1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,592 (Station announcements) 2 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,112 Now, I just need to tell you how all this came about. 3 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,594 A nice lady from a television company came to me 4 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,598 and said did I want to go round the world to places called Victoria? 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,757 Although my mother warned me against taking sweets from strange men, 6 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,156 she never said anything about taking programme ideas from strange ladies, 7 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,829 so I said, "All right." So, the plan was I would go to places called Victoria, 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,440 cos I'm called Victoria and I'd go..."Mm." 9 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:40,597 Then I thought, "That's not a programme, that's just a holiday." 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,234 So then I started to think, "Why are there so many places 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,111 "all over the world called Victoria?" 12 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,470 Obviously, I knew they were named after Queen Victoria, which I am, 13 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,557 but there's no time to go into my mother's strange obsessions here. 14 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,160 I thought, "Why was it OK for us to march round the world, 15 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,031 "pointing at lakes and mountains 16 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,514 "and renaming them after this rather grumpy monarch 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:00,790 "who never went further than the Isle of Wight?" 18 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,833 I wanted to know how come we had such a massive empire, who got it for us, 19 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,269 did we get it all at once or in instalments, 20 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:09,834 how did we lose it, do they miss us now we're gone 21 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,758 and are there any bits of it we're not supposed to feel bad about? 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,314 Anyway, don't panic. It's only a television programme. 23 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:17,590 Now, which platform for Calcutta? 24 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,230 We're starting in India. Well, we have to start somewhere. 25 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:00,475 (Nonstop horns ) 26 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,751 Anyway, I got very friendly with someone in Directory Enquiries. 27 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,032 We're going to Calcutta, once a little village by the banks of the Hooghly river, 28 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,071 once the capital of British India 29 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,795 and now renamed with its correct pronunciation, Kolkata. 30 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,556 It's got everything I thought it would have - tons of taxis and cows and people 31 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,910 and heat and noise and colour and music. 32 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,432 Coming from England, where the streets are just for walking along, 33 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,199 everything happens on the streets here. 34 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,795 If you saw someone having a good scrub in his boxers on our pavement, 35 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,355 you'd swerve to avoid them. You wouldn't crouch down and borrow the soap. 36 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,033 It's really noisy here, but it's not stressful. 37 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,753 It's really crowded, but it's not chaotic. 38 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,872 And it's quite calm, in a bonkers sort of way. 39 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,433 Somehow, the cows and the people getting to work 40 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,950 and the ladies rinsing their smalls and the gents having their hair cut, 41 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,991 it just all happens. 42 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:24,311 No hairbrush rage, no one winding their car window down, shouting. 43 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,636 They tolerate each other, just like they seem to have tolerated us 44 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,399 coming over here with our clunky old bits of architecture. 45 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,350 Looking out the window, you couldn't really be anywhere but India. 46 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,076 And me coming from 21st-century Britain, where everything is so politically correct 47 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,556 and you can't even have a skipping race unless everybody wins, 48 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,319 it's very hard to imagine that... 49 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,351 (Prolonged horns ) 50 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,311 ..empire-building mindset 51 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:56,592 where not only was it OK to reign over a completely different country 52 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,313 with a completely separate culture and history, 53 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:04,309 but it was perfectly fine to plonk great, ugly, British buildings all over it. 54 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,352 I mean, talk about monumental arrogance. 55 00:04:18,840 --> 00:04:20,831 I don't know if it was arrogance. 56 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,792 I suppose we thought we were just giving them our best buildings. 57 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:26,752 We liked the Bank of England and Leeds Town Hall 58 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,075 and we thought they would, too. 59 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,233 And actually, when they decided to build a massive memorial to Queen Victoria, 60 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,272 it was a deliberate blend of western and eastern architecture. 61 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,709 It's a bit like the love-child of the National Portrait Gallery and the Taj Mahal. 62 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,832 It's built from the same marble and, like the Taj Mahal, 63 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:50,950 it took forever to be finished. 64 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,797 It was designed in 1901, the year that Queen Victoria died, 65 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,513 but it wasn't actually completed till 20 years later, 66 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,235 by which time Calcutta wasn't the capital any more - Delhi was. 67 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:05,637 So they had this massive, grand building in a place that was now only a provincial city. 68 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:07,873 0ops. 69 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:17,551 It's really interesting to be in a place 70 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,194 where religion and ritual is just part of everyday life. 71 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:21,832 It's just woven into the day, 72 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,555 not boxed off into a building and a day of the week. 73 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,956 But to be fair to us, we don't have the weather for it. 74 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,431 You might think the last thing I needed here 75 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,950 as a chunky, white woman amidst all this shiny, wet brownness, 76 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,595 was a chunky, white man strolling alongside me, telling me what was what, 77 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,029 but although Toby looks as out of place as I do, 78 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,071 he has lived here for more than 20 years. 79 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,556 He married an Indian girl, so he does know what he's talking about. 80 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:56,718 This is the Hooghly river. It's one of the arms of the Ganges. So it's a sacred river. 81 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,070 It'll soon enter the sea. It's flowed 2,000 miles from the Himalaya. 82 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,113 And these people are here on the bathing ghats for three reasons, really. 83 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,196 One is to cleanse themselves spiritually, 84 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,437 another is to cleanse themselves physically, at which you might wonder 85 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,790 because of the filth and detritus that is flowing down with the water. 86 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:14,876 And thirdly, there's a social gathering. 87 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,832 People from a community come in the morning and meet and chat. 88 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:19,996 - It's all men, though. - This is all men. 89 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,270 There are ghats which are exclusively for women. 90 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,675 These ghats - "ghat" means a step - 91 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,871 many of them were developed and sponsored by zamindaris, 92 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,674 the landlords who made their wealth in the 17th and 18th centuries. 93 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,790 It's odd how we ended up with India. 94 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,673 We didn't sail up the river with guns blazing. 95 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,996 We only came, really, for the shopping. It was all business. 96 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,271 The East India Company came here to trade in textiles. 97 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,595 It wasn't about making India British. 98 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,474 In fact, it made more sense for us to fit in with them. 99 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,795 And they did, those first merchants. 100 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:57,276 They wore the clothes, they ate the food, they learnt the language. 101 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,472 They did take Indian mistresses, often referred to as "sleeping dictionaries". 102 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,476 What does that mean? 103 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,432 You learnt the language of the country that you were in... 104 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:09,597 - By lying down. - ..from the person that you slept with. 105 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,631 - Erm... - That's terrible! 106 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,035 (Laughs ) Very practical. I can vouch for it. 107 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:15,229 - Oh, can you? - Sorry. 108 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,829 I'm not sure we need to hear that. We're not here to discuss your own problems. 109 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,996 It is amazing what you can learn. 