Full.Circle.With.Michael.Palin.02.Japan and Korea
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01:00These are the Diomede Islands, in the centre of the Bering Strait.
01:05Over behind me is Greater Diomede, an uninhabited Russian island,
01:09and the one I'm on, Little Diomede, is American.
01:13About 50 miles to the north is the Arctic Circle.
01:16Behind me, in that channel there, runs the International Date Line.
01:20On Greater Diomede, it's already tomorrow.
01:24From these narrow straits, the Pacific Ocean stretches southwards
01:27to cover one-third of the Earth's surface.
01:30The journey we're beginning today will take us all the way round this vast ocean,
01:3450,000 miles of travel through 18 countries.
01:38If all goes well, when we return here in a year's time,
01:41we shall have been full circle.
01:46A late August sun shines for our departure,
01:49making light of the harsh life in this remote Eskimo village,
01:52battered by the elements for nine months of the year.
01:58The 180 inhabitants of this windswept rock live by fishing,
02:01and always have done.
02:04The Arctic Circle is one of the most beautiful places in the world,
02:07and one of the most beautiful places in the world.
02:11The 180 inhabitants of this windswept rock live by fishing,
02:14and always have done.
02:31The oil-rich government of Alaska has done much to make life here more comfortable.
02:35There's a state-of-the-art school, satellite television,
02:38electricity, and abundant fresh water,
02:41and the island has voted itself alcohol-free.
02:51But they still hunt beluga whales in boats made from walrus skin,
02:55and it's in one of these that I shall begin my Pacific journey.
03:04The locals are frankly unimpressed.
03:07They've seen many travellers here before,
03:10trying to cross the ice bridge between Russia and America,
03:13or on their way in and out of the Arctic.
03:16This is just one more crazy departure
03:19for a people who wouldn't exchange diomede for anywhere else on Earth.
03:37Farewell, diomede.
03:41See you in a year.
04:00It's good to be on the move,
04:02out on the ocean on a wing and a prayer and a walrus skin boat.
04:07What more could I ask for, except a helicopter like the rest of the crew?
04:31130 miles south of diomede lies Nome,
04:34a doughty, resilient community of 5,000 souls
04:37clinging to the dry, hard shores of western Alaska.
04:42The spirit of the last frontier survives in Nome.
04:45They're proud of the fact that the nearest tree is 75 miles away.
04:49In Nome, real men drive pick-up trucks and never wash them.
05:0490 years ago, these bleak, grey beaches were called the Golden Sands of Nome.
05:0930,000 prospectors camped here in search of a fortune,
05:13and they still come.
05:19Excuse me dropping in, but I was passing through Nome
05:22and I was told I must see the Golden Sands of Nome,
05:25see if it's true.
05:27That was three hours' worth of work, maybe $100.
05:32That's three hours this afternoon?
05:34Yeah.
05:35Maybe $100.
05:37I'll make it disappear and I'll suck it right out.
05:41Am I you together?
05:42Yeah, this is my son.
05:43Your son?
05:45So is this a hobby?
05:47This is a hobby.
05:48What I do with the gold, I invest all the gold money.
05:51I don't have to live on it, I don't need it for expenses.
05:53I'm buying a new Corvette with this year's gold.
05:56Last year I bought a...
05:58Two years ago I bought a Corvette.
06:00Last year I bought a house.
06:02I've got five homes now.
06:09With gold prices at $350 an ounce,
06:12there's still money to be made on the shores of the Bering Sea,
06:15but everyone has his own way of making it.
06:24Stan Cook is an Englishman.
06:26Not for him, the nit-picking delicacy of the gold pan.
06:29Stan is slowly and systematically washing away the beach.
06:34Why do you do this?
06:36Why?
06:37Yeah.
06:38So I don't die from lack of activity.
06:41It's fun.
06:43Do you have to get special permission to pan on the beach here?
06:47No, just from my wife.
