Germany Direct The Travel Show

Coming up at 6:00, Breakfast

with Naga Munchetty

and Charlie Stayt, but first on BBC

News, the Travel Show.

Scenic mountain ranges, fairytale

castles and traditional hearty

printing establishments. Southern

Germany has more than its fair share

of stereotypes. But they hide an

intriguing, mysterious hinterland

which I am determined to uncover.

That is a thrill! Aside that is

wilder, faster, louder. And frankly,

completely bonkers. Listen to this!

My road trip starts in Bavaria's

capital Munich, home to BMW and some

of the fastest cars in the world.

But I want to get a different

perspective! On the open road,

checking out Munich. And here is one

way to do that, inside this

customised 1930s any hot rods. --

mini. It may look like a souped up

go-kart, but it is street legal and

can go up to 90 kilometres an hour.

While! It is like being a kid in a

toy shop with the best sports car

ever. How good can it get!

My guide, a local man, is launching

this hot rod experience as an

alternative way to see this place.

Cobblestones! You feel everything! I

passed some amazing classical

architecture. Many of these

monuments were rebuilt after World

War Two. The city was heavily

bombed, because Munich was the

stronghold and some say birthplace

of National Socialism. Today, in

very different times, it is

Germany's economic powerhouse, and

home to the world's biggest beer

festival, Oktoberfest. But it has

long been saddled with a

conservative image. A lot of people

would say is Munich, it is boring,

it is rich, it is traditional, it's

here and bratwurst.

What would you

say to that? Is stupid. I have never

heard someone say Munich is boring,

but you are right, people are aware

of Oktoberfest, and it is an

eyecatcher to people around the

world, we find in this two weeks,

6.2 million visitors. But it's not

everything, it is the mixture of

tradition on one hand, innovation on

the other hand.

I am here to find

little pockets of interest,

something that will surprise me in

Munich. You know anything?

I have

one for you, let's go for it. I

don't tell you right now, but we

will go there.

Surfers!

There is surfing here! In a

river!

You find them everyday, every

morning, especially weekends.

I'm

going to have a closer look.

I think

surfing on river waves is something

that people have done prolonged

time, people did it behind bridges.

Typical Bavarian inventiveness,

hundreds of miles from the sea. But

this is definitely not for the

novice.

You need to develop a

different vision for the wave

because it is intimidating, it is

louder, you need to develop the

muscle, I felt terrible the first

few times, but you gradually get

better, but it takes really long.

How popular has it become?

The

surfing scene in Munich is quite

big.

There is a surfing scene in

Munich, who would have thought!

Not

me, but I am pretty happy about it!

Times me to head out of Munich. But

it's not quite as Sareen a journey

as I imagined.

. . MUSIC PLAYS.

This

band is part of a folk revival in

Bavaria, taking traditional music

and mixing it with contemporary

styles and rhythms. And they have

got a passion for flash mob. A

decade ago, traditions like this

were out of fashion, because for

some, German tradition brought up

too many negative connotations. Not

any more.

APPLAUSE

too many negative connotations. Not

any more.

APPLAUSE.

Fantastic.

Really good.

Our culture is back

again, and every style is included

in this new music, it is not only

folk music, it is not only punk

music, it is a mixture of every

music now. And the traditional

instruments are back.

In terms of

the clothes you wear, some people

might say, this is just silly, this

is just party dress.

Is it party

dress? No, it is not party dress, it

is our culture. And we were in very

often, not only to fancy time and

have fun, we were to make music as

well as when we are together in

traditional festivals, and we wear

it at the office, we like to wear

it. It's our clothes. We are proud

of it.

And off they go, spreading

their new take on an old sound to

more unsuspecting commuters.

My next stop is right on the border

between Germany and Austria. The

location of Hitler's notorious

holiday hideaway, the Eagles next,

but it is also home to the country's

only alpine park. And there is an

unexpected aspect to this

breathtaking scenery, one that goes

against the cliche that Germans are

straightlaced and serious. One of

the peaks here is renowned for the

paranormal, with reports of

timeshifting and unexplained

disappearances. Hitler thought the

mountain harboured special powers,

which would help him win the war.

But nowadays, the scene is a

spiritual retreat and it is said the

Dalai lama is a frequent visitor.

I

feel bliss, I feel that this is me,

there is no separation, and I feel

more energy, more relaxation, more

joy of life, or peace.

This academic

and Spiritualist insists there is a

special energy here.

It is a really

strong energy point, a really big,

strong palace spot, and it is

because of energy lines are weaving

through passing through this

mountain. Everybody has heard about

the Dalai lama, I have friends who

met him there and heard him saying

that this is the heart chakra of the

world.

I am not sure about all this energy

centre staff and mysterious

disappearances, but let's face it,

the view is incredibly enough to be

inspiring.

And underneath the mountain range, a

subterranean salt mine. Salt all

along the sides here. And you can

feel the atmosphere changing. A bit

colder, bit fresher already. The

salt deposits here are what made

Berchtesgaden wealthy in the 12th

century. And slides like these were

used by miners to remove -- move

between levels. I'm sure they did

not see it as a playground, mind

you. Wow! That is a thrill. I could

do that over and over again.

Fantastic.

