All language subtitles for ITV.Joanna.Lumleys.Silk.Road.Adventure.1of4.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org-eng

This is the start of my most
adventurous and exotic journey yet.

But I'm beginning somewhere
that will be familiar to most of us.

Today, millions of people
visit Venice

for her glorious art
and her flamboyant architecture.

But everything here
comes from the wealth

which was gained by the Venetians

when they turned their eyes
to the East

and started trading along a route

that stretched from here,
right across to China.

This 7,000-mile journey
follows the route

of the legendary Silk Road,

whose ancient travellers and traders
shaped so much of how we live.

These little darlings have made
people richer than a king's ransom.

From the unique and surprising
traditions of Azerbaijan...

SMASH

..to the stunning desert citadels
of Central Asia...

TEXAN ACCENT: Oh, my Lord!

..and the lost civilisations
of Iran...

GASPS
I mean, the scale of it!

..the impact of the Silk Road
is huge.

Holy smoke.

GASPS

It's so hot!

How lovely is this?

The air's like silk.

It's like being in a jewel box.

It's quite extraordinary
to come to this place.

It is so remote.

But I'm here.

This first leg takes us
from majestic Venice,

through Albania,
to wealthy Istanbul...

They are gold?
Gold-plated.

Wow.

..and on to the mysterious caves
of Cappadocia.

This is very small.

I meet the wild shepherds
of the remote highlands of Turkey.

No, thank you.
LAUGHS

So won't you come with me
on my Silk Road adventure,

on a journey along a road that
literally changed all our lives?

Avanti batello! But not too fast.

This extraordinary city,
built in the sea

by people fleeing their enemies,

with sailing and trading
in their blood,

grew to have one of the richest and
most powerful empires in history.

I can remember coming to Venice
for the first time

when I was maybe in my late 20s
or early 30s,

and I couldn't think why I'd never
been here before. It seems to me

one of the most important places
in the world to visit.

Because you can't get your head
round it. It's in the sea.

This is saltwater we're driving on.
It's absolutely astonishing.

Venice became one of the richest and
most influential cities in Europe,

all because of the trade
that came along the Silk Road.

And it's the perfect place
to start my adventure.

All over the city, you see evidence
of other influences coming in.

It feels quite different
from other Italian cities.

And that's simply because
it was one of the end destinations

of the Silk Road.
Everything came to Venice.

It was revelling in everything new,
it grabbed all the new ideas.

A luxurious, shimmering fabric,

made thousands of miles away
in China,

was one of the most valuable imports
to Venice,

And was the moneymaking catalyst
that gave the Silk Road its name.

Once, there were 30,000 silk workers
in Venice.

But these days,
it's a very exclusive business.

Oh, look, Bevilacqua.

That's where we are going.

The Bevilacqua family has been
involved with silk for 500 years

and today has a client list
that includes the Kremlin,

the White House, and a plethora
of high-fashion labels.

Buongiorno.
Buongiorno.

Please come in.
Thank you.

A treasure trove.
GASPS

Here, they specialise in

some of the finest, most intricate
silk brocades in the world...

Look at this.

..and the family owns a priceless
archive of over 3,500 patterns

that date back to Byzantine times.

Alberto, tell me everything
about silk.

Probably was discovered in China.
Yeah.

And imported in Europe
in the 13th century.

They say by Marco Polo.
Marco Polo.

Yes, yes.
When did they make velvet?

Who invented that?
When did they make it?

A genius.
A genius.

Velvet was produced in Venice
from 14th century.

Venice was very famous
in the Renaissance period

for the velvet production
and also for all fabrics production,

so all merchants came here in Venice
to buy the most beautiful fabrics.

I read that there were 6,000 looms
in Venice alone.

And we are the only one left now.
No! Yeah.

GASPS

AWESTRUCK SIGH

Look at all these different colours
moving into there.

Bevilacqua's silk brocades
are all still made by hand

on looms
that are hundreds of years old.

