Around the World in 80 Treasures

Simply glorious sights reward you on a whirlwind, 34-country world tour, visiting 80 of the greatest human-made treasures of the world. Your charming guide on this global treasure hunt - architectural historian Dan Cruickshank - inspires and informs you about his eclectic choices, from the Parthenon, Machu Picchu, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and King Tut's burial mask, to the magical Mud City of Chan Chan, space-age Shanghai, and a Volkswagen Beetle. "A series that leaves other travelogues looking flimsy by comparison"-Guardian.

Episode 1 - Peru to Brazil
Dan travels from the peaks of the Peruvian mountains, to the distant wilds of Easter Island, deep into the Amazonian rainforests of Brazil and to its sophisticated capital, Rio. Surviving tempest-tossed seas, crocodile infested rivers and the digestive challenge of fresh guinea pig, Dan reveals that his choice of treasures ranges from the celebrated to the secret. Famed worldwide are the ruins of Machu Picchu, the mysterious Nazca Lines, the giant heads of Moai and the statue of Christ overlooking Rio. Less well-known but equally spectacular are the sinister Spider Necklace of Lord Sipan and other gold treasures of the human-sacrifice-loving Moche people, and the largest mud-built city in world at the magical location of Chan Chan.

Episode 2 - Mexico to America
Dan's journey takes him from the mysteries of ancient Mayan tombs to that great symbol of the modern age - the Statue of Liberty, and from the drama of the giant warriors at Tula to the refinement of Thomas Jefferson's elegant home in Virginia. Also included in his treasures is the handgun that ‘won' the West for the white man, and Diego Rivera's masterpiece Man, Controller of the Universe in Mexico City. Deep inside the pyramids of Palenque, Dan finds the great tomb of King Pacal. Even more surprising is the great early civilisation of North America at Mesa Verde, where the clifftop people created a brilliant landscape that looks like something from outer space. From there, it's an extraordinary leap to the high-rise drama of Manhattan and the skyscraper that changed the world.

Episode 3 - Australia to Cambodia
Giant termite mounds, edible juicy ants and erotic cave paintings are the treasures Dan Cruickshank unearths in the Australian Outback. Even the brilliance of Sydney harbour cannot rival the wonders of ancient Australia that are Dan's pick of the continent. Then it's on to the wonders of Indonesia and the dead of Sulawesi with their marathon funerals of ritual sacrifice and contact with the spirit world. Even a shock encounter with a large pregnant rat in a coffin fails to dim Dan's excitement as he heads on to the highlight of his trip so far - Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Cambodia, where he marvels at highly burnished breasts stills sensual after eight intervening centuries. A golden elephant is Dan's final prize in Thailand - a wonder of the ancient world.

Episode 4 - Japan to China
Ancient and modern clash deliciously in Japan while the Terracotta Army and the Great Wall of China boast the brilliance of ancient imperial China. The sword of the Samurai warriors is Dan's first and slightly menacing choice, but Dan marvels at the artistry involved in making this most beautiful instrument of death. Exhausted by his travels, he seeks solace and tranquillity in a Japanese temple and meditation garden. But in China, the tension of war and peace reasserts itself as he stalks the Great Wall of China and contemplates the massed ranks of the Terracotta Army - 8000 soldiers all individually modelled on real people of two thousand years ago. Again he finds peace in a unique creation - the Empress of China's marble boat - a miraculous and surreal vision on the waters of the Summer Palace lake. As the smog of modern China descends, the authorities do their best to stop Dan seeing the ancient porcelain in the Forbidden City before Dan makes his escape from petty-minded officialdom - into the space age world of high-rise Shanghai.

Episode 5 - India to Sri Lanka
Dan Cruickshank travels around India and Sri Lanka. In Calcutta, he tangles with a 10-armed naked goddess and is moved to passion in the Cave of Heavenly Maidens. Everything becomes clearer when he meets the triple breasted goddess Menakshi. Fertility and sex are recurrent themes in this leg of his quest. Dan is also on a journey of personal enlightenment; his route marked out by beautiful and noble giant Buddhas. He finds the key to the cosmos in the celestial city of Jaipur, worships at the Temple of the Tooth, loses at cricket but revels in a palace of smells, is blessed by an elephant and ends up in the world's greatest temple to love, the Taj Mahal. For Dan, Nirvana is India and Sri Lanka.

Episode 6 - Uzbekistan to Syria
Dan journeys to some of the most mysterious and secret countries in the world, where the weary Western traveller cannot be sure of a warm welcome. But he's in for a surprise as he is accosted by young girls in Bukhara and Persian carpet sellers in Iran where he couldn't be more welcome if he tried! Dan experiences tile-making in Samarkand, the extraordinary Trading Domes of Uzbekistan and the Fire Temple of Azerbaijan. There is also a real mystery to solve as he gingerly edges himself up a cliff-face towards the biggest archaeological puzzle of the 19th century - the Bisitun carvings. After the pleasures of Iran, Dan heads for one of the glories of the ancient world - the great city of Persepolis, which was vanquished by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. In its day, it was the most beautiful city in the world and there is more than enough left for him to savour the brilliance. Worn to a frazzle, Dan hits Damascus in Syria, and one of the most exotic souks in the world. There, he heads for the local hammam - the town steam bath - for an orgy of pampering and hubble bubble pipe.

