Orkney Islands The Travel Show

Coming up on this week 's programme. I hit of the Scottish Orkney

Islands. To help uncover then neolithic past. It is about 5000

years old. The likes of which we have never even seen before. Let's

go guys. Yeah? We take off in Macedonia. In search of new thrills.

And Abby takes a look at what has been trending in travel online,

including a tweet that has being beamed into outer space. We offer

friendship across the stars. The Orkneys on a remote archipelago

of islands about 30 miles off the northern coast of Scotland. They are

known for their rolling green farmland and dramatically but they

have also become famous across the world for the extraordinary ancient

sites. The region came to the attention of

the archaeological world back in 1850 with the discuss it of Skara

Brae, a Neolithic settlement on the West Coast of Orkney's mainland.

Since then, discoveries have been made across the islands and in 1999,

a group of monuments known as the heart of Neolithic Orkney was

declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. In recent years, nuclear

scanning technology has meant more discoveries than ever before and

some say we are in a golden age of Scottish archaeology. It was this

sort of technology that, in 2003, helped reveal a hidden treasure. A

building complex up to 5000 years old buried under a farm on Orkney's

Raqqa Peninsula. The side stretched over 2.5 hectares Binny the ground,

comprising temples, paved streets and outbuildings. It's since been

dubbed the mess of vodka and hailed as the greatest Neolithic find in

the modern era. The scale of which... Archaeologist Nick card is

responsible for excavating the site which is no small task. The fight is

so big that even knew this trench behind us, the refill on the about

10% of the whole area. So what we're doing is gradually picking it,

trying to refine the chronology, see how all these buildings relate to

each other, which ones were in use at the same time, and taking

thousands of samples to try to work out how these buildings were

actually utilised. The site is open for just eight weeks a year and

requires the hard work of dozens of volunteers. Right, Christer, here we

have the remains, and you can see the outer wall of a really large

building. Yep. We are over there. Huge curving walls. A trial. I have

one ready for you. A key tool, yes. We are going to get into the trench

and clean back from the outer face of the wall, just gently clearing

back, scraping back, to reveal the pavement. Amazing. So let's get in

and see. We are crouched over an old pathway and slowly, as we scrape

away the soil, ancient paving stones are revealed. It's fascinating to

think that the last humans to these stones are people living up to five

millennia ago. There could be anything right here. You just never

know. What will you find? Absolutely, yes. What is that that I

have found? I think that is a fragment of bird bone, to see how it

is white? Because it has been subject to really intense heat. So

is that sort of animal bone? Nobody has had a meal, thrown it.

Absolutely, yes. It is not so much finding the special things which are

lovely to find, it is the understanding of how people lived

here and when you find a fragment of a pot, you think why is that fair?

Why has that been put there? Or put it there and why do they put it

there? It is on picking that story which is the really great part for

me. It's a great feeling to contribute even a little to the work

taking place here. But maintaining an active site like this takes more

than just elbow grease, it cost money. Around ?2000 a day. Much of

the funding comes from donations, including an active charitable fund

based in the USA. It also relies on EU grants. Some reports have

suggested that Britain's forthcoming departure from the EU could result

in a loss of up to 30% of funding UK archaeological research. Which could

cause problems for sites such as the Lethebrook. I think the blog term,

not being able to reply for research grants like this on the European

research Council, a quite dramatic effect on how projects such as this

will develop, and we are relying more and more on public support. One

possible solution to the funding shortfall could come from what is

already a strong contributor to the Orkney economy just like tourism.