Incredibly skilful, the way she cuts
with this little cutting machine,

and then she whips one of these
metal blades out,

feeds it in the other side, and then
about four shuttles of this.

Maddalena, is it quite easy to do?
Shall I have a go?

No.
No?

You need years and years
to learn this.

Do you?
Yeah.

I mean, the whole thing,
it's got a mystery.

And you think that the world,
in the old days,

every bit of fabric made
was made on looms like this.

Gee whiz. Respect.

From its first appearance in Europe,
silk was highly prized.

Workshops across Venice
laboured day and night

to satisfy the fever for silk.

In those days, it must have seemed
like a gift from heaven. Yeah.

But hand looms like these

can only produce around
40 centimetres of fabric a day.

It's so fine,
it's almost unbelievable.

How much? How much does it cost?

A lot.
Yes. Around 5,000 euros per metre.

This may be an ancient craft...

Look at this.

..but you still have to exit
via the very contemporary gift shop.

So this is handmade.
What are we talking about,

what kind of money
are you going to set me back

for this gorgeous thing, Maddalena?
About 1,500.

I'll take five.

Hoo-hoo-hoo!

Silk, cotton, glass,
spices, flowers,

medicines, horses,
philosophy, architecture.

All these things
travelled along the Silk Road.

But not everything it brought
was welcome.

Three times, the bubonic plague
came to Venice via the Silk Road.

In the last attack, in 1629,
it killed 50,000 people,

a third of the city's population.

The Santa Maria della Salute,
which means St Mary of Good Health,

was built to give thanks to God

for those who managed to survive
the awful ordeal.

Little, narrow alleyway,
look at that. Only as wide as this.

A bit of a whiff here.

They always say a bit of a smell,
you want that,

you don't want
a non-smelling Venice.

It's fitting that
this great seafaring nation

has a boat as its best-known icon.

Gondolas have been around
for over 1,000 years,

and the wealthy Venetians
used them as private limos.

Such was the excess of
gaudy decoration in the 16th century

that the government decreed
they must all be black.

Which is your gondola,
is it over there?

It's over there today.
The one on its own.

I'm not working,
the gondola's covered for the night.

How many gondoliers
are there in Venice?

We are 433.
You know that exactly?

It is a fixed number. The government
fixes the number of licences.

That's all?
Yeah.

Is this your uniform? Yes.
Does everybody wear the same?

All the drivers
have to wear the shirt like this,

blue and white or red and white.
Do you have a hat?

I have the hat, it's in the boat.
We usually leave it there.

Is that part of the uniform?

Yes, even if most of the gondoliers
don't like it too much,

because it's really uncomfortable.
LAUGHS

But we wear it.

Gondoliers have a reputation
of being lady-killers,

everybody adores a gondolier.
Is that true, are you a lady-killer?

Me, not. For sure,
while we are driving the boat,

it's easier to meet people,
and sometimes, it's easy to...

Be charming.
Yeah.

And be very fit.
Yeah, most of us, yes.

And we sit there going,
"How lovely."

One man whose name is synonymous
with the Silk Road is Marco Polo.

When he was just a teenager,
his father and uncle,

already established traders,
took him on a gap year

that would turn into an odyssey
through countless countries

from Italy to China.

Marco's account would become

one of the most important
travel documents ever written.

When Marco Polo
returned to Venice, 1295,

he'd been away for 17 years.
He'd left when he was 17.

He'd changed so much that his family
couldn't recognise him

by his appearance and his language.

He'd forgotten his native Venetian

and he just looked and behaved
quite differently.

After all, he'd been staying with
Kubla Khan in Xanadu,

these legendary names.

And he had, of course,
amassed a cache of treasures.

He was the first Merchant of Venice.

Marco, his father, and uncle Matteo,
were made trusted envoys

of the mighty 13th century
Mongolian Emperor Kubla Khan.

They were issued with
a special type of passport,

a foot-long solid gold bar,

which - aside from
weighing them down a tad -

guaranteed them safe passage
through Khan's vast empire,

that stretched all across Asia.

