Original subtitles

This is the beginning of my most epic voyage...

..an exploration through the world's greatest spice kingdoms.

It's fantastic.

The Spice Trail is more than just a journey through the senses.

This is where I'm supposed to say, "Don't try this at home."

It's a story of adventure...

This is kind of Queen of Sheba travelling, really.

..and of the human desire to connect.

THEY SING

Starting in the remote treasure islands of Indonesia,

I'll unearth the dark dealings of the spice trade...

History contains some bloody secrets.

..witness the vitality of the people in southern India...

Phew!

..and meet the vanilla hustlers...

We sold it. Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.

..of Madagascar,

ending my journey in the lost civilisations of Jordan...

Petra!

..via the fabled island of Zanzibar.

Look at this view!

A trail so breath-taking...

That makes me feel very weepy.

..it literally changed the world.

All right!

Join me on this Spice Trail adventure.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

My adventure starts in Indonesia, at the port of Ambon.

I'm setting sail for one of the most far-flung places on Earth.

The birthplace of globalisation.

Famed for a spice so precious...

..it was once worth more than its weight in gold.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

I can't tell you how difficult it's been just to get this far.

Honestly, you'd think in the 21st century

that you could reach anywhere in the world when you wanted to.

There'd be a timetable for things. But not so...

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

..not so here because...

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

..the ferry we were going to catch was cancelled.

That was going to be two days hence.

Then we got this much larger ferry, they said, "Quick, you can get it."

So we've been rushing to and fro, flapping around like mad,

desperate to get onto this exciting journey.

And people have been flocking along.

When I was a child and travelled to and from the Far East,

we travelled on troopships,

and I swear they must have been... well, this size.

Great troopships.

The excitement of getting down to the quay.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

Time to embark.

My journey starts in Indonesia's Maluku Province,

a collection of 500 islands on the far edge of the country.

Across the Banda Sea, there is a tiny archipelago

that was once the most important and powerful location in the world.

Look how people have set up their little homes already

all over the place.

'I'm going to be very grateful for my tiny cabin,

'as it's a good 11-hour crossing, depending on the elements.'

Look at this - a little dear little cabin with my own kettle.

I mean, I feel rather a rat, actually, travelling like this,

when all those people are camping down like that.

But, hey, my bathroom.

And it's kind of got these nice buckets

where you wash your bottom with a pipe

and a nice bucket of water, and little shoes to wear.

It's enchanting.

Couldn't be better.

INDISTINCT ON-BOARD ANNOUNCEMENT

It's half past one in the morning and we're finally setting sail.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

We're sailing a route that is as old as time.

In the sixth century, Asian and Arab merchants

were the first to make this treacherous crossing

in search of an exotic spice so rare

that it only grew in one place on Earth.

Excuse me. May I sit here?

These shrewd merchants kept the origins of their bounty

a heavily guarded secret.

Nobody knew exactly

where the most precious of the spices came from,

which was nutmeg. Nobody knew.

We know it today as a sublime culinary spice.

But back then, it was a wonder drug,

fabled to be a cure for the deadly bubonic plague, the Black Death.

By the time these spices had reached Constantinople,

from there on into Europe,

the traders had marked them up by a hefty 60,000%.

Now, the Europeans were naturally very eager

to have a piece of the action.

And so began a frenzy that became known as the spice race -

a struggle to be the first to find, and to lay claim to,

one of the smallest groups of islands in the world.

And as in all the best tall tales,

finding a treasure island requires a map.

I mean, Indonesia, it has 17,000 islands,

and some of them are so small they're not even named.

We have just set sail from Ambon, and we're sailing...

Oh, God, where are they?

I've literally lost them. Come on, come on, come on.

Yeah, there. That's them.

These are the fabulous, world-famous, glorious,

legendary Banda Islands.

THUNDER

Think it was quite a good crossing.

We were lucky enough to get about three hours' sleep.

Ah! This is my moment.

Can you guess which film it is?

Somebody's arms are around me.

I kissed him once in another film.