110 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,635 It seems so mad that the East India Company coming here to trade in the 1600s 111 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,275 ends up with the entire continent being run by the British government 112 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,596 and India doesn't get its independence back till 1947. 113 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,749 Did we do any good things, I wonder? 114 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,552 Living in Great Britain now, our culture is really enriched 115 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,639 by all the people who have arrived and lived with us over the last 100 years. 116 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,671 Do you find that living in India now 117 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,792 that the culture and the lifestyle has actually been enhanced 118 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,308 by having that British population for all those years? 119 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,476 Is there a good legacy? is what I'm saying. 120 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,069 Yes. There are many positive legacies of the British in India. 121 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,395 But perhaps the greatest is the English language. 122 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,915 It's the English language that is enabling India to go out into the world, 123 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,111 to dominate the information technology age, 124 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,357 the writing of software, the medical transcriptions - 125 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:31,791 all the back-office work that the world requires is becoming centred in India. 126 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,992 And that is a direct result of an English-language education. 127 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,469 You can make bits of Calcutta look like Manchester 128 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,832 but when it rains you know you're not in Didsbury, you're in a monsoon. 129 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,474 It was a very difficult climate for Europeans 130 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:52,115 and the monsoon season was particularly dangerous because of the malaria. 131 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,039 So what the British did was pack up every summer and head for the hills. 132 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,548 Which is where I'm going on this tiny, bonkers steam-train 133 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,909 which somehow, if it doesn't run out of coal, 134 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,554 is going to chuff its way up to Darjeeling, 135 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,160 7,000 feet above the clouds. 136 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:12,957 It used to take three days 137 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,231 for the memsahibs to get to Darjeeling from Calcutta. 138 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,233 But a brilliant railway engineer, an Englishman called Franklin Prestage, 139 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:22,713 working in Eastern Bengal, 140 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,196 had the idea for this tiny, two-foot-gauge track. 141 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,950 And in 1881, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Company was in business. 142 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,160 The engine was built in Manchester. Can I just say that? 143 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,760 Unlike British train journeys, where you're looking at 144 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,758 people's back gardens and bizarre choice of conservatory, 145 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,997 on this train you can practically lean out and do your shopping. 146 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,115 Everywhere the train goes past, people are doing this to get all the bits out of their hair. 147 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,674 It's the dirtiest...coal. 148 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:14,279 It's so weird to go up a train track in the middle of somebody's high street. 149 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,271 (Whistle ) 150 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,397 Boiling. 151 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:26,234 So this train, God willing, will go to Darjeeling, 152 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,876 which is where all the British ladies used to come in the days of the empire, 153 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:32,876 to get away from the heat. 154 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:34,911 So although it feels quite warm, 155 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:37,520 it's nothing compared to what it is down below. 156 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,833 It's really interesting to come through this little town 157 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,396 because it's how I imagine towns in England would have been about 100 years ago, 158 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:53,112 with people sitting about, people chatting and lots of hustle and bustle and lots of shops. 159 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,720 There's a really nice atmosphere here. 160 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:59,116 There's a lot of energy and purposefulness. 161 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,239 I might be able to marry somebody here. That would be good. 162 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,953 All the men seem really friendly. They're all waving at me. 163 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:17,079 I might take one home. 164 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,558 Oh, look, he's running along the train now, the man that just waved at me. 165 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,393 We're above the clouds. We're actually above the clouds. 166 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,838 It's only the second railway in the world to become a world heritage site. 167 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,111 But it isn't just for tourists, it's a proper working railway. 168 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,436 It comes up once a day and everyone seems pleased to see it. 169 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,519 They wave and smile and... brush bits of burning cinder off their heads. 170 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:55,516 I love it. 171 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,348 The engine is called the Bluebird. Made in Manchester. Can I just say that again? 172 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,038 This has got to count in our favour, hasn't it, this railway? 173 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,832 0ne tiny tick in the Benefits of Empire column? 174 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,508 This must have made their lives a little bit easier. 175 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,154 The gradient is so steep, just nipping to the shop for them 176 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,031 is like us going up a loft-ladder. 177 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,958 They must have the biggest calf muscles in the world. 178 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,230 That may be why they're so keen on the sari. 179 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,190 It's a spectacular ride. 180 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:30,118 The train never goes through a cutting or into a tunnel 181 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,358 because Franklin Prestage didn't want the passengers to lose sight of the view. 182 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,114 And it is a big old view. 183 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,315 It's a bit stomach-dropping, actually. 184 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,079 I'm glad I'm in the train and not anywhere near the edge. 185 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:49,919 You wouldn't believe a train could get up here. 186 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,315 It's the most barmy thing. 187 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,551 (Whistle ) 188 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,197 Darjeeling wasn't really a place before the British came. 189 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,391 These hill stations are a sort of Victorian invention. 190 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,318 And in those times it wasn't just about escaping the heat, 191 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,113 it was really about trying to forget you lived in India. 192 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,591 You had your nice villas and your churches - 193 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,596 none of those nasty temples. 194 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,756 And the only Indians you'd have to bother with 195 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,951 would be the ones doing your washing or bringing you your gin and tonic. 196 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,991 So, although Darjeeling wasn't home, 197 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,794 with its nice, fresh air and familiar-looking buildings, it was as good as. 198 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,992 If you kept your eyes on your teapot and didn't look too closely at the Himalayas, 199 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,031 you could almost be in Buxton. 200 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,516 Hi. Can I have two of those, please? 201 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:11,036 When I arrived here, it had taken me about 24 hours - 202 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,631 two planes and three hours in a car - to get up to Darjeeling. 203 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:17,477 Thank you. 204 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,478 But the first governor general of India and his wife, 205 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,034 it took them two months' travelling to get here. 206 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,474 And when his wife, Lady Canning, arrived here 207 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,751 she said that she couldn't understand any words of the language, 208 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,395 she didn't know anybody and she didn't recognise any of the plants. 209 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,235 And she'd come here to set an example. 210 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,158 She hadn't come here to assimilate, she'd come to set an example 211 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,191 with her silver teapot and her corsets. 212 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,756 And she laid out an English garden and it was all about trying to show India 213 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:49,678 how life was to be lived in the English way. 214 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:54,032 And she died of malaria and dysentery. 215 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,316 But she has got a legacy. They've named this sweet after her. 216 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:02,956 This sweet, which we have in England, as well, is called a ledikeni. 217 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,631 Oh, it's nice, actually. Which I wasn't expecting. 218 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,432 This is all about white is the new black, as far as tea is concerned. 