06:49My wife is the only one I have to ask.
06:52How much does she pay you?
06:54I mean, how much do you have to pay her?
06:56Sorry, I goofed.
06:58Yeah.
06:59How pay much she her you do?
07:01Pebble number one, three.
07:03Bering Sea, ocean sky.
07:05Pale in here, very cold.
07:06Chill, chill, chill.
07:08Nosey dribble and soon...
07:10Terrible temperature, fluey fall over,
07:11deadly no more, Pacific rimming.
07:16I'm deteriorating fast, and it's only the second day.
07:25This may be the frozen north,
07:27but no one lives on a dog sled anymore.
07:31They know how to treat a star.
07:33Airport, please.
07:58There are no roads connecting Nome with the rest of Alaska.
08:01From here, there's only one quick way out.
08:28Our circle around the Pacific will follow the Asian side first,
08:33so we must make our way across to Russia as soon as possible.
08:37The US Coast Guard has offered to take us
08:39on their monthly supply flight
08:41from Kodiak down the Aleutian chain to the island of Attu.
08:45They leave from their Kodiak base in two days' time.
08:58BELLS RING
09:03130 years ago, the American government bought Alaska
09:07from the Russians for $7 million, less than two cents an acre.
09:13But at the Orthodox Church, Kodiak still feels firmly Russian.
09:17CHOIR SINGS
09:47BELLS RING
10:03As we have two days before our plane leaves for Attu,
10:06there's time to see the sights of the island.
10:09The greatest of these is the huge Kodiak brown bear,
10:12which can be seen in the wild on an overnight trip from the capital.
10:18The only way to get there is by floatplane.
10:21These workhorses, the one we're in is 33 years old,
10:24are the equivalent of motorcars on a rugged island like Kodiak.
10:41The weather is good as we land 60 miles away on Karluk Lake,
10:45so we set off straightaway to look for bear,
10:48with Scott the ranger, Siggy and Rosie,
10:50two incorrigibly enthusiastic Germans,
10:52and a few thousand black flies.
11:04We're in luck. Somewhere beyond the flies is a bear.
11:08Yeah, this is one of our cubs right here.
11:11He's OK.
11:14He's OK.
11:16He's a year old. A year and a half old, this one.
11:21Are they aware of us now?
11:23Mm-hm, that little cub.
11:25His mom picked up on that when he jumped and made a few sounds.
11:29So what are they thinking now?
11:31She's more interested in pushing this other bear out of the area.
11:36Shallay and Olga have these little disputes all the time.
11:40Usually, none of one of them gives in.
11:59The bears scour the river for migrating red salmon.
12:03A full-grown female will eat 30 fish a day.
12:07Where are the males?
12:09That's a good question sometimes.
12:11They come through in the evenings or late at night,
12:14early, early morning.
12:16We don't see a high population of males right here.
12:19They're scattered around in the area.
12:21Are they much bigger than the females?
12:23Yes, it can sometimes run 300 or 400 pounds more.
12:27You can only see the bears now.
12:29Swarms of flies.
12:31That one up there, she's just sort of now hunkered down.
12:34Looks like a huge boulder.
12:57Next morning, the weather has turned.
12:59We've cleared our huts and are packed and ready to go.
13:02All we need now is an aeroplane.
13:07When it doesn't come, we resign ourselves to an unscheduled second evening here.
13:13Very nice. Lucky you.
13:15Where are you going to next?
13:17Oh, baby, can I?
13:19Oh, look at this. What a feast.
13:21What a feast.
13:23Rosie and Siggy are relaxed about the delay,
13:25but they, quite sensibly,
13:27do not have to worry about circumnavigating the Pacific.
13:30Has this happened before? People have been stuck here for a bit.
13:33That can happen.
13:35We've had a few people this year that have spent up to four extra days here
13:39from their normal schedule.
13:41But that's extreme conditions where the town was fogged in solid.
