- 17 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:02It doesn't really matter where you cross a border or into which country, there's always a queue.
00:14I'm leaving Turkey behind and crossing the border into Georgia, which is a small country,
00:20vitally important for trade of all kinds and for the Silk Road in particular,
00:24despite its neighbours being incredibly overbearing and important to the North,
00:29Russia, to the South, Turkey and Iran.
00:32Georgia's always remained fiercely independent of itself, its culture, its extraordinary alphabet.
00:39I've never been here before. I can't wait to explore it.
00:44This is the second leg of my journey along the legendary Silk Road,
00:48a network of ancient trade routes that stretch 7,000 miles between Europe and China.
00:55So far, I've met the master silk weavers of Venice.
00:58Gee whiz, respect.
01:00And visited the hardy shepherds of Turkey's eastern highlands.
01:03Yes, we ought to see this, absolutely.
01:06No, thank you.
01:07Ahead of me to the North is wild and intoxicating Georgia.
01:11Luckily, I'm not driving us back through the river.
01:13A country steeped in Silk Road history.
01:17These little darlings have made people rule by nature.
01:20They're like kings, ransom.
01:22Across the majestic Caucasus Mountains.
01:25This is so beautiful.
01:29And uncover ancient traditions in Azerbaijan.
01:33The mysterious and booming land of fire.
01:37It's like standing on the back of a whale.
01:40Follow me on my Silk Road adventure.
01:52Just over the border, on the shores of the Black Sea, lies the city of Batumi.
01:58During the Soviet era, the border with Turkey was closed and Batumi was a bit of a backwater.
02:05For the past 15 years, it's suddenly exploded into this huge, flourishing, international holiday resort.
02:14But this isn't a holiday.
02:16I want to get to know the real Georgia, so my first stop is its capital, Tbilisi.
02:23Georgia is a country of 4 million people at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
02:30Today, it's a democratic republic, but until 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
02:37When I hear the name Tbilisi, I'm reminded of war zones and civil strife.
02:43It was one of the great cities of the Silk Road.
02:46It's got hints of old, sort of, Soviet occupation, but hints of a grander and finer and earlier Georgia.
02:54Great golden George and the Dragon here.
02:56George, patron saint of Georgia, of course.
03:01In the Georgian language, the word Tbilisi means warm, and the city takes its name from over 30 hot springs,
03:08which provided a respite for weary Silk Road travellers.
03:12Beautiful balconies.
03:14And all these houses say, for rent.
03:17Think of living up there, under that beautiful castle wall.
03:25Over the past decade, Tbilisi has cast off its Soviet past and is reinventing itself as a buzzing tourist town.
03:33There's a thriving restaurant scene.
03:36A little bit of gorgeousness here.
03:38Some gunny cheese fried in a clay pan.
03:40That's supper for me tonight.
03:41And the city even has its own fashion week that's attracting serious international attention.
03:48Eddie and Patsy would feel right at home.
03:53I'm thrilled.
03:54The woman behind it is former model Tako Cheyze.
03:58Hello.
03:58Hello, Tako.
03:59Hi, how are you?
04:01How lovely to meet you.
04:02You look sensational.
04:04How old were you when you started modelling?
04:07Oh, I started when I was 14 years old.
04:10Yeah.
04:11And at that time in Georgia, it was a little bit difficult, and the fashion scene was really, really slow.
04:17It must have been a very different country under the Soviet Union.
04:21In the 1990s, it was a tough time, wasn't it?
04:24It was a really tough time.
04:25Tell me about that a bit.
04:26We had war, we had civil war, and there was no electricity, it was cold, it was, even we had
04:36huge lines to buy bread.
04:42But Georgian people are really unique, and in that tough period, everyone were, like, close to each other, I think,
04:49and that survived us.
04:54The collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war brought fighting to the streets of Tbilisi, the scars
05:01of which are still visible today.
05:05Take a stroll through the old town, and many of its beautiful 19th century townhouses are falling down.
05:12But there is one remarkable survivor.
05:15This stunning house was built over 100 years ago, and lived in, since then, by the same family, the Kipshize
05:21family.
05:22It's the last intact 19th century townhouse in the whole of Tbilisi.
05:29Eliso is the great-great-granddaughter of the original owner.
05:33How lovely to meet you.
05:34She and her family have spent the last seven years restoring the house.
05:40Oh, you can see how beautiful it was when it was first on.
05:43Is this original green colour?
05:45Yes, it is.