219 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,111 And they're saying that it might be good 220 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,470 if they start harvesting white tea in Darjeeling, 221 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,750 as well as black tea and green tea, 222 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,998 because they think there's going to be a worldwide boom in white tea. 223 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,433 I think it's got some health benefit, a bit like green tea. 224 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,711 I'm not sure cos... I can't be bothered to read it all. 225 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,349 It says it's perfect for a quiet evening. 226 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,477 I'm not sure that's such a fantastic selling point. 227 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,231 (Chatting) 228 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,072 White tea? How will that work? 229 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,318 Everyone knows tea's brown, milk and two sugars. It's our heritage. 230 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,512 We had the sugar first. That was cheap cos it came from Jamaica. 231 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,717 We had nothing to put it into so we invented the cup of tea. 232 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:17,356 We started to grow tea. Nice, brown, English tea. You know. 233 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,395 Indian tea. From China. 234 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,712 You see, the first governor of Darjeeling, Dr Campbell, 235 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:27,513 planted some Chinese tea seeds in his garden here 236 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,869 as an experiment in 1835. 237 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:35,111 And now look. You'll never get the mower through that. 238 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,710 This is Rajah and this is his tea plantation, 239 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:43,150 which is all organic and has been in his family since 1859. 240 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,629 You know, these plants are from Victorian times. 241 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,193 - These ones? - Yeah. 242 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,276 They were planted out in 1842, 243 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,790 being uprooted from the Chinese tea fields of Huangshan. 244 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,799 - So does tea not come from India, then? - No, not at all, not at all. 245 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:02,709 This is Camellia sinensis, and it was brought along in the 1840s, 246 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,116 when tea drinking became extremely popular in Victorian England. 247 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,799 - But Darjeeling's not China tea, is it? - Of course it is. 248 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,115 The seeds are all originally China seeds 249 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,119 but what Darjeeling is to tea, champagne is to wine. 250 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,994 So the Chinese lost out and Darjeeling prospered. (Laughs ) 251 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,758 Who owned the plantations? 252 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,758 Most of the plantations are all British owned. 253 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,157 And the investment was all from London. They grew very rapidly. 254 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,510 But most of the managers were not English. They were Scottish. 255 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,758 So you see some wonderful names like Glenburn, Maggie's Hope, 256 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,268 Bannockburn and stuff like that, OK? 257 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,914 And these men were quite incredible. 258 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,236 Just imagine there were no roads or communication at all. 259 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,874 They got these huge machines, the driers, 260 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,309 the stokers, withering tats et cetera, 261 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,670 the engines, weighing three or four tons. 262 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,679 And carrying them up the steep mountain hillsides 263 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,950 and then taking them four or five kilometres down. 264 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,230 There was nothing at all. How did they do it? 265 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,350 - I don't think anybody could do it now. - No. 266 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:04,958 Under those conditions. 267 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:06,831 - You admire that? - That is amazing. 268 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,395 I wonder where that has gone these days. I wonder. (Laughs ) 269 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,831 - And who was working on the plantation? - Nepalese people were brought in 270 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,759 and of course, at that time, everybody says it was very exploitive et cetera, 271 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,837 but it was the only organised farmlands. 272 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,633 And people were treated the best in those times. 273 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,240 They had organised medical health insurance, 274 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,558 regular wages, rations et cetera, which was not to be found anywhere else in the world. 275 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,195 And people conveniently tend to forget all that in retrospect. 276 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:37,913 - So you don't think it was a bad thing? - It was wonderful. 277 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,350 Well, I wouldn't be here if the British hadn't been here. 278 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,636 They call Darjeeling tea the champagne of teas 279 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:50,830 and there are three basic varieties. 280 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,394 It's harvested at three different times in the year 281 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:56,955 but the first flush, harvested in mid March after the spring rains, 282 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,389 has the most delicate flavour. 283 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:04,599 They bring the green leaves in and they spread them out to get out the moisture. 284 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,029 Then they roll the leaves and that's to bruise them 285 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,275 so the sap is exposed to the oxygen. 286 00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,072 The leaves are fermented, dried out and then graded. 287 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:18,635 A whole-leaf tea would be a top grade. 288 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,992 And the teeny bits that fall through to the bottom end up in tea bags, 289 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,759 which I don't think Rajah would ever serve. 290 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,312 - Victoria. - Thank you. 291 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:32,035 - Hope you enjoy the world's best tea. - The world's best tea. 292 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:34,832 Thank you so much. 293 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,395 - So, this is Darjeeling silver tips? - Silver tips. 294 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:43,230 It has the world-record price of $400...per kilo. 295 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,078 We shall wait for your opinion. 296 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,998 It's very subtle. It's beautiful. 297 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:54,352 It's an extremely delicate tea and has four layers of flavours, actually. 298 00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:00,149 And as you roll it along and sip it gently, the flavours unfold. 299 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,876 I normally drink it last thing at night, to lull me into celestial slumber, actually. 300 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,990 Let's hope it doesn't have that effect now. 301 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:08,792 (Chuckling) 302 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,274 How lovely to be sitting at the top of the world, 303 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,676 drinking Indian tea from china cups in an organic garden, 304 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:20,350 with Rajah and his wife, Srirupa, telling me all about life in the days of the Raj. 305 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,517 So the British planters were complete lords of Darjeeling. 306 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:25,630 Now, they, of course, they strayed a lot. 307 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,797 So there were a lot of fall-outs, illegitimate children, out of that. 308 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,479 - What, they strayed with local... - Of course. 309 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,875 - Particularly the young... - Especially the men. 310 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,948 No, no, the assistant managers were not allowed to get married for 14 years. 311 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,833 - Why? So they could concentrate on tea? - On their work. Yes. 312 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,440 The ladies would just come up in the summer or in October. 313 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,677 So they were left to themselves. It's quite a lonely and tough life. 314 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:49,039 That's asking for trouble. 315 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,674 - Can you recognise people now? - Yes. 316 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,950 Can you think, "They must have had white parents"? 317 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,468 - Yes, it's quite apparent. - Looking at them, yes. 318 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,478 We haven't speeded the film up. That's how married people talk. 319 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:00,509 It's accepted. 320 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:04,874 It's a funny old place, Darjeeling, 321 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,957 piled up all higgledy-piggledy on the hillside. 322 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,310 With just the odd reminder of the old days here and there. 323 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:19,349 This looks Victorian. I think it's some remnant of...British occupation. 324 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,194 It does feel completely different from Calcutta. 325 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,356 It's cool and fresh but it's cold at night. 326 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,359 I've got a very scary-looking electric fire in my hotel room. 327 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,119 I think it might have belonged to Gandhi. 328 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,712 They're missing a trick here with their derelict churches. 329 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,548 Have they not heard of the concept of the discount-carpet warehouse? 330 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,953 People come here now for trekking and river-rafting. 331 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,753 There's not much left of the old British Darjeeling. 