13:44It was mainly fog conditions in Kodiak.
13:49Well, it's now 24 hours
13:53since we should have been airlifted from Karluk Lake
13:57back to Kodiak and off to Attu,
13:59but we're still here.
14:01And from where I sit,
14:03I can see the mountains over which the plane should come,
14:05but there's no sign of it.
14:07We've heard there's fog in Kodiak,
14:09so we're still stranded.
14:11There's nothing you can do but sit and wait.
14:23The day passes with no sight of the plane.
14:26There is now a real chance
14:28that we will miss our Coast Guard flight to Attu.
14:31What's so frustrating is that we can't tell the Coast Guard what's happened.
14:35Scott's proud of the fact that there's no phone on the island.
14:38In some desperation,
14:40I ask him if there is any other way out.
14:43You could walk to Larsen Bay,
14:45be there,
14:47and then,
14:49you could walk to Larsen Bay,
14:51be around five miles of walking
14:54and probably six miles of floating.
14:56How do we get down the Karluk River?
14:59Well, I know of an old raft down there,
15:01and I'm not sure about the condition of the raft.
15:03We'd have to check it out.
15:05Are the bears down there like there are up here?
15:07Well, not as thick,
15:09but there's one point along the river on this corner
15:12where they're doing lots of feeding now.
15:14I've watched several family groups and individual bears
15:17catching king salmon, red salmon,
15:19and so you will encounter bears at one point,
15:22I'm sure, along the river.
15:24There may be one female with three spring cubs
15:27that might stay there.
15:33There is one, as Scott warned,
15:35and it's quite large.
15:37Suddenly, the idea of walking out of here loses its appeal.
15:48It comes right out of the blue, or the grey.
15:54For a moment, I don't believe what I'm seeing.
15:58Then, like the rest of us,
16:00I'm running out to welcome our saviour.
16:18Impenetrable fog had grounded all flights
16:20out of Kodiak City for three days,
16:23but for the moment, no-one's complaining.
16:25We've been rescued.
16:28Down to the last pair of underpants!
16:42The bad news is that the Coast Guard flight has left without us.
16:46The good news is that we've managed to wangle ourselves
16:49aboard the last flight of the season
16:51on the only scheduled service between Alaska and Russia.
16:56Morning.
16:58Good morning.
17:00Petropavlovsk, please.
17:02I have trouble saying it.
17:04Do you know what I mean?
17:06Yes, we know what you're talking about, and it is.
17:09Here we are.
17:11Seven of us, please.
17:14How many bags will you be checking today?
17:16Forty-three.
17:18We're going on somewhere.
17:20We're not just stopping in Petropavlovsk.
17:22Well, we have 43 tags here.
17:25If you can go ahead and set your bags right up here,
17:28we'd appreciate that.
17:32We have very comfortable seats.
17:34If there's nobody in first class,
17:36we'll go there and we won't bother anybody.
17:38We won't bother anybody.
17:40Just give us a glass of champagne
17:42and we'll sit there quietly.
17:49Flight 203 from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk,
17:53from America's last frontier to Russia's last frontier.
17:57Kamchatka lies 2,000 miles away.
18:00The contrast is stark.
18:02Alaska is the land of opportunity,
18:05and Kamchatka, until six years ago,
18:07was closed to all foreigners.
18:10But now all that's changed,
18:12and I'm welcomed with a traditional offering of bread and salt.
18:26Unfortunately, it's not for me at all,
18:28although some of the waiting press
18:30half-recognise a star when they see one.
18:33The real celebrities are an Alaskan delegation
18:36from the town of Homa, led by the mayor.
18:39The way he tucks into the welcome bread
18:41makes me strangely envious of the new cordiality
18:44in Russian-American relations.
18:53Let me introduce you to Mr Carroll.
18:56I'm sorry, Mr Carroll.
18:59Greetings over, the Alaskan delegation
19:01is swept away in the official limousine.