05:46It's all original.
05:48And ornate plaster work.
05:50Yes, it is.
05:51I love this house.
05:53When was it built?
05:54It was built in 1897.
05:56It's one of a kind in the 19th century old Tbilisi.
06:00It's gorgeous, and there's a skylight up there with coloured glass around it.
06:04In my little humble house in London, the back door of the garden has just this coloured glass around it.
06:10So now, when I look at it, I shall think, it's Tbilisi glass.
06:13I'll think of that link.
06:17The house's crowning glory is its beautiful balcony, which is decorated with hints of Tbilisi's silk road past.
06:25Look at this.
06:26What is this colour?
06:28This is called Piruzi, Piruzi's peri.
06:31Piruzi, but that's like Piruzi, that's like Persian, for turquoise.
06:34Yes, yes, yes.
06:36So you've got Persian words in Georgian language.
06:38Yes, I think quite a big percentage.
06:42I think this is something to do with all the travelling in the silk road in Tbilisi.
06:48It was so central to all this, and influences coming in all the time.
06:52Languages, culture, food, architecture.
06:55Of course.
06:56Oh, well, when I come and live here, I'll...
06:59Please do, really.
07:01When I come and live in Tbilisi, I'm going to buy one of the old falling-down houses and restore
07:06it.
07:06Yes, that's right.
07:06Because they're too lovely.
07:07They mustn't disappear.
07:13The ancient kingdom of Georgia goes back over 1,000 years,
07:17but it's often been threatened by powerful neighbours.
07:20The Mongols, the Persians, the Ottomans and the Russians have all ruled this land.
07:28Throughout centuries of conquest and invasion,
07:31it's often been culture that's kept Georgian identity alive.
07:36And Tbilisi's Sukhishvili dance company quite literally embodies that fighting spirit.
07:44Nino Sukhishvili, the company manager, has invited me to watch a rehearsal.
07:52This is the physicality of it is just extraordinary.
07:56And that's the real swords, actually.
07:59You can see sparks flying off them.
08:00So they need to have good fighting skills and training a lot.
08:07Each dance is inspired by a different region of the country and a different chapter of Georgian history.
08:14You know, Georgia is just in the middle of Europe and Asia.
08:17This famous great silk road came through the Georgian, so it's a lot of influences.
08:25And during this century, we keep dances, language, customs, history.
08:30And I think that's one of the ways to keep identity of Georgian people.
08:35People feel the history and traditions through the dances.
08:40Well, it's completely thrilling. I feel dazzled. I feel overwhelmed. It's overwhelming.
08:49The company has been promoting Georgian identity around the world for over 70 years.
08:54And Nino designs all the traditional costumes herself.
08:59This is all handmade. It's a silk or real wool.
09:04Some of the costumes are about five or six kilos.
09:11That's so heavy. Let me help you.
09:12Now, look, I tell you, as if it weren't heavy enough, look what Nino has managed to attach to it.
09:16Chains and this thick wool, beautiful wool coat.
09:20What have you got under here?
09:22Oh, my Lord, look at this.
09:24We've got layers of petticoats.
09:26We've got underskirts.
09:28You're a torturer.
09:30Look at the crown. Can I try a crown on?
09:32Is it on the front of the forehead?
09:34That's a real queen.
09:36It's a real queen.
09:37You look like a real queen.
09:39You know I don't, but I'm thrilled just to hear that.
09:41You sweet girl. Thank you.
09:44Folk dancing is now so popular in Georgia that one in three children takes lessons.
09:48Do you like dancing?
09:50Yes.
09:51I like to dance.
09:51You like to dance.
09:54A new generation is keeping that fighting spirit alive.
10:01So lovely.
10:03Well, what a privilege to watch the Soukoushvili company at work.
10:07I adore watching rehearsals.
10:09I adore watching the muscles and the energy and the dedication and the brilliance.
10:14And at the heart of it is Georgia, keeping Georgia's identity alive, Georgia's culture.
10:20Every part of it was ravishing.
10:23And now I'm wishing all over again that I've been a dancer.
10:27My next incarnation has to be a dancer and I'm going to walk out of this like, like a dancer.
10:40I've got to leave now.
10:42Leaving Tbilisi is a wrench because it's such a fabulous, buzzy, buzzy city.
10:48To the northwest lie the mighty Caucasus Mountains, which stretch almost a thousand miles from the Black Sea to the
10:55Caspian, forming a natural border with Russia.
