01x04 - Sahara

[bunniefuu]

MICHAEL: Now, let's have a look.

Let's see what we've got here.

Oh, yes.

MICHAEL (VO): When I was growing
up, I dreamed of travel and adventure.

CROWD CHATTERS

Bye. Thank you!

MICHAEL (VO): Then one
day, that dream came true.

This is it.

I'm standing on
the top of the world!

For three decades, I've been
lucky enough to travel the world

making documentaries
and sharing my adventures

With millions of viewers.

Michael Palin set the tone
for, I think, all travel TV today.

Ooh! Ah...

It's a bit like a very
friendly steamroller.

He came at the right time, he
had the right daring qualities.

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH:
He has huge warmth.

And it's a warmth that spreads
across all kinds of people.

Bye—bye, Kazmir. Oh!

HE CHUCKLES Oh! Look at that!

MICHAEL (VO): Now, for
the first time, I'm looking back.

MICHAEL ON TAPE: Laying her
down in What must've been my old bed...

Oh, God.

...tucking her up,
making her comfortable.

My way of looking at each
journey as something different

new special, exciting...

dramatic and challenging

as not really knowing exactly
how it was going to turn out.

MICHAEL (VO): I'd
made three travel series

"80 Days", "Pole to Pole"...

Sleep well?

...and "Full Circle"

Those journeys
all had a set route

and a finish line.

Now I was looking for a
different kind of challenge...

...a trio that would take me
to one of the most mysterious

least visited
parts of the Earth.

My wife and I, we had some
holidays, we went to Africa

we travelled to
Tanzania, in Kenya

and it was on the way
back from one of these flights

I sort of woke up early in the morning
and was looking at the, um, the flight map.

There was Africa, and there was a
great big sort of bare, brown mass

which took up most of Northern
and Western Africa, the...

the Sahara Desert.

I remember looking at it and thinking,
"Now, that would be a challenge."

It just looks totally
empty, yet it's a vast area

and it can't be empty.
There must be things there.

I said, there's gonna be something
there, I'm sure we'll discover these things

without knowing whether we
would or not, I just bluffed it.

I love that that's how Michael
Palin got the Sahara gig.

I love that idea, "Oh, I
wonder what's down there?"

"I'll come back and explore
there". Isn't that brilliant?

What a lucky man he
is, but totally deserved.

I'd not travelled, really,
in the Sahara at all

so, it would be somewhere

that would offer maximum
surprise value, wonderment value.

All those things that are important
when you're starting to do a series.

I was very much aware
that it would be a difficult

um, journey to do, but that
was one of the advantages.

If it had been easy to do,
lots of people would've done it.

I really wanted
to show that the...

the Sahara had a fascination,
had a historical background.

It had a modern life there

which, just people never saw.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
At 3,600,000 square miles

the Sahara is the largest
hot desert on Earth.

It covers much of North Africa

from Egypt in the east,
to Morocco in the west

and contains within it,
sprawling countries like Algeria

Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

Yet, this vast land is only a
short ferry crossing from Europe.

Is there anywhere in the world
where two places are so close

yet so utterly different?

KARI HERBERT: I think, as
travellers, we all have these places

that you always wanted to go

and so for Michael, flying over
the Sahara and seeing the expanse

the expansiveness of the desert

and being really drawn
to going to explore it.

I think, as travellers, we
all sort of have those places

and really identify with that

and then also, as travellers,
understand that you go to these places

and they might not be anything
like you imagine them to be.

MICHAEL IN VIDEO: There's
no way of reaching the Sahara

without crossing
the Atlas Mountains

a series of long, steep ranges
that stretch right across Morocco.

In amongst them are some of
the oldest cities in North Africa.

This is Fez...

thought by many to be the most
perfect Medieval city in the Islamic world.

Yes, city of arches
and alleyways.

Fez, which looked a bit
severe from the outside

many doors closed, was in fact,
you know, just preserving itself

and a way of life...

and a rather serene
way of life, which, um...

I hadn't really expected,
and found fascinating.

Ah, good heavens!

That is amazing!

MAN: It's exactly how it
looked in the Medieval times.

MICHAEL: It's
extraordinary, first of all it...

From these narrow
passageways... — Yeah.

...you've suddenly got so
much space here. — Yeah.

But also this...

I mean, I've never seen
anything like that anywhere.

That is incredible.