332 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,916 And what there is needs a bit of a face-lift. 333 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,034 That roof alone is going to take months. 334 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,068 Especially if all you've got is a brush. 335 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:15,836 While all that lovely tea was headed west, 336 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,155 to a Great Britain where the kettle was always on 337 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,430 and only a nice cuppa would kick-start the day, 338 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:25,315 an even more addictive and less cosy substance was leaving India and heading east, 339 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:27,555 to the opium dens of China. 340 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:29,636 And that's how we got Hong Kong. 341 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,672 0r, as I thought it was called as a child, Made In Hong Kong. 342 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,874 We won this little island in a fight. 343 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,480 And not really a fair fight, either. 344 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:43,957 You know I said we didn't arrive in India with guns blazing? 345 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,073 Well, in Hong Kong we did. Britain had a problem trying to trade with China 346 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:51,032 because there was nothing of ours that they wanted. 347 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,232 But the climate that was so good for growing tea was perfect for growing opium 348 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,431 and that was something the Chinese couldn't get enough of. 349 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,870 There were so many addicts, and it's such a socially damaging habit, 350 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,196 that the emperor of China banned trading in opium altogether. 351 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,949 It was illegal. But it was too profitable for the British to give up 352 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,991 and they ignored the ban. 353 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,634 A small stand-off escalated into a war 354 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,717 when Britain sent in the warships that China didn't have. 355 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,753 The navy took Hong Kong and it was given to the British a year later 356 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,032 "to be possessed in perpetuity by Her Britannic Majesty." 357 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,799 This was the place to live if you were a British merchant - a taipan - 358 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,071 at the very top of the island, Victoria Peak. 359 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,957 You could stroll out of your palace with its flags flying 360 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,594 and be driven down to your offices on the waterfront. 361 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,636 I've noticed two things, coming straight from Calcutta to Hong Kong. 362 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,912 One is that although Calcutta seems very chaotic and crowded and noisy - 363 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,112 you'd think they'd have repetitive strain injury, honking their horns the whole time - 364 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,357 it's actually a very calm and tolerant atmosphere. 365 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,391 It's actually quite a spiritual city. 366 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,752 Whereas here, first impression is that it's all about money and trade 367 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:20,315 and acquisition and display and shopping. 368 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:24,069 The other obvious thing is that in Calcutta everything happens on the street. 369 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:28,238 They're all living, washing, eating, cooking, doing the laundry on the street. 370 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,033 Whereas here, nothing much goes on at street level. 371 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:36,074 It's all up, off the street, enclosed in these really, really tall buildings. 372 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,311 I've been lucky enough to spend time 373 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:43,828 with someone who lives in one of these high buildings. 374 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,599 She's called Lamy. She'll be going round Hong Kong with me. 375 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,471 She's lived here all her life. 376 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,990 I wanted to know what she thought the typical Hong Kong person was like. 377 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,120 - We're very hard-working. - Yes. 378 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,515 - Very material. - Yes. 379 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,028 - Very optimistic. - Yeah. 380 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,835 And we always look forward instead of looking backward. 381 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,396 I can't see any old buildings. Are there no old buildings left in Hong Kong? 382 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,991 Well, in Hong Kong, we're not as sentimental as the west are. 383 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,589 New is good and new is modern. It just mean better. 384 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,756 And is it better to have more? More money? 385 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,678 To have money is like the essential element 386 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:24,711 to reach happiness in this city. 387 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,957 - It's an essential element? - Yes. It's a very material city. 388 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,356 Yeah. I don't think I've seen one child since I've been here. 389 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,516 - We are too busy to have child. - Yes. 390 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,791 So most of us have none or have only one. 391 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:41,917 Hong Kong has changed completely in Lamy's lifetime. 392 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,715 From being a British protectorate, it was handed back to communist China in 1997, 393 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,548 which means it's easy now to travel back and forth to the Chinese mainland. 394 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:56,673 What happen is lately a lot of men would travel to China 395 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:01,316 and met someone that they like up in mainland, 396 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,592 where the girls are more gentle, more traditional in a way. 397 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:07,790 - Less threatening. - Exactly! 398 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,469 - And they are more willing to stay home... - Yeah. And shut up. 399 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,795 - ..cook, and raise children. - Yeah. 400 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,071 Because Hong Kong girls are very hard-working, 401 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:19,031 very looking forward 402 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,913 - and concentrate too much... - On their work. 403 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,873 ..in trying to prove that they are strong enough to compete with men. 404 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,229 - Yeah, men don't like that. - Exactly. 405 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,193 What do you think has been the impact of the British here? 406 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:38,839 This place is very safe and the law is pretty...fair, I would say. 407 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:47,834 We enjoy a certain level of freedom in this city that has been offered by the Brit. 408 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,155 What do you feel has been the negative impact 409 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,272 of you, as a Chinese person, living under British rule? 410 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:59,270 I think it's the feeling of being a second-class citizen...in your own town. 411 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,949 I feel a lot better now because I... I can tell who I am. 412 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,514 - Since 1997. - Yeah. 413 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,348 And it doesn't matter how China will be, bad or good. 414 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:14,793 I feel that...now that I can stand up and say I'm Chinese Hong Kong. 415 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,718 Hong Kong was a tiny fishing village once 416 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:25,354 and now it's one of the richest places in the world. 417 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:28,949 It has the highest skyscrapers, the biggest shopping malls, 418 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:30,991 the wealthiest people. 419 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,715 And it does feel like somewhere that's all about money and trading 420 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,354 and dealing and shopping. 421 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:40,437 In Calcutta, you were right up against people's lives. 422 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,756 You saw them doing everything - praying, begging, washing. 423 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,836 Here, it's all insulated. 424 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,872 The things are behind glass, the people are on the phone. 425 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,388 You wouldn't dare stop anyone and ask for directions. 426 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,113 It's not somewhere where you would feel comfortable about 427 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:56,151 bobbing down and having a strip-wash. 428 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,233 Lamy says the Chinese don't look back, 429 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,317 which could explain why we're the only people in this antique shop. 430 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:08,273 - There's some beautiful things in here. - Yes, wonderful stuff. 431 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,153 This is very lovely, this colour. What is that, do you think? 432 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,033 My favourite. Actually, it's a pillow, believe it or not. 433 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,195 - A pillow? - Yeah. 434 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,198 In the old days, when we all have hair buns, 435 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:22,074 and in order not to mess it up, this how we slept. 436 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,953 - It looks really uncomfortable. - See? It catch perfectly. 437 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:26,353 Here. 438 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,359 I see what you mean, you get a bit of a breeze through the holes. 439 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,868 I think I'd rather have short hair and a proper pillow. 