11:00I'm following in the footsteps of the most intrepid Silk Road travelers.
11:06This road was only opened in 1934.
11:09Before then, the only way to get up the mountains was by horse and cart or on foot.
11:14Little rough tracks through these unbelievable forests and sheer, sheer mountainsides.
11:21Look at that. That's the Caucasus.
11:32Wow.
11:35Alpine pastures, great white peaks just coming up out of the clouds behind, then just rolling on around.
11:41And this isn't even the highest part of them.
11:43Here we are in mid-summer with snow, snow, snow.
11:46This region was terribly cut off before the road was here.
11:49It meant that they developed a completely separate and singular, terribly interesting culture.
11:57And ahead of me lies the region where that remarkable culture lives on.
12:01I'm going by car. You have to walk.
12:03Quite easy. Chaps did it in the old days.
12:06Okay.
12:16Close to the Russian border lies Svaneti, one of the remotest regions in Georgia.
12:21Because of its isolation, the Georgian kings and queens of the Middle Ages would send their treasures here for safekeeping
12:27and a unique culture developed untouched by the outside world.
12:31Like all high mountain villages, it's got an alpine air.
12:36It's full of butterflies and bees and beautiful flowers, ox-eye daisies, vetch.
12:42Got potatoes growing here and in the air the smell of wood smoke because I think somebody's baking bread or
12:48something.
12:48It's fabulous.
12:49And everywhere, these immense and terribly strange towers.
12:55These towers, unique to Svaneti, were built between the 9th and 13th centuries as lookout posts and as places of
13:03refuge in times of conflict.
13:05Cowpats, watch out.
13:09In the village of Lagami, Rezo Kojilani is taking me to visit one of Svaneti's great treasures, a place few
13:16outsiders get to see.
13:18Oh, Rezo, what a beautiful little church.
13:22I'm going to put on the scarf.
13:24Remember my convent training.
13:27Magloba.
13:30Oh, look at this.
13:33This is the Church of the Transfiguration, which has stood here for over a thousand years.
13:50Oh, Rezo, look at this.
14:03These astonishing frescoes were created in the 13th century.
14:07They tell the story of the Svan people's unique faith, a mixture of Orthodox Christianity and pagan worship.
14:15Look at the study of this man's face.
14:18It's absolutely extraordinary to think it was painted in the 13th century, 12-something.
14:24The paintings range from pre-Christian goddesses to more familiar saints.
14:31Oh, we all love somebody who will slay dragons for us.
14:35And here he is, looking actually like a teenager.
14:38It's very, very beautifully done.
14:49At the time of the Silk Road, the mountain passes through Svaneti were important trading routes.
14:55Today, across the region, these old paths are being restored.
15:00This is the Trans-Caucasian Trail.
15:02The idea is that eventually it will spread a thousand miles across the Caucasus Mountains,
15:07allowing walkers to follow in the footsteps of original Silk Road traders
15:11and see these fabulous mountains for themselves.
15:15And Kish Kuldashi, which is where I'm aiming for, is only ten minutes to go, which is great.
15:20Because if I was going to fire, it would be another three hours and 15 minutes.
15:24Come on, just a little bit more puff pan.
15:26Follow, follow.
15:29The tough life here has prompted many Svan people to abandon the mountains and move to the cities.
15:34In 1987, a series of avalanches killed around 100 people.
15:39And since then, there's been a steep decline in the population here.
15:43There's nobody around.
15:44But some people are determined to hang on.
15:47OK, I'm going to ring the bell.
15:51Valeri and Maru Vibliani are the last remaining residents of Kish Kuldashi,
15:55and they've invited me to stay the night.
15:58Oh, lovely to meet you.
16:04Oh, Maru.
16:06How lovely to meet you, Maru.
16:08Listen to the thunder.
16:15With their nearest town over an hour away, Valeri and Maru are almost completely self-sufficient.
16:23Look, beautiful trees.
16:27This is so beautiful.
16:31It would make your heart happy every morning when you look out.
17:04Me too.
17:04He's got a lot of dairy cows, and he grows almost all his own vegetables.
17:08Oh, Valeri.
17:10This farm has been handed down through generations of his family.
17:14In the winter, how do you manage with all the snow and ice?
17:19You're cut off up here.
17:41Yeah.
17:46My grandmother said,
17:48You can't live on views alone, but there's something about this place that restores the soul.
17:56Georgians are famous for their hospitality.
17:59Valeri and Maru have invited me to share a traditional dinner known as a supra,
18:03consisting entirely of produce from their farm.
