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Photos

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Around The World In 80 Days

Pole To Pole

Full Circle

Hemingway Adventure

Sahara

Himalaya

New Europe

Brazil

North Korea Journal

The Python Years: Diaries 1969 – 1979, Volume 1

Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980 – 1988, Volume 2

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Back to: Photos

Pole To Pole

Pole to Pole was an extraordinary journey at an extraordinary time. As we travelled south the Soviet Union unravelled before our eyes. Three months after we left it had ceased to exist. High points for me were visting Chernobyl, whitewater rafting beneath the majestic Victoria Falls and setting foot on Antarctica for the first time. Standing at the North and South Poles in the same year felt like a supreme achievement, but as you can see from the photos both Poles could have been shot in the winter sports department at Harrods!

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Day 1, North Pole, Arctic Ocean

With our pole at the North Pole.

Day 1, North Pole, Arctic Ocean

Day 5, King's Fiord, Norway

Crossing the glacier on snowmobiles en route to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.

Day 5, King's Fiord, Norway

Day 14, Norsel, Barents Sea, Arctic Ocean

Television presenters: Britain’s newest export.

Day 14, Norsel, Barents Sea, Arctic Ocean

Day 18, Karasjok, Norway

Panning for gold.

Day 18, Karasjok, Norway

Day 18, Karasjok, Norway

Tea in a laavu.

Day 18, Karasjok, Norway

Day 21, Santa Claus Village, Ivalo, Finland

On Santa’s knee in Santa Claus village.

Day 21, Santa Claus Village, Ivalo, Finland

Day 23, Hvittrask, Helsinki, Finland

No-one knows who you are when you’re naked.

Day 23, Hvittrask, Helsinki, Finland

Day 27, Leningrad, USSR

On the train in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg.

Day 27, Leningrad, USSR

Day 27, Finland Station, Leningrad, USSR

Lenin, Lenin and me.

Day 27, Finland Station, Leningrad, USSR

Day 27, Palace Square, Leningrad, USSR

Newlyweds outside the Hermitage.

Day 27, Palace Square, Leningrad, USSR

Day 32, Novgorod, USSR

The Russian kissing dance.

Day 32, Novgorod, USSR

Day 33, Gomel, USSR

Two-hour train delay – Russian style.

Day 33, Gomel, USSR

Day 38, Odessa, USSR

The Potemkin Steps.

Day 38, Odessa, USSR

Day 43, Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul from Süleyman’s mosque. Bosporus to the right, the Golden Horn to the left, the new Galata Bridge points skywards.

Day 43, Istanbul, Turkey

Day 44, The Cagaloglu Hammam, Istanbul, Turkey

Massage à la Turk.

Day 44, The Cagaloglu Hammam, Istanbul, Turkey

Day 46, Ephesus Ancient Theatre, Ephesus, Turkey

The great theatre of Ephesus.

Day 46, Ephesus Ancient Theatre, Ephesus, Turkey

Day 50, Paphos, Cyprus

Over-zealous celebrations at the Polycarpu wedding.

Day 50, Paphos, Cyprus

Day 50, Paphos, Cyprus

A ‘blackbird’ from the Polycarpu wedding.

Day 50, Paphos, Cyprus

Day 56, Karnak Temple Complex, Karnak, Egypt

The Hypostyle Hall.

Day 56, Karnak Temple Complex, Karnak, Egypt

Day 58, The Nile, Egypt

Felucca ride on the Nile.

Day 58, The Nile, Egypt

Day 62, Sinai, Aswan, Egypt

Above deck on the Sinai.

Day 62, Sinai, Aswan, Egypt

Day 62, Sinai, Aswan, Egypt

Below deck on the Sinai.

Day 62, Sinai, Aswan, Egypt

Day 67, Wadi Halfa, Sudan

Nubian mother and child.

Day 67, Wadi Halfa, Sudan

Day 65, The Nile Valley Express, Nubian Desert, Sudan

Riding Roof Class.

Day 65, The Nile Valley Express, Nubian Desert, Sudan

Day 70, Omdurman, Sudan

The start of another felucca.

Day 70, Omdurman, Sudan

Day 71, Omdurman, Sudan

Camel shopping.

Day 71, Omdurman, Sudan

Day 77, Shedi - Gondar, Ethiopia

Ethiopian border country: tea with the troops.

Day 77, Shedi - Gondar, Ethiopia

Day 79, Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia

At the Blue Nile Falls.

Day 79, Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia

Day 88, Lerata, Kenya

Back to school in Lerata, Kenya, where I leave the world behind.

Day 88, Lerata, Kenya

Day 89, Nanyuki, Kenya

The Pole to Pole team (left to right): Fraser Barber, Patti Musicaro, Nigel Meakin, Angela Elbourne, Roger Mills, Clem Vallance, Mirabel Brook, A Hanger-on.

Day 89, Nanyuki, Kenya

Day 98, Mara River, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

On safari in the Masai Mara.

Day 98, Mara River, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Day 99, Serengeti Plains, Tanzania

Lions in the Masai Mara II

Day 99, Serengeti Plains, Tanzania

Day 102, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma Express, Dodoma to Kigoma, Tanzania

On the Kigoma Express.

Day 102, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma Express, Dodoma to Kigoma, Tanzania

Day 103, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma Express, Dodoma to Kigoma, Tanzania

Baby born in the restaurant car of the Kigoma Express.

Day 103, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma Express, Dodoma to Kigoma, Tanzania

Day 107, Liemba, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania

The floating wedding party.

Day 107, Liemba, Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania

Day 108, Mpulungu, Zambia

Me and my prescription with Dr Baela.

Day 108, Mpulungu, Zambia

Day 110, Shiwa Ng'andu House, Shiwa Ng'andu, Zambia

Present and past: English country life endures.

Day 110, Shiwa Ng'andu House, Shiwa Ng'andu, Zambia

Day 116, Zambesi River, Zambia

The day I did a Very Silly Thing, white-water rafting on the Zambesi River.

Day 116, Zambesi River, Zambia

Day 125, Mandela Village, Soweto, South Africa

Family outside their home in Soweto.

Day 125, Mandela Village, Soweto, South Africa

Day 125, Orlando, Soweto, South Africa

Reunion with the Gwangwas and a cow dung welcome.

Day 125, Orlando, Soweto, South Africa

Day 126, Western Deep Mines, Johannesburg, South Africa

The entrails of the mine - two and half miles down.

Day 126, Western Deep Mines, Johannesburg, South Africa

Day 133, Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción, Santiago, Chile

The closed virgin.

Day 133, Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción, Santiago, Chile

Day 136, Punta Arenas, Chile

The multicoloured roofs of Punta Arenas, Chile.

Day 136, Punta Arenas, Chile

Day 138, Patriot Hills, Antarctica

Kazama-San rehearsing for polar arrival.

Day 138, Patriot Hills, Antarctica

Day 138, Patriot Hills, Antarctica

An afternoon stroll in the Patriot Hills.

Day 138, Patriot Hills, Antarctica

Day 141, The South Pole, Antarctica

At the South Pole – only 80 years too late.

Day 141, The South Pole, Antarctica

While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of content included within this gallery, if any have inadvertently been overlooked, themichaelpalin.com will be pleased to acknowledge them.

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