Many of those sights center on food. He attends the festival where he visits the religious Babas who practice extreme forms of , such as being naked with strange piercings. He is given a makeover by some of Thailand. The first series aired between 23 September and 11 November 2010 and centred on Pilkington's journeys to the excluding , which was replaced by the ; it ran for eight episodes. He also recreates his favourite travels, which are those he took to a holiday park in as a child. He also tries arse boarding, meets a tribe that worships , and interacts with another primitive tribe, dancing with them while wearing a jockstrap decorated with foliage before spending a night alone on an island in.
They want him to , but he refuses. He then assists a local truck driver in Barrow who collects the contents of the local residents '. They then complete Marco Polo 's journey by flying to China and boarding a boat at for a cruise on the. On , he gets caught up in a festival where he runs in terror. He is scheduled for an eight hour overnight bus ride to the Kumbh Mela Festival, the largest religious festival in the world, which he is not looking forward to since he is not a religious person and doesn't understand the attraction of religion. Pilkington then makes the long trek up Mount Fuji where he gets an inspiration for an invention: Pilko Pants, inflatable trousers which make it more comfortable to sit on hard or cold surfaces. His excitement is tempered when Stephen and Ricky suggest that since he is in the Middle East, that he take advantage of the situation by visiting Israel as well.
He's not too excited about it as he hates crowds and he presupposes it's a gay event, which makes him feel. Later on, he goes to Jordan where he rides a camel for eight hours and spends time in a settlement where they prepare lamb eyeballs and testicles for dinner. He is about to stay the night in a shop stall but his hosts place him in an apartment bedroom. They then attach fireworks to the animals, light them, and run through the streets. He visits a monkey park where he loses his snacks right away. The next day, Pilkington tries out a , but fails to get out of the water. Pilkington then seeks peace and quiet at a secluded beach, only to discover that it is a nude beach.
He also visits a hospital museum, and a King Cobra Village to hang out and eat with the locals. He meets an American acolyte who brings him to a Hindu holy man. For Karl's trip to Egypt, Ricky and Stephen believe it's time for him to experience budget travel by flying economy and staying in the seediest of hotels, about which Karl is not too happy. He also tries out , and has a good look at Mount Fuji while on the. He then meets his guide, Celso, who takes him for a Brazilian and assists him in shopping for ultra-tight Brazilian beachwear before taking him to a gay beach.
After eight hours of hiking, he gives up about three-quarters of the way to Machu Picchu, and instead provides a voice-over where he spoofs Attenborough as the episode ends with film of the ancient city taken by his camera crew. Pilkington visits a family who has a pet named Jessica. Archived from on 28 March 2013. They discuss the fact that many. As he waits for the weather to clear to make another attempt to see the Pyramids, Karl is provided a guide, Achmed, who gives him a lesson in bartering, and takes him to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, in which Karl has no interest. Karl tells them about what he thinks he's learned from these travels. Pilkington lies and tells Gervais and Merchant that he did the jump.
He attends a block party, learns to dance, and marches in a parade. He meets up with some descendants of the who built the temples; he helps them knock down a nest to harvest its larvae, which they then share with him in. After the return trek, he confesses to Gervais that he lied about the bungee jump. A third series, a three-part special titled The Short Way Round, aired 30 November — 21 December 2012; in it, Karl was accompanied by , who stars in Gervais 's situation comedy show , on a trip loosely recreating 's 13th-century journey from to China. He visits a colorful cemetery.
Before he reaches Australia, Gervais and Merchant plan a stopover in , in time for one of their. He sits with the girls and insists that Davis join him, which Davis eventually does while an appreciative crowd applauds — much to Pilkington 's amusement but Davis 's dismay. When Pilkington finally goes to Australia, Gervais and Merchant decide that swimming with dolphins is too boring so they have him go in a where he encounters. Davis and Gervais are concerned that Pilkington may say something insensitive to the girls. Pilkington attempts to ride some tethered helium balloons but is too heavy; he has Davis ride them, which Gervais finds not as funny. On his itinerary is Beijing, the Great Wall of China which he ends up believing is not great but a sham , and Shanhaiguan. He begins a quest for but cannot find any locals who have heard of them.
Stephen and Ricky then send him on a Nile cruise, which does not lift his spirits beyond doing something just to piss off Ricky. He encounters a religious festival known as day, where he is pelted with coloured paint powder. The series features as he travels around the world. He crosses over to where he visits the in. Rounding out the trip, they take a ferryboat from Hong Kong to and stay at the hotel, where they ride in a on the hotel 's canal much as people do where they began their journey in Venice.
Karl is relieved that this trip is his last, but is worried that Ricky and Stephen will do something monumentally outrageous to end the series on a high note. But he is not concerned about the eleven hour trek to get to Machu Picchu, as he likes camping, and even makes preparations for a makeshift toilet. They stop by the , where Pilkington thinks he is just heading to a nice dinner in the restaurant on the top floor of the tower, not knowing that Gervais has texted Davis and told Davis it is up to him to get Pilkington to engage in the extreme activities also available at the top of the tower, such as. Before he travels to , Pilkington agrees to start in South Africa, as he has been there on holiday before. All episodes uploaded at best and good video hosts and file hosts like : openload. Karl isn't overly concerned about going to Mexico beyond Ricky and Stephen's assertion that it probably is the most dangerous place from a personal safety perspective than anywhere he's traveled thus far.