18:06Oh, thank you, Valeri.
18:10Maru, may I try some of your homemade cheese?
18:12Just made up on this hillside by you.
18:16A bit of this?
18:17A little bit of salt on it?
18:21Georgian dinners are traditionally accompanied by toasts,
18:23and Valeri is leading the way with some cha-cha,
18:26a potent spirit which he makes with wild pears.
18:29Karga di kawin, jamtela di kawin,
18:33asiteli gichkhoros,
18:35da kichkhodashi, da mosoly kawin.
18:37Oh, well, matlopa, matlopa, matlopa.
18:40How gorgeous.
18:47I'd never heard of cha-cha before this generous introduction,
18:51but Georgian wines from Kaketi are justly world famous.
18:56Look at these vines everywhere.
18:58The tradition of making wine here goes back even further
19:02than the Georgian nation itself.
19:05Archaeologists have discovered evidence
19:07of people making wine here 8,000 years ago.
19:14Across the Kaketi region,
19:16there are even old monasteries that make their own vintages.
19:21But I'm meeting up with one of the youngest winemakers in the country.
19:24Hello, Joanna.
19:25Oh, shut up.
19:26How lovely to meet you.
19:29Xhota Lagasidze is only 28 years old,
19:32but he's already become one of the most talked-about winemakers in Georgia.
19:36Yeah, please.
19:37Thank you, Xhota. I shall follow you.
19:39Yeah, this is our wine cellar.
19:43In the rest of the world,
19:45most wine is made by removing the skin from the grapes
19:47and fermenting the fruit in wooden barrels.
19:50But in Georgia, they do things differently.
19:53This is the quarry, which is the old vessel which we are using to make wine.
20:00Has this got wine in it?
20:02Is it got wine?
20:03No, it's now empty.
20:04It's now empty.
20:04Yeah, it's waiting the harvest time.
20:05Uh-huh.
20:06We crush the full amount of grapes inside and then it starts the fermentation.
20:11And we have a special stick there which help us to mix the fermentation process.
20:19I love it.
20:20When all the skins comes up, we just push them on the back.
20:24Yeah.
20:25To leave the wine with skins about five, six, sometimes seven months.
20:31Do you know, Xhota, I think if one of those ancient winemakers came back from 8,000 years ago
20:36and came in here, he'd feel completely at home.
20:38Yeah, very comfortable.
20:39He'd see everything he understood.
20:42Xhota's harvest comes from just half a hectare of vineyard.
20:46To get there, we're taking the scenic route.
20:49Our first harvest was 2015 and we had only 900 bottles.
20:54Just four queries and we drink 500 hours of...
20:58Ha, ha, ha.
21:00Just like, we seem to have come to a river.
21:02Yeah, it's just this small park.
21:05Oh, we go across this?
21:06Yeah.
21:07Ha, ha, ha!
21:14The water is pretty low.
21:19Sometimes it's pretty high.
21:24Oh, Xhota, what an extraordinary life you lead.
21:26It's brilliant.
21:27Yeah, and it's extreme, too.
21:29It's extreme, yeah.
21:33Of the thousands of grape varieties in the world, an incredible 500 of them are Georgian in origin.
21:41This is mostly the Cat Italy, which is a white grape variety and the most popular grapes in the Aghetti
21:47region.
21:48Yeah.
21:48So it's white grapes.
21:49If you just ferment the juice, it's become just the usual white wine.
21:54If you use a little bit, even a little bit, skin contact several days or several weeks, it gets this
22:02beautiful amber color.
22:03I have to tell you, I'm suddenly longing for a glass of your wine.
22:10I have been known to enjoy the odd glass of red and white in my time, but unbelievably, I've never
22:17tasted amber wine before.
22:19Amber color, for me, it makes wine delicious.
22:24Well, that's just gorgeous. Full of fruit, full of earth. I can taste the ground. I mean, not horrible earth.
22:34Earth. It tastes the world.
22:37I think because it's fermented in a quarry, which is buried underground, so...
22:41It does taste completely different. It's absolutely beautiful. Luckily, I'm not driving us back through the river.
22:49May we try the second bottle now, shall we?
22:54While the tradition of winemaking has changed little since ancient times, in this part of Georgia, the product that gave
23:00the Silk Road its name is in decline.
23:04The towns here were once thriving hubs of silk production, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the industry
23:10died out.
23:11There is, however, one remarkable woman who's hoping to revive it.
