DON'T FORGET YOUR PASSPORT - SERIES 5
Presenter: Gordon Sivell
Episode 1: Thailand
Adventure traveller Gordon Sivell journeys through northern Thailand along the border of Myanmar and spends time exploring the Karen villages, where the longneck women live deep in the mountain ranges. After that, he moves south to the sexually charged city of Pattaya, before touring the tropical island of Ko Lanta in Krabi Province for some elephant trekking and a lesson on Thai cooking
Episode 2: Northern Namibia, Africa
Gordon Sivell camps out in Northern Namibia, along the border of Southern Angola near Epupa Falls and then meets up with the camera-shy Ochre-paste Himba Women in a remote cattle village. He also finds time for some white-water rafting as he journeys overland through one of the most desolate territories on the African Sub-Continent.
Episode 3: Victoria, Australia
Host Gordon Sivell takes in the colourful ANZAC parade in Melbourne, Australia and then tours the wine region of Yarra Valley after touring a unique wildlife facility designed to save indigenous animals with surgery. He takes a chopper flight over the 12 Apostles geological rock formations, cruises with bottlenose dolphins and learns about aboriginal customs in a Victoria State sanctuary.
Episode 4: Laos
Join host Gordon Sivell as he explores northern Laos with a long-tail boat ride down the Mekong River to some ancient Buddhist caves. He tours the old French Colonial town of Luang Prabang before travelling southeast for 10 hours through dangerous rebel infested Hmong Villages in the mountains to the isolated town of Ponsavan. Gordon learns how the CIA conducted their secret war in the 1970’s across the Plain of Jars on the border of Vietnam.
Episode 5: South Korea
Gordon Sivell explores the historic temples of South Korea, the tropical island of Jeju with its colourful folk villages, and he tours the antique market in the bustling city of Seoul. He learns about the complex history of the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ while touring the National War Museum and visits the world’s only United Nation’s war cemetery in the port city of Busan.
Episode 6: South Africa
The Wilderness Route in South Africa is a visually stimulating environment where host Gordon Sivell samples the wine, has his first para-gliding flight over the Indian Ocean coastline and learns how the new South Africa has changed in the townships as he meets the locals on his 10-day journey.
Episode 7: British Columbia, Canada
The rugged Rocky Mountains in Western Canada with their glacial peaks and pristine lakes are the backdrop for Gordon Sivell’s tour of British Columbia. He visits a working cattle ranch, mountain bikes with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, enjoys a hearty pancake breakfast on the Trans Canada Highway and tours a pioneer village where he learns that the spirit of the early settlers is alive and well in the Okanagan Valley region of Vernon.
Episode 8: Sri Lanka
Host Gordon Sivell explores the tropical island of Sri Lanka off the southern tip of India. He finds it to be a crowded destination teetering of the edge of destruction because of terrorist Tamil Tiger activity and he soon discovers it’s not a country one travels to without a lot of thought and stamina. However, it does have its scenic rewards and ancient temples outside the beach resorts as well as the Capital City of Columbo.
Episode 9: Vietnam
Vietnam may be on the move economically but the ‘Communist Manifesto’ still lingers at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Lenin Square in the frenzied city of Hanoi. Gordon Sivell takes a sobering look at the prisoner of war camp called the Hanoi-Hilton where American pilots were held in brutal captivity for years. Next, Gordon travels north by train to the border of China to visit the gentle hill tribe people in the market village of SaPa.
Episode 10: Central Namibia, Africa
Adventure traveller Gordon Sivell takes an overland safari through the hostile desert region of Damaraland before touring the largest red sand dunes on the planet. Skydiving and sand boarding in the Namib Desert near the Skeleton Coast provide the backdrop for this visually breathtaking episode in Central Namibia.
Episode 11: Malaysia
Gordon Sivell tours an old Japanese Prisoner of War Camp in the jungles of Malaysia, and just off the coast of southern Thailand he treks through a rubber plantation before exploring the Dutch Colonial city of Penang with its old fishing villages and ancient fortifications.
Episode 12: Queensland, Australia
Gordon Sivell travels the length of Queensland, Australia through dense tropical rainforest where he learns the secrets of Aboriginal artwork and early life in the bush. He spends time with backpacking scuba divers on the Great Barrier Reef outside Cairns and explores Fraser Island with its miles of unspoiled beaches.
Episode 13: Botswana
The lush delta panhandle of Botswana is home to some amazing African wildlife and host Gordon Sivell explores the National Parks in this unique eco-system. He tours an ancient rock cave dwelling with 1,000-year old engravings and goes tiger fishing on the Okavango River system with a team of bush experts.