MICHAEL: I was really reassured
once we got into the desert

that this was not
going to be empty.

There was not going to be somewhere
where there was no activity at all.

All the way along the
route were reminders

that there had been a great
civilisation in the Sahara.

It gave me a feeling that
we were doing the right thing.

There was an enormous
amount of history, activity

then, and of course, now.

NICOLA COUGHLAN:
When I started to watch it

I thought, "I don't really get it,
is it just he's going to a desert?"

Like, I didn't understand

and then you think, oh
my God, there's, you know

such different cultures
here, there's so much life

and it's so
different, and it's...

it's, it's not just desert,
it's a whole other world.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: From
Marrakesh, it's all uphill to the Sahara...

CAR HORN BEEPS

...passing first of all, through
the land of the Berber people

one of whom is my
companion, Amina.

Are we already in the Berber
villages? — Yes, we are.

Yes, we are in
the Berber villages.

They were the original...

inhabitants of Morocco

before the Arabs came through.

Is that right? —
Yes, absolutely.

We don't quite know
the origin side. — Hmm.

But, um, they sure were here
before the, the Arabs, yeah.

PEOPLE SING — DRUMS SOUND OUT

METAL CLANGS RHYTHMICALLY

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: The Berbers are a
minority in a predominantly Arab Morocco

so, a dance like this is celebrating
more than just a betrothal.

It's celebrating the
survival of their own culture.

MICHAEL: Sahara wasn't
a test of endurance...

as Full Circle was...

and Pole to Pole
was, in a certain way.

It was less of just
physical survival business

and more actual...

you know, relishing
of what I was seeing

learning more about, um...

you know, how people were
and what they were doing.

When you watch some travel shows

it feels like the
people who are there

already know what
they're talking about.

Um, and everything when...

on Michael's journeys,
felt like a new experience.

As he's traveling, you know, you
see the unedited version of his travels.

You know, it feels like,
it feels really accessible

You feel, "Yes," you
know, he is the kind of guy

that I'd go on holiday with

and, you know, and
that place is accessible.

I know it's far flung
but I could do it.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: When
Muslims talk about making a journey

they always add
"Inshallah", "God willing".

It seems appropriate as we climb towards
the highest pass on the Atlas Mountains.

Inshallah.

BUS HORN HONKS

The last river
sinks into the sand.

The last salesmen
make their pitch.

Quinze, quinze.

There we have a
vingt, we have a quinze.

Yes, yes. Tiens! — Quinze?

Oui, oui, tiens.
— How about dix?

dix... HE LAUGHS

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
The dates were delicious

and they brought back a
memory from my childhood

something that might help to
explain my fascination with the Sahara.

"My father was in charge of the
export department of a steelworks

and every Christmas he
received an enormous box of dates

from their agent in Algeria.

The illustration on the packet

fuelled powerfully
romantic fantasies

of somewhere hotter, drier, and
even more exotic than South Yorkshire.

A place where men with
turbans reclined under palm trees

whilst their faithful camels
stood in picturesque silhouette

against the setting sun."

MICHAEL (VO): Now,
all those years later

I was actually about to
visit that imaginary world.

MICHAEL (VO): The Sahara is one
of the harshest environments on Earth

but there are people
for whom it's home

and a home worth fighting for

as I was to discover
at my next destination.

MICHAEL ON TAPE: South and West
of Morocco, lies the disputed territory

of Western Sahara.

It was once a Spanish colony

but when they left in 1975,
the Moroccans moved in.

Those inhabitants who didn't want
to be Moroccan, were forced to flee.

They were given land
near Tindouf in Algeria

for four temporary refugee camps

which is where they still are,
over a quarter of a century later.

MICHAEL: The issue
of refugees and people...

stateless people
within the Sahara area

was going to be a strong theme.

There were people crossing
the Sahara all the time.

There were people, so many people
coming from Sub—Saharan Africa

to try to get into Europe.

This was a very,
very powerful issue

and these people had
been in these camps

um, in...

in Algeria for, for many years

and they were kept
going by this dream

that they would eventually be
allowed back to their own land.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: The
tankers shuttle back and forth

across the desert,
day in and day out.

Without them, Smara
Camp would die of thirst.

My host, Bashir, has been
a refugee for half his life

well—educated and well—travelled,
he lived for a while in Leeds.

MICHAEL: How many
people are there in this camp?

