Well, maybe not. But it’s still good. In another of his BBC travel series, Michael Palin takes the viewer through the Himalayan mountains, in and out of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Nagaland, Assam, Bhutan, and Bangladesh in six hour-long episodes. Palin takes us through the majestic peaks and introduces us to the different cultures in an effortless and entertaining manner. (Effortless if you don’t count the incredibly challenging climbs he had to make at age sixty!)

While Himalaya is good, I definitely prefer his earlier series Around The World In 80 Days and Pole To Pole, which are just as long to watch but take the viewer on a longer journey. The pace is a little slower here, so it drags at times when the earlier series never did. The focus on the Himalaya limits Palin’s scope, but it’s limited to a breathtaking area of the world. Funny and interesting, if a little slower-paced at times, Himalaya is worth the watch, particularly for the scene where he sings “The Lumberjack Song” to a elderly Bhutanese poet/songwriter!