440 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,992 - So, this is all Chinese antiques? - It is. 441 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,112 I thought the people of Hong Kong weren't very keen on looking back, 442 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,994 - so who buys all this? - Mostly Westerners. And ex-pats, who... 443 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:44,029 - British. - Yeah. 444 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,153 Who is more interested in the culture and also who have bigger apartments. 445 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,272 - Where do you get your furniture from? - IKEA, mostly. 446 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,716 Yeah. That's our favourite...kind. 447 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,194 For example, look at this mah jong. 448 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:00,708 But it cost you a couple of US hundred dollars. 449 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,035 So it's only for rich people, these things. 450 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,116 Yeah, it means nothing for us. 451 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,994 I wanna go for a plastic one, which costs you only about 20 US dollars. 452 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,838 Yes. So you're not sentimental people. 453 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,440 First question is, "How much does it cost us?" 454 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,075 Because it's how we dress, how we try to show off our fortune. 455 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,317 And this is almost the only way to show our wealth. 456 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:26,070 In Chinese, we say that we respect your outfit before we respect you. 457 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:27,951 Oh. That's... 458 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,357 The first thing you have to earn somebody's respect, you got to dress well. 459 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,870 - Do you invite people to your homes? - Very seldom. 460 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,514 - It's too small. - You can't fit anybody in. 461 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,551 Yeah. That's why we like to eat out 462 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,239 and that's why the best way to meet people...out there. 463 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,397 - Out there in your best clothes. - Exactly. 464 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,077 Hong Kong's tiny. Space is at a premium. 465 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,477 You can't show off your wealth with a country estate or an infinity pool 466 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,398 so, short of papering your walls with your bank statements, 467 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,237 you just have to go for gold. 468 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:11,915 I didn't come here to laugh at funny foreigners, 469 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,475 but I was brought up by parents who didn't really like you to run the hot tap 470 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,476 because it was wasteful. 471 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:21,274 So a shop that sells huge, gold ornaments isn't really my sort of place. 472 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,440 This is the only thing in the shop I'd like to buy - 473 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,392 so handy for visiting any friend with a pale carpet. 474 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,278 Gold wouldn't be my first choice of bathroom material 475 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,359 but in this society the plain white tile wouldn't make much of a statement. 476 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,272 I'm from Lancashire. We don't flaunt. We tut. 477 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,756 It would take a lot of upkeep, a gold bathroom. Finger marks. 478 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,553 If I was one of the Hong Kong elite, I would get a plain toilet 479 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,751 and just write on the seat, "I am really rich. Now wash your hands." 480 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,431 It's not hygienic. 481 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:02,956 Does that price include a pedestal mat? 482 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:15,238 This is the surgery of Hermie Lee, who runs this very upmarket vets' practice. 483 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:17,714 - Hello, Victoria. Nice to meet you. - Hi, Hermie. 484 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,679 Well, it looks upmarket to me, but all I know about vets 485 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,076 is from watching All Creatures Great And Small on satellite. 486 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,079 And this is a world away from Christopher Timothy rolling his sleeves up. 487 00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:33,549 Just popped in for a wax and polish. 488 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,917 I've thought of a good thing, a good legacy we left in Hong Kong. 489 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,428 We passed on our love of animals. 490 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:43,631 In Hong Kong a dog is for life, not just for dinner. 491 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,070 By the way, if you don't like needles, look away. Look away now. 492 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,394 No, that's not my head. 493 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,710 - Are there lots of pets in Hong Kong? - Lots. 494 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:56,311 Pets in Hong Kong is different from China because the culture is different. 495 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,396 What sort of things are people buying? 496 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:02,149 Cats, dogs, rabbits, turtle and mouse. 497 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,236 A very popular brand in Hong Kong 498 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,748 is Pomeranian, Chihuahua, 499 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:11,032 and maybe Schnauzer, the very small size of dogs and cats. 500 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,594 - People don't eat dogs here, do they? - No. 501 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,790 - But in China they do? - In China they do. 502 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,149 They wouldn't buy them for a pet and then eat them? 503 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:19,553 - They will. - Will they? 504 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,309 If they have money, they are rich, they will buy a very beautiful dog 505 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:25,510 and very healthy one, and they will cook them. 506 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,909 But in Hong Kong, not many people will do it. 507 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:34,758 In Hong Kong, we cannot accept this concept. 508 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:37,394 - It's not like a chicken or fish. - No. 509 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,238 OK, when the British people, they take care of Hong Kong, 510 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,352 they have their mind that they love pets, 511 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,837 so now people in Hong Kong, they educated in the western style 512 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,032 and they know that the pet is their friend. So they love pets so much. 513 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,231 In China, is it a lot to do with fashion, people buying pets? 514 00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,590 Yes. It's a funny thing that when one kind, 515 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:00,949 like of the dogs, they import into China 516 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,391 and people they willing to pay 10,000 or even $20,000 to buy a dog. 517 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,908 But another new species comes in 518 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,315 and then they will just throw away the old one. 519 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:12,874 - By "throw away", you mean... - Just throw away. 520 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,911 Just let them walk out the street. 521 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,316 And then they don't worry about whether they be killed by a car or... 522 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,636 So it's like clothes. They go out of fashion you just get rid of them. 523 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,035 So if you have a dog, you have licence, 524 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,152 that means you are very rich. You don't have to wear diamonds. 525 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,033 - Just walk round with a dog. - Exactly. 526 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,596 - And if you don't like it, eat it. - Eat it, yeah. And chop it. 527 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,358 0ne thing the British didn't do when they took possession here 528 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,868 was insist on the Chinese becoming Christian. 529 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,480 They were free to practise any religion they chose. 530 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,115 And when mainland China was in the grip of the cultural revolution, 531 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,470 and religious and academic buildings were being looted and destroyed, 532 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,990 critics of the regime could come to Hong Kong and live freely. 533 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:06,838 Lamy's consulting the Chinese oracle, Chien Tung. 534 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,269 It's an ancient form of fortune-telling. 535 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,915 You shake those sticks in the box - they're called fortune sticks - 536 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,713 you ask a question and each stick is numbered 537 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,150 and the one that falls out will give you your answer. 538 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:28,077 0r you can do what I did and you can consult a living oracle. 539 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,475 This is Priscilla, who's a fortune-teller. 540 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,878 You see? Your intelligence line is right across your palm. 541 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:38,831 - So I'm very intelligent? - Yes. 542 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,350 So that means you are a decision maker. You see? 543 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:47,030 You see, since you were a little girl, OK, you are a little bit bossy. 544 00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:50,152 So you think that you know everything, something like this. 545 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:51,599 Good. Keep going. 546 00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:55,110 So, you see? The finger is very straight. 547 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,789 So you cannot bend the finger. You cannot bend the thumb. 548 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:04,800 So that means you say you trust yourself. You can hold on to what you want to do. 549 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,276 So that's why, OK, you get the very long nose. 550 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,038 Your nose is very long... 551 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,310 All right, you don't have to keep on saying it. 552 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,069 - It's like the ambassador's nose. - Oh, right. 