Jerusalem The Travel Show

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Coming up at 6 o clock Breakfast with Charlie Stayt and Sally Nugent

but first on BBC News, The Travel Show.

Coming up this week on The Travel Show:

Rajan is in Jerusalem, the world's holiest city.

This is for Christianity the most important place in the world.

Quite an incredible experience to be here.

We touch down in St Martin for a spot of jet blasting

and to check out a music festival aimingto entice a younger crowd

to the Caribbean island.

And taking the perfect snap - we head to the Lake District

to capture one of the UK's most photographed landscapes.

I want people to see my pictures and think, "Wow," you know,

"that's inspiring."

But it's something they can see with their own eyes.

Jerusalem is one of the world capitals of religious tourism.

And Easter and Passover make for its busiest weeks.

And a particular hotspot is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

where some believe Jesus is buried.

We got rare access to the newly renovated tomb.

They called Jerusalem the world's holiest city.

It's also one of the most conflicted.

Politics aside, the fact is, Jerusalem has monuments that

are sacred to three of the world's biggest religions.

Like the Western Wall for those of the Jewish faith.

For Muslims, there is the distinctive dome

of the Rock Shrine.

Then deep in the heart of the old city,

through the Damascus gate, is Christendom's

most important church.

Tucked away on the edge of the Muslim and Christian

quarters, right in the marketplace, is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Not easy to find.

But it's somewhere around here.

And look.

Tiny little sign.

Holy Sepulchre.

And I can hear something happening.

Now, what's unusual about this church is that it's actually shared

by six different Christian denominations.

To be precise, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox,

Syrians, Coptics and Ethiopians.

This ceremony is led by the Armenian church.

They come from all over the world.

Three and a half million people a year, they reckon,

to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

It's a pilgrimage that evokes a response like no other.

For us it's no more, no less than the holiest

place on earth.

That's where Jesus died, where he was crucified,

where he was risen three days afterwards.

So for us that is, I mean, the history of humanity,

that is what makes that there is before and after Christ.

It simply changed the history of humanity.

2000 years ago, this was an empty plot of land outside

the old city walls.

Now look at it.

They may all agree the resurrection of Christ took place here,

but the truth is that the six different denominations haven't

always been an ideal housemate in this church.

Sometimes we didn't agree.

There have been fight inside the holy sepulchre,

that's for sure.

Physical fight?

Even physical fights.

This may be Christianity's most important church,

but the guy who's got the key is Muslim.

Adeeb, hi.

This is the key to this church?

This is the holy key of the holy Church.

How come you have it and your family have it?

They gave our family to be the custodian

of the Holy Sepulchre Church, and it's going from father to son.

The church had previously been destroyed in the early part

of the 11th century by the then ruling caliphs.

And in trusting it to a Muslim family sounded like the safest bet

to insure it against future attacks.

Every morning at 4am, Adeeb opens the door,

then has to return to lock it in the evening.

He's not paid for this duty.

I'm proud about this job, and we are here in Jerusalem Muslims

and Christians, we are living together.

We are brothers here.

Disaster has struck twice over the centuries with a fire

and an earthquake causing extensive damage.

And throughout, arguments became very fierce and protracted

between the different denominations, as to how and who was going

to fix the thing.

They could not reach any consensus, any agreement, so in order not

to talk waiting for the restoration of the holy sepulchre,

they decided it would remain as it is and let us start

the restoration of the rest of the compound.

Because of all the infighting it took a long time for all the parties

to agree on a restoration plan for the ageing church.

And even after that, it's taken 60 years to renovate the shrine.

We were lucky enough to be granted a truly rare privilege,

to go and film inside the newly renovated burial chamber,

called the Edicule.

This is where Christians believe Jesus's body was laid to rest

after he died on the cross.

This is for Christianity the most important place in the world.

Just this little square of two or three metres.

Exactly at the heart of it all.

Quite an incredible experience to be here.

Billions of Christians think of this place as the spiritual centre

of their universe.

The extensive restoration work took nine months,

working on the small structure above the tomb.

There are two marble slabs over the sepulchre,

one exactly covering the bench carved from rock that Jesus is said

to be laid on.

Archaeological proofs are quite consistent to say that Jesus

was crucified inside this building.

And laid into the tomb, which is inside also.

Afterwards, what happened three days afterwards,

it belongs to the faith, as we believe he was risen.

