River Journeys

Civilisation began in the great river valleys. Today our settlements still cluster along the banks of the world's great rivers. They were, and have often remained, the arteries of the planet. By travelling on a river we can retrace the earliest journeys in which man discovered the earth. River Journeys comprises six voyages: Michael Wood travelling up the Congo in Zaire into `the heart of darkness;' Christina Dodwell exploring the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea revisiting Stone-Age tribes among whom she lived for two years; William Shawcross travels along the Mekong from Ho Chi Minh City through communist controlled Vietnam and Kampuchea to Angkor Wat, and on to the golden triangle in Northern Thailand; Germaine Greer follows the Sao Francisco in the north eastern region of Brazil on a vintage paddle-steamer which is making its last voyage from Juazeiro to Pirapora; Russell Braddon returns to his native land and follows the Murray River from source to estuary, firstly by canoe, then by paddle-steamer, launch, tourist boat and house boat; and lastly Brian Thompson takes on the timeless Nile, from Juba to Cairo on an antiquated Sudanese ferry, past the treasures of Luxor, to the great fertile delta at Alexandria...