Great Asian Railway Journeys

In Hong Kong, Michael Portillo investigates how Britain won the island and Kowloon from China after two drug wars. He straddles a bamboo pole to learn the traditional Cantonese art...

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 a...

Steered by his 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide, Michael Portillo embarks on a four-part rail adventure through Thailand from the northern city of Chiang Mai to Kanchanaburi on the River Kwai...

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 forme...

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 rail...

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...

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,...

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 Sai...

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 Ha...

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. Approachin...

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 n...

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 p...

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...

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...

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...

Michael Portillo’s rail exploration of south east Asia continues in Malaysia. His journey resumes in Kuala Kangsar, where he taps into the source of the lucrative rubber industry t...

Michael Portillo continues his 2,500-mile rail tour of south east Asia. On this leg, he explores the phenomenal growth of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, from muddy swamp to seat...

Michael Portillo is in Malaysia on a 2,500-mile tour of south east Asia. His 1913 Bradshaw’s Guide takes him to Melaka, for centuries one of the greatest trading ports in the world...

Michael Portillo’s south east Asian railway tour reaches its final stop - the phenomenally successful island city state of Singapore. In the historic centre, Michael discovers Sin...

Michael Portillo is in the island city state of Singapore on the last leg of his 2,500-mile exploration of south east Asia. In Tai Seng, Michael goes underground to marvel at the w...