During their travels,
they would see paper money,

gunpowder and porcelain
for the very first time.

Alessandra.
Joanna. Welcome.

Ciao. Grazie.

Dr Alessandra Schiavon
has unearthed,

from deep within
the Venetian archives,

some rarely-seen
14th century documents

with a remarkable link
to the Polo family.

Alessandra,
what are these documents here?

Alessandra has also
uncovered evidence

of some surprising artefacts that
were passed down within the family.

Wow. Wow.

Wow.

It may seem odd to see spices
listed in a will,

but back then, pepper was known as
black gold, and was worth a fortune.

These ancient documents
have brought the past to life,

and they paint a vivid picture
of the Silk Road's huge influence.

Alessandra,
I am beginning this long journey

to follow some of the routes
that the Silk Road took.

It is so thrilling
to start our story with Marco Polo,

because he's a name
of such legendary fame.

So you've given me good luck
for my journey

and I want to thank you
very much indeed.

BOTH GIGGLE
You are a honey.

It's always sad
to leave a city of such beauty.

But it's time to get moving.

Ciao, Venezia, ciao Serenissima!

Venice's trading empire
was connected by fortified ports.

I'm hopping 600 miles
down the Adriatic

to one of them, the city of Durres
on the coast of Albania.

For 40 years, Albania
was a communist dictatorship.

But since breaking free in 1989,

its rugged mountains
and Mediterranean climate

have been attracting people
from all over the world.

This is Durres,
which was a Venetian stronghold.

But I tell you the truth,
it doesn't look remotely Venetian,

or even Roman or Italian,
in any way.

These days,
it seems to have been colonised

by middle-aged sun worshippers.

But in the past,
it was the Greeks, Romans,

Ottomans and Germans
who tried to take over.

This is good, bit Roman,
bit gladiatorial.

I've come here on the hunt
for an ancient Roman highway

that became a vital part
of the Silk Road.

And this is the Venetian tower.

This was built to mark the beginning
of the Via Egnatia,

the Roman road
which ran all the way to Istanbul.

All I've got to do now is find it.

GASPS
Rruga Egnatia!

That way to the sea, this, inland.

Most of the ancient 600-mile-long
Via Egnatia is long gone.

But archaeologist Dr Ols Laffer
has a hunch

he knows where part of
the original road still exists,

just to the east
of the town of Elbasan.

So it started off originally,
Roman legions marching along

and their eagles on banners
and things like this.

Saints came along, Crusaders.

Roman roads
were like modern highways.

Ols has brought us
to this narrow gorge,

apparently with good reason.

After Roman soldiers
were persistently attacked

in such places, it became policy
to build roads around them.

So he and I
are heading for the hills.

GASPS
My God, are we on the way?

Is it here?
Well, we will look for it.

Have you been here before?
No. I haven't been on this section

of the Roman road.
Gosh, so we are hunting together.

I think this is real archaeology
happening right now, the two of us.

You lead the way, Ols.
All right.

Ols, can I have your hand?
Thank you.

Shale-y, slippery.
Yeah.

Don't fall down the gorge
and leave me.

Ha! I will not.

What do you think?
We should be very close.

This looks quite good, doesn't it?
A bit Roman road-y.

You can feel it.
You are on a path here. You see?

Is this it? Is this the Roman road?
Yes, this is a section of the road.

Wow. It's not that I'm, you know,
a pessimist or anything,

but I'm not sure
this is centurion rock.

It might be.
But it doesn't tell me it is.

Well, if you can hold on for another
15 seconds, you've got the path.

Ols, I can see it now. Now I get it.

Sturdy.
Yeah.

Lots of layers.
Yep, pretty flat.

Pretty good for walking on.
Look, on these very stones!

You just have to imagine
the carts and the horses

and the people
travelling on the roads.

Look, a centurion's thigh bone.
LAUGHS

They were much smaller
in those days.

This was the highway

linking the eastern part
of the Adriatic to Constantinople,

to modern-day Istanbul.

