Highlights of 2017 The Travel Show

Now on BBC News, The Travel Show.

Hello and welcome to the travel show with me, Ade Adepitan,

coming to you this week from Ghana.

And it's the perfect place to kick back, relax and look at some

of our favourite stories from the programme over the last

couple of months.

And if you tune in regularly, then you might remember

that it was here in Ghana, back in April, when I headed off

to the twin villages of Boabeng and Fiema to meet some

very special animals.

We'll check that film out again in a moment.

And also not, we've got me cramming in as much as I can

-- And also coming up, we've got me cramming in as much

as I can during a six-hour stopover in Rome.

Carmen gets a lesson in rickshaw road rules in Tokyo.

Did I just make that man crash?

And Christer heading out into the countryside in Spain

on the lookout for walks.

-- on the lookout for wolves.

All great stuff but lets kick off with Rajan's truly epic

journey across India.

As the country prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary

of independence, in March, he set off to travel from Gujarat

in the west, all the way to Assam in the east,

and he met some amazing people, including the mystical dancing monks

on the island of Majuli.

Majuli island is home to 22 monasteries or satras,

initially established in the 16th century by the Assamese Guru

Sankardeva.

Boys are instructed from a very young age in the religion

he preached, Vaishnavism - an offshoot of Hinduism.

The monks are celibate and, according to their beliefs,

they worship only one God, follow a vegetarian diet and reject

the caste system.

And here, at Uttar Kamalabari,

the doctrine includes this special art form.

This form of classical dance is now recognised by the authorities

as a genre in its own right,

and many of these monks have performed around the world.

That was amazing.

Thank you very much indeed.

I know you spend a lifetime learning the skills of this,

but can I have a go?

Can I try?

Like this?

Yeah, yeah.

The arm is through here?

Yeah.

OK.

One, two, three, four...

There are 64 positions in this classical dance

and I'm having trouble with the first two.

It's very difficult.

He makes it look so easy.

That is incredibly difficult.

And I just think I'm going to leave it to the experts.

Sometimes you just have to give up and let them carry on.

An exquisite performance.

Rajan there going off the beaten track

and meeting the dancing monks of Majuli back in April.

Up next, we leave behind the tranquillity of rural India

and head for the noise and bustle

of some of the world's most famous cities.

In a moment, you'll see just how much of Rome

I could fit in during a six-hour stopover.

But first, how about the time when we let Carmen take the strain

when she joined a special team of rickshaw pullers in Tokyo?

In other cities around the world,

tourist rickshaws are sometimes seen as an unregulated menace.

But here in Tokyo,

the hand-pulled carts are a much loved symbol of the city.

If you want to try a hand pulled rickshaw for yourself,

there's no better place.

Hi, Airi.

Hi!

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

female rickshaw drivers.

First, we have to look the part so you've got me a uniform?

Yeah.

This is our uniform.

OK, here we go.

And then here is a belt.

A very long one.

And then turn.

One more, I think!

And make tight!

How do I look?

Ta-da!

And to complete the look,

I'm wearing those traditional split toe shoes.

It's more comfortable than running shoes.

Is it?

Yes.

There we go.

You got it.

Stand up very slowly like this.

OK.

Because if you do like quick, the customer gets very,

feels scared.

Oh, I see.

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, up.

Here we go.

This isn't too bad, actually, once you get going, you get

a bit of momentum.

They look a bit shell-shocked!

High five!

So you find yourself stuck on a Rome layover here

at Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport.

This is one of the largest in Italy

and is the central hub for its national airline.

Unfortunately, Rome is ranked as one of the most delayed airports

in the world, so you'll probably find yourself with a bit of time

on your hands,

so I've decided to make it a bit more interesting and set myself

a challenge to see Rome in under six hours.

Hello!

Hi, Ade, how are you?

Nice to meet you.

Buongiorno!

Where do we go to first?

I've chosen a bespoke tour and have specifically requested five sites

to visit during my whistle-stop tour.