BASHIR: In this
camp, it's, er...

it's the second largest
camp of refugees

and we have here
something like 40,000 people.

Forty thousand? Do people
have to pay for their houses here?

Do they have to pay any rent or
anything? — No, no. Absolutely nothing.

But education is free?

Education is free. — Yeah.

Health is free.

Water? — Water, transportation.

Yeah.

It is a delicate balance
between journalism, and then

you know, the
beauty of the place.

If you report on what you see

there will be beautiful moments

but you cannot deny, you
know, in some of these places

people are living
in absolute hardship

or how much they're
impacted by the history.

Um, and you have
to talk about that

and I think Michael
must have learnt that.

That must have
been his progression

um, along the way,
and he did it beautifully.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
Before my next camel dinner

I retire to the bathroom
for a quick shower

whilst Bashir's wife, Krikiba,
conjures up another meal for us all.

Sadly, the hot
water isn't working.

Ooh!

Bashir, he said, "You
must come and stay.

There are no hotels
in the refugee camp

but my wife and
I will put you up.

We have a big, um, er...

sort of outbuilding
where you can all sleep."

And so we did,
jam-packed a bit together.

One loo dug into the
ground, so, it was fairly basic.

I suppose we're all
quite sceptical now of...

when we're watching things like
this, did he actually stay with them

or did he have a Winnebago sort
of trailer bought around the back?

I think we trust
Michael, don't we?

If Michael says he stayed
with them, he did stay with them.

MICHAEL: "The considerable
size of the cemetery

a scattering of rocks and
boulders just outside the town

suggests that life
expectancy is low.

Bashir shakes his
head vigorously.

"It is 70, 80 years!

People don't die in the
desert, you know," he said.

In that case, the size of the
cemetery merely emphasises

how long the Sahrawis
have been away from home."

SIMON REEVE: I was in the same
camp, nearly a decade after Michael

and it hadn't changed very much.

People were still stuck
out there in the desert.

So, it's now been 45 years
or so with nothing done.

Now another generation is growing up,
who have not known their own country.

MICHAEL (VO): Leaving
our new friends behind

we headed west, across
the desert into Mauritania

land of the Moors.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
Zouerat is a company town.

Rich iron ore deposits have
turned this corner of the Sahara

into a
multi—million—dollar asset.

Iron ore makes up almost half
of Mauritania's foreign earnings

and production goes on round the clock
to fill the huge trains that carry it away.

TRAIN HORN BLARES

Despite the presence of the mine,
Zouerat has pockets of great poverty.

METAL CLANGS

Five years ago, this
family were farmers

till drought forced
them into the town.

The outer wall of their tent is made from
material once used to wrap mining expl*sive.

I wanted to know how
they stayed so happy.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

MICHAEL: Qu'est—ce
que, que, er...

Que faites—vous...

le plus... le plus heureux?

Quelles sont
tes... célébrations?

"There is, in all of this,
not a trace of self—pity.

They simply hope the rains will
come and turn the desert green again

enable them to return
to the life they know best.

Meanwhile, home is a
tent of expl*sive sacks

behind a fence
made of oil drums.

'What makes you happy?', I ask.

Even Mother, nervously
twisting her beads

smiles as this is
translated to them.

They don't even have
to think of the answer.

'Whatever God gives
makes us happy'."

You know?

Having that spirit,
when they've got so little

is really inspiring.

Moving.

Whatever God gives
makes me happy.

What makes you really happy?

ED BYRNE: To talk to
somebody who's living in a house

made of expl*sive wrapping

and not be doing
it from the point of

"These people need
your help," you know, it's...

it's like, this is their lives, this
is the reality, and this woman

actually, is trying to look
on the bright side of it.

So, it's more humanising.

We start to recognise that,
yeah, they live a different life

but there's a beauty to it

even amongst the
difference and the poverty.

Yeah, there's still...

there's still an
existence and a joy to it.

And I think that is the case, I
don't want to romanticise poverty

that's a terrible thing to do, but
don't just demean and diminish

other people's lives,
Michael doesn't do that.

Often when you're traveling, you
encounter people who are really

um, having a
tremendously difficult time

and it really makes you reassess
all sorts of things about your own life

and I think that happened
to Michael quite a lot.

It certainly happened to me.

It's a very humbling experience.

And I think that is what is very
special, actually, about that series.