It was THE road. It has been here
for over 2,000 years. Gee.

This is the Via Egnatia,
this is part of the Silk Road.

Apart from being the Roman road,
this is part of the road

that went not only to Constantinople
- far beyond.

So coming along here were silks
from China

and gunpowder and paper.
Connecting the dots.

East and West coming together
on a big road.

Wow.

The Romans were obsessed with silk,

so much so that the Senate
tried to ban it.

Too much Roman gold
was going to China

and the fabric was thought to be
far too revealing.

Centuries after the Romans
were here,

this whole area was part of
the Ottoman Empire.

And some stunning physical legacies
remain.

This is the classical
Ottoman Bridge.

I love it here.
Albania is so beautiful.

Thank you.
It's so full of richness.

Culture, people, the food, the wine.
Good wine?

Mm-hm. We should try it.
LAUGHS

Don't tell me in your backpack...
There is a bottle.

LAUGHS

Did you bring a corkscrew?
I brought everything.

How do I say cheers?
Gezuar.

Gezuar.
Gezuar.

Mmm.

Leaving Elyria,
as Albania was known,

the road stretches on through
Greece, Macedonia and Turkey,

ending in one of the most important
cities in the world...

You are a darling girl, thank you.
Welcome to Istanbul.

..where I'll be offering
helpful tips on entertaining

to one of the city's richest women.

During dinner parties,
you could hire somebody to swim,

looking absolutely beautiful,
just down there.

Straddling both Europe and Asia,

Istanbul, formerly Constantinople,

is where trade routes, cultures
and religions have long collided.

Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
and the mystical Sufism -

still practised
by the Whirling Dervishes.

The city is a fabulous mix
of people and beliefs.

For 2,000 years, this city
has been throbbing with life,

with traders, with merchants,
with missionaries, with soldiers,

with everybody rushing through here
to buy and sell.

It's now got 19 million people,
but even in the old days,

everybody in the world came here.

From China,
bringing their goods for Egypt,

Venetians bringing their stuff

to come through
up to Russia and to India.

It was always the centre.

Istanbul's Galata district
was an ancient trading hub.

In the 13th century, this was
the non-Muslim part of the city,

where Venetian and Genoese
trading colonies were established.

This is the hardware district.

Everywhere you look,
there are saws and grips and taps

and washers and nuts and bolts.

And of course, things made of lead
and tin and iron,

which were transported up and down
the Silk Road in the old days.

This is part of the harbour on those
sort of docklands of the harbour.

So it's just absolutely thriving,

how it would have been
in the old days.

Could I have some tea?

The mighty Bosphorus,

that connects the Black Sea
with the Mediterranean,

is one of the busiest
shipping channels in the world,

and is still the lifeblood
of the city.

Can you see that beautiful
cream house with the red roof?

That's where I'm going.
It's pretty fabulous,

I've been invited to have a look
round this very rich woman's house.

Successful traders have always built
their lavish houses

on the waterfront.

I'm going to meet
Demet Sabanci Cetindogan,

whose family
is one of Turkey's grandest...

What's my hair like?

..with assets believed to be worth
between £15 billion and £25 billion.

KNOCKS

Merhaba.

Owning one of these houses is
a bit like having a Mayfair mansion,

and could set you back
well over £100 million.

What a gorgeous place
to bring somebody

to have them just sit and wait.

I don't feel like sitting down.
There are so many things.

GASPS
How divine is this?

Hello.
Demet!

You are a darling girl.
Welcome to Istanbul.

Thank you so much.
You are welcome.

This is a palace,
this is a paradise, isn't it?

How long have you lived here?
18 years.

18 years. 18 years.
Oh, my gosh.

Your family has been substantially
wealthy for a long time?

The Sebanci family,
we have a private bank,

one of the biggest private banks
at the moment in Turkey.

Cement factory, oil factory,
a clothing factory,

so many different lines,
we are in business. Yes.

Will you show me
your beautiful house?

