Travels With Palin

Sahara: Dire Straights (6x4)

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This episode starts with Palin crossing the border from Niger to Algeria, a desolate border with nothing but sand. A bit north of here are the Hoggar Mountains. At Assekrem he gets up early to view the sunrise from 9000' (3000 m). Next he boards an Algerian passenger plane and flies north to Hassi-Messaoud, an oil extraction and refining town; a man-made luxury oasis in the middle of the desert. From here the trip jumps to Libya, normally closed to western TV crews. To gain entry Michael Palin and his team have joined up with a British veteran's tour, and he mingles with the 80-year-old former "Desert Rats" who reminisce about the Battle of Tobruk. He also visits Benghazi and the ruins of Apollonia, once a Greek port, and the ruins of Leptis Magna, once a Roman city. Leaving Libya, Palin arrives in Tunisia. He joins an octopus fishing crew on a small boat at Djerba, visits a family who live in caves at El Haddej (the scene of his crucifixion in Life of Brian) and tries smoking a shisha (a large water pipe) in a café in Sousse. Then it's back to Algeria, traveling along the northern coast. Here the security is so tight (Palin is always accompanied by armed police) that there's not much chance for spontaneity. The last two days are spent in Ceuta visiting an EU-operated detention facility for Africans trying to reach Europe, and talking to a woman on a Spanish beach about the illegal immigrants who die trying to make it across the "dire straits" to the "promised land". A final shot shows Palin back in Gibraltar, philosophizing about the Gibraltar situation (Spain vs. Britain) and the impoverished 3rd world vs. the rich West.