Guess what it is. Here comes the rain!

MUSIC: 'My Heart Will Go On'

That was acting. It isn't as bad as that, but it is pretty blowy.

I think I can just see on the horizon...

..a thin line of land.

This is thrilling. Can you imagine what it was like?

Those explorers, those traders,

coming across these seas in those wooden boats

with sort of scurvy, probably, looking for your fortune.

And suddenly, you'd see these mountains. You'd go, "This is it!"

You'd see the hills coming out of the sea and you'd go,

"This is it! We've got here." The Banda Islands.

I can imagine the mariners going, "Nutmeg!"

And gosh, those trees. Everything's just densely wooded.

Look how ravishing it is.

Everything gradually taking shape. Stunning.

I don't know why people go to the moon.

It's sensationally boring, I can tell you that now.

It's a bore. Look at it.

More fascination in ten rocks

than you'll find in the whole of the moon.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

The Europeans had been at sea for several years

by the time they were welcomed by this sight.

The Spanish, Portuguese and English were all competing to get here.

But it was the Dutch who made the biggest inroad.

Rising out of the mist is a haunting reminder of the past.

It's extraordinary to think that in the 17th century,

the world revolved around these tiny islands.

The riches of the world, the focus of the world

was how to get there, how to claim bits of it.

There are 11 Banda Islands

rising out of one of the deepest seas on the planet.

We've docked on the island of Banda Neira, the capital.

The ferry only comes in twice a month, so you can imagine it's...

it's busy, it's important, it's exciting.

The island is home to 7,000 Bandanese,

who speak their own language,

distinct for its lovely sing-song note.

Selamat siang. Selamat siang.

This looks beautiful. Bits of banana, lots of fish on skewers,

cooked plants and bits and pieces.

It's the equivalent of fast food.

Beyond this bustling fish and food market,

clues to Banda's past can be found on every corner.

The town's faded houses date back to the 17th century

and once belonged to officials of the Dutch East India Company,

the most successful and powerful coloniser in Banda's history.

But it's on the neighbouring island

where the business of nutmeg farming takes place.

Thank you. Terima kasih.

And as I'm desperate to get my first sighting of this super-spice,

I'm already island-hopping.

Leaving Banda Neira to go to Banda Besar,

a larger island just a tiny bit across the water.

It's got far fewer people than Banda Neira,

but masses of nutmeg plantations.

This is literally the local bus or your local tube.

Alongside Banda Neira and Besar

is a feature that dominates the landscape.

This is Gunung Api, the Fire Mountain,

an active volcano that holds the secret to Banda's success.

All the volcanic eruptions over the millennia

has made this black earth rich and fertile for cloves and nutmeg.

And actually, bananas and mangoes and coconuts -

anything you can think of.

Beautiful, rich black soil.

Put your finger in it, stick in a seed -

tomorrow, you'll have a tree.

Well, not tomorrow, obviously. I'm just condensing time.

Getting around Banda Besar is not the easiest.

There are only four cars on the island,

so to get to the plantation,

I'm hitching a pillion ride with a local.

Hidden beneath the island's canopy of giant native kenari trees

are thousands upon thousands of golden globes.

Nutmegs everywhere.

Oh, look. And I can see it's got... That's good.

It's got red. So when it's split, I can see red inside.

So that's what we call mace. Mace.

And then when you open like that...

Look at that! It peels off. It looks like something from Alien.

Look at that!

Wow! Fantastic.

And there's a little nutmeg. But, Agil, these trees are tall.

How are you going to get the fruit up there?

Look, look, look.

We use that one, and we pick up the nutmeg.

Uh-huh. This is so immense. Because... that's one you...

A pole for fruit picking!

This is as good as it gets.

Hang on, I've got it.

There we are. And now pull? And now pull a little bit slowly.

Yes! It's fallen in.

Look at that. And it's split open already.

I'd just like to tell the people at home,

in case they go nutmeg picking.

Inside, you've still got the beautiful little nutmeg.

Dry that for three days, crack it open...

and frankly, grate it over your green beans

with some butter and black pepper.