19:07But the offerings from the people of Petropavlovsk
19:09don't go unappreciated.
19:15Ah-ha!
19:17Well, I was good.
19:19I was good.
19:20I was good.
19:21I was good.
19:22I was good.
19:23I was good.
19:24I was good.
19:25I was good.
19:26I was good.
19:27Forget it.
19:28I was good.
19:29I was good.
19:30By a friend.
19:31And it turns out it was a bit of a mistake.
19:32They weren't for me.
19:33They were from some Alaskan...
19:35some Capitan Friendship Society,
19:37but they left me with the cake.
19:40I got the cake in the end.
19:41Didn't get the flowers, but I got the cake.
19:44It's very nice, we'll share it.
19:45It should last us a week.
19:57The next morning, we meet the team who are to show us the wilder side of Kamchatka.
20:01Sergei Alexeev, Director of the Kronotsky Reserve.
20:04Sergei. Sergei.
20:06My pleasure. Sergei.
20:08Cook Svetlana. Yes, Svetlana.
20:10Good, excellent.
20:12My assistant Alexander. Alexander.
20:15And interpreter Konstantin. Interpreter Konstantin.
20:18And for those who may not know, this is Igor Nosov,
20:21who is the big man here today, who's going to guide us through not only Kamchatka,
20:25but also all the way down the Russian Pacific.
20:28So we're all ready, Igor, we're in your hands.
20:31Let's get aboard. Yes, thank you. Please.
20:45Krechet, the name on the side of the aircraft,
20:48is one of the myriad private companies now running these old military helicopters.
20:53The word means a falcon,
20:55but for a while this mighty beast feels more like an elephant.
21:15For one moment, I thought we decided to go by road instead.
21:24BIRDS CHIRP
21:44There are no roads across Kamchatka, and very few people either.
21:48Those that brave the weather and the rough terrain are mostly nomads.
21:52We're looking for a tribe called the Evanks,
21:55who move through the mountains and forests, living off great herds of reindeer.
22:13We locate one of their encampments. It seems remarkably reindeer-free.
22:18DOGS BARK
22:25Can he tell us where are the reindeer herd?
22:38Do you see the mist over there? I see the mist, yeah.
22:41I don't see anything in the mist.
22:43He said that they are there. They're there in the mist.
22:47Not far from here, about two kilometres.
22:50Two kilometres away?
22:52How many reindeer does he have up there?
23:001,000. 1,000?
23:02Well, I think we should try and see them if we can.
23:08So the bird labours into the air again,
23:10threatening to blow away the Evanks for a second time.
23:16I miss the Kodiak bears and the cloud of flies.
23:19I miss the Coast Guard flight to the island of Attu.
23:22This time, I'm determined not to miss the reindeer.
23:31By now, the entire crew, including the pilot's young son,
23:34are on full reindeer alert, but there's not an antler to be seen.
23:40Then the weather clears and the landscape changes
23:43and we're over some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
23:58Tourism is not yet established here, and it's doubtful if it ever will be.
24:02This part of Kamchatka is protected, however.
24:05The 6,000 square miles below us is known as the Kronotsky Reserve.
24:12This is the crater of the Uzon volcano.
24:15There are 25 volcanoes on the reserve.
24:1812 are still active.
24:35HEAVY RAIN
25:06HEAVY RAIN
25:09HEAVY RAIN
25:32This is a truly amazing place, the Kronotsky Reserve.
25:35I mean, I haven't seen as much steam since I gave up trainspotting.
25:38It is just the size of the place.
25:41Not only what you see on the surface,
25:43like the volcanoes that we've seen and flown over,
25:46but what you feel is underneath.
25:48I've never, ever anywhere else felt the sense of the earth
25:51sort of bubbling and pulsing beneath me, this energy just pouring out.
25:55And it is really in the middle of nowhere.
25:58I have to remember that we're extraordinarily privileged to be here.
