Episode 151 The Travel Show


Episode 151

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As ever, leave plenty of time before you head off, and doublecheck

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As ever, leave plenty of time before you head off, and doublecheck your

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you head off, and doublecheck your train

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you head off, and doublecheck your train is

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you head off, and doublecheck your train is even

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you head off, and doublecheck your train is even running.

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Hello, and welcome to the last Travel Show of 2016 -

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with me, Ade Adepitan, coming from the amazing monuments

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of Petra in Jordan.

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Exploring the ancient city was one of the highlights of my year -

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and what a year it's been.

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The team has visited over 70 countries and had some incredible

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adventures, so why don't you sit back, relax,

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and see if we've picked one of your favourites,

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as we look back on 2016...

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Now we get to have so much fun working on the Travel Show.

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We fly all over the world, we meet incredible people,

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do cool stuff, but most importantly we get to share our adventures

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with you, and those adventures don't get much more spectacular

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than Rajan's trip to China back in June -

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where he got to explore some amazing destinations that even

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the guidebooks don't seem to know about.

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500 square kilometres of sandstone and minerals,

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the dazzling colours were formed by water erosion.

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They were created during the same geological shift that formed

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the Himalayas some 80 million years ago.

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As spectacular as the Rainbow Mountain Range is, what is almost

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as incredible is that until the turn of the millennium,

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hardly anybody in China, let alone the rest of the world,

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had even heard of it.

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And that is an unlikely story in itself, which begins

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at this man's house.

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One day, a photographer passed by Mr Lei

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as he was carrying out his normal farmer's chores.

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So before 2000, then, no one recognised that this

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was a beautiful natural wonder?

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Soon, other photographers latched onto this undiscovered gem,

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and their photos caught the eye of famous film director Zhang Yimou.

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He shot a remake of the Coen Brothers film Blood Simple here,

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and its success in China made the mountains famous.

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That was Rajan there getting off the beaten track

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in China - fantastic.

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Now, the rest of us have been busy all year bringing you the best

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stories in travel, and here's some of my favourites...

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First up, a story from right here in Petra, where I was lucky

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enough to join a team of archaeologists searching

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for ancient treasures.

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This is the Temple of Winged Lions, a religious complex built

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in around AD 27.

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I'm liking your office, Glen - I like what you've done with it.

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No, this is a beautiful place, this is...

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Glenn is in charge of the site, and tells me how the problems

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here started in the 1970s when the temple was first excavated.

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They uncovered this cool monument, but didn't do a wonderful job

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with doing the things necessary to preserve it

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for future generations.

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Whenever you excavate a monument, you have to pull a lot of the earth

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out of the ground in order to reveal it.

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And so the earlier project dumped a lot of that earth and so,

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as you'll see, we're trying to re-excavate those

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earlier archaeological dumps.

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We have specialists who come and actually work and train and work

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with the local community.

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And the idea is that the locals then train tourists to help out too.

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OK, I've got some skills, man.

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Have you got a digger here or something?

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Yeah, we're ready to go.

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Ready?

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OK, stand back - let the master get to work!

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Any scorpions?

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Is that cool?

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I'm terrible - I can't find anything!

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Well, I might not be having much luck, but over the last few years

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they've found all sorts here.

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Painted pottery, coins, lamps and decorations

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from the temple.

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It's crazy to think that these amazing bits of jewellery

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and pottery have just been lying forgotten in a pile of earth.

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Now, as more pieces are retrieved and catalogued, it's hoped we can

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learn more about the everyday lives of the people who built this

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incredible city more than 2000 years ago.

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Next, the waterways of Kerala in India.

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Henry headed there in January to explore the labyrinth of canals,

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rivers and lakes that twist through the state.

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Kerala's calling card is its unique backwaters.

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25 years ago, the houseboat industry didn't exist,

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but in 1991 a tour operator saw the potential in modifying defunct

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cargo boats for tourists.

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It was an instant hit and revolutionised tourism here.

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From just a handful of boats in the 90s, there are now more

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than 1000, offering people a unique insight into village life

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along the waterways.

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Time for me to take the helm...

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A little bit of throttle...

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There we go.

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I've noticed it's quite loose but then there's

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a little biting point.

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It's not that easy.

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It isn't.

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SITAR MUSIC.

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In October, Carmen headed deep into the Andes in search of one

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of Peru's best kept secrets.