Nutmegs! I can't believe it.

In its heyday, this tiny spice had an almighty reach.

Elizabethans bejewelled nutmeg in fancy pomanders.

And it was hailed as an aphrodisiac and a mild hallucinogenic.

No wonder the Dutch were so keen to get their hands on it.

And they did, for over 300 years,

until independence in 1945,

when the people of Banda were eventually given their trees back.

I'm looking for Samsul, but I can't see him anywhere.

Oh, my Lord! He's up a tree.

Look at that.

Samsul, I'm Joanna. Now, are these your trees? Yeah.

No!

I think it's wonderful.

I'd love that. Thank you.

Meet the family? Yes, please.

Hello, Nona. Hello, Nona.

Mitha. Hello, Mitha.

Rosmita.

Oh! And look at this mace.

Do you cook with this? Yeah.

Oh, look. So under here, there's a fire. Yeah.

How do I know when they're ready?

RATTLING

Smash it?

There!

That is the nutmeg -

this tiny little thing.

But here they are, eaten fresh out of the shell.

Mmm! Mmm.

Honestly, it's divine.

And it's most extraordinary.

It's a refined taste. It's a sort of sophisticated taste.

And here, possibly, with Rosmita, the best nutmegs in the world.

'With a pocket full of nutmeg and mace...'

Look at that. Thank you. Thank you. Terima kasih. Ooh, ooh, ooh!

'..I'm catching the ferry back.

'And I'm in for some company.'

THEY CHANT

These guys are in Banda's under-19 football division

and are celebrating an inter-island win.

Have you been playing football today?

4-0! 4-0? Oh!

CHEERING

Is there any rivalry between these two teams,

between Banda Besar, Banda Neira?

ALL: Banda Neira!

Banda Neira always the best. This is the premier team.

Premier team. Premier team? Yeah.

This is very exciting. I feel privileged to have met you.

I'll have autographs. You must sign my autograph. And I'll go,

"Look, I've got the captain of the Banda Neira team."

THEY CHANT

# Ole, ole, ole, ole

# Ole, ole... #

Nowadays, the only battles for supremacy in the Banda Islands

are those played out on the football pitch.

But turn back the clock to 1621,

and the islanders found themselves on the receiving end

of an almighty attack.

An event immortalised in Banda's House of Culture.

This painting...

..depicts one of the most ghastly events

that happened here on the Banda Islands.

It's called the Banda Massacre.

And here is a painting of the man

who rained the terror down on the Banda people in those days -

Jan Pieterszoon Coen.

He was with the Dutch East India Company.

The Dutch East India Company, apart from trading,

which they'd been doing fairly peacefully with the Banda people,

decided that they wanted to come onshore and build forts.

And the Banda people, of course, resisted.

He brought 13 huge ships

with 1,600 men and 80 Japanese mercenaries.

The terror that must have come into the islanders' hearts.

It's so ghastly.

They'd got cannons, they'd got fire.

These were just simple Banda people.

90% of their population was massacred. 90%!

The assault was orchestrated to wipe out the Bandanese

and take control of their nutmeg once and for all.

It was genocide, and all in the name of greed.

There was now no-one left

to contest the island's fortifications.

While today, Fort Belgica makes a good playground for local kids...

THEY SING

..at the time, it sent out a very clear message.

"Do not mess with the Dutch."

Wow!

Built in 1611, this fort is a testament

to the value of nutmeg to the outside world.

It was a commodity well worth fighting for and dying for.

There was a time when the riches that were plundered

by the Dutch East India Company from the Spice Islands

amounted to half of the Netherlands' entire annual income.

Imagine that.

The Dutch East India Company.

Well, it was rather like companies like Apple or Amazon are today -

immensely important and far-reaching.

And rich.

One of the most important people on the island of Banda Neira

is a woman whose grandfather

was affectionately known as the King of Banda.

THEY GREET EACH OTHER

Oh, this is thrilling for me, Mita,

because this is your own family hotel, isn't it?