Its popularity as a destination has grown markedly in recent years, with

visitor numbers reaching around 200,000 per annum. Many of these

tourists arrived by sea, which is not surprising, as Orkney is the

UK's most popular cruise ship destination. And one of the key

attractions is the island's ancient past. Many cruise passengers joined

to us straight off the ship and head to the site of Skara Brae which has

been famous since its discovery 150 years ago. It is now a

well-established tourist site with buses arriving by the dozen and tens

of thousands of visitors each year. Skara Brae is a great example of the

power of ancient sites to draw tourists, and how they can benefit

from the tourist dollar. At the nest, tourists visit the site daily

during the season, they can view the proceedings are specially built

platform overlooking the excitement of encouraged to make donations. But

the question is whether these contributions will be enough to

compensate for any future shortfall in funding. Gareth Crighton from the

local tourism group is hopeful that tourism revenue will grow and allow

more support for sites like this. Tourism already is a resource for

the archaeology but it should grow, the of opportunity to develop that

and it is something that we in Orkney and focused on, it is a 2-way

so much for visitors to benefit from, the value you get out of a

visit, and the sites, it's fantastic, but it has to work both

ways. For now, the team here are getting on with the job of

uncovering the mysteries of the nest. What the future holds for

archaeology in the region is of course unknown but in Orkney, the

race always a good chance there could be even more astonishing

ancient sites still hidden under the earth. Waiting to be discovered.

And it isn't just the Orkney Islands that are brimming with history. It

reckons there are tens of thousands of sites of archaeological interest.

Across Scotland. So here is the travel show's pick up some of them.

The West Coast of Lewis which is the most northerly island in the Outer

Hebrides is rich in ancient remains. The standing stones of Callanish are

famous worldwide. And a must see for any visitor. These gigantic rocks

stand between 1-5 metres high and are believed to have been

constructed around for - 5000 years ago. The site also includes a burial

camp where human remains have been found. I've on the mainland, you

will find the sight of the fort close to bird had fought in more

rate, the north-eastern part of the country was one of the earliest

centres of power for the PIC 's, or painted people as the Greeks and

Romans knew them. Head the Nikkei Hills in Aberdeenshire to find a

series of distinctive hilltops of the harbour site of an Iron Age hill

fort. Historians have suggested this was the place where the Caledonia

Park tribe took on the might of the Roman Empire in the battle around 80

A.D.. According to the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, and lost over

10,000 warriors before losing the battle. And finally, built in the

1300, not a cattle is a ruined mediaeval fortress located on a

craggy headland on the north-east coast of Scotland. About three

kilometres south of Stonehaven. The rocks it was built on a more than

four Hopetoun -- 440 million years old and the ruined the top fortress

was once home to the bill of nourisher, one of the most helpful

families in Scotland. Although they eventually lost the influence

following the Jacobite uprisings of the 18th century. Still to come on

this week's travel show. We take to the skies in Macedonia. We are

flying! The travel show, your essential

guide where ever you are headed. Time now for trending travel, your

monthly mash up of the best travel related stories, stats and videos

online. This year marked 40 years since the launch of Voyager one, the

spacecraft that has gone on to become the most remote man-made

object in space. It's so remote, in billions of years time, it it could

be the last surviving piece of human civilisation. To mark the

anniversary, NASA launched the message to Voyager campaign inviting

Twitter users to submit a 60 character message to be beamed to

the craft. The winning entry was announced last month, and took

almost a day to reach Voyager one. It was William Shatner, the actor

who played Captain James T Kirk on Star Trek, who gave the command at

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to send a message written by Oliver

Jenkins that states: send the message. On your command.

This is to Voyager at 1720 01. When William Shatner read it is really

cool. A massive Trekkie and it is an honour to have Captain Kirk read my

message. What could be more infighting than swimming in the New

York river? Waterways aren't known for their cleanliness but that could

be about to change with plus pool, it is a swimming pool designed to

float in the river and filter over 600,000 gallons of river water,

making it safe to Beijing. The project has been floated around and

realised for years, attracting some celebrity backers and kickstart

funding. Now, they are trying to get 100,000 on-line signatures to

acquire $100,000 grant which they claim will help to end these plans

into a reality. Thanks to everyone who sent us their pictures this

month using the hashtag travel Tuesday. Here are some of my

favourites. Claire spoke to pursue out of her hotel room in Italy. This

was sent to us during the Kampala city festival in Uganda. Rashid sent

us a photo of this morning commuters in Dakar, Bangladesh. Don't forget

to check out our Twitter and Facebook feeds full loads of extra

special travel show content. Now let's look at the travel videos

clocking up views online. This year marks 100 years since the Russian

Revolution, so we've selected to make films showing different sides

to the world's largest country. This is a great place, it is a very

beautiful and famous city, Saint Petersburg. I wanted to capture the

atmosphere of the city. CLASSICAL MUSIC. I really wish I

could get back to this country soon, because it is so big there is so to

discover. There is such a diversity in the languages, the landscapes.