26:01I mean, this is inaccessible, remote land of Kamchatka.
26:06HEAVY RAIN
26:27The geysers erupt with clockwork precision.
26:30This one, known as the Giant,
26:32blasts 100 feet in the air every three hours.
26:35I persuade Sergei and Konstantin to take me closer.
26:38Let's go.
26:40We can wait for 20 minutes.
26:51HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
26:54Very good.
26:56Yeah.
26:58How much is that?
27:01250 degrees.
27:03250 degrees above zero.
27:09The wind blowing that way, will you please?
27:12Come on, George. You've been on our side today.
27:23This is very nasty.
27:25Slowly, George. Slowly.
27:27You've got to keep under the water to avoid being bitten to death.
27:30Oh, it's very, very nice.
27:32After this water, too young.
27:3420 years ago.
27:36I feel 52 already, Igor.
27:38I am 52.
27:42Oh!
27:44Very nice.
27:46Is it my imagination, or has this fish soup got vodka in it?
27:50Is there vodka in here?
27:52Yes, absolutely.
27:54You always put vodka in fish soup.
27:57Russian fish soup only with vodka.
27:59It's really good.
28:01Red wine, Moldavian wine.
28:03It's fantastic.
28:05Cheers.
28:07Thank you all.
28:11A fresh rustle of plastic.
28:17HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
28:26HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
28:56HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
29:21Next morning, we're brought firmly down to earth.
29:24The rain sets in and we're confined to Olga's hunting lodge
29:27in the suburbs of Petropavlovsk.
29:29It's the perfect weather for learning a cheerful Russian song.
29:32Can you do this into a tape recorder?
29:34Just a little bit.
29:36Then I can learn the whole thing.
29:38OK, so we're on.
29:40So, In Your Own Time,
29:42Igor, with...
29:44What is it called?
29:46The song?
29:48This is Polushka Pole.
29:50It's a very traditional Russian song
29:53composed by Knyper.
29:55Polushka Pole.
29:57It's fantastic Russian.
29:59Two words on that count.
30:01Three, I'm rather fucked.
30:03Igor, live in the studio.
30:05HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
30:22HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
30:53Big and then small.
30:56Loud and then soft.
30:58Manic.
31:00This is Russian character.
31:02Good.
31:05CLICKING
31:20The sight of all this water reminds me
31:22that there is something significantly absent
31:24from my traveller's kit
31:26and apparently from most Russian hotels as well.
31:29HE HUMS
31:31Bath plugs, bath plugs.
31:34I don't see a plethora of bath plugs.
31:37But one can but ask.
31:40Oh, there's somebody over here.
31:43Um...
31:47HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
31:53HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
31:55Here, no where here?
31:57HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
31:59HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
32:02HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
32:05No bath plugs.
32:14HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
32:25DOG BARKS
32:27Igor?
32:31Next morning, whilst Olga makes potato cakes for breakfast,
32:34Igor is busy negotiating transport to get us out of here.
32:37PHONE RINGS
32:41Hello?
32:43Ah, Magadan. I see.
32:45Yes. Yes.
32:48Why not?
32:50It's impossible.
32:52Tomorrow the BBC group must fly to Gulag.
32:55Yes.
32:57How come there's no petrol?
32:59I'll get you some petrol.
33:03From polis to polis, Michael Palin.
33:06Tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning the helicopter must be ready.
33:10And only tomorrow!
33:12You don't understand. I'm telling you.
33:15You'll have petrol. Yes.
33:18Yes. That's why I thank you.
33:21Please, three tons of petrol will be sent to you.
33:24It's a must.
33:26Thank you. As the English say, thank you very much.
33:29Thank you. Yes.
33:38Igor's subtle techniques of persuasion clearly worked.
33:41After breakfast, we find ourselves back at Petropavlovsk airport.
33:47Once again, we're on our way, heading round the Pacific Rim.
