't seem to be anything, like, any announcement or...
0:41:10 > 0:41:14No, well, I'm not waiting for, "T minus ten, nine..."
0:41:14 > 0:41:16I still want something like,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19"And now the representatives of Pa'O village."
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Rather than just some people wandering down with a bamboo rocket.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27Oh, here we go.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30We have ignition.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Only a matter of seconds till the main engine burn.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35We have wispy smoke,
0:41:35 > 0:41:37indicating both that the thing is lit
0:41:37 > 0:41:39and that there's some small wind.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48- Very good.- A nice little spiral at the end there.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51I like the little corkscrew they did.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54- Clearly applauding is something only we're doing.- Not a thing people do.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56OK. Sorry, I thought it deserved it.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- Very sorry.- They're all laughing at us.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00They're smiling and laughing
0:42:00 > 0:42:03and they're lovely, but we look like fools.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07'But it looks like that was just the warm up...
0:42:09 > 0:42:11'..as the big boys make their presence known.'
0:42:15 > 0:42:17- Look at that.- Oh, yes!
0:42:17 > 0:42:21Stylin'. Rolling into the joint with a rocket on your shoulder.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29- So this is our first big rocket. - First proper big one, yeah.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34And you can feel the atmosphere and the hype has gotten ramped right up.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44So now things have become a little bit more serious.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48- And a bit more exciting. - Isn't it? Have a look at this.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Did we ask, "Do people ever get killed doing this?"
0:42:52 > 0:42:55I did ask and he said no.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58He said, "In 300 years no-one has ever been killed doing this."
0:42:59 > 0:43:01There we go.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05The fuse is lit on our first big rocket.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25That was genuinely amazing.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30- It's still going. - That was fantastic.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33That was very, very impressive.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38This is a very proud village. They've nailed that one.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44The first step, we were wondering why they didn't seem very excited by the earlier rockets,
0:43:44 > 0:43:45but they're just fireworks.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48That was a bit like wondering why people don't get excited about junior Wimbledon
0:43:48 > 0:43:52because then the seniors came on - and that was a proper rocket.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54That was the kind of thing you'd see at NASA.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Slowly, powerfully pushing its way up against gravity
0:43:57 > 0:43:59and it kept going. That's brilliant.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02That's why they laughed at us when we clapped the small rockets.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06- Yeah.- Now I see. "You thought THAT was impressive?"
0:44:14 > 0:44:17What is it again? What is it? This?
0:44:19 > 0:44:22'I've not seen Dara so happy since the last Star Wars film came out.'
0:44:24 > 0:44:26No laughing!
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Why is that funny?
0:44:29 > 0:44:30Stop doing another dance.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32You're doing the wrong dance.
0:44:32 > 0:44:33That's an unlucky rocket dance.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50It's so nice to watch something where people are incredibly into it.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53You know, the enthusiasm for something as...
0:44:53 > 0:44:57And I think the weirder and sillier and quirkier the thing is,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59the more endearing the enthusiasm for it is.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02These people are just giving it their all.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11This was fantastic.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17This was villages in Myanmar building world-class rockets,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19just because they've been doing it now for 300 years
0:45:19 > 0:45:24and then firing them off into the sky just for their own amusement.
0:45:26 > 0:45:32And this genuinely stunning piece of kinetic work,
0:45:32 > 0:45:34where this thing just took off.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Boom. Gone. And you can feel the shake of it.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39It was a glorious thing.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43I mean, we all came expecting it to be some tiny village with a
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Catherine Wheel and it was actually at a level that was world-class.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59They're just firing them for the hell of it now.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03'We're now just over 200 miles away from the city of Mandalay,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05'our final destination.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08'We're travelling northwest to the ancient city of Bagan.'
0:46:18 > 0:46:23'For the last few miles, we're off-road, on scooters,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25'to reach one of Bagan's famous temples.'
0:46:27 > 0:46:31That was fun. I think at one point you got up to...
0:46:31 > 0:46:33The same speed you did, smart guy. The same speed you did.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36- I was waiting for you. - You were not waiting for me.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45'1,000 years ago, the kings of Bagan built over 4,000 of these
0:46:45 > 0:46:50'amazing temples as a way of proving their dedication to Buddhism.'
0:46:55 > 0:46:58'It's shoes off before climbing up to see
0:46:58 > 0:47:00'one of Asia's most spectacular views.'
0:47:02 > 0:47:06- Wow!- That is incredible.- Yeah.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08'With half of them still standing,
0:47:08 > 0:47:12'it's the largest concentration of Buddhist ruins in the world.'
0:47:12 > 0:47:16- How breathtakingly beautiful is this?- Yeah.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20This is just too much food for the soul.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Go over there and knock on their door and tell them,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26"We couldn't help notice, but some of that needs a bit of re-pointing."
0:47:28 > 0:47:32Just any one of those temples would be a tourist attraction on its own
0:47:32 > 0:47:36and there are hundreds of them.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38I think there's more than 1,000, I think.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41'Myanmar was cut off from the world for so long,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44'it's an honour to be among the first Westerners to experience
0:47:44 > 0:47:46'these breathtaking sights.'