I am so thrilled to be here.
I'm not looking completely brilliant

because I came on the ferry.
No, no, no, no.

Goodbye, beautiful room.

Demet has also introduced
some luxury brands to Turkey,

such as Alexander McQueen, Gucci,
and dear old Harvey Nicks.

GASPS
This is the Turkish bath area.

This is very original
type of toilet.

Yes, how adorable, how beautiful.
Yes.

This is the original Turkish bath.

Do you still use this?
Yes. My husband likes very much.

Could not be lovelier.

These are Ottoman silver mirrors.
They believe that it's an evil eye.

When you turn, you see the mirrors.
Isn't that lovely?

After they see themselves,
they turn it back.

Sometimes, at my age,
I would like to keep it like this.

LAUGHS
No.

I think we would quite like to keep
the mirrors turned to the wall,

just have a little glimpse
in very good lighting. Marvellous.

When it comes to her dining room,
Demet does nothing by halves.

My gosh. These look gold.
Yes, they are gold.

They are gold?
Gold-plated. Wow.

And look at those caricatures.
Can you imagine?

She's got a bit of a look of Patsy
about her, this one.

I've got a little bit of a glass,
going, "Hello, darling."

And I adore
the subterranean swimming pool.

You could get,
during dinner parties,

you could hire somebody to swim,
looking absolutely beautiful,

just down there.
Yes!

If you want to understand the wealth

that trade between nations brings,
come to Istanbul.

Thank you. Thank you so much.
To your good health.

Thank you for coming.
It's brilliant.

Asia is where the Silk Road splits
and fragments.

In the centre of Turkey lies
the fairy-tale region of Cappadocia.

This area is famed for
its astonishing landscapes,

peppered with thousands
of intriguing caves.

And my hotel just happens to be
inside one.

Come and look at this,
it's fantastic.

This beautiful, beautiful place.
Rough-cut stone.

These old walls.
This gorgeous bathroom.

Alcoves for putting bags and bits
and pieces.

How about that?

Look how well it converts
into modern living.

It's not only modern living,
but extremely classy modern living.

And then through here, look,
this dressing room.

This is a real little cave here.

My gosh, I wonder what went on
in these rooms all those years ago.

What would they have used this one
for?

And out onto this fantastic terrace,
look at this view.

What a landscape.

60 million years ago, volcanic ash
rained down on Cappadocia.

Over millennia, nature has formed
these extraordinary rock formations.

A short drive south-east of my hotel

lies the little-known
Keslik Monastery,

which looks like
some kind of termite mound.

Little place, look at this.

Oh, it's so sad and shabby.

The interior of this tiny monastery

is, at first sight,
defaced and vandalised.

Graffiti all over the place.

But, looking more carefully,

there seem to be faint
Christian figures staring back.

I can see pictures,
I can see paintings.

Turkey is now
a predominantly Muslim country,

but 2,000 years ago,
St Paul travelled through here,

and Cappadocia
converted to Christianity.

There are stories up there,
I can't quite see what they are.

And then a mass of people here.

Is it the Last Supper?
What's going on?

That must have been Christ,
with his face chipped off.

Oh,
I wish these hadn't been destroyed.

Hello, welcome to monastery.
You speak English.

My name is Jabir.
Jabir, I'm Joanna.

Jabir Coskun grew up playing
amongst the ruins of the monastery,

and for generations,

his family have been the unofficial
guardians of the site.

What are the... Explaining?
Yes, explaining. Yes.

Can you tell me,
the black is from smoke?

Yes, long time ago,
wintertime very cold,

people come in here,
fires, all black.

Of course they do.
Jabir, will you show me in here?

Is this the Last Supper?
Last Supper here.

Sorry. Last Supper.
That's the Last Supper.

How did you learn all this?

Where did you learn it, at school?
No.

So you took it all in
and you remembered it all.

Tell me, why are the faces...
Who? What happened?

I was assuming that
the defacing of these images

was done by non-Christians,

destroying something
that was against their beliefs.