33:51Our destination is the sinister city of Magadan,
33:54600 miles away on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk.
33:59Magadan was built by slave labour in the 1930s.
34:03It was the administration centre
34:05for the mineral mines of the nearby Kolyma region.
34:10Most of the inhabitants of this bleak city
34:13are the sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters
34:16of prisoners and prison officials.
34:18This is where Stalin sent the enemies of the people.
34:21Writers, artists, lawyers, anyone on whom his suspicions fell.
34:31In the very heart of Magadan
34:33is the start of the long road that led to the camps.
34:36It runs for hundreds of miles.
34:39It, too, was built on slave labour,
34:41laid literally over the bodies of those who perished.
34:45We're taking one of the survivors
34:47back to the remains of the gulag camps where he once worked.
35:00His name is Ivan Yakovlev.
35:02He's not returned to this harsh wilderness for 50 years.
35:07These are the old uranium mines,
35:09where men worked in grim isolation
35:11to extract the vital ingredients for Russia's first atomic bomb.
35:36It was always officially denied that forced labour camps existed,
35:40but Ivan Yakovlev shows us the remains of a cemetery
35:43on the mountainside 200 miles north of Magadan.
35:47There is clear evidence here to prove that someone knew
35:50what was going on in the camp.
35:53It's the remains of a man,
35:55who had been forced to leave the camp
35:57for the sake of his country.
35:59He had been forced to leave the camp
36:01for the sake of his country.
36:03There is clear evidence here to prove that someone knew
36:06who was buried in these communal graves.
36:09For each one is marked with an identification disc,
36:12made from an old tin lid.
36:16That's a G, Russian G-24.
36:33What would have been the main cause of death?
36:43He told me that the main causes of death
36:46were overwork, radiation, and terrible hunger.
36:54These are the buildings where the slave labourers lived.
36:57Ironically, the best preserved is the camp's primary building.
37:01Ironically, the best preserved is the camp's prison,
37:04as if one were necessary.
37:06If you escaped from here, there was nowhere to go.
37:11In the shadow of the uranium mines,
37:13there are poignant reminders of those who were forced to work them.
37:17It's estimated that from 1933 until their closure in 1953,
37:21three million Russians were sent to their deaths
37:24in camps like these.
37:32I asked Tatyana, the interpreter,
37:34what Ivan Yakovlev's feelings are on returning here after so long.
37:41He says he's quite cheerful.
37:46The generals and politicians who ran the gulags are all dead.
37:50But despite everything that he's been through, he's alive.
37:54And as he himself says,
37:56''I'm smiling.''
38:00When Ivan was released from the gulag in 1946,
38:03he was given a medal for services to his country
38:06in the Great Patriotic War.
38:08He treasured it.
38:12He was a hero.
38:14We leave Magadan later today.
38:16Still time for last-minute shopping.
38:26The sun is setting.
38:28It's time to go to bed.
38:30I'm going to bed.
38:32I'm going to bed.
38:34I'm going to bed.
38:36I'm going to bed.
38:38I'm going to bed.
38:40I'm going to bed.
38:43The store is called Things For The House.
38:46Now that reminds me, there is something I need.
38:51Ah.
38:53Tweezers.
38:55Brushes, soap.
38:57Corkscrews.
38:59Bulbs.
39:03Bathtaps.
39:06That looks a bit like a plopka.
39:09Ah.
39:11Um.
39:13Excuse me.
39:15Where is a plopka?
39:17Plopka for water.
39:19No.
39:25No.
39:27No.
39:29No.
39:33No plopka.
39:35Plopka.
39:37Ah, I've got something like it, I think.
39:40Um.
39:42Yeah?
39:46Like a cork, yes.
39:49That's powerful.
39:51What she offers me has holes in it, more like a sink tidy.
39:54Um.
39:56I want something rubber.
39:58Um.
40:00No, I think that would let the water through.
40:02Um.