TRAIN HORN BLARES

MICHAEL (VO): It was my
first time in this part of Africa

but if my previous trips to the
continent had taught me anything

it was how to approach
the question of train travel.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: I've got a
ticket, but I'm not quite sure what for.

CROWD CHATTERS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

The railway officials
aren't over—helpful.

Their primary role seems to
be to stop anyone getting on.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Don't think he's very
keen to let us on there.

SIMON: Ah, it's the famous
Palin boarding the train sequence!

He doesn't know what the hell he's
doing, the crew have just stood back.

The railway officials aren't over—helpful.
— How has he got such an ironed shirt there?

CROWD CHATTERS ON VIDEO
— Oh, I've been in that situation.

Come on, quickly, Michael,
the train's gonna go!

Fight your way through.

Oh, it's chaos, I love it.

MICHAEL: There was passenger
accommodation at the back, but...

whether you got a ticket or
not, you just had to go for it.

But it is the only way of
getting through Mauritania.

CROWD CHATTERS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
There's one last hope.

The recycling bin at
the back of the train.

Premiere classe?

Cette... voiture?

I'm very confused, but
I'm told this is First Class.

Even though you might be
forgiven for thinking it was...

rubbish class.

INDISTINCT CHATTER — Uh—huh?

Here we go.

OK. — Allez—y, allez—y.

BELL DINGS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

BELL DINGS

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: The Iron Ore
Express may take a while to get going

but then it is the
longest train in the world.

Probably.

MICHAEL (VO): The
train was carrying me west

to wards the Atlantic
coast and Senegal

a country which, like Mauritania,
and several others in this part of Africa

had once been part
of the French Empire.

Down here, it's like a
huge department store.

You've got handbags, ladies'
underwear... — CROWD CHATTERS

Hello!

Here we are, look, fantastic!

MICHAEL (VO): There really is no better way
to get the feel of a country than on a train.

My destination was
Mali's capital, Bamako.

Luckily, I wasn't in a hurry.

My experience of African train schedules
during the filming of Pole to Pole

had taught me that
they are... flexible

and so must I be.

Our progress is a matter of
considerable chance at the moment

whether we'll get
there in ten hours or...

fifteen or 20 hours,
we just don't know, it's...

in the lap of the gods.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: The ancient town of Djenné,
circled by the waters of the Bani River

is our next stop on
the road to Timbuktu.

I've hired a Mobylette

to drive myself around
what many consider to be

the most beautiful of all
the cities of the Sahara.

The most striking
thing about Mali

indeed about most of West Africa

is that it's, you know... that
maybe it's sandy, a bit drab

but the colours of the
costumes are extraordinary.

Everyone is dressed to k*ll.

Just... This is an
everyday market, really

and yet almost everybody
has got a different outfit

from the other people.

I think they're aware of their own
beauty, their own sort of need to...

to show that they've thought
about what they're wearing

and there's boring old presenter in
his Oxford button—down and jeans.

What tribal people are you
from? — I'm Fulani, I'm half Fulani.

You're Fulani? — Yeah.

Oh, right, half Fulani.
What's the other half?

My father, the other half...

Pigmy.

Er, was my guide. Very cheery.

Can you tell a Fulani
woman here in the crowd?

Yeah, yeah, example.
She's a Fulani woman.

Yeah? — OK, she's a Fulani girl.

She is one... She's
the cousin of my wife.

Oh, right! — You can see...

She's a cousin of your... We
just happened to find her here!

You can see him learning
as he's going on his journey

which is crucial

because if he's not learning, then he
can't pass anything on to the viewers.

So, it was always great to see his
genuine excitement about something

and a discovery, or
just chatting to someone

and getting some
information out of them

and him being genuinely
interested in their lives.

These are not people
oppressed by living in a...

in a sort of near—desert
environment.

They were... they were sort of
making absolutely the most of it

and having, you know...
there was a real life there

and there was a future potential

even though a lot of these
countries were quite poor.

MICHAEL (VO):
Enthralling as Djenné was

it was time to move on,
deeper into the desert

not by train this time, but boat

up the River Niger itself

In a sense, this was the
cl*max of my journey so far

because I was
finally drawing close

to surely one of the most legendary
and evocative places in all of Africa

if not the world.

Timbuktu.

The seeds have been
sewn a long time ago.

In my case, I can remember the
first book I was ever given by my dad

was The Arabian Nights.

It was all stories of
sort of the desert world.

