91Èȱ¬

Dara and Ed begin their journey in Malaysia, a vibrant multicultural nation thanks to its history as a staging post on the east-west trading routes.

Arriving in downtown Kuala Lumpur, Dara and Ed are keen to see beyond the bright lights and towering skyscrapers of Malaysia's economic boom and find out how Malaysia's diverse communities are holding on to their own traditions and ways of life. They begin by doing what the locals do on a Saturday afternoon and watch a beauty pageant - for chickens - before joining a mass cycle ride through the city.

Leaving Kuala Lumpur, they head up into the Genting Highlands to stay in the largest hotel in the world and watch the finals of the prestigious World Lion Dance Championships, before travelling onto one of the oldest jungles in the world, Taman Negara. Here they meet the Batek, a Malaysian indigenous tribe that is struggling to find its place in this rapidly modernising nation. Taking the Jungle Train north, they visit Malaysia's Islamic State Kota Bharu to try their hand at shadow puppetry and then finish in Georgetown, a Unesco World Heritage site, where they take part in a spectacular traditional Peranakan feast to celebrate the end of the Malaysian leg of their journey.