23:16Lamarra. Hello.
23:18How lovely to meet you.
23:19Come.
23:21Here in the village of Magaro, Lamarra Beshashvili is famous for what she keeps in the shed at the bottom
23:27of her garden.
23:28I'm guessing this is where all the action takes place.
23:36Look, Lamarra.
23:38Silk, silkworms, cocoons.
23:42Ha!
23:46Lamarra produces silk by harvesting a miraculous natural phenomenon, the dense cocoon of silk thread produced by every silkworm during
23:55its life cycle.
24:00Look at that lovely little creature.
24:02Mm-hmm.
24:04And there, look, a fully grown, much, much bigger one.
24:21A thousand and five hundred meters.
24:28How extraordinary that an animal can produce this incredibly strong stuff just out of its own system, just out of
24:36its mouth to grow it round and round.
24:38Keep wrapping round and round and twisting and turning.
24:43These feel absolutely beautiful.
24:46They're not cold.
24:47They're not slimy.
24:48They're smooth and soft.
24:50And its little inquisitive face and its little tiny, tiny feet underneath.
24:54Look, it's listening to me talking about it.
24:56Little thing.
24:57It's a kind of miracle, isn't it?
25:00Absolutely stunning.
25:02And when do you feed them, Lamarra?
25:13Silkworms live off mulberry leaves, which apparently also have miraculous properties.
25:23It's antiseptic.
25:24Very good antiseptic.
25:25Very good antiseptic.
25:26How extraordinary.
25:28The silkworms used in commercial silk production don't exist in the wild.
25:32They've been selectively bred over centuries, so they depend on humans to feed them.
25:38And look, they're starting here to start eating.
25:46The noise of these little guys eating, it sounds like rain falling.
25:55Oh, Lamarra, that's wonderful.
25:58Just the softest.
26:04These little darlings have made people richer than a king's ransom.
26:09Richer than the richest person you can ever think of.
26:13Just by producing what's natural to them and to us is desired.
26:18Silk.
26:20I'm wearing one as a brooch because I've become very attached to them.
26:26In traditional silk production, once the cocoons are ready for harvesting, they're boiled to soften the thread.
26:32But sadly, the silkworms die as a result.
26:35A new, more humane method has been developed, which allows the moths to hatch naturally.
26:41It's a more expensive process, but it's kinder to these remarkable creatures.
26:46And here it is.
26:47Cloud of brilliance.
26:50It's something so valuable that one of the great trading routes in the world was named after it.
27:06It's always hard to leave a country you've fallen in love with, but the silk road leads on to Azerbaijan.
27:13It says, Azerbaijan border.
27:16Good luck.
27:16It's rather sweet, though, isn't it?
27:29This is a border crossing between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
27:33Oh, by the way, whenever I wear striped clothes like this, it's a tribute to Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock.
27:38I just thought I'd let you know that the king is always with me.
27:43Thank you so much.
27:44Goodbye.
27:46This is my first visit to Azerbaijan.
27:48I've no idea what to expect.
27:54Immediately, it just feels completely different.
27:57I don't know what it is.
27:57The landscape's different.
27:59Honestly, these avenues, these wide avenues, makes you feel you could almost be in France.
28:06Azerbaijan is a country of nearly 10 million people, sandwiched between Russia and Iran.
28:11Formerly a Soviet republic, since 1993, it's been ruled by one family.
28:17Look, here's the poster of Haydar Aliyev, founding father of modern Azerbaijan, and no matter what you might think about
28:25him, you'll never escape him, because his poster is everywhere, watching you.
28:3270 miles from the border lies the city of Sheki, once a vital stop on the Silk Road, linking Azerbaijan
28:39to the northern trade routes through the Caucasus Mountains.
28:43It's artisan crafts and renowned silk industry attracted huge merchant caravans from Europe and across Central Asia, and the city
28:51built grand accommodations to host them.
28:57So this is a caravanserai.
29:00Huge doors so that the camels, fully laden, can come walking in here into the central courtyard.
29:08And what a relief, not only for the merchants, but for the creatures themselves, to come into this great, cool
29:13dome, perhaps to take a sip of water.
29:16And this huge courtyard is where the camels would finally crumple up on their great legs and lie down, and
29:22all the goods would be taken off them.
29:24And then all the merchants would sleep in these rooms, these rather monastic rooms, around the side.
29:28It's a brilliant idea.
29:30And now that they've restored this lovely caravanserai, they've made it into a hotel.