But Jabir has learned
of another fascinating explanation.

Gosh. Well.

Just ten minutes down the road,
hidden in a high valley,

I'm told there is one of
the greatest jewels of Cappadocia,

in what used to be a pigeon loft.

Oh, look at these paintings!

This is majestic.

Absolutely every inch of it painted.

Bright and fresh,
and all the details

which I couldn't see
in the other little church.

This is the Dark Church, and it took
a decade of painstaking cleaning

to restore it
to its present-day splendour.

Look at this.
We've got a lovely angel here,

holding out his hands
onto more angels,

touching them on the head, going,
"There we are."

Nativity.

So, as ever, I make all this up
as I go along

with the faintest grasp
of my Christian upbringing

at a wonderful convent
where they told us all this.

And I was sharpening my pencil
at the back of the class

and drawing pictures
of Elvis Presley.

But it did go in a bit.

Cappadocia has more wonders
to reveal.

A labyrinthine underground city
has just been discovered,

and I'm going to explore it.

This is extraordinary.

Cappadocia's fairy-tale landscape
looks like nothing on earth,

no matter which way you look at it.

But below ground, archaeologists
are still uncovering its secrets.

Beneath the city of Nevsehir,
they recently discovered

an intricate, subterranean network
of chambers,

where it's believed Silk Road
traders once took shelter.

It's being hailed as one of Turkey's
most important archaeological finds

in decades - and I've been granted
exclusive access.

Hi, I'm Joanna.
Sami.

Head archaeologist Sami
is going to show me around.

This is extraordinary.

Hoo-hoo-hoo! Look at this, Sami,
it goes back and back.

This is where the horses
would have been tethered, is it,

and they would have eaten from here?
Yeah.

Can see that's worn slightly
from a rope,

somebody tying a horse or a camel
or a mule, I guess.

My gosh.

They'd have been so cool in here,
such a restful place.

Can you imagine, all the horses,
as you're going past?

WHINNIES

LAUGHS

Sami believes
this multi-layered underground city

could date back
as far as the third century.

And the archaeologists
are still working out

what many of the rooms
were used for.

Gosh.

Subterranean living was not uncommon
in Cappadocia.

Look in here!

Up to 20,000 people
could live below ground,

like a human ant colony.

Partly to keep cool, but crucially
for protection from their enemies.

Yeah.

You just roll the stone across?
Yeah.

And it would just go da-dum!
Yeah.

Hoo-hoo-hoo!

So this was absolutely secure.

It would actually be like
the Bank of England here.

No way in.

Once safely behind
their solid-rock security door,

inhabitants could flee
through the network of tunnels.

So not down that lovely,
brightly-lit, rather huge tunnel,

but this slightly...
Slightly smaller tunnel.

Ooh, it's getting cooler now.
Yeah.

Golly, you couldn't take much,
if you're making your escape,

you could just take
literally your toothbrush, I think,

as you rushed away
down this little corridor.

And your dog, who could follow
patiently behind you.

Possibly children, you know,
that sort of thing.

It's got even smaller here,
quite small around the foot.

Look, this is very small.

Oh, sunlight!

I never thought I'd be so pleased
to see the sunlight.

LAUGHS
This has been so wonderful.

Tesekkur ederim.
You've been so kind.

I'm really thrilled.

Cappadocia is fascinating, but
it's time to get back on the road.

The dogs bark, the caravan moves on.

I've got a train to catch tonight,

a luxury that ancient Silk Road
travellers didn't have.

Back then, they were on foot,

with pack animals
carrying the heavy loads.

In order to stay safe
and secure overnight,

medieval-style motels sprung up
all along the route to Persia.

These were known as caravanserai.

Look at this entrance.
Gorgeous Islamic architecture.

This huge great doorway.

GASPS
And a vast courtyard.

AWESTRUCK SIGH

Look at this place!

The scale of this
is just extraordinary.

