0:00:01 > 0:00:03Now it's time for The Travel Show.
0:00:03 > 0:00:14This week, the American guidebook that may have helped save lives.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18It took a lot of courage for a black family to get in their car
0:00:18 > 0:00:19and hit the open road.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Lighting up Jordan's most treasured monument.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26And dressing up in a Polish castle.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29If you have misplaced your ties, I'm sure Mr Derbyshire
0:00:29 > 0:00:40can be of assistance.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01We are starting this week in the United States of America.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Nowadays, a largely safe place to visit, no matter
0:01:04 > 0:01:06who you are all what you look like.
0:01:06 > 0:01:0980 years ago, travelling around some parts of the country could be
0:01:09 > 0:01:18a dangerous prospect if you were African-American.
0:01:18 > 0:01:34But, help was on hand, from one very special guidebook.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Travelling on the road if you were black during this time,
0:01:50 > 0:01:55you were taking your life in your hands.
0:01:55 > 0:02:01We estimate that there were over 10,000 Sundown towns.
0:02:01 > 0:02:07Sundown towns were all white towns, they could have a sign at the border
0:02:07 > 0:02:10saying they would run out all the black people.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15It took a lot of courage for a black family to get in their car and just
0:02:15 > 0:02:17hit the open road, which is something that in America
0:02:17 > 0:02:22we take for granted.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29They called and Jim Crow laws, and those laws make it illegal
0:02:29 > 0:02:34for people of colour to stay, to eat in restaurants,
0:02:34 > 0:02:42to stay in hotels, to use bathrooms, they have separate bathrooms.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Some places, you couldn't walk on the sidewalk with a white person,
0:02:45 > 0:02:55you had to get off the sidewalk and walk in the street.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00The green book was an historic travel guide published for black
0:03:00 > 0:03:02people during the Jim Crow era.
0:03:02 > 0:03:12It was more than just gas-food-lodging, there
0:03:12 > 0:03:15there was everything for anything you might need on the road,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18whether it was a doctor, or churches or department stores.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19Haberdashers, tailors, drugstores.
0:03:19 > 0:03:20There were golf courses.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Disneyland was listed in the green book.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26It was a pretty major guide by the 1960s we estimated it had
0:03:26 > 0:03:32been sold to over 2 million people.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35My mother is from Kansas, my father is from North Carolina,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38so we travelled mainly back and fourth to those places.
0:03:38 > 0:03:44My parent would use the green book to plan places where we might stop,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47without it, it would have been far more difficult,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50if not practically impossible.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55Because people used to pack food, for us to get to Kansas,
0:03:55 > 0:04:01we had to pack food that is going to last us for two or three days!
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Where are you going to stay?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16My grandmother owned the only hotel in Charlottesville,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Virginia that black people could stay in in the 1940s,
0:04:19 > 0:04:221950s and 1960s.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25The Green Book listing was very important to the business
0:04:25 > 0:04:29because people travelling through the south, and even places
0:04:29 > 0:04:32in the North, really relied on that book to figure out
0:04:32 > 0:04:36where they were going to stop.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39The Inn was just this fantastic vibrant place filled with relatives
0:04:39 > 0:04:45and people that I've never met.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48Because the University of Virginia is located in Charlottesville,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50many entertainers, famous entertainers and figures would come
0:04:50 > 0:04:51to the University.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54If they were African-American, they had to stay at my grandmother's
0:04:54 > 0:05:04place.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08One of the things that I am very proud of is this picture
0:05:08 > 0:05:10of Louis Armstrong, that he autographed former grandmother.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13It's an artefact in my family that I hope will be passed down
0:05:14 > 0:05:15from generation to generation.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17It was a great moment but in the early 1960s,
0:05:17 > 0:05:19when desegregation began, the business started to fail.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21My grandmother was getting older.
0:05:21 > 0:05:30Was not as well.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Had some health problems.
0:05:32 > 0:05:43Most people, when they had a choice of staying in the Holiday Inn down
0:05:43 > 0:05:46the street or the Motel 6, or whatever, they decided
0:05:46 > 0:05:47they would rather stay there.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48It was modern.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49It was different.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53For many black people, it was a point of pride to be able
0:05:53 > 0:06:06to go where they had been denied access before.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09It closed in 1967 or so when my grandmother got ill.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It doesn't exist any more.
