0:00:00 > 0:00:02points together to the government of Myanmar.
0:00:02 > 0:00:07Now on BBC News, The Travel Show.
0:00:07 > 0:00:20This week on the show... On the run in central Mexico. This experience
0:00:20 > 0:00:26is one of the craziest things I've done. Wild and rugged Scottish
0:00:26 > 0:00:34holidays. And painting a picture of Denmark.It has special colours and
0:00:34 > 0:00:36a special light.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09We are starting this week right in the middle of Mexico in a state just
0:01:09 > 0:01:18two hours north of Mexico City. The landscape is exactly what you might
0:01:18 > 0:01:22expect. The sheer cliffs and prickly captors are so abundant it's almost
0:01:22 > 0:01:32cartoonish. Wow. This particular area is gorgeous. Central Mexico is
0:01:32 > 0:01:36incredibly beautiful and it's hard to imagine why anybody would want to
0:01:36 > 0:01:49leave. But they did. This is now a bustling friendly place to pick up
0:01:49 > 0:01:54some large. But just a couple of decades ago people say it looked
0:01:54 > 0:02:00like a ghost town. They were leaving for the United States in sizeable
0:02:00 > 0:02:05numbers, as they were for many towns and villages across Mexico. In the
0:02:05 > 0:02:09crook of this ravine at group of recently returned illegal immigrants
0:02:09 > 0:02:12decided they wanted to solve a problem on their own. Years before
0:02:12 > 0:02:17any talk of a border wall. They wanted to convince their children
0:02:17 > 0:02:21and grandchildren that they would have a better life in Mexico and to
0:02:21 > 0:02:24warn them about the dangers of crossing.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06The notorious crowning glory of the park was the brutal night walk,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09which allows tourists to experience what it's like to illegally crossed
0:03:09 > 0:03:14the US border, albeit a fake one. Their hope, that it would be a
0:03:14 > 0:03:14deterrent.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44We are told to meet inside the main gate. This is the real deal. Even
0:03:44 > 0:03:50though these guys are planning apart, they really mean business.
0:03:50 > 0:03:57The guy yelling at the top is a clear key, what you call someone who
0:03:57 > 0:04:02brings you across the border -- coyote. He is taking his character
0:04:02 > 0:04:08extremely seriously. He is yelling out orders to our group. Already my
0:04:08 > 0:04:18heart is beating so fast. They are trying to make this as realistic as
0:04:18 > 0:04:24possible. Listen to them. Breaking into the USA. I'm going to have to
0:04:24 > 0:04:30stop going. Firstly, we are all jumping on the back of a pickup
0:04:30 > 0:04:43truck. I have no idea where we are going. He's not giving us any tips.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51She is saying this is the second time doing the border crossing. She
0:04:51 > 0:04:57is not very scared, however this guy right here, it is first time, I'm
0:04:57 > 0:05:03pretty scared.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13We are going to all cross, or attempt to cross the border they've
0:05:13 > 0:05:25created for us tonight. I have to watch my step. There are gunshots,
0:05:25 > 0:05:30Sirens, this bridge is totally not stable and there's people crawling
0:05:30 > 0:05:34on the ground. I don't even know what's going on, but the group is...
0:05:34 > 0:05:50You OK? Yeah. Unsure footing I can kind of deal with. But things get
0:05:50 > 0:05:54much scarier when you are forced to these ground -- to the ground by
0:05:54 > 0:06:00this very authentic looking armed bandits.
0:06:13 > 0:06:21Unnaturally afraid to make too much noise. I do want him to come back.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Normally you would welcome the arrival of the police with open
0:06:25 > 0:06:40arms, but Elle three tells us to run. -- our coyote.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07Do you think people coming here and experiencing this works and make
0:07:07 > 0:07:08them want to stay in
0:08:01 > 0:08:07the whole point of this park is to show people the hardships and the
0:08:07 > 0:08:10work that goes into a border crossing and tonight has been a
0:08:10 > 0:08:18perfect example of that so far.Look at this. I have a cactus stuck in
0:08:18 > 0:08:31the bottom of my shoe. Look at that. It went all the way through the side
0:08:31 > 0:08:38of my shoe. This is the moment, this is the moment. When we can hopefully
0:08:38 > 0:08:46cross the border. Our coyote is stressing out. We are waiting for
0:08:46 > 0:08:51the next truck and as soon as it comes with a jump on the back. The
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Sirens are off in the distance. The number of illegal migrants being
0:08:55 > 0:09:00arrested at the border is coming down significantly. US border patrol
0:09:00 > 0:09:05said it stopped 44% fewer last year than in 2016, of the journey still
0:09:05 > 0:09:10kills hundreds annually. Here at Parque EcoAlberto they are hoping it
0:09:10 > 0:09:14will end up saving many of those lives. It has certainly given the
0:09:14 > 0:09:27guest tonight pause for thought. That was seriously one of the most
0:09:27 > 0:09:30difficult things I've ever done in my life, however, if you are
0:09:30 > 0:09:35planning to come to this area here is a guide to some of the things you
0:09:35 > 0:09:39can do and see around Mexico City. Top of our list would be the street
0:09:39 > 0:09:45food. You will see tacos, quesadillas and all sorts of things.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49It is cheap and delicious but make sure whatever you are reading is
0:09:49 > 0:09:53made in front of you. And if you are feeling really brave, head to the
0:09:53 > 0:09:58market and try a handful of crunchy scorpions or grasshoppers. The food
