Bangladesh to Burma

Episode image for Bangladesh to Burma

Episode 5 of 6

Duration: 1 hour

Simon Reeve continues his epic journey around the world following the tropic of Cancer, the northern border of the tropics region.

This episode takes Simon through Bangladesh and on a perilous covert journey into Burma, where western journalists are banned.

In Bangladesh, Simon sails down the mighty Padma River and visits fishermen who use trained otters to drive fish into their nets. Further on he sees the river banks crumbling before his eyes - increased river erosion is thought to be caused by global climate change - and in the capital Dhaka he meets some of the millions of child workers.

From North East India, Simon treks through jungles and across rivers into Burma to meet the Chin people - an ethnic group who are brutalised and oppressed by the Burmese government.

After travelling around the tropic of Capricorn and the equator, this series completes Simon's trilogy of journeys exploring the amazing tropics region with his toughest, longest, most ambitious challenge yet.

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  • VILLAGERS IN WESTERN BANGLADESH

    VILLAGERS IN WESTERN BANGLADESH

    On this fifth leg of the journey Simon travels across Bangladesh. With a population of more than 150 million, Bangladesh is one of the most densely-populated countries in the world.

  • TRYING TO PREVENT EROSION

    TRYING TO PREVENT EROSION

    Simon's photograph shows villagers filling sandbags in a desperate attempt to save their homes from riverbank erosion in western Bangladesh.

  • AT RISK FROM EROSION

    AT RISK FROM EROSION

    In western Bangladesh, Simon and his guide Tanjil meet villagers whose homes are at risk from the erosion of the riverbank. A local tells Simon that his family can not sleep at night because of their fear of the noise of large chunks of land falling into the water.

  • WORKING CHILDREN AT PLAY

    WORKING CHILDREN AT PLAY

    In the sprawling Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, Simon meets a few of the country's three million child labourers, outside a UNICEF centre. More than 80 per cent of Bangladeshis live on less than $2 a day, and without the money children earn, families would go hungry. UNICEF has opened dozens of drop-in centres, emergency night shelters and open-air schools for child labourers to attend before and after their work shifts, so they can secure an education, friendship and a future.

  • KABBADI, KABBADI, KABBADI

    KABBADI, KABBADI, KABBADI

    Simon and his guide Tanjil play kabbadi in Bangladesh. Kabbadi is a sport in which two teams occupy opposite halves of a field and send a player into the other half to tag or wrestle the opposition. The player has to hold their breath during their 'raid', and say 'kabbadi, kabbadi, kabaddi', over and over again to prove they are not cheating. Simon limped off the field with badly bruised ribs.

  • TRIPURA, INDIA

    TRIPURA, INDIA

    The beauty of a lake in a remote area of Tripura, north eastern India.

  • HEADING INTO BURMA

    HEADING INTO BURMA

    Simon is about to cross the river border between India and Burma using a local zip-line and a metal tray.

Credits

Presenter
Simon Reeve
Director
Andrew Carter
Producer
Andrew Carter
Executive Producer
Sam Bagnall
Writer
Simon Reeve
Writer
Sam Bagnall

Broadcasts

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