Amritsar to Shimla

In this episode, Michael embarks on a classic rail journey from Amritsar to Shimla. Published when the British Raj was at its height, his guide leads him to some of the key locations in India's 20th century story, from the massacre in Amritsar in 1919 to the bloody events of Partition. Beginning in the Sikh holy city, Michael is dazzled by the beauty of the Golden Temple and awed by the scale of its langar - the world's largest free kitchen. His route then takes him through the Punjab, India's breadbasket. Along the way he gives his trademark colourful wardrobe an Indian twist, and reaches the foothills of the Himalayas, where the epic Kalka to Shimla hill railway carries him to the former summer seat of the British rulers of the Raj.