Colombia The Travel Show

Now on BBC News it's time for the Travel Show.

Coming up on this week's Travel Show: We're in Colombia,

exploring the legacy of one of the country's

most controversial criminals.

We're here at Pablo's prison slash five star resort!

Ooops!

Did I just make that man crash?

I hit the road in Tokyo, taking tourists for a ride.

They look a bit shell-shocked!

And Global Gadgets gives you the lowdown on how to take

a selfie from up in the sky!

Hello and welcome to the Travel Show,

coming to you this week from Tokyo in Japan,

with me Carmen Roberts.

A little later on in the show, I'll be trying my hand at pulling

one of the iconic rickshaws that weaves its way

through the streets here.

But first...

We're in Medellin, in the north west of Colombia.

Two decades ago it was one of the most dangerous cities

in the world, as the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar waged war

against the government.

Now, the city has been transformed, but for many tourists who come here,

the fascination with Escobar endures.

We travelled to his hometown to find out how tours about his life

are dividing public opinion there.

People are still scared, and still are scared to come

to Colombia, especially Medellin.

For a long time it was the most violent city in the world.

We're here at La Catedral, Pablo's prison slash

five star resort!

La Catedral was a jail that Escobar built for himself and which was part

of the agreement with the government that he would turn himself in,

but he would come to his jail.

In here, they've still got some of the remains of what used

to be his bed.

The frame...

Pretty big bed!

If you look in here, there's a plaque on the wall

with little white crosses.

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

were killed here when Pablo was here.

Right here, he kept people that you saw on the little white crosses,

and they say what he would do...

He would clap his hands and say 'you know where you're

going, let's go'.

He'll take them back here by the backside of the property

and push them off a cliff.

So this is the view he would see over his domain.

At that time, Pablo ran Medellin.

Medellin was his.

This tour has become very controversial, even with the mayor

here of Medellin.

I can understand that, because they lived through

some terrible times.

Some people are trying to glorify this guy,

and they actually have a name for it.

They call it narco tourism.

In the beginning I didn't want to come on the tour

because I was like, should I go on the tour?

It'd be giving money to something that created such devastation

in the past.

More tourists know about it, more around the world,

so the more real it is.

I think that the kids of Colombia also need to learn about him,

so I think it could actually be a school tour as well,

Now we are headed to Barrio Pablo Escobar,

and that's the actual name of the neighbourhood!

He built 300 plus houses for these people, that were living

in the city dump.

He went and got them out of the dump, gave each one of these

families their own house.

As you can imagine, people here love him.

You might not make it out of here if you come up here to talk

bad about Escobar!

Alright, here, we are at Pablo's grave.

This is the man right here, his final resting place.

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria.

I've had one group come, and wanted to sniff cocaine

off the tombstone!

I was like, man, do what you want.

It's up to you, if that's what you want to do.

I don't tell them what they can or can't do.

It ain't my cemetery.

As you can see, people here taking selfies...

You can sit here all afternoon and you just see people coming

and going, coming and going, to come and see the grave.

It's part of the history here, I don't think we should forget

what happened in that era and how that came about.

Time now for our Global Gourmet.

This week we're in the Parisian market districts, for a masterclass

in how to create one of France's favourite pastries.

I am the founder here.

I am the founder here.

I started when I was 19 years old, so it was in 2012.

My idea was to have a new challenge and to create something new.

I love the pastry of the eclair, and I said no stores in Paris

sell good eclairs.

This special machine...

You can do very beautiful eclairs.

You can do it by hand.

We do like 500 a day.

To have the same eclairs, we need a machine like this.

You will see how it works.

Very, very beautiful eclairs with this machine.

Here, we are in what they call the second district,

it's really in the centre of Paris.

The eclair was invented in France by Antonin Careme

like 200 years ago.

In France, the eclair is the most popular pastry.

For several years it has been elected the most favourite pastry.

And when you are young, it is the pastry every child knows

and wants to eat because you have chocolate!