553 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:20,669 See, the ambassador, OK, they always negotiate for the best. 554 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:22,790 - Right, yes. - They never bend on you. 555 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:24,671 You do not get what you want. 556 00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:27,996 What about relationships? I'm not in a relationship. 557 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,238 - OK. What is your year sign? - I was born in the Year of the Snake. 558 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,034 So, we say if the man is six years older than you 559 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:39,675 - or six years younger than you, not good. - Not good. 560 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,870 Because at that year was the year of the pig. 561 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,798 - So the pig and the snake... - They can never get along well. 562 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:46,478 OK, so what's my best year? 563 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,718 The snake can be good with the ox and the rooster. 564 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,230 - The rooster's how many years? - Seven years older. 565 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:56,635 OK. And how many years younger? 566 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,671 I'm not joking. 567 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,551 I suppose if a load of arrogant, British, Victorian drug dealers 568 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:16,388 hadn't kicked off the 0pium War and if we hadn't had the naval power to win that war 569 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,192 and get possession of Hong Kong, 570 00:36:18,240 --> 00:36:20,800 it might still be a fishing village in a backwater. 571 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,476 We might have won it in a big boys' conker fight, 572 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:27,715 but at least when the Chinese knocked on the door 573 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,070 and said, "Can we have our island back?" we did hand it over. 574 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,673 Right, I'll just explain. Now, as we know, India belonged to us. 575 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:13,917 This is India. And we grew opium. This is opium here. 576 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,758 That's an opium pipe. I'm just guessing what they look like. 577 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,791 Sri Lanka, which is neither here nor there. 578 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:21,149 Erm, we were exporting opium 579 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,590 round here - that's Vietnam or somewhere like that - and that goes up. 580 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,679 We were exporting it up to Hong Kong and thence to China. 581 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:32,508 And we were importing tea from China. 582 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:36,394 We wanted tea and we wanted to pay for it with opium, so that's the trade route. 583 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:39,876 So, that's opium going up, and tea and chinoiserie, 584 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:43,879 which I'm showing you by drawing a ginger jar, that's coming down here. 585 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:47,595 Now, this trade route, of course, was very vulnerable to piracy, 586 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:49,915 which I'm just...showing you. 587 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,839 It looks terrible, but it's supposed to be a skull and crossbones. That's pirates. 588 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,668 But in the middle, luckily, of this trade route, there's a big island 589 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:00,632 which we wanted, was very necessary to us, to repel pirates, 590 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,879 and that... And it's down there now. That is Borneo. 591 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,557 Borneo is the third largest island in the world. 592 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,194 It's surrounded by the South China Sea to the north 593 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:24,549 and the Java Sea to the south. 594 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,718 It's the only island in the world containing parts of three different countries. 595 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,433 Two parts belong to Indonesia and Brunei. 596 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,074 We are flying to Sabah, which is Malaysian. 597 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:39,349 A lot of this part of Borneo has that flattened, uniform look 598 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,198 that we would recognise from places like Plymouth 599 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:45,357 as somewhere which was heavily bombed in the Second World War. 600 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,470 Borneo was a British protectorate, 601 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,318 but it had no air or sea force to defend itself. 602 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,477 It was invaded and under Japanese rule by 1942. 603 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:00,033 By the end of the war, all the major towns had been destroyed 604 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,799 either by the Japanese or Allied bombers. 605 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:06,549 Sandakan, which had been the capital, was too badly damaged to rebuild 606 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,636 so Kota Kinabalu is the capital now. 607 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:14,270 Even here you'll only find three buildings still standing from before the war. 608 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,910 So that's the jungle that the lads of the British North Borneo Company 609 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,474 had to hack their way through in the 1880s. 610 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,193 It looks impenetrable now - it was worse then. 611 00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:30,277 That's assuming they'd managed to get past the pirates. 612 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,710 They were looking for gold and diamonds and sago. 613 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,752 Personally, I wouldn't reach up to a high cupboard to get sago, 614 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,268 let alone shove my way through virgin jungle. 615 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,709 But these chaps were made of sterner stuff. 616 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:43,751 But even when they'd seen off the pirates, 617 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,360 it was Borneo and there were still head-hunters. 618 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,595 I know nothing about the head-hunters of Borneo 619 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,269 apart from those three words - Borneo, hunters and head. 620 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,233 But Agil, who is a descendant of a head-hunter, 621 00:39:56,280 --> 00:40:00,432 keeps the story of the Kadazan tribe alive. And that's not all he keeps. 622 00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:07,953 - How many are there? - 42 of them. 623 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,074 42 skull there. 624 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:12,998 - And they are real?. - Yeah, they are real. Yeah. 625 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,759 And they has been there for 300-over years. 626 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,434 In the olden days they take head 627 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:26,270 for purposes like expanding their power or their territory. 628 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,232 - They fight to get the head. - They fight to get land, 629 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:31,510 - kill the chief, then take his head. - Take it then. 630 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:36,554 Automatically, the people that live there is under the jurisdiction of that village. 631 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,434 So if you have that head, everything that belonged to that head belongs to you. 632 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:42,391 Yes. Belong to the person. 633 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,592 - Is it like having another spirit? - The more spirit you have, the better. 634 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:49,313 Because you can now communicate to the next world. 635 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,397 So your generation don't necessarily hold that belief. 636 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:54,431 No. Now we have religions 637 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:58,268 and we are all in Christians, some in the other religions, 638 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:01,073 - so we don't take that any more. - But you've kept them. 639 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:05,079 We keep them more for the next generation. 640 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,839 - Just to show them? - Yeah, their roots, you know. 641 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,519 We even losing our language already. 642 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:13,677 Yeah, the new generation, they speak a lot of English now. 643 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:14,914 Do they? 644 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:18,999 So Sabah is very much affected or influenced by British, yes. 645 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,873 - Do you think that's been a good thing? - It's very good. 646 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:23,911 You don't have to say that just cos I'm here. 647 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:28,112 If you compare with Indonesia, like rule by the Dutch, you know, 648 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,230 we just look at them. 649 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,794 And American in Philippines, you know. 650 00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:36,833 So we are grateful that... No, all of us like the British have came. 651 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,995 There's a lot of addiction underpinning the empire - 652 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:46,510 the British addiction to tea and the Chinese addiction to opium. 653 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:50,278 As far as I know, nobody's ever been addicted to sago. 654 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,754 Honestly, there wouldn't be time. 655 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,633 I bet you didn't know you have to hack it out of a tree. 656 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,753 Everything we can use from the palm. 657 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,918 So, for example, this one. This is already cut in half. This is the flesh. 658 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,839 And, actually, we grate it like this, two persons. 659 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,189 And then you get the flesh. 