The world of the Middle East and
Africa and North Africa, and all that.

So, there was a sort of, er...

sand dunes, and
that kind of world

and date palms and camels

was never far from my mind.

ROOSTER CROWS

Well, here I am in Timbuktu.

I never, ever thought in my entire
life I'd find myself in a place like this

but if you're interested
in places, names

the significance of names
and places, geography

Timbuktu is one
of the great names.

ROOSTER CROWS

Great trading city of
the Middle Ages in Africa.

Now, quite run down

but still rather a
thrill to be there.

DISTANT CALL TO
PRAYER SOUNDS OUT

NICOLA: Something nice
about Sahara is the pace of it.

They took more time
at each individual place

and seeing parts of Africa that
we don't get to see, day to day.

It's fascinating

and they were so open
to him being there, as well.

Quinzième ou quatrième?

Quatorzième siècle.
— Quatorzième.

Quatorzième siècle.
— Quatorzième siècle.

BRUCE PARRY: Essentially
a nicer way to do the journey

is to pause and
meet the people and...

Cos, of course, that's what it's all
about, otherwise we can be a little bit...

like, you know, touristic
about these things.

It is about meeting the people.

HE CHANTS

When there's characters
you meet along the way

who you can vibe with
and have conversation with

that definitely helps, especially
if you're stopping long enough

to really get to
know them a little bit

and I think, over the
course of Michael's career

those pauses became
longer, and that...

that adds its own magic.

The reason to travel
is for people, and...

as a result, there'll always be an
almost infinite number of stories to hear

because we, as a species, are
always changing and developing

and shifting and moving
and being born and dying

so, you can never hear
enough stories out there

you can never meet
enough people, I think.

MICHAEL: You have a chance to
sort of have some very intense views

of fairly small tribes
and how they worked

and their life, and why
they did what they did

where they travelled to, how they
dressed, what their problems were.

So, looking at fewer people,
but much more intensely.

ROOSTER CROWS

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: East of Timbuktu,
the Sahara is virtually inaccessible

to all but the nomads who
move their cattle across it.

Once a year, they all
have a get—together at Ingal

in the Republic of Niger.

BELLS TINKLE

These are the Wodaabe,
a tall, elegant people

thought originally to
have come from Ethiopia.

They walk and ride
hundreds of miles every year

seeking pasture
for their cattle.

COW MOOS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

ANIMALS BLEAT AND BRAY

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: Recent
rains have brought food and water

and they must take every advantage
of these conditions to fatten their cattle.

The Wodaabe grow no food

so, without the animals,
they would not survive.

ANIMALS BLEAT AND BRAY

The fattening of the
animals on the salt grass

is celebrated at an annual
festival called Cure Salée

the "salt cure".

This great gathering of the
Nomadic clans is now only days away.

THEY SING IN TRADITIONAL STYLE

MICHAEL (VO): And as I discovered,
a key part of these celebrations

is a remarkable courting ritual

the Guérewol.

THEY SING IN TRADITIONAL STYLE

NICOLA: When you get to see the
tribe, all these rituals that they had

it's fascinating.

It's incredible.

And for that to be captured on camera, and
I hope long may those traditions continue

and that, you know, the Western world
doesn't impose and try and change them.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
And do the girls...

Do they choose...
They choose one...

One boy? — Yes, yes.

They go up and they put their hand on
them? — Yes, maybe one woman, maybe two.

Ah, oh, right. — If
it's supposed to be.

Ah. — Yes.

THEY SING IN TRADITIONAL STYLE

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: Guided
by the mistress of ceremonies

each girl walks the
line until contact is made

and the choice announced
in the traditional way.

MAN HOWLS

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: Now the worst is over,
her chosen one will meet up with her later.

He's hers for the night.

There's an ease, and
there's sort of investigation

but in a... in a
lovely, curious way.

It's about curiosity, really

and about really
taking one step at a time

and I think that is really what
Michael Palin does so well.

COWS MOO

MICHAEL (VO): For me, the Wodaabe
are some of the most remarkable people

I've met on any of my travels.

Their way of life felt like
something outside time

but of course,
this was an illusion.

They lived in the 21st
century, like the rest of us

a world that,
although it felt far away

was about to deliver a shock.

"I'm standing on the small roof
terrace of the Pensione Tellit in Agadez.