To have the best quality, everything is made here, every morning.

We have only one store in Paris, so we can control everything.

We have always chocolates, salted butter caramel and vanilla,

the most popular, but after we have original flavours like mont

blanc, chestnut cream.

There's one that works a lot, raspberry blackcurrant.

We created more than 100 flavours.

There are a lot of stages in creating an eclair:

the shoe pastry, the cream and after the decoration.

But if the shoe pastry is not good, you will not have a good eclair.

We have several sizes of eclairs.

Small eclairs, regular eclairs and giant eclairs.

It's an eclair for eight persons, for Christmas or birthdays!

Still to come here on the Travel Show...

Hello BBC Travel!

We meet the team who are travelling the world by rickshaw.

So don't go away!

The Travel Show, your essential guide wherever you're heading!

This is Tower Bridge, one of London's tourism crown

jewels, but if you watch the people who've come to see it,

they've got one thing on their minds.

This week, it's all about selfies.

We're taking a look at some of the tech that might help

you take better snaps!

First...

A way to get a bit more distance between you and the camera.

Sometimes you need a wider perspective.

The AirSelfie is an ultra-light, flying camera with built in Wi-Fi,

which connects to an app on your phone.

It also gets its power from this case, that you get in the box.

At 61 grams, it's pretty lightweight, so in theory that makes

it easy to fly but on a day like this...

The wind keeps getting it!

That means I keep having to chase it!

The Air Selfie, it's a cool contraption and a nice idea,

but unless you're flying it in completely non-windy surroundings

you can pretty much forget it.

And what you've got to remember as well, it's still classified

as a drone, which means in some parts of the world it's illegal

to fly it in built up areas.

The most popular way to get yourself into the frame properly

is by investing in one of these...

It's called a selfie stick.

So how much should I spend on a new stick and what features

should I be looking out for?

Well, my new friend leads smartphone photography tours...

Pretend you're not looking...

So if anyone will know, she will.

If you're thinking of taking them on your trips, it's very important

you take something you're comfortable with.

For example, this anchor, it's compact, it will fit

in your pocket, your bag or carry-on luggage.

It's not heavy.

Have a feel.

Wow.

Nice and light.

And also, the clamp.

We have this from a corner shop.

Very wobbly.

I can see it's wobbly.

New phones coming out right now, worth ?600,

?700, so I wouldn't go cheap on the selfie stick if it risks...

Yeah, the material feels cheap.

If you're into more serious outdoor situations -

sport, adventures, you may want to try this Polar Pro.

Wow, a beast!

The great thing about it is that you can recharge your phone

and your GoPro here.

Headphones as well, with USB ports.

This is waterproof?

Waterproof.

Go underwater, do water sports, go fishing.

Wow.

Whatever you want.

How much does something like this cost?

?80 to ?100.

Wow, that's a lot of money for a selfie stick!

Yeah, because it's more than a stick!

You can be powering your phone for 12 hours of battery.

If you're definitely sure you're going to be using this a lot,

then go for it, but if you're starting and you just

want to experiment, go with the safe option.

But if you want something a little extra for your selfies,

this is our final tip.

This is the Giroptic Io, a pocket friendly camera that shoots

360 degree photos and steals live streams to YouTube and Facebook.

It's really easy to use.

That's mainly because there's no set up process.

Simply take the device, plug it into the bottom

of the iPhone, it fires up the dedicated app.

The minute you fire up the app, you have options to take photos,

shoot video, stream.

Simple stuff.

I can easily pan around the surroundings.

There's the cameraman!

Wave, say hi!

Hi!

The ice cream van!

Compared to other devices on the market, bigger,

clunkier, this probably feels a godsend although the fact it plays

nice with Apple only...

That isn't going to be to everyone's favour.

The quality, as far as I can see, is pretty good.

But for the price you've really got to ask yourself is this something

you're really going to use?

Now, come to Tokyo and you're surrounded by so many iconic

sights and sounds.