29:34And I'm staying the night here.
29:39But before that, there's time for tea, Sheki style.
29:42This town is famous for its luscious sugary treats, the perfect pick-me-up for a weary Silk Road traveller.
29:51Look at these. These are like little doughnuts.
29:57Surely I might drop some of these things, because it's just out eating disgustingly.
30:00These are white cherries. I might have to eat one of those.
30:04They are so sweet.
30:05Honestly, you can feel your teeth loosening in their sockets.
30:08This is halva.
30:10It's calling out, eat me.
30:12I could sit here today, slowly, slowly eating my way through the whole lot, and then by the end, crazed
30:17with the sugar rush.
30:23Sheki's pivotal position on the Silk Road meant it was fought over and changed hands many times.
30:29Despite this history of conflict, one ruling power left an astonishing legacy.
30:36In the 18th century, this part of Azerbaijan was ruled by Persian governors known as Khans.
30:42And they built this summer palace here, absolutely stupefying palace, simply because of these immense trees.
30:49They're called Chinar trees.
30:51And so when the Khans saw these two great trees, which were then quite a height already,
30:55they thought this will make a cooling umbrella for this fabulous little palace.
31:01The palace was completed in 1762 as a place for the Khan to entertain important guests.
31:08It took two years to build, but eight years to decorate.
31:15Stunning, stunning work.
31:18Majestic.
31:20This astonishing sort of Bayeux tapestry of history, of hunting scenes, of battles,
31:28of hans riding here.
31:31The room's most remarkable feature is the delicate stained glass windows,
31:36made using a special Azeri technique known as shebeke.
31:40Look at this work here.
31:42It's beautiful.
31:43That's over the top of it.
31:44But this is set in.
31:45This is set in.
31:47All this glass is put together with no glue, no nails,
31:50and it comes from Murano in Venice.
31:52And it traveled here all the way on the back of a horse.
31:56And all around Islamic shapes.
31:59Look at that.
32:00Can you imagine if you came to Sheikhi, if you were a great trader,
32:03and if the Khan let you in, if you were bringing some treat, some gold, some silver,
32:07some glass, he might let you in.
32:09And you'd sit there looking at this guy.
32:11Oh, my Lord.
32:14If you came from America.
32:15The Silk Road.
32:23I'm leaving Sheikhi and traveling east to the center of Azerbaijan.
32:28The village of Baskal is famous for a product traded for centuries
32:32that embodies the very essence of the Silk Road.
32:36Yes, here we are.
32:37Look.
32:37There's the sign of the silk.
32:47Kelagai are exquisite silk scarves unique to Azerbaijan,
32:52which over the ages have been exported from Baskal to Persia, Russia, India, and Europe.
33:00Marco Polo visited Azerbaijan in 1293, and he wrote in his memoirs,
33:06Nowhere in the world have I seen such products of silk and brocade as are made here.
33:12They're the traditional headscarves of the Azeri women,
33:15and they're full of symbols, mysterious symbols.
33:18Quite a lot of them have links to the Silk Road.
33:23The scarves are individually printed by master artisans.
33:28Abbas Ali uses 300-year-old carved wooden stamps.
33:33What is the symbol that you're going to be putting on here?
33:46Abbas, I was born in the mountains.
33:49Can I have a go at doing mountain?
33:53Okay.
33:54What is this stuff?
33:56What is it?
34:01So I've got to shake it a bit more than that.
34:05Abbas has been printing scarves for over 20 years,
34:08and it's harder than it looks.
34:11Oh, look.
34:13Sorry.
34:15Sorry, that was awful.
34:16I didn't shake it enough.
34:19It's important to get it right.
34:21These ancient designs are cherished symbols of Azeri culture.
34:25Better?
34:26Yeah, I should do, isn't it?
34:30Once the scarves have been printed,
34:32then it's time for the real alchemy to begin,
34:35the dyeing process.
34:37This is the beautiful preparation of all the dyes
34:40before the silks are dipped into it.
34:42Here, this extraordinary tree bark has been boiled,
34:45and it's bringing the most wonderful yellow colour.
34:48Whoa, look at that, Abbas.
34:51It's divine.
34:54A vivid turquoise coming over from the corner,
34:56being tipped into that barrel.
34:59And now, just stirring here.
35:03You see, you have to be a master artist
35:05to judge things by eye.
35:07All of this is done without any kind of measurement at all,
35:10except he knows the colours, he knows the quantities.
