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Series 1 (60-Minute Versions): 8. Penang to Cameron Highlands

Michael Portillo’s south east Asian travels reach Malaysia - once a British colony. Michael’s journey begins on the island of Penang, Britain’s first stronghold in the region. Here he rides one of the steepest, fastest and most exhilarating funicular railways in the world and steps into a tropical paradise as he releases exotic specimens at Malaysia’s first butterfly sanctuary.\n\nTravelling on Malaysia’s modern, hi-tech railway network, Michael visits Taiping, known as the wettest town in the country, where betting on the rain is a local pastime. Here Michael learns how the discovery of tin made this land a desirable possession for the British.\n\nMoving south along the Malay Peninsula, the next stop is the regal town of Kuala Kangsar, home to the Sultan of Perak and one of the country’s most prestigious schools, dubbed the Eton of the east. Michael tries his hand at the school’s chosen sport, Eton fives. \n\nMichael learns of Malaysia’s lucrative rubber industry that boomed at the turn of the 20th century due to the demand for car and bicycle tyres. He discovers the skilful technique in extracting rubber from the tree and observes how the material is used today to give railway passengers a smooth ride.\n\nAt the cosmopolitan, foody town of Ipoh, Michael helps bake a popular Chinese treat at a famous Malaysian bakery and experiences a dragon dance of epic proportions. Finally, Michael makes for the Cameron Highlands, where the majority of the nation’s tea is grown. At a colonial-era hill station, Michael visits a plantation and tastes this most British staple.

Source: BBC 4