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Tucked away in the eastern Andes, Cuispes didn't feature

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on the tourist map until fairly recently.

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But a few kilometres away lies a spectacular discovery that has

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changed all that.

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Hidden in these rainforests are some of the tallest waterfalls

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in the world.

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Yumbilla is split into four almost sheer drops, and I'm going to try

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an abseil down the bottom section - with a lot of help.

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So this is where it starts.

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I'm going to rappel down here, into this little waterfall,

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about ten or 12 metres into a pool, and then from there we'll abseil

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down the rest of the waterfall, which is about a 70-metre drop.

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And I'm one of the first people to do this.

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I'm attached to a harness and instructed on the safety

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apparatus that will allow me to control my descent.

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Your legs, Carmen - 90 degrees.

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OK.

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Hold them, but lean backwards.

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Taking off is terrifying.

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So far, so good, but halfway down I'm in for a shock.

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It is slightly unnerving that we're going to lose the rock now -

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we're going to go into freefall.

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OK, I can do this...

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We reach the last part of the descent, and I'm so relieved

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to finally get to the bottom.

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I know it's crazy.

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I didn't expect quite so much water!

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That was amazing - what a rush!

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Carmen there in Peru, back in October.

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Well, stay with us as we continue our look back at 2016

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here on the Travel Show - the year that I got to play one

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of Shakespeare's most famous characters.

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At last!

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But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

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It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

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One of the nicest things about being a Travel Show presenter

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is that you get the chance often to get really close to some amazing

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wildlife, and 2016 was no exception.

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So here are some of our favourite animal encounters of the year...

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In April, Henry headed into the rainforests of the Cardamom

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mountain range in Cambodia to join an anti-poaching squad that's

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on the front line of wildlife conservation.

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This ride is getting bumpier and bumpier -

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it's almost like trying to stay on a bucking bronco!

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Woah!

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Deforestation is destroying animals' habitats.

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That's not the only man-made dangers they face here.

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The remains of snares can be found all around.

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It's a strong piece of stick, OK, planted underground,

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so when he's coming, getting his piece of fruit

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or whatever it is, and he's getting caught here.

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Right, so there is a bit missing here?

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Yes, it's missing.

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A piece of fruit, and I believe something else is missing.

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So a lot of these traps are designed to maim rather than kill,

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so they can collect them alive?

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Yes.

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Having seen the indiscriminate damage that snares like these do

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to even much larger animals than their intended targets, it's

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quite shocking to see one up close.

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With so many families in rural Cambodia teetering just

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above the poverty line, I suspect that most of those engaged

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in the snaring and logging are just hoping for a way to help themselves

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and their families get by.

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But witnessing it myself, I also come face-to-face

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with the brutal impact this can have.

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In September, it was all about these little fellas - fairy penguins.

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They live on Phillip Island off the southern coast of Australia.

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We sent Christa there to meet them.

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This penguin parade draws most of the visitors here,

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and it's not hard to see why.

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Oh, they're so cute!

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There are hundreds of them - all just marching up the beach

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with their big fat belly like they're late

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for an appointment!

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Absolutely gorgeous.

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Hello.

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They even offered me the chance to help, and I was not going to pass

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up an opportunity to get up close and personal with a penguin.

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So...

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Oh!

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I'll hold onto it.

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Penguin attack.

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Oh, I'm sorry!

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I'm sorry - we'll be really quick.

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We've just spotted them.

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Yes.

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Now to Botswana in Southern Africa.

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Rajan was there earlier this year on the trail of rhinos

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at a sanctuary dedicated to the survival of the species.

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Wow.

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OK, we're going to take a bit of a risk.

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He has actually been as close as ten metres before

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to a rhino without them sensing he is there,

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and we are going to see how close we can get.

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OK, let's do it.

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It may be best if only Mike comes - if we get this close, yeah.

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It's hard to grasp - one of this planet's

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great survivors, such a dignified shy beast, is under threat

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because of man's vanity.

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Rajan there finding out about the battle to

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save southern Africa's rhino in Botswana, back in September.

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OK, now, to finish our round-up of the year, here's a bunch

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of stories that prove that no two trips are ever the same.

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And if you're thinking of signing up as a Travel Show presenter,

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you'll need to expect the unexpected - so here's some classic clips

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of us presenters trying, and sometimes failing,

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to do all sorts of different things around the world...