There's only one
tall building in town

and that's the minaret
of the Grande Mosquée

a pyramid of mud, stones
and projecting wood beams

which rises high above
the surrounding town.

I'm staring at it now

as my wife, on the other
end of a satellite phone

is describing the almost
unbelievable destruction

of two other iconic towers

six thousand miles
away, in New York."

We're in Niger

which I think is the sort of
second poorest country in the world.

The people there weren't moved at
all by what was happening in New York.

They barely knew about it.

But by the end of the journey

I was aware that there were problems
that were going to be exacerbated

by what had
happened in New York.

Some of the Jihadi groups
working in the Sahara

which had been fairly
small, were beginning to get...

Well, were encouraged
by what had happened.

MICHAEL (VO): In
the years that followed

many of the places
we visited in the Sahara

became overrun by
Islamic extremists.

Travel to much of Mali and
Niger became all but impossible

and tragically, Timbuktu was
an inaccessible place once more.

We were now deep in the Sahara,
some 2, 000 miles from the sea

and we were about
to go deeper, on foot

accompanying a camel train

in temperatures of up
to 55 degrees centigrade.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
We're ready to go.

Everything we need for the journey has
to be carried on the backs of the camels

except, of course, fresh
food, which walks alongside.

INDISTINCT CHATTER
— MICHAEL: Anyway...

If you really want to get to
the heart of the Sahara Desert

and the people who live
in the heart of the desert

you have to really
go with the Tuareg.

They're the main nomads
who take the camel trains

with salt, going
across the desert.

The old way of life.

And we were very
lucky to find a group

who were happy to
take us across the desert

the hottest, most
difficult part of the desert.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO:
It's getting now to midday.

Peak of heat.
We're seeking a tree.

We just have to keep drinking
lots and lots of water, that's obvious.

The other thing which is nice
about it is just you go at the pace...

the camels sort of dictate
the pace but also the mood

it's the... it's
the sort of, um...

continuous sort of
unchanging rhythm.

I mean, trekking with camels across
the Sahara sounds like a fun thing to do

for half a day

but to keep doing it...

for, like, the best
part of a week

I think the novelty'd wear
off after a while, wouldn't it?

CAMEL GRUNTS

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: The main
social event of the day is the evening meal

usually bread, dates and cheese

but tonight, in my honour,
there'll be a stew, as well.

Everyone has a job to do.

Omar and Isambar
slaughter the sheep.

Osman bakes bread in a sand oven

and Musa plaits some fresh
twine to secure the camel loads.

I'm still recovering.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

It's all very thick and
coarse and heavy and...

Looks rather appetising. —
MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

MICHAEL REPEATS —
MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

MICHAEL REPEATS —
MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

THEY LAUGH — MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK
— MICHAEL REPEATS

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK
— MICHAEL REPEATS

Mmm. Nice, yeah.

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

It's more like cake, really.

Like a chunk of cake you
used to have at school.

Mmm.

Nice, hard, crispy outside. Mmm.

Very good. — MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

MICHAEL REPEATS — HE CHUCKLES

You see, you can have a joke
with them, they're absolutely...

A good sense of humour.

They laughed at me a lot, whether
they laughed with me, I don't know

but they all thought
I was kind of quite...

a character.

I think his persona

is such a huge part

of why people enjoy these
documentaries so much.

He just seems like
such a lovely person.

He's the type of person I feel like you'd
be happy to be stuck on a freight ship

in the Pacific with. SHE LAUGHS

You have to get
the emphasis right.

HE ATTEMPTS TAMASHEK
It probably means, y'know...

buttock.

HE REPEATS TAMASHEK

Humour is a very dangerous
and yet potent, um...

tool, and, er...

and it all depends on
where the humour lies.

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK
— MICHAEL REPEATS

THEY LAUGH

You're a great audience though.

I think Michael, by and large...

walks that path really well,
because you can see in his heart

he's a humanist, he loves
people, and so it's soft, it's gentle

it's not... it's not
pointed in any way.

HE SPEAKS TAMASHEK —
MEN CHATTER IN TAMASHEK

MICHAEL: Oh. For me?

Ah, thank you.

MEN LAUGH

MEN CHATTER IN TAMASHEK

THEY LAUGH

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK
— MICHAEL REPEATS

Is hot. Is very hot. It's good.

He's always very respectful.
That's always the thing.

If the joke is on you, cos
the joke is on him there

and that's what he's very clever
at, is the joke is always on him.