0:06:11 > 0:06:11It's sad.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15I don't think it would have been able to have been sustained.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19We've made progress but we lose something when we make progress.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I stumbled on the green book by accident, I was writing a book
0:06:44 > 0:06:47on Route 66 and found that it was in Beirut 66 exhibit,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and there was a Green Book, under glass, tucked away
0:06:50 > 0:06:51in the corner.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55When I first put my hands on a Green Book, it was magical.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59It's this feeling of you too can enjoy America.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05It was a very hopeful, positive guide.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I'm in New York because I am a scholar in residence
0:07:19 > 0:07:26at the Schoenberg Centre for black research.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28And it's amazing because they have the largest collection
0:07:28 > 0:07:30of Green Books in the world.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I have scouted about 1600 Green Book sites so far,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37and of those, less than a quarter are still standing.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40But I'm also working with city planners to have them recognise
0:07:40 > 0:07:43these sites as culturally significant.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46And historic sites.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49The Green Book was an innovative and resourceful solution
0:07:49 > 0:07:54to an horrific problem.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56For me it is a source of pride.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01That African-Americans, that black people were resilient,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03they were resourceful.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06I think our ancestors would be proud of the green book,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09that we survived and came up with these tools.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11They had a lot of courage, a lot of drive.
0:08:11 > 0:08:17And were not going to be denied.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I think those lesson should be a comfort to people facing today's
0:08:20 > 0:08:28America.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Next up, we are in Petra, in Jordan, meeting a man who guides tourists
0:08:32 > 0:08:38in the ancient city after dark.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Petra by night...
0:08:39 > 0:08:43I love it.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51Petra by night, we started to do this programme 17 years ago.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55In order to give a chance for our visitors to see Petra
0:08:55 > 0:08:58during the night.
0:08:58 > 0:09:05To enjoy the atmosphere.
0:09:05 > 0:09:12And we start from the main gate here.
0:09:12 > 0:09:18About two kilometres through the city.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22And we light more than 1500 candles.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Soon, we arrive here.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28We start the show.
0:09:28 > 0:09:37We have two Jordanian instruments, ancient instruments,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39the first one we call it shababa.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40Shababa the flute.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42The other one we call it rebaba.
0:09:42 > 0:09:55We sing about the Bedouin.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57The Bedouin live in the tents.
0:09:57 > 0:09:57The caves.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58They breed horses.
0:09:58 > 0:09:58Goats.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Raise camels.
0:09:59 > 0:10:00In the desert.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05APPLAUSE
0:10:05 > 0:10:07Before the Arab Spring, before the problems,
0:10:07 > 0:10:13many tourists, I remember, 1000 in a Christmas time.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17But after, for five years, six years, slowed down.
0:10:17 > 0:10:26Sometimes 30, 70, not many tourists.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31The best thing for me, when the tourists sit together,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36friendly, I tell them to keep their camera ready to take
0:10:36 > 0:10:41a photo together.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49It means we are one heart, one eye.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52When I can, every night, it is like a dream.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00When I can, every night, it is like a dream.
0:11:00 > 0:11:01I like it.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04It is an honour for me to ride through all the countries.
0:11:04 > 0:11:29To make them happy, to see Petra.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Still to come:
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I'm role-playing in Poland, trying to get some
0:11:34 > 0:11:36answers out of this.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37Where were you last night?
0:11:37 > 0:11:42I've had reports that they saw you quite late in the evening,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45with a mysterious young lady.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Mysterious?
0:11:50 > 0:11:54The Travel Show, your essential guide wherever you are headed.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58Next this week, my travels take me to a part of Poland that is well off
0:11:58 > 0:12:00the beaten track.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03This is Lower Silesia, about an hour and a half's drive
0:12:03 > 0:12:06from the regional capital Wroc?aw, not far from the Czech border.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08What a beautiful place.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28It's been here for a long time.
0:12:28 > 0:12:28Absolutely stunning.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Really sets the scene for what I'm going to be in full for the next
0:12:32 > 0:12:33couple of days.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37I've come to this Gothic palace to take part in a live action
0:12:37 > 0:12:38role-play, or larp.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41next three for the next three days this is not much in a castle,
0:12:41 > 0:12:43but Fairweather Manor, an English country house,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and the year is 1917.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Right in the middle of the First World War.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49This is the costume room.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53This man is the brains behind it all.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57What is larp?
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Have you ever played house, as a kid, Henry?
