Great Asian Railway Journeys

  • Premiered: Jan 2020
  • Episodes: 20
  • Followers: 2
  • Ended
  • BBC Two
  • Monday at 18
  • Documentary History Travel

Seasons:

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Season 1
1x1
Kowloon to Wan Chai
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 27, 2020
Beginning in Hong Kong, Michael investigates how Britain won the island and Kowloon from China after two shocking drug wars. He boards the island’s most famous funicular to The Peak and .. show full overview
1x2
Hong Kong University to Lantau Island
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 28, 2020
Michael Portillo continues his exploration of Hong Kong aboard the impressive MTR metro system, which handles six million trips a day. In Wan Chai, he discovers why Hong Kongers are .. show full overview
1x3
Chiang Mai to Lampang
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 29, 2020
On this leg, Michael tries his hand at the art of umbrella making and learns about northern Thai cookery. He explores the walled and moated city of Chiang Mai, former capital of the .. show full overview
1x4
Ayutthaya to River Kwai
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 30, 2020
Michael Portillo continues his rail journey through Thailand from Lampang, stopping to help at an elephant hospital, where they care for animals wounded by landmines. In the former .. show full overview
1x5
Bangkok
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 31, 2020
Michael Portillo is in the Thai capital, Bangkok, midway through his rail tour of Thailand. He learns how the late 19th-century King Rama V built a grand palace and introduced railways .. show full overview
1x6
Bangkok to Hua Hin
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 03, 2020
Michael Portillo continues his exploration of Thailand by rail, steered by his 1913 Bradshaw’s guide. He steps into the ring under the guidance of champion trainer Master Toddy to learn .. show full overview
1x7
Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 04, 2020
Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo boards the Unification Railway for a thousand-mile journey from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to the northern capital, Hanoi, and .. show full overview
1x8
Da Nang to Hoi An
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 05, 2020
Michael Portillo continues his thousand-mile journey through Vietnam aboard the Unification Railway from Ho Chi Minh City to the capital, Hanoi. Leaving what locals still call Saigon, .. show full overview
1x9
Hue to Ninh Binh
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 06, 2020
Michael Portillo continues his thousand-mile journey aboard the Unification Railway from Ho Chi Minh City in the south to the capital, Hanoi, and on to the vast northern port of .. show full overview
1x10
Hanoi to Ha Long Bay
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 07, 2020
Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael continues his thousand-mile journey through what was then French Indochina and is today the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Approaching .. show full overview
1x11
Jakarta to Bogor
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 10, 2020
Michael Portillo’s 2500-mile railway tour of south east Asia reaches its southern most point in Indonesia. His journey crosses the island of Java at the heart of this archipelago nation .. show full overview
1x12
Jakarta to Borobudur/Kutoarjo
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 11, 2020
Michael continues his journey across the largest island of the Indonesian archipelago, from the capital, Jakarta. His seven-hour railway journey takes him through rainforests and paddy .. show full overview
1x13
Yogyakarta to Ambarawa
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 12, 2020
Michael Portillo’s rail tour of south east Asia resumes in the southern archipelago of Indonesia. Michael is in Java’s Central province, travelling east towards Surabaya. Beginning in .. show full overview
1x14
Ambarawa to Surabaya
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 13, 2020
Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw’s guidebook on a 2,500-mile rail tour of south east Asia, Michael Portillo is in Indonesia, today one of the biggest coffee producers in the world. In the .. show full overview
1x15
Penang to Kuala Kangsar
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 14, 2020
Michael Portillo’s 2,500-mile rail tour of south east Asia reaches Malaysia. On the island of Penang, Michael traces the origins of the former British colony in Georgetown, rides one of .. show full overview
1x16
Kuala Kangsar to Cameron Highlands
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 17, 2020
Michael Portillo’s journey resumes in Kuala Kangsar, where he taps into the source of the lucrative rubber industry that boomed at the time of his 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide.
1x17
Kuala Lumpur to Melaka
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 18, 2020
Michael Portillo discovers Kuala Lumpur’s 19th-century origins as a tin mine and tries his hand crafting jewellery at the Royal Selangor pewter factory.
1x18
Melaka to Johor Bahru
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 19, 2020
In Melaka, Malaysia, Michael Portillo tastes the spicy cuisine of the Kristang community, descendants of early 16th-century Portuguese settlers who mixed with local Malays.
1x19
Raffles Place to Botanic Gardens
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 20, 2020
Michael Portillo discovers Singapore’s maritime origins and the vision of the 19th-century Englishman who put it on the map. At the iconic Raffles Hotel, Michael treats himself to a Singapore sling.
1x20 Show finale
Chinatown to Gardens by the Bay
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 21, 2020
In Tai Seng, Michael goes underground to marvel at the world’s largest subterranean rail depot, where self-driving MRT trains are maintained.

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