I want to see:

the Coliseum,

the Circus Maximus,

the Palatine Hill,

the Mouth of Truth

and of course, the Trevi Fountain.

My first proper stop here is to go and see the Circus Maximus.

Older than the Coliseum

-- My first proper stop here is to go and see the Circus

Maximus.

Older than the Coliseum

and with a capacity of hundreds of thousands of people,

it was at the heart of Rome's lavish and brutal public entertainment,

the gladiators, to you and me.

This was the place for the spectators,

the excavations over there.

The spectators sat all around.

And resting just above the site is the Palatine Hill

which is one of the most ancient parts of the city.

Next stop is a little hidden gem.

It is the Mouth of Truth.

If you are a liar and you put the hand inside of the mouth,

your hand will be cut.

LAUGHTER.

Every time I see the Trevi Fountain,

it always takes my breath away because it's so beautiful.

And I'd say this is definitely one of the most must-sees in Rome.

One of the downsides of a tour like this

is there's no real time to stop and really enjoy the sights,

because of the tight schedule.

But they give you a great taste of what's on offer.

And who knows, maybe one day I'll be back to explore Rome

at a more leisurely pace.

Me there, trying to cram in 2,000 years of history

into a few hours in Rome.

Well, stick with us, because coming up on today's show,

Henry visits the first ever elephant hospital in Thailand.

Sitting on this beach in Ghana,

it is hard to believe that only a few months ago

I was a world away in terms of geography and temperature,

when I took a special trip to Finnish Lapland

to meet the Sami people

who live a life dominated by snow, reindeer

and where temperatures sometimes drop as low as -4 Celsius.

and where temperatures sometimes drop as low as -40 Celsius.

True story.

There are more reindeers than people in Lapland.

These animals need large areas of unspoiled forest

to find the little food buried under the snow.

So there you see how the reindeer live in the winter.

They get their own food in the forest, they eat the lichen,

they are digging the snow off and the eat the lichen on the land.

There they are, they are all coming down from the hills.

They know you're here!

Reindeer herding is in Petri's blood.

These animals have been crucial to his family for survival

for generations, providing food, clothing and transport.

We are surrounded by reindeer.

This is so beautiful.

Look at them!

SHOUTS.

Look at them all coming.

Yes.

BOTH SHOUT.

Wow!

Petri supplements their diet to increase their chances

of survival till the springtime.

Look at it!

Now it's only -5...

Only -5?

Three weeks ago it was -44. -44?

The coldest it has been is 1999 January, one week and it was -55.

Oh, my! Now it is like the summer!

Are we going to build the fire? Yes.

Cool.

Well, I've had an amazing time here in Finnish Lapland,

and this place just gets to you.

It has a real rugged beauty.

It's the furthest north in the world I've ever been to,

and it feels like I'm at one with nature.

You know what, it's been such a privilege to spend time

with the Sami people.

So that was me learning the ropes with the reindeer in a very cold

Finnish Lapland back in March.

And they weren't the only animals we've met over

the past couple of months.

So, to finish off today's show, here's a few of our favourite

recent animal encounters.

In a moment, Christa goes looking for wolves in Spain,

and I make friends in Ghana with these little fellas.

But first, back in April, Henry travelled to Thailand to pay

a visit to the world's first ever elephant hospital, just in time

to meet their newest and cutest arrival.

What kind of patients do you have?

We have all kinds of illnesses, sicknesses,

knife wounds, gunshot wounds.

Some have diarrhoea, constipation, cataracts.

Some have serious like cancer and tumours.

The most difficult cases are the victims of landmines.

For Motala, each day starts with her prosthetic being fitted,

so she can walk out for breakfast.

Wow, so this is the prosthetic leg.

Can I see?

Heavy.

So heavy!

It weighs a good, at least 15 kilograms.

In the early morning and late afternoon,

when the sun is not too hot, Motala will walk out

for a few hours.

There you go.

Adult females weigh just under three tonnes on average.

So the prosthetic is needed to give vital relief to her other three legs

which are under enormous pressure.