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The ninja - a mysterious undercover agent in feudal Japan.

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Skilled in espionage and assassination,

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living in the shadows - and now you can apply to be one.

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Far from hiding in the dark, the next generation of ninjas

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answered a job ad - full-time, central Japan, salary

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around 1600 US dollars a month.

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Hundreds of people applied and auditioned for the jobs,

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including many from overseas.

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I might look the part, but can I cut it as a real-life ninja?

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To be honest, I'm a bit nervous.

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I don't want to fall flat on my face and embarrass myself.

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I do kind of feel ninja-like here...

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LAUGHTER

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OK, I don't think ninjas are meant to giggle.

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OK...

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MUSIC

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It's so high.

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This wall's as tall as me!

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YELPS

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Each event features ten volunteer storytellers

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who are picked at random.

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And every other Saturday my sister, who was older, a friend

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and I would go to the movie...

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They can talk up to five minutes each, and are then given a score

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by a team of judges.

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The winner goes on to perform at the Moth Grand Slam,

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so no pressure then!

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APPLAUSE

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Keep it going!

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Here she comes - keep it coming!

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Come on, just make her feel good, bring her up - here she comes.

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I'm a travel journalist, and a little while ago I was in Japan

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and I was there to interview a very famous chef, and he's bringing out -

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with great sort of pomp and ceremony - this dish he's created

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for me, and it's coming towards me and it has kind of a crab leg

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sticking out the top...

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And of all the things that I just can't eat -

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and there are many things I can't eat -

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just seafood is right up there at the top.

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There is almost nothing from the sea that I will happily put in my mouth,

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and so I asked my translator, I was like, "And what is this?",

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and she kind of looked at me, and she asked the chef,

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and she said, "Oh, it's fugu, you know, fugu -

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the Japanese pufferfish, right?

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You know the one that if they just prepare it very very

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slightly wrongly you die, because it's full of neurotoxins,"

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and I was like, "Oh!"

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So I went to put it in my mouth, and I kind of bit

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down on it and it...

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It didn't yield in the way I thought it would.

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It popped in my mouth like a cist, you know?

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Like...

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LAUGHTER

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Despite my nerves, and to my total surprise, I came joint runner-up

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at tonight's contest.

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CAJUN MUSIC

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Chubby Carrier is a Grammy award winner and a third generation of a

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legendary zydeco playing family.

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You should try it, man - yes, yes, yes.

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It's all percussion in zydeco.

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How are you doing that?

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You have the rhythm going like this in the air, and that's it.

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A little like that?

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That's it!

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Yeah, but then when I touch the thing...

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But when you hit the board, you lose it.

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Why?

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I don't know.

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MUSIC

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And then after my frankly disastrous ten-minute lesson, this happens...

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BBC Travel here, London, England, y'all...

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Show me a little segment of how you would use the alphabets

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to tell the story.

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Please, come.

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Rolling the eyes is...

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Getting excited.

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I think it's me being an amateur, but when I try to do it my vision

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blurs, but your vision doesn't blur?

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No - long.

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Oh, OK, you focus on the distance?

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Long-distance.

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Long-distance, OK.

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I'm focused here - that's why I'm going cross eyed!

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That's the secret.

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LAUGHTER

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Traditionally, a classic Kathakali performance can go on for many

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hours, sometimes a whole night.

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But some modern audiences have shorter attention

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spans, so the artform has had to adapt.

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You lost me!

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Here at Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, you can see

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where it all began, with guided tours around the house

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that he was born in.

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He was the third of 13 children, the first boy...

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In an exhibition for this anniversary year,

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you can also see a copy of the first publication of Shakespeare's plays.

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But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?

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It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

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Romeo, Romeo!

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Wherefore art thou Romeo?

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Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

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Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

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And I'll no longer be a Capulet...

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COMIC RECORD SCRATCH SOUND

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Well, if you put it that way, love, I'll be up there.

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400 years on this year and still going strong,

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William Shakespeare - although I'm not sure

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what he would make of my acting.

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I did give it a little bit of depth, though!

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OK, well, that's it from us for another year, and we'll see

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you again next year, and I do hope you enjoyed

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following us on all our travels in 2016.

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But for now, in the meantime,

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from me, Ade, and all the team, we wish you a happy and healthy 2017.

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Happy New Year!

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Hello again.

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