35:16With each dipping, it's getting sort of richer and darker and greener.
35:20Beautiful.
35:21Look at that colour.
35:25In 2014, the Kalagai scarves of Azerbaijan
35:28were recognised by UNESCO
35:31as part of the intangible heritage of mankind.
35:34It's impossible to leave a place like this
35:37without wanting just a little memory.
35:40You can't blame me.
35:42I mean, quite honestly, I think
35:44something like this will link me to the Silk Road forever,
35:47knowing that through time,
35:49people have been wearing these same symbols
35:53that I've now got around my neck,
35:55like that,
35:57and may never take off again.
36:00Certainly sleeping in this tonight.
36:06If rural Azerbaijan is still steeped in ancient traditions,
36:10as we approach the capital, Baku,
36:12we're entering a modern region
36:14shaped by business and industry.
36:16As we get closer to the Caspian Sea,
36:19the landscape has changed completely.
36:21All the greenery's gone,
36:22and it's become much more dry and desert-like,
36:25and that's because we're entering oil country.
36:28There are places that the oil and gas
36:30are so close to the surface
36:31that the ground is actually on fire.
36:36It's burning.
36:37That's one of the reasons why Azerbaijan
36:39is called the land of fire.
36:45Baku experienced its first oil boom in the 1870s.
36:49By 1901, the city was producing
36:51around half the crude oil in the entire world.
36:55Production fluctuated during the Soviet era,
36:57but over the last 15 years,
36:59the industry has been booming all over again.
37:02The population of Baku has climbed to 2.5 million,
37:06and wealth from the oil and gas industry
37:08is fueling a staggering architectural explosion.
37:12What a city this is.
37:15Everywhere I look, there's something new springing up.
37:19It's bizarre.
37:21Down by the waterfront lies the carpet museum,
37:24literally like a rolled-up carpet.
37:27And then there's the space-age Hader Aliyev Center,
37:30designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid.
37:34Amazing.
37:37But perhaps the most extraordinary
37:39of Baku's recent architectural triumphs
37:41are the flame towers,
37:43a trio of skyscrapers designed to resemble
37:46shimmering tongues of fire.
37:49Similar daily.
37:50They're home to a spectacular hotel.
37:53Whew.
37:55Will you look at that?
37:57It looks like a thousand diamond necklaces.
38:04Raphael?
38:05I'm Joanne.
38:06Raphael, head of public relations,
38:08is more than happy to whisk me up to the 28th floor
38:10for a personal tour of the exclusive royal suite.
38:14I'm not so great on heights.
38:16Has it got good views out over the city?
38:18You will like it.
38:19You will like it.
38:20It's wonderful.
38:29Look at this!
38:32It's magic.
38:34And you see the great Caspian Sea
38:37wrapping all the way around here.
38:40I can't believe it.
38:41It was so high.
38:44I'm now royalty.
38:45Where do I go?
38:46Let me take you.
38:48And here we are.
38:50Oh, saints alive.
38:51It's huge!
38:53It is a palace.
38:54Yes.
38:55And I think for royalty,
38:56they want to feel at home.
38:57Absolutely.
38:58I'm going to explore.
39:03Ooh.
39:04It's a kitchen.
39:05Things gushing and cooking and roasting
39:08and I think people are so rich
39:10they bring their own silver.
39:11And this is where you could play
39:12Scrabble with the children.
39:14I'm sure I've got some children.
39:15Let's get them in here.
39:17Oh, no, I changed carpet.
39:18Oh, I see.
39:19We're in the master bedroom.
39:21It's lovely.
39:21Cool.
39:22Oh, this is the bathroom.
39:26His and hers basins.
39:28And do tell me about today, darling.
39:29Was it fun?
39:30Yes.
39:31It was so amusing.
39:32I can't tell you how.
39:33Was it amusing?
39:34Yes, dude.
39:35Put the champagne down there, please.
39:37Thank you, sir.
39:37Oh, oh, oh.
39:44Raphael, this is a very vulgar question.
39:47But could you tell me how much it costs by night?
39:505,000 euros plus.
39:54That's a discreet plus.
39:56I think I'd be on the plus.
39:57Yeah, on the plus.
39:58Oh, how fantastic.
40:01I think that might be a bit beyond our budget,
40:04so I'm just going to stand here
40:05and admire the view until I get thrown out.
40:20Hiya.
40:22For all of Baku's modernity,
40:24old traditions are still dearly cherished.