How long did it take her to get used to the prosthetic leg?

Five to seven days.

Then she gets used to it? Yes.

The focus here is an working with elephant owners

in the community, to help any animal that needs medical attention.

The baby!

They also have a nursery section and I'm fortunate enough to be

able to see a newborn.

So how old is the baby? Nine days.

Nine days.

The baby's name. His name is Mina.

It is humbling to see the connection Doctor Kay has with these animals,

as she gives baby Mina a checkup.

It is amazing to see elephants like these that would have otherwise

died in the wild to be thriving in the hospital, and spending time

with Doctor Kay and Soraida, learning the ins and outs

of what goes on here has been an absolutely amazing experience

that I won't forget any time soon.

If you're not a fan of very early starts, then wolf watching

is not for you.

If you're not a fan of very early starts, then wolf watching

is not for you.

Good morning, Christa.

Good morning.

I'm tired, that's what I am!

I wish you a good day.

Living in such close proximity to humans,

these wolves have learned to survive by keeping a low profile,

so don't expect to hear any Hollywood-style howling coming

from up in the hills.

Is it safe?

Is it safe?

My life's in your hands, Tino.

My life's in your hands, Tino.

The Iberian wolf was almost hunted to extinction in the 1970s,

but as the failing economy forced people to move away

from the villagers, the wolf population started to climb.

Tino has got to know wolves individually,

after watching the same packs for many years.

But there is one wolf who is very special to him.

Sadly, this isn't the best time of year to see wolves.

Spring heralds the start of the mating season,

and they like to keep their courtship rituals pretty private.

Tino likes to bring people later in the year,

when the cubs have grown up.

As the day wears on, I'm beginning to lose hope.

If I'm going to see a wolf, I'm going to have to get creative.

This is a local breed called the wolf dog.

Genetically, if partly domesticated dog but it's mostly Iberian wolf.

These dogs were bred to protect cattle from wild wolves.

They look like and think like the enemy.

And the puppies beg for food from adults just

like wild wolf cubs do.

I think this is definitely the closest I'm ever

going to come to a wolf.

Christa almost meeting wolves in Spain in March.

And to finish this week's programme, will it back to my trip to Ghana

in April, when I went to a monkey sanctuary to meet some

of its rather cheeky residents.

Hello.

Look at that!

It's so cute!

You said they're not shy.

Look, Emilia.

Wow! That's so nice.

I am amazed at how much banana little monkey that can eat!

That monkey must have eaten at least ten bananas.

They can eat more than ten.

The villages here believe these monkeys are sacred.

There are two types.

The cheeky Mona and the black and white Colobus which is slightly

more aloof but with good reason.

Declining numbers through habitat loss means there are currently

listed as a vulnerable species.

There can't be many places left where you are virtually

guaranteed a sighting.

Harming either species is strictly forbidden under local law,

which means these villages have become a sanctuary.

In fact, the monkeys here are loved so much,

In fact, the monkeys here are loved so much,

In fact, the monkeys here are loved so much,

that once they die, they are given a proper burial.

I hear the monkeys belong to the gods, so the villagers have

to stay with the monkeys peacefully here.

If we punish them, you get the same punishment from the gods so we have

to stay with them peacefully.

And that is why the monkeys are here are unique from other

parts of Ghana.

This is special? This is special.

Well, that's it for this look back on the Travel Show,

but make sure you stay with us, because we've still got plenty more

countries to visit.

Well, that's it for this look back on the Travel Show,

but make sure you stay with us, because we've still got plenty more

countries to visit.

And next week...

Carmen is in Hong Kong tracking down the kung fu legacy left behind

by Bruce Lee.

Now block. Almost fell over!

And don't forget to check out our website or follow us

on social media.

But for now, from me, Ade Adepitan and the rest

of the Travel Show team here in wonderful sunny

Ghana, it's goodbye.

Well, let's see what the weather's got in store for this weekend

and it is looking a little mixed, not a completely dry one.

There will be some showers around but sunshine too.