0:47:46 > 0:47:48I think this...
0:47:48 > 0:47:53sums up Myanmar in that it looks like it would have looked.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56I feel like we're really lucky to catch this place while it's still like this.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58And yet, more people should see it, all right.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00- Let's not be...- Absolutely.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02- But we saw it first.- So we win.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04We win. We are the winners.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06We are the Bagan winners, my friend.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11I think this would be a lovely palate cleanser
0:48:11 > 0:48:16as you go from the genuine madness of rural Myanmar
0:48:16 > 0:48:19into the historic city of Mandalay and towards the end of our journey.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25What's been your favourite bit?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27HE WHISPERS: Stop ruining it.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40'After the awe-inspiring beauty of Bagan,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43'this is now the last leg on our journey on
0:48:43 > 0:48:46'the historic road to Mandalay.'
0:48:48 > 0:48:50That's it, then. Almost.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54I mean, only Mandalay to see.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59This is the way to arrive in every city.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01The road to London should be this.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03Should be a massively wide waterway.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05Everywhere you should be arriving by boat.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08And I didn't realise that this is the road to Mandalay.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10This river is the road to Mandalay.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14A big wet road is what people meant by the road to Mandalay.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17It's a wonder that they have any infrastructure at all
0:49:17 > 0:49:19- if they think this is a road. - I know, I know.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30'Floating down the fabled waterway, I feel inspired to poetry.'
0:49:31 > 0:49:34"By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastwards to the sea,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38"There's a Burma girl a-sitting, and I know she thinks o' me.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41"For the wind is in the palm-trees and the temple-bells they say:
0:49:41 > 0:49:45""Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay."
0:49:45 > 0:49:49"Come you back to Mandalay where the old Flotilla lay,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53"Can't you 'ear their paddles chunkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay?
0:49:53 > 0:49:57"On the road to Mandalay where the flyin'-fishes play,
0:49:57 > 0:49:59"and the dawn comes up like thunder
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- "outer China 'crost the Bay." - Am I dreaming
0:50:02 > 0:50:08or are you reading Rudyard Kipling to me aloud on a boat?
0:50:08 > 0:50:12- Yeah, I am, on the road to Mandalay. - OK, fine.- Just lose yourself in it.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16"'Er petticoat was yaller an' 'er little cap was green
0:50:16 > 0:50:19"And her name was Supi-yaw-lat, jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen..."
0:50:23 > 0:50:27'After 800 miles, we've reached the end of our road to Mandalay.'
0:50:30 > 0:50:34'Although our first sight of this famous city are the golden pagodas
0:50:34 > 0:50:35'of ancient Burma,
0:50:35 > 0:50:38'Mandalay is now a sprawling industrial place
0:50:38 > 0:50:39'on the brink of change.'
0:50:44 > 0:50:47'But for me, getting here has always been about
0:50:47 > 0:50:50'drawing a line under a time in my past,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53'and before we leave I'm determined to fulfil a personal ambition
0:50:53 > 0:50:56'to find The Moustache Brothers.'
0:50:58 > 0:51:03Having been involved in some way in trying to publicise the plight of
0:51:03 > 0:51:04people in Burma,
0:51:04 > 0:51:06I'm hoping to connect with some of the people
0:51:06 > 0:51:09that we were working for with Amnesty.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw were imprisoned in the '90s for
0:51:12 > 0:51:17performing anti-government satire outsides Aung San Suu Kyi's gates.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23Par Par Lay died of prostate cancer a few years ago,
0:51:23 > 0:51:26but I'm hoping to catch up with the other Moustache Brothers,
0:51:26 > 0:51:27so that would be quite cool.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31I think that would be quite a thing.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43'For the last 15 years, the surviving members of The Moustache Brothers
0:51:43 > 0:51:46'have performed the same routine that ridiculed the dictatorship
0:51:46 > 0:51:48'and helped bring international attention
0:51:48 > 0:51:50'to Myanmar's struggle for freedom.'
0:51:50 > 0:51:54I'm worried I'm not going to find them funny.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56But I don't think that's really as important.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00It's more important than going to see somebody that maybe was a huge influence on you as a comedian.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04To go and see someone who actually got put in prison for something that we think nothing of doing.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06It's going to be very interesting.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11Moustache Brothers. This will be the...
0:52:11 > 0:52:14This will be the place, all right.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17- This feels like a bit of a pilgrimage.- Yeah.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20Hello. Please to meet you. My name is Lu Maw.
0:52:20 > 0:52:22My brother, number one moustache.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25I'm number two moustache. Par Par Lay, Lu Maw, brother.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28Lu Zaw, cousin, brother. My father called me Lu.
0:52:28 > 0:52:29My grandfather called me Lu.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31Brother called me Lu.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33Called me Lu, three generation.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34We are chip off the old block.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37Let's go in.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40My teeth. My teeth gave me trouble. I had toothache.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43I went outside Thailand, I see the dentist.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49And he asked me, "Where do you come from?"
0:52:49 > 0:52:51"I come from Burma." "You come from Burma?"