660 00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:14,198 What we do, normally we step onto it. 661 00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:16,515 And then the water will come away. 662 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:19,472 And then, eventually, we leave with this sediment 663 00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:24,719 and this is the sago, what we call the raw material that we will eat. 664 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,718 - So, eventually, it become like this. - Oh, yeah. Yeah. 665 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,228 You put hot water, you stir it 666 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:33,238 - and become like glue and we eat like that. - Yeah. 667 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,636 We can also produce sago worm from here. 668 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,831 - Like this. - Let's have a look. 669 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:43,839 - Aw... - It taste like sago also. 670 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:47,998 So normally, we eat like this - take hold the head and then we just eat like this. 671 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:50,110 - You don't eat the head? - No. It's hard. 672 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,357 The idea of a living thing that tastes of sago... (Laughs ) 673 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:56,471 To me, it seems a bit pointless. 674 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:58,750 It is very lovely, though. I do like it. 675 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:00,756 Ow! It bit me! 676 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:05,111 I didn't like it that much before and now I really have fallen out with it. 677 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,391 - He have that beak like... - Yeah. Blooming 'eck. 678 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,318 Well, sago, we can use this for many things. 679 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,920 - The leaf, we can use for... - No, I've lost interest now. 680 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,275 I don't care what you've got to tell me about sago. 681 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,993 Sago bites - that's all people really need to know. 682 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,269 The British government weren't so heavy-handed 683 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,311 as they'd been in places like India. 684 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:35,477 Hugh Low, who was the resident in charge here in the 1870s, 685 00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:37,875 was an explorer and a botanist. 686 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:39,911 He'd lived here for 30 years by then. 687 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:42,349 He loved the landscape, he climbed the mountains, 688 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,392 he studied the plants and he respected the people. 689 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:48,079 He understood their customs, he'd learnt their dialect. 690 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,032 He found a much more harmonious way to run a colony. 691 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,998 He was a pioneer in the study of orchids. 692 00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:14,077 He was the first European to climb Mount Kinabalu, 693 00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:16,315 one of the world's richest orchid habitats. 694 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:19,033 And some of the orchids he collected and sent back to Kew 695 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,071 have been named after him. 696 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:33,669 It's lovely to see them growing like this. 697 00:44:33,720 --> 00:44:36,518 At home we'd just have the one, very expensive, in a pot, 698 00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:38,551 tied to a stick, dead. 699 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,240 It was the British who were the first to clear the land 700 00:44:57,280 --> 00:44:59,874 for rubber plantations and crops like coconuts, 701 00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:03,595 but that was on quite a modest scale compared to today's industrial clearances. 702 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:09,070 The rainforest is being destroyed at an alarming rate to plant the oil palm. 703 00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:13,190 0il palm gives the vegetable oil that's in a lot of our fast food 704 00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:15,276 and in our biscuits and our cakes. 705 00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:17,151 It's quite hard to avoid 706 00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:21,432 and it's been linked with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity in children. 707 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:26,679 The rainforest is home to the orang-utan 708 00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:30,872 and in the last 20 years, more than 80% of their habitat has disappeared. 709 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:34,674 There's a lot of illegal logging here as well as the clearing for oil palm. 710 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:37,234 And when a tree goes, it's the orang-utan's home 711 00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:39,271 and its source of food. 712 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:46,036 No, it's not as bad as it looks. They're not reduced to living in wheelbarrows. 713 00:45:46,080 --> 00:45:49,356 The orang-utan rehabilitation centre at Sepilok 714 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,517 is a protected area where orphan babies can be looked after 715 00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:55,199 and returned to the wild once they're big enough. 716 00:45:56,760 --> 00:46:00,514 It was established in 1964 by the forestry department here. 717 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,710 A British woman, Sue Sheward, 718 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:05,877 set up the appeal to raise money for the orphaned orangs. 719 00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:10,310 - Are they weighed every day? - Every day. 720 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:15,514 This is to make sure that their body weight is increasing well. 721 00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:16,549 Yeah. 722 00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:19,956 That's one of the parameters to know if they're healthy or not. 723 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:23,996 But sometimes they're not as co-operative as you would like them to be. 724 00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:26,156 No, it's not quite like the baby clinic, is it? 725 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:29,078 Illegal hunting for orangs for food, er, bushmeat... 726 00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:33,153 Bushmeat or even for the illegal pet trade. 727 00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:34,872 It's not OK in Sabah. 728 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,036 What's happened to their mothers usually? 729 00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:42,029 You know, when an area is being cleared for agriculture purposes... 730 00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:43,069 Yeah. 731 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:47,238 Trees need to be felled and sometimes, in the process of clearing land, 732 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:49,999 - tree is cut... - Yeah. 733 00:46:50,040 --> 00:46:54,113 ..mother falls, mother breaks the fall of the young ones... 734 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:57,630 - And dies. - Mother dies and the baby survives. 735 00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:00,319 And how does it get from there to here? 736 00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:05,309 Sometimes these baby orangs are then kept as pets by... 737 00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:07,430 - The people doing the logging. - Exactly. 738 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:10,631 - Are people allowed to keep them as pets? - No, they're not. 739 00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,990 From tip-offs, we have teams that go into this area 740 00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:18,079 to find orangs which have been kept as pets or which are displayed. 741 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:20,998 We had a case, an Indonesian couple... 742 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:26,192 who were childless. They actually had the baby orang-utan for three years. 743 00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:27,309 Like a baby. 744 00:47:27,360 --> 00:47:29,749 - They dressed him like a baby... - Oh, don't. 745 00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:33,031 ..fed him like a baby. When the enforcement unit had a tip-off 746 00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:37,278 and we actually went to get it, they didn't want to let it go. 747 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,596 But when we explained that they probably would go to jail, OK, fine. 748 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:42,039 But this is an example. 749 00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:44,349 Now... 750 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,631 Because the babies have lost their mothers so early on in life, 751 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:50,990 they have to be taught how to behave like orang-utans. 752 00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:53,235 They have to learn how to climb. 753 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:58,676 It's like trying to make your children play with educational toys. They don't want to. 754 00:47:58,720 --> 00:48:01,917 In case you think I'm being hard-hearted, not giving them a cuddle, 755 00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:06,431 I've been told absolutely not to touch them in case they get any of my germs. 756 00:48:06,480 --> 00:48:08,755 Go on. Go and do some climbing. 757 00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,832 They're grumpy, aren't they? (Laughs ) 758 00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:16,553 - (Encouraging noises ) - Don't wanna do it. 759 00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:20,070 - Oop... - Oh, come on, do some climbing. 760 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:22,190 Go on, get up the bloody post. 761 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,914 Oh no, it's going to escape. 762 00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:29,712 It's made a bid for freedom. Is that OK? 763 00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:31,751 It's hiding. It doesn't want to climb. 764 00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,390 Come on, you're supposed to be on this. (Whistles ) Hello. 765 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:37,839 Post. Rope. 766 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:42,633 - Like washing on a line. Go on, get on. - Yep. 767 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:49,432 I just keep getting weed on the whole time. 768 00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:52,198 Ugh. 769 00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:54,597 Hooray. 770 00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:56,995 It's like when you take your children to the park. 771 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:00,671 See, you can do it. 772 00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:05,750 Sheena, who's over from Scotland working here, 773 00:49:05,800 --> 00:49:08,758 took me to a feeding platform where the bigger ones hang out. 774 00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:11,870 - Ah, this one's Maureen. - Maureen? 775 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:14,480 - Yeah. (Laughs ) - Do you give them names? 776 00:49:14,520 --> 00:49:15,589 Yeah. Yeah. 777 00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,518 What are they doing, trying to rip the roof off? 778 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:22,189 0h, Maureen, stop pretending you weren't doing anything. 