0:09:58 > 0:10:03at the museum is in a pretty suburb and it is where the artist was born
0:10:03 > 0:10:07and lived a long side her husband. Inside you will find collections of
0:10:07 > 0:10:12work from both of them. Some of the rooms have been left in the same
0:10:12 > 0:10:16state there were in when house became a museum in the 1950s. Our
0:10:16 > 0:10:20tip is to get there early to beat the long queues. This is an
0:10:20 > 0:10:23incredibly popular attraction. The same advice goes for this castle
0:10:23 > 0:10:28which gets crowded in the high season but is well worth a look. The
0:10:28 > 0:10:31beautiful 18th-century building started life as a retreat for Aztec
0:10:31 > 0:10:35rulers and sits in the world's largest urban park. While you are
0:10:35 > 0:10:40there check out this American ceremony in which four or five men
0:10:40 > 0:10:46perform suspended from the top of a 30 metre pole. And this is the
0:10:46 > 0:10:49UNESCO listed canal district a short distance outside the city. Read
0:10:49 > 0:10:53colourful boat and take in the gardens and wildlife. On Saturday
0:10:53 > 0:10:57the place comes alive and becomes kind of a floating party district.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01It's quite a sight. One weird highlight is the island of the
0:11:01 > 0:11:06dolls, a creepy diversion.
0:11:07 > 0:11:15Still to come on The Travel Show, our global guru is he with
0:11:15 > 0:11:19recommendations for Scotland in the summertime. And the artistic secrets
0:11:19 > 0:11:24behind Denmark's biggest fishing port.It's a beautiful place because
0:11:24 > 0:11:30you can see all around and there's inspiration.
0:11:30 > 0:11:43The Travel Show, your essential guide wherever you're heading.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Welcome to
0:11:53 > 0:11:56the show that gets the best out of your travel. An island escape in
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Scotland, and the pyramidal problem of tipping, who and how much? This
0:12:00 > 0:12:04time on a river cruise. High-speed rail should be arriving shortly in
0:12:04 > 0:12:10South -- South -- Saudi Arabia. The link between Mecca and Medina across
0:12:10 > 0:12:18the Arabian desert should be opening in March. Spanish built trains will
0:12:18 > 0:12:22be covering the 270 miles between the two holy cities in about two
0:12:22 > 0:12:31hours. Helen is looking forward to Christmas, a place, not the day.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Christmas Island, a beautiful coral atoll in the heart of the world's
0:12:35 > 0:12:41biggest ocean, is the only island in the Republic of Kiribati who has a
0:12:41 > 0:12:46international air links. It is a stop on the way between Honolulu and
0:12:46 > 0:12:53Fiji. There are many ways to reach Honolulu from the mainland at US
0:12:53 > 0:12:57airports, but you will need to make sure you are there at noon on
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Tuesday when the only flight of the week takes off for the three hour
0:13:01 > 0:13:09flight south to Christmas Island.
0:13:19 > 0:13:26The Hebrides, the islands of the West Coast of Scotland complies raw,
0:13:26 > 0:13:32elemental landscapes with a dramatic seashore punctuated by ports and
0:13:32 > 0:13:37superb beaches. The weather is not always clamoured and the
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Mediterranean is rather more warm than the North Atlantic, when the
0:13:40 > 0:13:45sun shines the Western Isles have few rivals for sheer beauty. While
0:13:45 > 0:13:50the Outer Hebrides have a compelling, growth family, the one
0:13:50 > 0:13:56island that is likely to be just right is the inner Hebrides island
0:13:56 > 0:14:07of Malta. -- Mull. It is easy to reach from the seaside town of open.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10You get a wider choice of accommodation and fewer crowds. --
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Oban.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31A river cruise is a superb way to experience the cities and landscapes
0:14:31 > 0:14:37of Central Europe, and it is my favourite waterway. -- the Danube.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40Tipping on river cruises is different from Ocean cruising, there
0:14:40 > 0:14:45is no intense pressure and you could have nothing at the end of the
0:14:45 > 0:14:48cruise, but the crews of a recommendation and they tend to be
0:14:48 > 0:14:56quite similar. 12 euros per person per day for the ships staff and for
0:14:56 > 0:15:02the cruise director, wear and I am paying a handsome amount for the
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Danube cruise I would probably tip the staff but leave the cruise
0:15:07 > 0:15:12director to negotiate their own fees. Whether you are contemplating
0:15:12 > 0:15:16a trip to the nation next door or the nation next door or the ends of
0:15:16 > 0:15:21the earth, I am here to help. So e-mail your questions to me and I
0:15:21 > 0:15:25will do my very best to find you an answer. From me, the global guru,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28wife now, see you next time.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Finally, we are off to Skagen, the most northerly town in Denmark. It
0:15:38 > 0:15:44is possibly best known for hosting a colony of artists known as the
0:15:44 > 0:15:49Skagen painters who were cared in the 19th century known as the Skagen
0:15:49 > 0:16:00painters. And today there legacy lives on.One of my favourite
0:16:00 > 0:16:07paintings is this one, a Midsummer painting of the bonfire at St John's
0:16:07 > 0:16:13night, and it is bringing together a lot of the things that these Skagen
0:16:13 > 0:16:17painters and the colony was all about, because it shows us the
0:16:17 > 0:16:23artist and the local fishermen together in this same painting.