Episode 7 - Jordan to Ethiopia
Dan goes in search of the Ark of the Covenant, the legendary great gold box which held the original Ten Commandments handed down to Moses by God. His journey takes him from Jordan to Israel and Palestine and finally to Ethiopia, Africa's Garden of Eden. The journey has the atmosphere of an endurance test. The astonishing city of Petra - so fine and intricate in its decoration, yet carved directly out of the rock face - must be reached by donkey along a precipitous gorge; then Dan must get past the Guardian Monk of Ethiopia, who allows no one to pass, and, riskiest of all, he must climb the vertical cliff face at Debre Damo to reach the treasures hidden inside the monastery on top of the mountain. Along the way, Dan encounters prehistoric skyscrapers and Lalibela, the most powerful king in Africa. His ultimate prize is unexpected - to be cleansed of all shame by an ancient relic that wields its mystical powers beneath the Star of David. And the Ark of the Covenant? Maybe he finds it, maybe not... but at least he escapes without being turned into a pile of ashes.

Episode 8 - Mali to Egypt
Dan is in Africa, "the most beguiling and enchanting of continents". Mali was once a mighty trading empire that extended across west Africa as far as the Atlantic coast. Here he finds the first of his treasures, the extraordinary Djenne mosque, which is the largest mud building in the world. The search continues West to Songho and Africa's most isolated tribe, the Dogon, where Dan marvels at their breathtaking circumcision paintings. The Dogon mask once inspired Picasso to paint. Dan tries his luck at bartering for a mask at the local market. He then heads North to Libya (where he identifies with Lawrence of Arabia rather than Colonel Gaddafi), to see the lost Roman city of Leptis Magna. In Egypt, Dan heads for the Great Pyramid, but there's a major setback when the electric lights go out while he is in its deepest chamber. Once he finds his way out, a trek across the Libyan desert awaits. He also discovers the world's simplest ventilation system and finishes the episode with a trip down the Nile

Episode 9 - Turkey to Germany
Dan takes to the skies, floating above Turkey in a hot-air balloon before exploring the subterranean caves at Goreme. There he meets a man who collects women's hair, which he keeps in a cave. After this strange encounter, he travels on to Istanbul, where he visits Hagia Sofia and tucks into a snack of lamb's brains. He compares them to testicles, which he has previously eaten. The brains are judged best, "though testicles are very good," he assures us. Next up is Russia, where Dan is suitably impressed by the Moscow Metro, Solovki Monastery, and Peter the Great's Hut at the former Tsar's specially constructed city, St Petersburg. There is a quick trip to the salt mines of Poland, before journeying on to Germany, where he waxes lyrical over a Volkswagen Beetle in Berlin, and a Bauhaus chair in Dessau.

Episode 10 - Bosnia to Germany and Home
At last the end is in sight - and Dan's circumnavigation of the globe almost complete. But first there are some of the most brilliant treasures of all to enjoy. His first destination was the most dangerous place on Earth just a few years ago - Mostar and its famous bridge spanning the Christian and Muslim worlds. It was destroyed by missiles during the recent war spanning the former Yugoslavia, but has now been rebuilt. Next, Dan heads for Greece, and the glories of the Parthenon in Athens, before heading for the ultimate treasure trove of Italy. The beauties of Venice, the splendour of the Pantheon in Rome and the fabulous chapel of the Medici princes in Florence revive an exhausted but ebullient Dan about to take his 92nd flight of the trip, before he sails for home. In Spain, Dan is astonished by the unrivalled brilliance of the Alhambra, with its echoes of the days when a large part of Europe was under the Islamic rule of the Sultan. But at last it's time for Dan to reflect on the immensity of his journey round the world: how has it changed him and what is he to make of it all? What can we all learn as human beings from the fantastic variety of human creations that Dan has seen? And what single thing more than any other has inspired our creativity

"The second week of Cruickshank's whirlwind search for the globe's greatest treasures sees him journeying from "the ancient civilisation of Mexico, to the promised land of the United States". Whether he's fetching up in the rainforests of southern Mexico to gush about the Mayans, eulogising Diego Rivera's 1934 socio-political mural, Man, Controller Of The Universe, or firing the "gun that won the west" in Colorado, his breathless charm and ardour for history remain undimmed, making for simply glorious viewing."  - Guardian

The third leg of Dan Cruickshank's trans-global trail stretches from Australia to Cambodia, and sees the ever-enthusiastic adventurer firmly cementing his place alongside idiosyncratic presenters like David Attenborough and Fred Dibner.  - Observer

"Strangely compelling. The highlight was Dan Cruickshank playing Spot-Christ-The-Redeemer in foggy Rio."  - News of the World

"Fascinating travelogue on the great man-made treasures of the world"  - Observer

"a splendid idea for a series"  - London Evening Standard

Sit back for a travel show treat. Well, it's travel with history thrown in as historian Dan Cruickshank (left), sets off in search of the planet's most amazing man-made treasures. He will traverse more than 40 countries and kicks off in Peru with the lost city of Machu Picchu, the Inca Salt Pans, the Nazca Lines, the Mud City of Chan Chan and Lord Sipan's gold necklace. There's even time for a light snack of roast guinea pig. Next he's on remote Easter Island to see the awesome stone heads, then up the Amazon, dodging crocs to see some magnificent head-dresses. This promises to be a rather wonderful whistle-stop tour of human civilization. Express
"Cruickshank is an engaging and enthusiastic presenter and this is well worth watching."  - Observer

"With a soundtrack that includes the music of Salif Keita, this episode [Mali to Egypt] of this hugely popular series is every bit as engaging as its presenter, whose contagious enthusiasm for his subject and sense of drama and energy make it compulsory viewing."  - Observer (Dorota Nosowicz)

"Dan Cruickshank proves to be a bit of a treasure himself, as he continues his idiosyncratic progress through Turkey, Poland and Germany."  - Independent (Gerard Gilbert)

"Cruickshank's great strengths are his intelligence, his enthusiasm and his exhaustive research. The result has been a series that leaves other travelogues looking flimsy by comparison."  - Guardian (Neil Crossley)