And to think that they built these
about every 30 miles,

so that you were completely safe,
you just had to do a 30-mile journey

and then collapse again,
relax, eat, drink,

get your animals fed
and taken care of.

Maybe do a bit of trading here,
who knows? Move on to it.

Look how graceful this door is.

Well.

The merchants could all hunker down
here,

and the animals
would all be tethered,

and there'd be straw
and grass around

and a great deal of munching
and grunting.

These were so important.

Big steps.

You wonder why
they made them so big.

I think it's because they said,
"We've got some blocks left.

"Shall we just make the stairs
of these?" They said, "Bit high."

And they said,
"Yeah, but people can manage it."

There.

GASPS
A sweet little tiny mosque.

Look how tiny it is.

Beautiful work around there.

It's tiny, so I think you probably
nipped in here and said your prayers

and pretty much nipped out again.

If you listen, you can hear cars,
because this is on the main road.

And it was the main road then.
This was one of the principal routes

of the Silk Road,
going through Anatolia.

This is the very road that travels
east to the city of Kayseri,

where we're due to catch
the midnight train.

TRAIN HONKS HORN

The 14-hour journey ahead
will transport us over 500 miles,

through the night, all the way
to the very east of Turkey,

so I'm keen to find my bed.

This one? Christ, I'll never get on.

GRUNTS
Can you help me?

Tesekkur ederim.
Thank you so much.

It's heavy, isn't it?

Thank you. Wonderful.

That's wonderful, thank you so much.

People coming to look at me
through the window.

Hi. Two nice men. Very nice.
LAUGHS

Ooh, we're off.

Look at that. Isn't it divine?

There's something so exciting about
travelling by train at night time.

Whenever I get given
little free things

like this, or foldaway toothbrushes,

I keep them for occasions
just such as this.

SNAP

That's the end of that.

Slippers off, facing outwards,
bad dreams don't walk in.

Goodnight, sleep tight.

After a few hours sleep
on the train,

I awake
to a heart-stopping Elysian morning.

And with a ravenous hunger.

I am so longing for the breakfast.

I don't know when it will come.

When you've ordered something,

you begin to just look forward
to it, your mind focuses on it.

And it's not coming.

Those people have been feasting.

TRAIN HONKS HORN

I love a long train journey. This is
a long one, about 14 hours, I think.

Might as well relax.

GASPS

Well. Tesekkur ederim.

Look at this little feast.

We've got beautiful tomatoes,
walnuts, apricots.

Last night, we boarded the train
in the city of Kayseri,

and it's taking us east, passing
alongside the great Euphrates river,

all the way to the city of Kars,

near the border with Armenia
and Georgia.

They're just keeping up
with the train, isn't it lovely?

But instead of going
straight to the border,

the beauty of the mountains
to the north of Kars,

with their acres
of unspoiled Alpine meadows,

causes us to side-track.

140 years ago,
these hills also impressed

a visiting Swiss cheesemaker,

who recognised the potential
in these high summer pastures

and started the locals
making a Gruyere

to rival anything
found in Switzerland.

The village of Bogatepe's reputation
for quality fromage

has grown ever since.

Czardas.

Czardas is a fifth-generation
master cheesemaker.

He's going to show me how to make
this unique Turkish cheese.

And, I'm afraid,
challenge my look for today.

I spent ages in the morning trying
to look nice. And then, honestly!

Oh, this is actually quite chic.

Pretty much loving that. Is that OK?

Yeah!

As an avid cheese fancier,
this has got me champing at the bit.

Look at this! Look at this.
Is this milk, cheese?

Milk.
Milk. OK.

If you sit really close, you can
feel it spattering onto your face.

This is fresh, fresh milk.

Cheesemaking is common
across this area,

but Turkish Gruyere
requires a specific technique.

After rennet has been added to
the milk, it's heated and then cut.

Oh, superior craftsmanship.

Ooh!

Can I do this side? Can I try?

CHUCKLES AND GRUNTS

Then it's mixed up with... dustpans?

Oh, look, look, look.
Casual behaviour.