Jesus of Nazareth, that he was crucified and laid

in the tomb, there is many, many proofs, historical proofs that

are showing that.

The one side is the conflict but the other side is the effort

to run this place and to be together.

And I think that's somehow a miracle.

And that's a thought echoed by the many other millions

of pilgrims who come here each year, delighted that restoration has

finally been achieved and cohabitation of all

churches continues.

Stay with us because still to come on the travel show we're

in the Lake District to capture one of the UK's photographed landscapes.

I like to soak up these landscapes, you know, I like to take

in the atmosphere.

There is a real sense of wilderness that appeals to me in these places.

And we head to the French Caribbean for music Festival aiming to help

diversify Saint Martin.

During the winter everybody's from, like, up North, and it's cold

and they need a place to go.

Where it's hot.

And you cannot beat the island life.

Chances are if I say Festival you'll think of Glastonbury in the UK

or Coachella in the US.

Now a sleepy Caribbean nation has decided to get in on the act

in a bid to attract more young people.

But does it have what it takes to draw a party crowd?

We sent Greg McKenzie to find out.

St Maarten, or Saint Martin, depending on which part

of the island you are on, is the smallest island in the world.

And the partition between two different nations.

A French side and a Dutch side.

Technically, it's two different countries,

and attracts more than 2 million visitors every year.

Its airport, Princess Juliana International,

is truly unique, because on one side you have a public beach,

on the other there is a huge mountain range.

Pilots say it's one of the scariest landings in the world,

and it's easy to see why.

Just ahead their is the A340, that has flown in from Paris.

The people on there have been on board for about eight hours

and 30 minutes.

The landing just behind us, the runway length

is about 7000 feet.

Traditionally, aircraft of that size need about 8000 feet to land safely.

There is only a tiny margin of error, if any.

It's the second busiest airport in the Caribbean.

It's the second busiest airport in the Caribbean.

And exciting as it is to watch landings from the beach,

it's even more thrilling to see aircraft take off.

This is what they call jet blasting.

In a minute we're going to all get pushed back.

It's already started!

Jet blasting is when you stand as close as you can

get to an aeroplane taking off, and there

are not many places in the

world where you would be able to get this close.

It became an attraction just on its own.

Rolando Brison is the director of tourism.

He is tasked with making sure visitors

have fun and don't injure themselves.

In 2012, this jet blasting video went viral.

It shows a woman being blown off her feet

after losing her grip by deliberately standing in the jet

blast of a plane taking off here.

Fortunately, she didn't suffer any life changing injuries.

But it did prompt authorities to act by

erecting more fences to increase the distance

between people and objects.

We had to take whatever measures we could, and fencing did create

at least a little more separation that was necessary,

another ten feet of space to prevent people getting too close.

There is a security aspect, patrolling during the busy times to

make sure there are not too many people, that we can keep it under

control.

The fencing is an important part, there is an international

standard for it as well.

How far should an aircraft be from on the road?

So that fence is there to make sure we abide by those international

standards.

But it's next to impossible to police this speech 24

hours a day, and it's an activity that still draws hundreds of

visitors daily.

Were you worried it might be dangerous?

Depending how hard they rev the engines, but the

first one wasn't bad.

The third one, that was crazy.

Crazy, crazy.

And despite jet black stink being seen

as a young but risky sport, the island is trying to appeal to

younger crowd.

The majority of those coming are in their 50s and 60s.

Saint Martin is traditionally known as a musical island.

You'll find all sorts here from reggae music to

Samba to Calypso.

A new music Festival is aiming to bring

something uniquely different to the island.

Now in its second year, the SXM Festival aptly named after

the country's airport code, is hoping to bring a new type of

visitor.

Millennials for a five-day electronic music extravaganza.

With more than 100 top name DJs.

A lot of the routes of what is modern dance

culture started in the Caribbean, it started

with sound system culture in

Jamaica and all of these other places.

You know, the guys who bring the massive systems.

They were experimenting with sound.

They started experimenting with dubs.

This is where remixes came from.

So, there is a long history and tradition to kind of electronic

music and experimentation in the Caribbean.

But some locals didn't want an electronic music festival on

their shores.

They wanted this little-known island to be the best

kept secret and remain exclusive.

Not everyone was happy, of course, but I think it's because of the

style of music.

That type of music in general scares people, because

people look different address different.