0:16:23 > 0:16:29Actually we still today celebrate St John's night in the same ways as we
0:16:29 > 0:16:37see on the painting. Back in the 1870s and 1880s, the Skagen painters
0:16:37 > 0:16:44started coming here. They were from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Great
0:16:44 > 0:16:51Britain, and at this time travelling was part of the education of
0:16:51 > 0:16:58becoming an artist. They found a fishermen 's village at the top of
0:16:58 > 0:17:09Denmark, where these two oceans meet each other. This touch that the
0:17:09 > 0:17:17artists made this town is very important to Skagen today.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26This is going to be a sketch for a quick painting in my studio. That is
0:17:26 > 0:17:37the idea. It's a beautiful place because you can see all around, you
0:17:37 > 0:17:42have both seaside and you have the houses of Skagen which are quite
0:17:42 > 0:17:48important, with the colours, the yellow, the red, the white.
0:17:53 > 0:18:02Most of our paintings are from the period, 1870- 1920, 25 full, 30.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08That is when the artist colony was really alive. They would come back
0:18:08 > 0:18:17nearly every summer, the artist is met at the hotel, mainly, and there
0:18:17 > 0:18:22is this social connection between the people, the locals and the
0:18:22 > 0:18:38artists was very important.I usually say it all began here at
0:18:38 > 0:18:42Bondums hotel. It is a very special place, we want to keep that
0:18:42 > 0:18:46atmosphere because it is what the people want to see when they come
0:18:46 > 0:18:54here. The her -- the owner of a hotel at the time said to the
0:18:54 > 0:18:57artists they didn't have to pay anything for staying here, they
0:18:57 > 0:19:01could just give them the pictures. It was here that all the artists
0:19:01 > 0:19:05were having beginners, playing cards, have a lot of discussions
0:19:05 > 0:19:18about paintings and so on.This is my drug, you know, I have to paint.
0:19:18 > 0:19:25I need it everyday to live my life, I cannot live without painting. It
0:19:25 > 0:19:32gives me the speed of being alive. We have a lot of paintings focusing
0:19:32 > 0:19:39on the fishermen, and that was like a core motif for most of the Skagen
0:19:39 > 0:19:46painters, because that was what they mess, these hard-working local
0:19:46 > 0:19:52fishermen, living and dying for the sea.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02More than 100 years back this town was more or less a very small town,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04where the fishermen landed their catches on the beach, beating the
0:20:04 > 0:20:12smaller boats. I can't help feeling a lot of respect for the fishermen
0:20:12 > 0:20:19and the circumstances they had to work under. In 1907 the construction
0:20:19 > 0:20:29of the port was finished which meant a whole new opportunity. The past 13
0:20:29 > 0:20:36years or 14 years we have been the largest fishing port in Denmark. It
0:20:36 > 0:20:40is working out well within the port area and for the businesses of the
0:20:40 > 0:20:48port, it is working out very well for the town of Skagen as well.
0:20:51 > 0:21:00I like very much to paint a big and heavy. Being a painter in Skagen
0:21:00 > 0:21:05today is not as was of course, but it is still the same energy and
0:21:05 > 0:21:11still the same colour, attitude that I use, because Skagen has special
0:21:11 > 0:21:18colours and has a special light.You can actually come into the museum,
0:21:18 > 0:21:25look at these paintings, and you can go outside and you can find these
0:21:25 > 0:21:35different motifs that you see on the canvas. I think the fact that there
0:21:35 > 0:21:39was an artist colony here plays a very important role in putting
0:21:39 > 0:21:46Skagen on the map.The people of Skagen in Denmark, bringing this
0:21:46 > 0:21:54week 's show to an end. Coming up next week: we will be on-board
0:21:54 > 0:22:00Africa's Freedom Railway, a vital artery connecting Zambia to the
0:22:00 > 0:22:07Tanzanian coast are over 40 years. Seven Lions chasing a zebra, it was
0:22:07 > 0:22:13like a movie! But it was real! Finding Web the future holds. For
0:22:13 > 0:22:18this now creaking train line. And in the meantime if you would like to
0:22:18 > 0:22:23join our adventures on the road and follow us on social media, but for
0:22:23 > 0:22:32now from myself and the rest of the Travel Show team in Mexico, it is
0:22:32 > 0:22:34adios.