Then thrashed
with these funny-looking things.

If I came
and worked in a cheese factory,

cos I love cheese,
I could get a really fit torso.

And I'd have very good arms.
Can I see your arm?

Phwoar.
LAUGHS

Very, very good.
I'll show you mine later.

LAUGHS

The way they handle it is like
handling a really fat toddler,

trying to put it in its pushchair
or something.

The curds are all gathered up
and squashed into a giant press.

Lovely.

And then taken below,
where over five months,

the magic begins to form.

Ooh-hoo-hoo!

The smell in here,
isn't that beautiful?

GASPS
Look, we're gonna spear in. Yay!

That's about as good as anything
I've ever eaten in my life, ever.

CHUCKLES

These magnificent rounds of cheese
will roll their way

back down the Silk Road, and sell
for £500 each in Istanbul or beyond.

I just adore cheese.

If I didn't love cheese so much,
I'd be so thin.

People would go, "Who is that
unbelievably thin old woman?"

But because I eat cheese,

they go, "Oh, there's Joanna,
moving about again."

And that's because I eat cheese.
Would I give it up? No.

Towards the end of my first leg
of the journey,

we travel up over the mountains
towards the Georgian border.

We are at about 7,000,
7,500 feet.

So the air is thin and clear
and beautiful.

And the snow comes early here,
maybe October,

and it stays
for as long as five months.

But really, looking out
at this incredible landscape,

which is dappled with clouds,
it's magic.

Every year, families of herders
bring their flocks up

from the Black Sea coast,
to summer on high pastures.

From the sea to the mountains
is a journey of just over 100 miles.

But it still takes nearly a month.

CHILDREN YELL
Is this us?

How lovely.
FAMILY CHATTER

Hello, little darling.

WOMAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

How lovely to see you.

Look, hello, little one.

I don't think I was expecting
quite so many gorgeous children.

Masses of them.

Everyone here is ethnically Hemshin,

a people
originally from neighbouring Armenia

who converted from Christianity
to Islam centuries ago.

LAUGHS

It's a typical Silk Road story of
migration and religious conversion.

Hello, sugars,
I'm coming to sit down here.

Beautiful! Is that a jumper?
I love it.

Is this going to be for you?
It's for you?

If I stay long enough,
if you knit fast enough,

I shall have that off you, treasure.
It's beautiful.

Harken is the head of the family,

and in charge of 600 sheep,
200 goats

and just a few of these little ones.

What month of the year
do you come up here, Harken,

and when do you leave?

So they are milking two at a time,
which is rather good.

Both of them are being milked.

LAUGHS
I think it looks brilliant.

I think it's so difficult.

Ooh.

No, thank you.
ALL LAUGH

"Do I want to try milking?"
Suddenly, no.

Harken, how is this lifestyle
for your family?

The children seem so happy.
Is it good up here?

SPEAKS DIALECT

Harken and his family
have made me feel so welcome.

But sadly, I must go.

It's so difficult, leaving a place
that you've fallen in love with,

and I've fallen in love with this,
the wild hillsides of Turkey.

But then I fell in love with Venice,

I fell in love with Albania
as we travelled through.

But on this road, there are still
so many more places to see.

Contemplating my journey so far

and dreaming about the miles
that lie ahead,

I recall a line
from Colin Thubron's book,

In The Shadow Of The Silk Road.

"Yet to follow the Silk Road
is to follow a ghost.

"It flows through the heart of Asia,
but it has officially vanished,

"leaving behind it
the pattern of its restlessness,

"counterfeit borders,
unmapped peoples.

"The road forks and wanders
wherever you are.

"It is not a single way, but many,
a web of choices."

Next week, the road will take me
over the border

into stunning Georgia...

Luckily, I'm not driving us back
through the river.

..a country steeped in
Silk Road history.

Just extraordinary.

I'll cross the majestic
Caucasus mountains...

This is so beautiful.

..and experience the fusion
of ancient and modern

in booming Azerbaijan.

Look at this!

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