The culture, the music. Don't forget to get in touch. To

enter this week on the travel show, we are off to the Macedonian town of

Krusevo, which up until now, has not been on everybody's list of places

to visit. But Krusevo is slowly finding its place on the map for

people who like to get their thrills high above the ground. The tiny town

of Krusevo has just 2000 inhabitants. But what it lacks in

size it makes up for in height. It sits at 1000, 350 metres, making it

the highest town in all of Macedonia. But not the people

outside of the country had ever heard of this place. There is one

activity that is drawing people not only from all over the country and

Europe, but all over the world. I am at the Czech and Macedonian open,

one of the dozens of international competitions that Krusevo has hosted

over the years. The wind strength predicted for the whole day is six

plus metres. Today's competitors have come from as far away as India,

Russia and New Zealand. They are drawn not only by the completion

but, they say, by the top-notch conditions that Krusevo offers. It

is just perfect. The distance for take-up is very short, just five

minutes. The road is good. In some places you have to be driving for

light one-hour, on winding roads and stuff like that. The town is very

small and cosy, it is easy being here. And also, the weather is very

reliable. It is perfect when you want to fly a lot. As the

competitors and wait for their breathing, I catch up with the

competition's current champion. He is one of many paragliders who comes

here year after year to fly. I am hoping all of the wonderful

things I heard about Krusevo's flying conditions are correct. It is

I am about to go flying myself. I have never gone paragliding before,

and even though this will be in a tandem, there is something about

flying like a bird that makes me just a tad nervous. You have the

whistle here is something goes wrong. What could go wrong? I don't

know... Why would I have to use the whistle? Ahead of my flight, my

instructor gives me the rundown of everything he says I have to know.

It is the easiest thing you can learn, it is easier than riding a

bicycle, it is safer than riding a bicycle. It is good if you know how

to do it, we prepare for the flight first, which are called the

equipment. Then in two steps, we are in there. The wind, not too strong.

If you want a good flight, we have this kind of weather like today. A

nice, sunny day with beautiful clouds. As luck would have it is,

even though Krusevo is one of the world's best places for paragliding,

the conditions today are not good. The wind is strong and keeps

changing. Disaster! And because we are flying in tandem, which is

bigger and heavier than a single pilot glider, already risky wind

conditions are even more dangerous for us. I'm just checking the lines.

This was not properly attached. They went properly attached, so... I'm

glad he figured that out. But Igor is determined to find a spot where

we can safely take off. Due to the weather, and despite

Igor's Staffords, I can tell this is not going to be one of the most

elegant takeoffs. -- best efforts. And I'm not totally convinced we are

going to get off the ground. But suddenly the wind takes hold and we

are airborne. I've never experienced anything like

this. My heart is in my mouth as the ground disappears below.

As cliched as it is to say, it is a feeling of your freedom and complete

a vulnerability. Many of us may be used to looking

down on the landscape from aeroplane windows. But it is altogether

different when there is absolutely nothing between you and the sky.

That was amazing! I really want to go up again. But I don't think we

are supposed to, the wind is definitely getting worse. And I

think one flight is all we get today. But I'm really happy with

that. It was awesome. I loved flying so much, I'm disappointed we had to

cut out flight short. But I'm incredibly glad we got the chance to

experience something so thrilling, and in one of the best places in the

world for it. No wonder paragliders become addicted to their sport, and

no wonder so many of them come back to Krusevo again and again. I may

not be a paragliding yet, but it is easy to see the attraction.

Well, that's all we've got time for on this week's RAM. Coming up next

week, Adi is in Swedish Lapland, finding a city on the move,

literally, in one of the world's list of urban transformations. About

6000 people will be moving, because their houses and their apartments

will be affected. That's because a sinkhole threatens to swallow up the

whole of this town. And all these buildings, everything that you can

see in front of you now, will eventually collapse into the hole.

So do join us then, if you can. In the meantime, don't forget, you can

keep up with this one we are on the road in real-time by sending up to

our social media feeds. Details are on the screen now. For now, from the

travel show, it is goodbye. Today's weather is brought

to you courtesy of Storm Brian. Over the last 24 hours it has

rapidly developed as low pressure