It's never about, "Ooh,
look at that funny person.

Ooh, look at that funny
food. This food's horrible."

It's not that.

It's a very... it's a subtle
difference, but he nails it.

GOAT BLEATS

MICHAEL (VO): Finally,
the scorching sun sets

and we made camp

a tiny, comforting haven in the
immense emptiness that surrounded us.

This indeed was the
desert of my imagination.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

KARI: Documentaries, up to that
point, had seemed very arm's length.

It was like you observed
everything, you didn't get involved

in the people or really
that involved in the place.

You know, it was just a
very British thing to do.

Very kind of stiff upper
lip, and a bit starched.

He was just so funny and so warm

and lovely and just open

really open to
anything that happened.

It was a real adventure to him

and you sort of shared
that adventure with him.

MICHAEL ON VIDEO: Cheers.

En anglais.

MAN: Cheers. — Cheers.

Cheers. — Cheers.

Down the hatch.

Bottoms up, bottoms up.

MAN SPEAKS TAMASHEK

Bottoms up?

Bottoms... — Bottom.

Bottom. — Bottom.

Bottoms. — Bottoms.

Up. — Up.

Yeah! Great. — THEY LAUGH

Bottoms up.

Bottoms up. — Bottoms up!

MICHAEL LAUGHS — Bottoms up!

Wow.

Genius. I mean, that's...
such a lovely scene.

MICHAEL: God bless Her Majesty.

BRUCE: Yeah, you really
feel it there, you feel the rapport

the connection.

And that's what you get when
you put the time in, you know.

He did the walking, he
was there on the ground

and that's the reward,
it's like a warmth.

A real warmth of
friendship and...

it's really beautiful to see.

CAM EL G RU NTS Merci, merci...

Yeah. Bon voyage, and...

Hey! Goodbye.

Merci, merci, merci.

Merci. — Merci,
merci, merci pour tout.

Merci pour tout.

Hey, hey, hey!

You like that shirt, don't
you? You always liked the shirt.

Oh! — THEY LAUGH

OK. — THEY CHATTER

Bon voyage, merci.

THEY CHATTER

MAN WAILS PLAYFULLY — Ah!

Bottoms up!

NICOLA: One of the nicest things
to see is that people were always

really sad to see him go,
and were always hugging him

and everyone was coming out of the woodwork,
he wanted to say goodbye to everybody

and I think that's so nice to see that,
but that he had such time for everybody

but that people made
such a connection with him.

You can see, you can feel
how genuine a person he is

and that was just so lovely,
I think, to see all of that.

MICHAEL (VO): My
journey was nearly at an end.

From the heart of Niger, we
made our way back to wards Europe

across Algeria,
Libya, and Tunisia.

This kasbah sounds as
though it's coming to life.

Things are happening.

MICHAEL (VO): As I
finally cross back to Gibraltar

I felt a sense of regret that the
friends I'd made in the Sahara

would be seen by some
Europeans as a threat.

GREG: There is
certainly a pre—9/11 world

and a post—9/11 world.

Michael wanted to...

bring us as much of
the world as possible

the lightness of
touch, like he can

to try and make sense of things.

It's vital that these
sorts of shows exist.

You need people
like Michael Palin to...

to calm everything down

and to bring you
those magical stories

from places you'd never heard of

or you would never ever
get the chance to go to.

It's not bonkers beyond Calais.

It's often...

You often get a warmer
welcome there than you do here.

So... I think that comes
across in Michael's programmes

but it is something
you have to learn.

MICHAEL (VO): I was
45 when I started traveling.

I've lost count of the countries
I've visited and the people I've met

but at the heart of it all
has been the satisfaction

of seeing others
as we see ourselves

not as strangers,
but as partners

living, working and
hopefully protecting

the world we all share.

Physically, I probably
couldn't do all those things now.

I don't particularly
mind that. I'll still travel.

I'll still read.

I'll still think about
my own journeys

and what I've learnt from
them, and I'll still be curious.

But what this has done is enabled
me to explore and remember things

that I've not yet
expressed before.

So, it's really like looking
into a very, very nice, busy, old

you know... storeroom. HE LAUGHS

And climbing up and finding,
"Oh, here's another bit!"

Which I suppose, some
people will say, "Oh, yeah, gawd!

I hope he doesn't find
any more." HE LAUGHS

Well, I've enjoyed it.