So last year that's how it kind of felt.

But I think everyone, all the businesses,

realise the importance of having such an event.

The festival takes place every March and attracts about

4000 people.

It is the brainchild of Julian Prince, a lifelong DJ and

music promoter from Canada, who wanted to create something unique

away from the club scene in places like Ibiza.

Ibiza is like the motherland, it's everything.

They built this culture.

So it's not like we're trying to compete.

It's just, honestly, I thought that for the

longest time ever nothing was really happening in North America.

I just felt like we should have something

like that during the winter.

Everybody's from, like, up North, and it's called

them and they need a place to go.

Where it's hot and, like, you cannot beat the island

vibe.

Despite this event, still in its infancy, the future looks

bright, as organisers are already planning next year's event.

As other festivals around the globe begin to

tire, or become too commercial, with the Caribbean as its backdrop,

music is only part of the reason why SXM

has the advantage.

Greg McKenzie reporting from a very warm looking

Saint Martin.

Now to end this week's show, let's head to the North of

England and the Lake District.

Its landscapes have inspired a thousand

artists and painters over the centuries.

But now we've met a photographer who captures its rugged

beauty with the camera.

And sometimes he'll go to extraordinary

lengths just to get the right shot.

My name's Terry Abraham.

I'm a self-taught, independent film-maker.

I've always had an interesting and video.

I always wanted to be hands-on, outdoors, doing something

like that.

I love all the British countryside, I think Britain's

fantastic in the variety, the terrain, the geology.

The aesthetic appeal of the landscape that we have

in such a small group of islands.

I don't think there's anywhere else in

the UK like the Lake District.

Every mountain, or fell, as they are known

around here, has its own character.

It looks different.

They're all individual.

And that's the same for the valleys as well, with all the

lakes, the stone walls, the beautiful picturesque coastguard

cottages and all that kind of thing.

And I can see why four centuries public, artists, writers have been

drawn here, inspired by this landscape.

I'm no different.

I'm a self-taught film-maker.

I'm born of the digital age, if you like, with

the likes of you how it has democratised film-making.

Being able to edit videos on a laptop or

computer the technology has developed with smaller professional

cameras, has enabled me to go out there and chase a dream of producing

documentaries, these landscapes.

I tend to wild camp, which is basically

pitching up a tent on the

top of a mountain, totally self-reliant, you have your food,

you seek your water, because that enables

me to be there, ready and

prepared, nice and fresh and those special moments.

I like to soak up these landscapes, you know, I like

to take in the atmosphere.

There is a real sense of wilderness that

appeals to me in these places.

I would often tweet what I'd just taken, you know,

the scenes I had been capturing on camera.

Because I might be filming, but at the same

time I'll have a stills camera with me and I'll take a picture

and share it on the social media.

I do appreciate that people like to follow the journey

I'm on whilst working on the documentaries.

Share the sights that I see.

That was a good shot, that.

I get a bit embarrassed and blush at times with

some of the praise that I get for my work.

I mean, one of the documentaries has been described as

a Wordsworthian hymn to nature.

Though it's nice, getting the audience

response, being so positive and overwhelming in that respect, it's

about capturing a sort of portrait, a time capsule of these areas that

mean so much to me.

I don't think there's anything special about the

way I go about capturing the shots that I do.

Any photographer worth their salt will tell you the best

times of day for capturing a landscape is arguably, more often

than not, dawn or dusk.

I want people to see my pictures and think,

wow, you know, that's inspiring.

But it's something they can see with their own eyes.

I certainly wouldn't go back to the desk job, working in

a pub, stuff like that, that I used to do before.

Look at it, you know, it's fantastic.

And I get to enjoy this all the time.

It really is about being in the right place at

the right time.

And there is a large element of luck as well.

Terry Abraham and his beautiful photos of

the Lake District.

Well, that's it for this week, join us next week if

you can, when we're in Colombia to visit the hometown of one of its

most infamous residents, Pablo Escobar.

If you look in here, there is a plaque on the wall with white

crosses.

That is a memorial to, I think, the amount of people they

think were killed here when Pablo was here.

But is it right to build an industry around a former drug

lord?

Don't keep those memories any more, please.

Respect us.

That's next week but in the meantime you can catch up with us an

social media and online.

All the details on the screen now.

For now, from me, Christa Larwood, and the

rest of the Travel Show team, it's goodbye.