Episode list

Granada, legendary pearl of Andalusia, provincial capital and multicultural centre at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. On the Sabica hill, high above the Darro valley, the jewel of Granada, the Alhambra, is enthroned. Hardly an hour's drive to the north: the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, a fantastic ski resort and climbing garden in southern Spain. A few kilometres south: the Costa Tropical. With Go East - Go West on a journey to the homeland of flamenco.

Hardly any place in the old Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is more legendary than the old rock town of Petra. Even Hollywood was only too happy to be impressed by the huge rock portal of ed-Deir and rebuilt it in his studios. Perhaps only one area surpasses Petra's popularity: the legendary Wadi Rum. Here David Lean shot his cult film "Lawrence of Arabia", here the real T.E.Lawrence met spies and informants almost 50 years before. Bedouins still camp between the rock towers and guard the border as camel riders of the Desert Camel Corps. A trip to the Arabia of T.E.Lawrence.

The Rub Al Chali, the Great Arab Sand Desert, rises in the hinterland, Dhaus, small wooden ships, sail on the turquoise waves of the Persian Gulf in front of the front door: we are in Qatar, one of the smallest and yet richest states of the Arab world. In former times the legendary pearl divers of the Qataris provided for prosperity, today there are countless oil wells mainly in the northeast of the peninsula. The bazaars are overflowing with jewellery and jewellery. The pyramid of the world's most expensive hotel towers over the bay and such exotic sports as desert surfing or sand jeep races over towering dunes are only the most striking signs of the wealth of the Qataris. A journey to the land of the Shahrazad.

Already the mention of the word Cossack invites to the most vivid pictures: fur-covered riders with flashing sabers, bacchanalian dancers in splendid robes, who perform whirling leaps of air to the jingling of the Balalaikas, gifted drinkers, noble savages, pioneers and adventurers. The latter is still true today, albeit with the opposite sign. The film is a search for traces at the Stillen Don and in the wild Caucasus.

From the north the rough wind blows out of the Kazakh steppe, from the south the mighty Tien Shan mountains are enthroned: we are in Alma Ata, the capital of Kazakhstan. Once a border station for the trade caravans that travelled on the Silk Road to Uzbekistan or Inner China, Alma Ata is now a real "boomtown". Major events in Inner Asia, such as the "Voice of Asya Festival", attract musicians from the entire Asian world to the large Medeo ice stadium in Almaty. Even nomads who have pitched their tents in the high plateaus of the Tien Shan massif can be seen in the city.

Marco Polo described it as a trade route between the Orient and the Occident, and it went down in history as the hotly contested border between the cultures of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia and the rulers of northern China: the Silk Road. From the former caravanserai and Chinese desert oasis of Dunhuang, the journey continues along the Taklamakan desert to the sacred Temple Mount Labrang, the largest Buddhist monastery outside Tibet.

Over 160 volcanoes, turquoise sulphur lakes, towering geysers and a breathtaking landscape: we are on Kamchatka. The peninsula at the edge of the Bering Strait was considered inaccessible until a few years ago: a military restricted area. At this end of the world the natives still live today in the volcanic valleys and expanses of the tundra from reindeer husbandry and believe in the gods of the shamans. A journey to the eastern end of the world.

Siberian cold, minus 60 degrees Celsius, snow storms and inadequate equipment: these were the conditions for the longest sled dog race in the world, the BERINGIA '92 on the Kamchatka peninsula. 1980 kilometres through snow-covered, icy volcanic landscapes and geyser valleys, hardly any track marshals, no sponsors and inadequate catering: a purely Russian affair. The legendary Iditarod race on Alaska was over. The other side of the coin: a musher died, countless carriages were cancelled, only two reached the finish line. Only three years later it was time again. Length and field had shrunk, cold and difficulty remained. The Avacha-sleddog-race was born. Two Bavarian adventurers were there and - by the way - they rode the legendary Avacha volcano on snowboard.

Chile is almost 6000 kilometers long, but at its narrowest point it is only 80 kilometers wide. The route between the Pacific coast and the border to Argentina high in the Andes consists to a large extent of breathtaking mountain passes across rocky gorges and geyser fields. The solitude of the Andes valleys and high alpine ski resorts like Valle Nevado or the geysers of the Thermas de Chillan are only a few kilometres apart.

A journey between past and present, reality and legend, from the Atacama Desert in the far north of Chile to the southwestern foothills of the Andes. Through fields of ruins from former Inca fortresses, along the ghost towns of the Salpeter-Oficinas, on the Panamericana past the Tropic of Capricorn to the waterfalls of the Rio Maipo at the foot of the Andes.

The "Ruta maya" actually begins in a supporting film for "Miami Vice", in Cancún on the Mexican peninsula Yucatán. Cancún, a seaside resort wrapped in neon and plastic, is firmly in American hands, including hamburgers and Budweiser. Only a few kilometers south: the former empire of the legendary Maya - Chichén Itza, Chétumal, Palenque, Tikal. Many had been here, adventurers, millionaires, hobby researchers - magically attracted by this enigmatic people of the Maya, who ate dog schnitzel, stuffed the heads of deceased relatives and sacrificed the lifeblood of beautiful virgins for breakfast. In Mexico you need a good portion of trust in your guardian angel, according to a Campesinó's warning, because the country is a mixture of blood and tequila. An unfounded warning. The Mexico of prejudices perhaps exists, in the north, not in Yucatán, where it has long since been declared dead.

Cuba, one of the last socialist bastions of the West. The splendour of old days has vanished, as has the exuberance on the streets of Havana, the metropolis of millions 170 kilometres off the coast of the USA. For 30 years Cubans have been trying to reach the American dream beyond the Florida Strait by means of makeshift rafts. Havana is the starting point of our history: non stop by surfboard 170 kilometers over the open sea to Key West / Florida.

Jack London in a rucksack saves you the trouble of leafing through a conventional travel guide. A bon mot that has a lot of truth, at least in Canada's north. Thousands of people were drawn to British Columbia, even Alaska, caught by gold fever. But cold and scurvy were faster. Shooting and the wide country did the rest. From Vancouver we take the Trans Canadian Highway to the legendary Nugget Route to the old gold mining town of Barkerville.