0:12:59 > 0:12:59Yes.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03You played a father who is angry and scolding of his children
0:13:03 > 0:13:05because they did not do their homework, or maybe
0:13:05 > 0:13:08you played one of the kids, not wanting to do homework
0:13:08 > 0:13:10and wanting to play soccer instead.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12This is that, just with more complex stories, better costumes
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and hopefully a little bit more interesting locations.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16It's pretend play for adults.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24Larping grew out of the Dungeons Dragons scene in the 1980s.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26As some of his players got older, their ambition grew,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and these days, some events can attract huge crowds.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31In Germany, for instance, 7500 people play this,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36the most recent game of conquest.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Its organisers claim it is the world biggest larp.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42Klaus creates elaborate games mainly in Poland and Denmark,
0:13:42 > 0:13:46people have travelled from as far afield as the US and Canada
0:13:46 > 0:13:50for this.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Tickets start at ?330, or $420, including
0:13:52 > 0:13:57food and accommodation.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01So, I need some tips, because I am obviously going to be
0:14:01 > 0:14:02diving headfirst into this.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I'd say some of it is character portrayal, you want to be believable
0:14:05 > 0:14:08as what you are, first off, but secondly, you also want it
0:14:09 > 0:14:09to be interesting.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12It is pretty easy to be a believable old grumpy man sitting
0:14:13 > 0:14:16in the corner not talking to anybody but it is also boring,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19it is boring for you and boring for everybody else.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22The night before the action begins, we are all given the laws
0:14:22 > 0:14:26of the house...
0:14:26 > 0:14:28A few ballroom dancing lessons...
0:14:28 > 0:14:35Europe is burning.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39And then, the sombre opening speech is delivered,
0:14:39 > 0:14:42in character, "in game," as the larpers put it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43All over Europe, brother fight brother.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46The stage is set.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Welcome to Fairweather Manor.
0:14:48 > 0:14:55APPLAUSE.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59So, this is the morning of the larp, and I have my outfit
0:14:59 > 0:15:01for my character, I have my character details,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04my name is Robert Adam, I am a former war correspondent,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07a journalist, and I have seen all the atrocities that have been
0:15:07 > 0:15:10happening on the front line.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12"You are short tempered.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15"You won't always this way but war has changed you and not entirely
0:15:15 > 0:15:16for the better."
0:15:16 > 0:15:20"Your sense of being lost in a world that no longer makes sense and a job
0:15:27 > 0:15:31"Your sense of being lost in a world that no longer makes sense and a job
0:15:31 > 0:15:34which seems insufficient to the task given to you,
0:15:34 > 0:15:35and leads you to easily become
0:15:35 > 0:15:38frustrated and lash out at the people around you."
0:15:38 > 0:15:41"You have met too many people who simply do not want to see
0:15:41 > 0:15:43the truth that is in front of them.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45And their wilful ignorance infuriates you."
0:15:45 > 0:15:48The first challenge is to actually find the other guests.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50I think we're a bit late for breakfast...
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Am I the only person in the castle?!
0:15:52 > 0:15:52Huh!
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Nobody.
0:15:57 > 0:16:07I don't think I've kind of got into it yet.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11How is the easing into it?
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Do you just jump in?
0:16:13 > 0:16:14That's a good question.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Is it safe to say that it is all in game right now?
0:16:18 > 0:16:20You must believe that everything is in game.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23If it is not, then you would know in some way.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24People would do something.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30I hope so!
0:16:30 > 0:16:31Because these ladies here...
0:16:31 > 0:16:33The one on the right is crying.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35I want to ask her if she is OK...
0:16:35 > 0:16:36But I shouldn't?
0:16:36 > 0:16:48Nope.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Unless you are in character, if you want to do something
0:16:51 > 0:16:54about it, in game, of course it is all right.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56But it is a trial.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58I do want to feel that.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00But I'm quite conscious, because I've got these
0:17:00 > 0:17:01guys following me...
0:17:01 > 0:17:05All of a sudden I am handed a lifeline, a mission in the form
0:17:05 > 0:17:07of a little scandal.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10So it seems like one of the young maids was spotted alone
0:17:10 > 0:17:12in the forest with one of the German nobles.
0:17:12 > 0:17:13Ruffled hair and everything.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15And in a state of undress?
0:17:15 > 0:17:16I wouldn't quite say so...
0:17:16 > 0:17:17But...
0:17:17 > 0:17:17LAUGHTER.
0:17:17 > 0:17:30I'm sure it was not far away!