40:08There is still one Russian city left in which I can buy a bath plug.
40:121,400 miles due south of Magadan is Vladivostok,
40:16the capital of the Russian Far East,
40:18where the only railway line across Russia meets the Pacific.
40:35This is a first for me.
40:37The last few miles of my journey into Vladivostok
40:40are along the Trans-Siberian railway line.
40:48The exhausting 6,000-mile journey from Moscow
40:51takes six days and crosses seven time zones
40:54before the train reaches the glorious extravaganza of Vladivostok Station,
40:59built in 1912 in the Bavarian Gothic style
41:02and freshly painted by an Italian film company.
41:19The roads of Vladivostok are full of Japanese cars
41:22and the midday bustle in the streets has an almost European feel.
41:26It's hard to believe that the city was closed to foreigners
41:29as recently as 1992.
41:39It was closed because it was the home port
41:41of the mighty Russian Pacific Fleet.
41:43It remains their home, but the fleet now goes on joint manoeuvres
41:47with its old enemies, America and China, and is no longer mighty.
41:57MUSIC CONTINUES
42:07My hotel in the leafy suburbs is called the Vlad Motor Inn.
42:11It's a joint venture with a Canadian company.
42:14Could my search be over?
42:16Do the, um, baths have bath plugs here?
42:21Uh...
42:27Do the baths have bath plugs here?
42:30Yeah. They have. They're made of rubber.
42:33You don't know how glad I am to hear that.
42:35It'll save me wandering around Vladivostok for the next three days.
42:39So don't worry about that. You can take a deep bath.
42:41I can bath! Hey-hey! OK, thank you.
42:44Where's this? It's the second floor.
42:46OK, thank you. Have a good time here.
42:51Ah, the pleasure of retained water.
42:57MUSIC CONTINUES
43:15The Navy wakes early. I do too.
43:18The Pacific Fleet has agreed to be my host for the day.
43:24BELL RINGS
43:41MUSIC PLAYS
43:49Where the hammer and sickle used to fly,
43:51the Russian Navy now has a new flag.
43:54Once it's raised, the day's work begins.
44:04I, meanwhile, have been invited to join Vice-Admiral Cherkov,
44:08deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet,
44:11aboard his launch, called Typhoon.
44:15I've one special favour to ask him.
44:18We have ensemble of dancing and song of Pacific Fleet.
44:23Yes, good. That's what I'm talking about.
44:25And admiral chief of this ensemble.
44:28Really? Yes.
44:30This ensemble, his son.
44:32Ah. Does the admiral himself enjoy singing?
44:35Does he like to sing? Yes, yes.
44:45Because he likes the song, does he?
44:47HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
45:03He like here. He like here.
45:07Anyway, I would like to, if he doesn't mind,
45:11maybe he could give me the address of the choir
45:14and if they're having a rehearsal or something,
45:16maybe I could just go and pop along and sit at the back.
45:19No problem. No problem.
45:21Leslie, Leslie. Thank you very much.
45:23HE SPEAKS IN RUSSIAN
45:38Have you met with ensemble?
45:40No. No? I would like to.
45:46OK. Thank you. OK. Thank you.
45:49Yeah, but I've been learning this song since we got to Russia.
45:54And it will be...
45:56Will it? Thank you.
46:00With you. Together.
46:02Please thank the admiral very much indeed
46:04and, you know, I hope I will do the song justice.
46:08So it is that with permission from the very highest level
46:11I'm given temporary membership of the legendary,
46:14once mighty, Pacific Fleet Ensemble.
46:23A dream about to be fulfilled.
46:30Ooh! Brilliant.
46:36Two fingers for it. Hello, sailor. Ready to go.
46:39Oh, my God. There's more.
46:42Do I need make-up? I'm in...
46:45CLOCK TICKS
46:52OK. Thank you.
47:14HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
47:44HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
48:14HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN
48:44HE SINGS IN RUSSIAN