779 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:27,195 The orang-utans progress to feeding stations further and further away, 780 00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:32,109 until eventually they're completely independent and can live in the wild, in the rainforest. 781 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:35,833 - (Sheena ) It's lovely, isn't it? - Beautiful. 782 00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:39,668 You have to keep your distance a bit from the older males 783 00:49:39,720 --> 00:49:42,792 just because they're just as inquisitive as the younger ones 784 00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:44,159 and an awful lot stronger. 785 00:49:44,200 --> 00:49:46,475 You do with human males - keep your distance. 786 00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:54,590 Charles Darwin was fascinated by orang-utans 787 00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:57,518 and he visited the first one in London Zoo in 1837. 788 00:49:57,560 --> 00:50:01,075 She was called Jenny and Darwin visited her a few times. 789 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:04,749 He watched her look at herself in the mirror and he brought her a mouth organ. 790 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,030 When she took it from him and put it to her lips, 791 00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,834 it helped him realise how closely linked animals and humans are. 792 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,077 It was later that year that he had his insight into what we now know 793 00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:16,634 as natural selection. 794 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:19,319 Queen Victoria was not so keen on the orang-utan. 795 00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:23,956 The first one she saw, she described as "painfully, disagreeably human". 796 00:50:26,240 --> 00:50:29,357 So, eventually, they'll stop coming here to be fed? 797 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,595 - Yes. - And then they're fully independent. 798 00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:34,074 - And you've done your job. - Yeah, that's it. 799 00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:36,350 They go off into the forest and it's... 800 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:39,358 Do they ever pop back, like students getting their washing done? 801 00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:42,039 Some of them do, yeah. They come back for a couple of weeks, 802 00:50:42,080 --> 00:50:44,719 make sure everything's OK and then off they go again. 803 00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:53,795 I'm at the Gomantong caves. 804 00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:57,628 This is where more than a million swiftlets come to roost every evening. 805 00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:09,233 Now, you know what I was saying about Hugh Low, 806 00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:11,430 with his orchids and his love of Borneo 807 00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:16,759 and how he worked with the local chiefs and all his reasonableness and fair play? 808 00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,075 Well, when it came to this cave, 809 00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:21,236 that was all forgotten. 810 00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:27,559 Now, this cave holds a commodity so valuable to the British 811 00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,160 that fair play went out the window. 812 00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:33,715 And they actually fought and killed a tribal leader to gain possession of it. 813 00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:35,830 Now, you might wonder why they bothered 814 00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:39,236 because it's filthy, it really stinks, it's covered in bat droppings. 815 00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:41,271 I wish I hadn't put my hand on the handrail. 816 00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:44,835 I've just seen something I'm hoping was a guinea pig. I'm sure it was a rat. 817 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:49,192 This is not exactly Aladdin's cave. But it does hold a treasure 818 00:51:49,240 --> 00:51:54,075 that, in its way, is more precious than gold or diamonds. 819 00:51:56,400 --> 00:51:59,949 Way up at the top of the cave is where the birds roost. 820 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:05,552 And the precious commodity is in the old nests that the swiftlets have finished with. 821 00:52:07,600 --> 00:52:11,878 This is what they were fighting over. A load of old, solidified bird spit. 822 00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:18,389 Because the bird saliva that sticks these nests together 823 00:52:18,440 --> 00:52:22,558 is the ludicrously expensive component of bird's nest soup. 824 00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:28,070 Is that the Sarawak penitentiary? 0h, no. It's our hotel. 825 00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:31,556 And somewhere down there in the kitchen they are making bird's nest soup 826 00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:33,716 and they're making it for me. 827 00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:38,311 I was brought up on horrible food - tongue salad, oxtail soup, school sausages, 828 00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:41,158 so a bit of old, solidified bird saliva shouldn't bother me, 829 00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:44,636 but I don't like birds, except on a bird table through a window, 830 00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:49,231 and spitting, to me, is an offence on the top deck of a bus, not an ingredient. 831 00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:52,113 I'm sorry, could that look less appealing? 832 00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:55,197 Tulip runs this hotel. She'll probably give me the hard sell. 833 00:52:55,240 --> 00:52:58,835 Bird spit and a stock cube. People are paying God knows how much 834 00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:03,271 for old bird-spit that's been in a filthy cave with a load of old bat pooh. 835 00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:05,311 And they laugh at HP Sauce? 836 00:53:06,120 --> 00:53:09,157 - This is our first course. - Thank you. OK. 837 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:12,317 It's bamboo paste with bird's nest. 838 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:18,748 - Which is the bird's nest? - It's stuffed inside the bamboo paste. 839 00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:22,634 I can't even get it with the chopsticks. I'll have to use the spoon. 840 00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:26,434 There's something about...bird saliva 841 00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:30,109 that's just putting me off the whole thing. I don't want to eat it. 842 00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:34,358 Do you know this is a dish for the emperor before? Not for the common people. 843 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:36,755 That's why it's so expensive, because it's so rare. 844 00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:39,751 What's so good about it, though? 845 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:41,836 Basically, the Chinese believe 846 00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:45,953 that there's a nutritional and medicinal benefits. 847 00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,357 This is great for pick-me-up if you're not feeling well 848 00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:56,358 and feeling under the weather. It's great. 849 00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,391 I'll take your word for it. 850 00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:01,034 The bird's nest itself doesn't have any taste at all. 851 00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:04,789 It's basically the sauce that gives it the taste. 852 00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:08,674 Why did it ever occur to anybody to grab a bit of old bird's nest 853 00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:12,713 and make it into a soup? It seems a really odd thing to have ever thought of 854 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:14,512 that it would be good for you. 855 00:54:14,560 --> 00:54:18,519 Because anything rare is something people sought after just like gold, right? 856 00:54:18,560 --> 00:54:21,632 - And they're really expensive? - Very, very expensive. 857 00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:25,309 - Costs easily about 200 a bowl. - $200? 858 00:54:25,360 --> 00:54:28,158 Yeah. We don't normally serve this on the menu. 859 00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:30,509 - But is on request. - Right. 860 00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:34,872 So that's why, if you go to a wedding and you're served with bird's nest soup, 861 00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:38,117 you know that these people are really very, very rich. 862 00:54:39,720 --> 00:54:42,280 More soup. Any chance of a piece of toast? 863 00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,477 Making a documentary isn't quite the same as building an empire, 864 00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:52,273 but it has its own hazards and pitfalls. 865 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:58,389 Like the hopeful explorers of yore, you tip up in a strange land, 866 00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:01,432 hoping not for gold or sago or orchids, but... 867 00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:05,398 just for something interesting to look at or... 868 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:07,749 someone fascinating to talk to. 869 00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:13,957 But sometimes there is a misunderstanding. 870 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:16,275 Things lost in translation. 871 00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:20,798 And that's how I've ended up in the middle of the jungle 872 00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:23,513 after a three-hour drive on bumpy roads... 873 00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:28,638 in this shop, run by a man whose language I can't speak... 874 00:55:29,720 --> 00:55:32,473 selling things of which I have no need. 875 00:55:32,520 --> 00:55:34,476 Like Vim. 876 00:55:43,960 --> 00:55:46,428 Could I have some of those, please? 877 00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:50,598 And if he wonders why I've travelled miles into the jungle 878 00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:54,474 to buy two small bits of chocolate I could have bought in Warrington... 879 00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:57,597 he's not saying. 880 00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:08,350 It's not for me to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing 881 00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:12,871 that the British should take over places like India and Hong Kong and Borneo. 882 00:56:12,920 --> 00:56:16,037 And I know a lot of posturing went on - all that changing for dinner 883 00:56:16,080 --> 00:56:19,914 and eating roast beef and sweating into their starched shirts on the veranda, 884 00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:22,793 but I think you have to admire the courage and the tenacity 885 00:56:22,840 --> 00:56:25,832 of the people who first arrived - all those public schoolboys 886 00:56:25,880 --> 00:56:28,678 hacking through the jungle, because it is jungle still. 887 00:56:28,720 --> 00:56:32,110 You feel if you sat here long enough, something would grow up your trousers. 888 00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:35,516 So I think you have to say that they were brave. 889 00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:37,630 Bonkers, but brave.