There is more to this salt mine then

just a great source of wealth for

Berchtesgaden, it was this place

apparently has got magical powers.

Healing energy. And I'm going to

find out some more about it.

So every year we have about 50,000

guest, coming mainly for health

reasons, because we have two things.

We have wonderful air and salt.

This

man manages a salt cured gallery

deep in the mine.

Twice a month we have a combination

of relaxation and music.

Apparently

the sultan neutralises back round

radiation to encourage deep

relaxation and it is said and

overnight stay can kill everything

from tinnitus to insomnia and even

asthma -- the salt. People are just

sleeping and resting. The sound is

really good as well.

We have

wonderful acoustics inside. This is

like a church.

OINKING They call

this event a sonic journey.

I have the big feeling that humans

are so easily touched by sound and

music and especially by the human

voice. If we are here inside the

mountain, we feel or hear even with

our heart the rhythm of Earth. This

is a powerful place, so just lean

back and do nothing. And you will

feel the power of Earth, the power

of the creation.

And the power of

creation includes the human voice.

So Deraa two note at the same time.

That's... And I can just move them

separately.

It is about 11pm now at

night. We've been here for three

hours. Tell me how you are feeling

at the moment.

I feel very calm and

relaxed. I feel the talking in my

mind is more quiet and quiet and I

feel like I'm breathing out.

It's

very meditative. It's very calming.

You can feel very free and wild. You

can travel in your fantasy and you

can fall really nice sleep.

As the

night wears on, I can't seem to

drift off quite as easily as my

fellow guest -- guests. A quarter to

one in the morning and they're still

growing strong. Frankly, I can't see

myself getting any sleep any time

soon. It's quite cold. What I've got

a secret weapon. A hot water bottle!

So that should keep me warm at least

for a bit, because it is pretty

chilly!

It's way past one o'clock and

they're now playing the drums at the

full maximum volume. How are you

supposed to sleep to this? And on

and on it went. With a short respite

that lulled me into a full sense of

relaxation. Then this wake-up call.

At 7am, it was time to pack up and

go. After not the best night's sleep

I've ever had. We are on our way

out, emerging bleary eyed. I had a

couple of hours sleep in between the

booming drums and the didgeridoo.

It's been an experience, let's put

it that way. Wow.

From the border with Austria, we

head north and deep into the

Bavarian forest, close to the Czech

border. This is a land rich in

mythology and there's one creature

that features very strongly in that

folklore. The wolf. Here in a

national park, a relatively new and

rare tourist attraction.

You can see

there are typical wolf markings, so

normally their cheeks and muscles

are white dots above the eyes. And a

very colourful face they have. Over

the ears are very small in

comparison to a lot of dogs.

It is

really a tragic, beautiful animal.

Nothing like the image of a nasty,

villainous creature that it's

portrayed as. For most of the 20th

century, wolves in Germany were

hunted to the point of extinction,

but then in the 1990s they started

to come back, crossing over from

neighbouring countries.

Now we have

40 packs across Germany and on

average they have about five pups

per pack. You can imagine, 200 pups

each year, there was really an

increase in population size.

The

reappearance of the wolf in Germany

has divided opinion.

The wolf is

animal, as any other animal, but in

our heads wolves are different. So

wolves belong to the ecosystem, so

wolves are important for the

national park. There are some people

who like wolves and others who hate

wolves, so that's a huge controversy

and I think there's no other animal

in Europe which is so controversial

as wolves.

I mean the pitch like

countryside now and I'm about to

meet a whole group of people have

gotten very different take on the

wolf and they are taking part

tonight in an annual celebration

that is I've been told unique. The

festival takes place in a town and

the aim is to scare wolves away.

Hans is one of the organisers. These

are the famous Bells I've heard

about?

Tonight, hundreds of local people

will form teams of bellringers and

I'm joining in too, a rare privilege

for a non- Bavarian. First I need

the right outfit. And what is the

point of these twigs? I'm going to

look like a Christmas tree. Good?

The headgear pales into

insignificance once I realise I will

be lugging this 20 kg bell around.

So heavy, it's ridiculous!

OK, so I'm taking this bell at the

year and I think some people are the

here are doing it as well. Did you

hear me coming by any chance? So you

two are also taking part this year?

Yes. How big is this for you?

I

think the biggest night of the year,

something like this. We are very

proud of it and we also want to take

part in it.

Have you ever thought

about wearing earplugs?

Yes, I have!

You have to?

It impossible without

them.

I joined the rest of the team as we

head towards the town centre.

Nothing could have prepared me for

the incredible sound created by

heaving these are normal spells

around. I'm trying not to use my

knees, but it's almost impossible.

They feel battered and bruised

already. We are greeted by a huge

crowd of tourists and locals. Hans's

son, Dominic, is the flamboyant

leader, browsing the troops, leading

to beat. And conducting the cup off

any. Luckily after half an hour

Dominic calls time for a much-needed

rake.

Well, that was one of the most

physically intensive things I've

ever done. Amazing. Great. I deserve

this.

What does it feel like to be leading

this bunch of people with a loud

noise?

If I've learnt to do one thing here,

it's to try and look beyond the

straightlaced conservative image of

the people of Bavaria. I've been

truly moved by their warmth, passion

and sheer quirkiness. It's been a

unique adventure.