The Trip, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown – 5 travel shows that every globetrotter needs to watch

Travel shows are always a great distraction from the umpteen fiction shows and documentaries that are being churned out day-in-and-day-out on various OTT platforms. Such shows, besides being informative and making one aware of the culture and politics of a place, also helps one pick his/her next travel destination. While the destination cannot completely be experienced through visual images, they surely succeed in creating a desire to visit the place.

It’s surprising to know that when it comes to the best travel shows, it’s always the Beeb (aka BBC) that leads the pack. Abhishek Srivastava picks up five such cutting edge travel shows that are par excellence, and if you have no plans to move out this summer, they might just make you change your mind.

The Trip

Rob Brydon (L) and Steve Coogan (R) in a still from The Trip

Steve Coogan might be known to the world as Alan Partridge, but The Trip also showed an entirely different facet of the English actor. It also showed the funny man as a connoisseur and as a great impersonator. Helmed under the able direction of Michael Winterbottom, it took Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon — another known British actor, through a scenic gastronomic tour of Northern England, Italy Spain and Greece.

Both the actors took trips of restaurants (Michelin star included) dotted across the four countries, which were later condensed in the form of a travel show. The journey could only be described as a fun-filled one with laughter galore.

In the garb of situational comedy, it was also an excellent travel show to hit British television, which later on paved the way for a full length feature film. If you are a food connoisseur and want to see parts of Europe not entirely mentioned in the Lonely Planet, The Trip remains your best bet.

The seal of approval for the show came from Richard Curtis, the man involved in the making of some cult British films when he described the series as one of the greatest television programmes of all time.

Mediterranean with Simon Reeve

A still from Mediterranean with Simon Reeve

Simon Reeve undoubtedly remains BBC’s best travel anchors of the modern era. His honest take on issues and not shying away from controversies, make him a popular choice. Though the man has virtually travelled the world from Burma to Russia, the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn, his most recent journey was around countries that bordered the Mediterranean Sea.

The picture perfect photography plus imparting a thorough awareness about the region makes Mediterranean with Simon Reeve a riveting watch. Apart from witnessing the dirty wealth of Monaco, the BBC presenter also explored the divide between North and South Cyprus, and a family of three sisters in Sicily who will never allow the mafia to take away their property.

Dangerous Border – A Journey Across India & Pakistan

Babita Sharma (Above) and Adnan Sarwar (Below) from Dangerous Border: A Journey Across India & Pakistan

This was possibly the most riveting travel show that was aired on BBC on the completion of the 70th anniversary of the India-Pakistan partition. BBC presenters Adnan Sarwar and Babita Sharma stationed themselves on either side of the Radcliffe Line and traversed a journey to trace their ancestors.

While Babita started her journey from the Kutch region of Gujarat, Adnan did the same, but from the other side of the border, with only few kilometers separating them. The cross-cultural milieu and the socio-political commentary on the two countries made for great binge viewing.

From a group of female bike-riders in Gujarat to the cultural life of the Karachi metropolis, to a visit of a solar plant as a result of China’s $35 billion investment in Pakistan, to the Karakoram highway that links Pakistan to China – every frame of the series made for stunning visuals and was a trove of knowledge. The journey of the 2000-mile border in the end is a revelation.

Michael Palin in North Korea

A still from Michael Palin in North Korea

Since the time Kim Jong-un assumed power in North Korea, the interest in the Hermit Kingdom has only grown manifold. The intrigue and the mystery element that shrouds the country has spawned numerous travel shows — some shot through hidden cameras and some, amidst authorized guides in the garb of spies, but none could match Michael Palin’s style of presentation.

Once an active member of Monty Python, the comedy group, and with cult films like Brazil and A Fish Called Wanda under his belt, Michael did everything in front of the camera that could have easily irked the nation’s authority. But what comes in the end is a deep understanding of the country and its functioning.

Beginning with the train he boards at Beijing railway station to enter North Korea, and his eventual trip to the 38th parallel, the entire journey is documented with small nuggets which helps one in deciphering the most isolated country of the world.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Barack Obama (L) and Anthony Bourdain (R) in a still from Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

Travel channel’s loss was CNN’s gain when Anthony Bourdain decided to uproot his show and take it to CNN. And what a coup this turned out for CNN. Anthony Bourdain took viewers to undiscovered places and acquainted them with the cuisine, culture and politics of those places. The show took us to places as diverse as Myanmar, Colombia, Congo, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Turkey and our very own Punjab.

The half-a-score Emmy Awards the show managed to lay its hands upon, out of a total of 31 nominations, speaks volumes about the way it was accepted by audiences. Bourdain met his untimely death while he was working for the show, which was centered in the Strasbourg region of France.

The show reached a crescendo in terms of its popularity when it featured Barack Obama sipping a bottle of local beer at a nondescript Vietnamese restaurant. For those who can’t wait, and lack patience, jump straight to Season Eight, Episode Two of the show.