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Not all the characters are welcoming me with open arms.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35Robert, from the Sunday Times.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Nice to have you with us.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Thank you very much.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43If you have misplaced your ties, I'm sure that Mr Derbyshire can be
0:17:43 > 0:17:45of assistance, so that you can look proper,
0:17:45 > 0:17:48at least for the rest of the day.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51From my impressions, this could be perceived as very
0:17:51 > 0:17:58geeky and a little weird.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Somebody that sits there and knows every single football stat of every
0:18:02 > 0:18:04single player ever, yeah, would also be considered
0:18:04 > 0:18:08a little bit geeky.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10It is no different.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13For this particular type of larp, a lot of research has gone
0:18:13 > 0:18:19into the time period, the costumes, everything.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21If you've a hobby where there is a passion involved,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24doesn't matter whether it is a sport, something more indoors,
0:18:24 > 0:18:32something more intellectual, or something like this.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35the people involved have an aspect of geekiness to them.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41Because that passion drives them to be very focused.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Excuse me, ladies.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Could I have a moment of your time?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50I feel like it's down to me to expose the shady baron
0:18:50 > 0:18:53for what he is, and slowly but surely, actually begin
0:18:53 > 0:18:54to have fun.
0:18:54 > 0:18:55I don't know which maid...
0:18:55 > 0:19:00Probably for the best.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01Do you know which baron...?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Everyone seems to be getting a different name.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08A German baron.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Where were you last night...?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14I've had reports that they saw you quite late in the evening...
0:19:14 > 0:19:16You were there with a mysterious young lady...
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Mysterious?
0:19:17 > 0:19:19That is what they said.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21It's nothing mysterious, it's the lady and me talking
0:19:22 > 0:19:25about family relations.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29We talk about the war.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35I can't get anything out of the baron himself,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38so my only other route is to head down to the servants quarters
0:19:38 > 0:19:40to find his mistress.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44But I find my way barred.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57For us it's just getting down to the bottom...
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Larps are still usually high fantasy events with wizards and elves
0:20:14 > 0:20:15and the like,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18but Fairweather Manor is billed as an emotional larp.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Players here want to be moved.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23I think, to me, when I design larps, I want to give people
0:20:23 > 0:20:24an emotional journey.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27I hate when you are like, you see talking heads,
0:20:27 > 0:20:28"some more tea for you."
0:20:28 > 0:20:30I want them to feel something.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32So that's what I try to decipher.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35And then of course having a war, death!
0:20:35 > 0:20:38That is like, love may have been sucked out of things
0:20:38 > 0:20:41but there is a big passion that you can make people feel.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Love and war.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43And changes in society.
0:20:43 > 0:20:57Still pondering my next move, I get dressed for dinner.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The actor was heard shouting, "No, Alexander, I am not your man."
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The nuggets of gossip I have been given delight my dinner mates.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04I would not lie!
0:21:04 > 0:21:08But little do I know, there is a plan in store for me.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12OK, so what we have here is a telegram which will be sent
0:21:12 > 0:21:17in the game to be delivered to Robert Abbott, at 7:30pm.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19What this telegram says is:
0:21:19 > 0:21:20"To Robert Abbott,
0:21:20 > 0:21:21Robert, your correspondence accreditation has been revoked
0:21:21 > 0:21:23by the War office.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27We did everything we could but they wouldn't budge."
0:21:27 > 0:21:29"I'm sorry, you won't be going back to the front,
0:21:29 > 0:21:34come back to London, we will sort out what comes next."
0:21:34 > 0:21:38This is preposterous!
0:21:38 > 0:21:41I came here with integrity of journalism and you throw it
0:21:41 > 0:21:42in my face!
0:21:42 > 0:21:46All of you!
0:21:46 > 0:21:50It's not my fault that the baron can't keep his hands of women,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51a servant, nonetheless.
0:21:51 > 0:22:01So away with your press pass, away with your nobility!
0:22:06 > 0:22:09And I still don't know if the baron was telling me
0:22:09 > 0:22:10the truth, but anyway...
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Next time, there's a chance to catch up with some of our best trips
0:22:14 > 0:22:20from the past year.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23We went to more than 70 countries in 2016, did everything from ninja
0:22:23 > 0:22:25training in Japan to penguin spotting in Australia,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28to attempting one of India's most traditional dances.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Don't forget, you can join us on all of our travels wherever
0:22:31 > 0:22:35we are in the world by signing on to the social media feeds.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38If you want to see what it was like behind-the-scenes at this week's
0:22:38 > 0:22:40larping adventure, you can look at the website.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44But from me, Henry Golding, and the rest of The Travel Show team
0:22:44 > 0:23:14here in Lower Silesia, in Poland, it is goodbye.
0:23:14 > 0:23:14Good morning.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16It is very quiet weather at the moment.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Even our Weather Watchers found it difficult to find any sunshine.