0:52:51 > 0:52:52"Yes."
0:52:52 > 0:52:55"Why do you come to Thailand, outside Burma?"
0:52:55 > 0:52:57"Don't you have dentist in your country?"
0:52:57 > 0:53:00"Yes, we have. But we're not allowed to open our mouths."
0:53:00 > 0:53:02LAUGHTER
0:53:02 > 0:53:05'Having witnessed a Myanmar on the edge of change,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08'I'm going to finally meet a true comedy hero.'
0:53:08 > 0:53:10- Hello.- Hello.- Pleased to meet you. I'm Lu Maw.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13- Ed.- And Dara. Lovely to meet you.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15Me Lu Maw, moustache Lu Maw.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17- Moustache Lu Maw.- Comedian. Comedian.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21- We're all comedians. - Top banana, top banana.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23- Top banana.- Top banana.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27And your father was a comedian and your grandfather was a comedian?
0:53:34 > 0:53:36Fantastic. Great.
0:53:38 > 0:53:39Proper old school.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46- Were the regimes scared of comedy? - Yeah.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Were they scared of being made a joke of?
0:54:21 > 0:54:25- The first time was six months. - Yeah.- And yet he did it again.- Yeah.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37'At 65 years old, Lu Maw still performs his show every day out of
0:54:37 > 0:54:41'the front of his house, acting like a watchdog on the future,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44'on the country's dark past.'
0:54:44 > 0:54:45So you still don't trust?
0:54:53 > 0:54:56Yes. So you're still ready to watch
0:54:56 > 0:55:00- and make jokes just in case this ever happens again?- Yes.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04But to be serious for a moment, if we could,
0:55:04 > 0:55:08are you optimistic about the future of Myanmar?
0:55:15 > 0:55:17So as long as Aung San Suu Kyi is alive?
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Will the country be able to move on?
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Will they be able to put the past into the past?
0:55:35 > 0:55:39'Listening to Lu Maw is a reminder of how far Myanmar has come in
0:55:39 > 0:55:40'the last few years
0:55:40 > 0:55:44'and of the sacrifices made along the way.'
0:55:44 > 0:55:47They were willing to go to jail three times to do this show
0:55:47 > 0:55:50during a brutal and repressive regime so,
0:55:50 > 0:55:54- frankly, that they're just doing it is enough.- Fair play.
0:55:54 > 0:55:55One, two, three.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58SCREAMING
0:56:01 > 0:56:04'Finishing here feels like a fitting end
0:56:04 > 0:56:07'to our 3,000-mile journey
0:56:07 > 0:56:10'through three very different but spectacular countries.'
0:56:10 > 0:56:13In some ways it's exactly as I'd hoped it would be
0:56:13 > 0:56:16in that it started off in a bustling metropolis
0:56:16 > 0:56:20and it's gotten more and more strange.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Of course we learn from travel.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25You feel like you're learning something about yourself
0:56:25 > 0:56:26cos you're doing something different.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29But actually, I don't think it makes any profound difference to you
0:56:29 > 0:56:32when you return back to your normal schedule.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34So the only lesson from that basically isn't don't travel,
0:56:34 > 0:56:36because travelling is a joy,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40but don't put this huge weight on journeys to create a new you.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44Journeying is like reading a book or a particularly enjoyable box set
0:56:44 > 0:56:47or maybe an enjoyable travel documentary that you're watching on television.
0:56:47 > 0:56:49It was lovely for the time it occurred,
0:56:49 > 0:56:51it owes you no more than that.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54So if you have happy memories of how you felt on that trip,
0:56:54 > 0:56:55that is sufficient.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Very good, well done. Thank you very much.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Malaysia was difficult to pin down
0:57:01 > 0:57:04because it was a patchwork of different cultures.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07Trunks up, who wants a sunflower seed?
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Thailand was its own thing, but it still held back
0:57:11 > 0:57:15and presented you this wonderfully polished tourism experience.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17Do you know what I think this trip needs?
0:57:17 > 0:57:19A giant golden Buddha.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21Would there be one of them nearby, by any chance?
0:57:24 > 0:57:26Then we arrived in Myanmar,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29which is the one that we all fell in love with,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32where it's new and novel
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and people are genuinely excited to see you, and smiling.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39And also you're seeing a country emerge into the light
0:57:39 > 0:57:41after 50 years of repressive government.
0:57:41 > 0:57:42They now have many visitors from abroad
0:57:42 > 0:57:46and they're emerging into something and it is undiscovered.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54The Myanmarese were the ones who smiled their way into our hearts the most.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Well, the sign says if you've not seen our dancing,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06you cannot say you've been to Mandalay.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08- And WE have been to Mandalay. - We certainly have.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11Do you know what I was particularly impressed by?
0:58:11 > 0:58:12The moustache work.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14That's Groucho Marx level of moustache work.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16Do you think we should incorporate moustaches?
0:58:16 > 0:58:18Do you know, I was just saying, no-one is doing it.
0:58:18 > 0:58:20No-one is doing it where we're from.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22I think moustaches are the way to go.