But maybe none is more Japanese than the hand pulled rickshaw!

In other cities around the world, tourist rickshaws are sometimes seen

as an unregulated menace.

But here in Asakusa, in Tokyo, the hand pulled carts are a much

loved symbol of the city.

They're so iconic, in fact, there's a boyband dedicated

to the rickshaw!

Plus, there's another group of drivers who have become social

media stars as they document their rickshaw journey

around the world.

At the moment they're in Cambodia.

Hello BBC Travel!

Their aim is to introduce people to Japanese culture before

the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

See you guys soon!

You can follow the team's epic journey on social media -

but if you want to try a hand pulled rickshaw for yourself,

Hi!

I went to the Hong Kong marathon, Vancouver marathon, many races,

and one day I saw the rickshaw in Asakusa and oh, I thought this

See you guys soon!

You can follow the team's epic journey on social media -

but if you want to try a hand pulled rickshaw for yourself,

there's no better place than Asakusa in Tokyo.

Hi!

Hi!

I've come down to meet one of the city's few

female rickshaw drivers.

So how did you get into this career?

I liked the marathon!

I went to the Hong Kong marathon, Vancouver marathon, many races,

and one day I saw the rickshaw in Asakusa and oh, I thought this

is my job!

It felt like destiny!

Wow, OK!

Yeah!

The rickshaw, or jinrikisha as they're called here,

was invented in Tokyo in the 19th century.

Her boss told me how things have changed since then.

The rickshaw used to be like a taxi a long time ago but now it's

more for entertainment.

A good rickshaw driver needs to quickly feel what the customer

wants to do.

Some people want to be entertained, some want to see the scenery,

some want to listen to the guide.

It depends on the customer.

OK, first we have to look the part.

You've got me a uniform?

Yeah!

And then here's a belt.

Very long one!

Turn!

One more I think!

And make it tight.

Ta-da!

And to complete the look I'm wearing those traditional split toe shoes.

It's more comfortable than running shoes!

Is it!?

Yeah!

There we go.

You got it!

I might look the part, but I soon realise there's more

to the job than just manoeuvring the rickshaw.

Many cars are crossing very close to me.

It's kind of scary.

This is the main street of Asakusa.

We have to talk during running, but at the same time

I'm like...

SHE PANTS.

It's harder than a marathon!

I'm beginning to think I should have trained for this.

How heavy is this?

100kg!

What!

Wow, that's heavy!

OK, you sit like this, hold maybe here, then stand up very

slowly like this...

OK.

Because if you do it quick, the customer gets very scared.

Oh, I see.

Yeah.

And the most important thing is to keep balance.

OK.

Now it's my turn.

Yes!

Now, I'll be slow, try not to scare you...

That's good?

A nice, easy pace.

Trying not to scare my passengers.

OK...

Ooops!

Did I just make that man crash?

Yes.

Was it my fault?

Lesson over, it's time for my first customers.

OK, so they're two small children...

But it still counts!

They look a bit scared!

Slowly...

These two are heavier than you!

Here we go!

Once you get going you get a bit of momentum.

They look a bit shell-shocked!

High five!

I think it's safe to say it's best I leave that to the professionals,

but if you're in Tokyo and want to give a proper rickshaw

tour a go, you'll find the drivers near the Kaminarimon Gate,

near the exit of the Asakusa metro station.

Ride time is agreed in advance, and the cheapest option is a ten

minute jog around the neighbourhood for roughly 3,000 Yen -

that's roughly about ?35.

Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's show.

Coming up next week: We're in Jaffa, in Israel, to meet the actors

who perform as part of the world's first ever

deaf-blind theatre company.

So do look out for that, and in the meantime sign up

to our social media feeds so you can follow all the Travel Show team

around the world, on their journeys, in real time.

All the details of where to find us online should be on your screen now.

But until next time, from me Carmen Roberts,

and the rest of the Travel Show team here in Tokyo, it's goodbye!

Hello.

Showers or longer spells of rain were the mark of the day on Friday