Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days

Palin accepts the offer from the BBC to attempt going around the world in 80 days. After boarding the Orient Express at Victoria Station in London, he reminisces on his rigorous preparations for this extraordinary circumnavigation. He rode across Europe before being stopped by an Italian train strike in Innsbruck. Arriving in Venice by coach, he helps out the local sanitation department clean up the city. After that, it was on to the Corinth Canal and Athens, where he saw the world-renowned evzones, as well as a die-hard Python fan. After that, and a brief stopover in Crete, Alexandria beckoned. Palin mentions that two of his referees are fellow Pythons, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam.

Palin arrives in Egypt, only to find difficulty getting a train to Cairo. When in the capital, he attends a local soccer match and appears in a cameo role in an Egyptian film. After seeing the Pyramids in Giza and riding a camel sharing his name, Palin runs into trouble when a ship he was supposed to board develops engine issues and cannot run. Even though he is able to board a ferry getting out of the city of Suez, he misses a key connection that would have taken him to Muscat. As a last ditch effort to save the journey, Palin (however, only he) is allowed to drive across Saudi Arabia to Dubai.

In Dubai, the crew finds a good dhow to take to Mumbai. Along the way, Palin bonds with the dhow's crew, lets one listen to a Bruce Springsteen song, and develops a bad case of diarrhea. Palin mentions he drove the distance from London to the Black Sea in one weekend. Palin has said in interviews that he wants to meet up with the dhow's crew and thank them again for their gracious hospitality.