40:27This ancient Muslim shrine
40:29on the outskirts of the city
40:31provides a mysterious healing treatment.
40:36For centuries, people have been flocking to this shrine
40:39for an extraordinary folk ritual.
40:42It's called Schildach.
40:43And it's a treatment to alleviate stress
40:46and anxiety, nervousness and fear.
40:49Now, I've never thought of myself
40:50as a particularly nervous person,
40:52but I think all of us have a little bundle of fear
40:55that we keep knotted up inside our ribcage,
40:57and I'm no different.
40:58It'd be nice to get rid of that.
40:59So here goes.
41:05Salaam.
41:06Salaam.
41:08My pleasure.
41:11The treatment involves having a burning roll of cloth,
41:14like a cigar,
41:15stubbed onto specific nerve endings around the body.
41:18The idea is it stimulates the circulation
41:21and the nervous system.
41:26The first part of the ritual finishes with a blessing.
41:32How lovely.
41:35To complete my treatment,
41:37I'm sent outside for stage two.
41:49Yeah.
41:50Sir.
41:59Sir.
42:04Is it good?
42:08So, I did blink, but, you know, I didn't jump out of my skin.
42:14The bottle-smashing ritual may seem surprising,
42:17but many people place great faith in it.
42:31Do you feel calmer already?
42:34Tomorrow? Good. Good luck.
42:39That's wonderful.
42:42Well, that was most enlightening,
42:44and I'm going to become a much calmer and better person.
42:48Much better.
42:50Obviously not very good at leaving frame, but, you know...
42:57Despite the reverence for old traditions,
43:00Baku's passion for futuristic architecture shows no sign of letting up.
43:05This massive shopping and entertainment complex is the newest kid on the block.
43:10It's modelled on the eight-pointed star at the centre of the Azeri flag.
43:15This is going to be one of the most ambitious projects in the whole of Baku,
43:18and that's saying something.
43:20It's the Caspian Waterfront Centre.
43:24Does it remind you of anything?
43:26Well, that's because the people who made the Sydney Opera House have come here to make the roofs.
43:31I wonder what it's like up there.
43:33Oh, Randolph.
43:34How are you, Joanna?
43:35Bright hat.
43:36Developer Randolph Decker is putting my fear of heights to the test.
43:40Do I have to bend my legs inside out and backwards?
43:43Let's see if that bottle-smashing treatment has actually worked.
43:48So, I'm tied onto the roof, so even if I just go,
43:50ah, like a gurney and fall off, I'll be attached.
43:53Um, and now we're going up.
43:54Okay.
43:56I'm going to hold on to you like a child.
43:57Can I hold on to the back of your harness, or do you mind holding my hand?
43:59No.
44:01I love that.
44:04Oh, my giddy aunt.
44:06Check this out.
44:10Wow, how...
44:12Fear of heights, not fear heights.
44:15Well, this is just...
44:17Here we are.
44:19Unbelievable.
44:21It's like standing on the back of a whale, isn't it?
44:24A surfacing whale.
44:25Have you ever done that?
44:26Yeah, this is amazing.
44:28You've got the Great Caspian Sea, and there is the centerpiece, which is shaped like a flame.
44:33It's going to be, it's representing fire, that, isn't it?
44:35That little bit.
44:36And you can actually see up on the top there, somebody's at the restaurant level.
44:39Yeah?
44:40And you go off two levels, and there's an outdoor bird's nest, we'll call it, up at the top.
44:45They were looking pretty good.
44:46I think what's been great about Baku is I think all the developers here compete with each other
44:50to try to outdo the last guy's project.
44:54And I'm hoping we're making a pretty good stand with this project.
45:04Well, this is just the most extraordinary city I've ever been in.
45:07It seems to be old.
45:08It seems to be new.
45:09It seems to be on fire.
45:11And this is booming.
45:13That's the oil boom, but that's the Baku boom.
45:16Look at it!
45:31Well, what a thrilling journey this has been, from the Black Sea to the Caspian, in the shadow of the
45:36Caucasus Mountains, through cities and countryside.
45:39I just couldn't imagine an ending up here in Baku, booming city.
45:44But something very exciting has just happened.
45:48After months of negotiations, we finally got access to one of the most astonishing and intriguing countries on the Silk
45:55Road.
45:56With a history and culture that shaped the world.
46:00I mean, the scale of it.
46:02It's Iran.
46:04So see you in Persepolis.
46:07Whatever, guys.
46:35This is American absolutes.