Yes. I've been running it since 2016 now.

And how long has it been in your family?

Well, this whole area was a port for my great-great-grandfather.

Yes. My grandfather, he then turned it into hotel.

Mita is the granddaughter of the late, great Des Alwi,

a force of nature

who was passionate about improving the lives of the Bandanese

and a key figure in the fight for Indonesia's independence.

Growing up in his shadow,

Mita eventually went off to see the world,

before returning to island life.

When the phone call came, saying, "Come back, it's your turn now,"

were you thrilled? Um...

Yeah. I mean, I'm like, "Oh, already?"

So I sort of always knew one day

that I will come back here

because my grandpa ingrained the love of Banda

since I was basically a tiny baby.

Mita is in the process of restoring the family hotel.

In its heyday, its charming grandeur

and to-die-for waterside location attracted big names.

We had Mick Jagger. Mick Jagger?

Yes. Of the Rolling Stones. Yeah, he came here.

My mum was hosting him then,

and so my mum asked him, "So you're a singer?"

And he said, "Yeah."

And then my mum said, "Oh, could you sing us a song?"

So he did.

Unfortunately, when I asked my mum what song he sang...

She can't remember? She can't remember.

A private concert, and she can't remember the song!

Mick, if you're watching this, just call us in

and let us know what the song was.

Mita wears many hats.

As well as running the splendid hotel,

she oversees Banda's Foundation of Heritage and Culture.

The organisation was founded by her grandfather

to help restore the island's historic buildings.

So, Mita, look at this!

This is called the Istana Mini.

This was once the governor's house.

So, Dutch East India Company, this was its headquarters?

Yeah. With this huge spread, grand building.

They will have parties here, ballroom dances here.

While the governors lived in luxury,

in the plantations, slaves were toiling away

in miserable conditions.

This palace and all it stood for

was built on the back of slave labour,

and for Mita, it's an uncomfortable but important truth.

We have to know our history. Yeah.

Don't let this disappear. Exactly.

Once it's gone, it's gone forever. Exactly.

History is there for us to learn, to be better, to make more peace.

What we say in Banda is,

"The bad things are in our heads but not in our heart."

So there's great forgiveness on these islands, isn't there?

There's a lot to forgive.

Here we are in the courtyard garden of this palace.

Oh! Beautiful settings.

Very ugly past. Yes.

This was the offices for the VOC. All along here.

Dutch East India Company operated from here in Banda.

Mita, nutmeg at this time

was the most important commodity in the world.

What does nutmeg mean to you?

Oh, it means so many things.

It has such a dark history.

What I feel here is like I feel like... it's...

It's, like, heavy on me. The oppression.

Yes. Um... But for now, as of now, it's also our pride.

Mm. Yeah.

I think it should be a World Heritage Site.

I'll go back and write a letter.

Banda's pride and joy, the mighty nutmeg seed,

is not only a delicious spice.

It has other properties that you might not be so familiar with.

And Ponky van den Broecke is the man who's harnessing them.

How good to meet you, Ponky.

Van den Broecke is a very unusual name for an Indonesian man.

Yeah. How did you get it?

Oh, I see. Yeah.

Ponky still farms a plantation that has been passed down

13 generations from his ancestor, Peter van den Broecke,

a governor from the Dutch East India Company.

I wonder what he might think of Ponky's latest venture -

an ingenious way of extracting valuable nutmeg oil.

Oh, a machine. I love this. Yeah.

This looks fantastic.

Amazingly handmade, beautifully assembled.

I can't... MACHINE WHIRRS

'Getting oil out of a nut is a complicated business...

'..and starts with this Willy Wonka contraption...

'..that miraculously spits out ground nutmeg.'

Good! HE CHUCKLES

Smells beautiful. And what happens now?

Will you show me? Yeah.

Come, come. You'll never see this again.

You literally will never see this again.

HE GIVES INSTRUCTIONS

Put that into there.

Basically, this clever little bit of kit works like a nutmeg sauna.

With a combination of heat, pressure and steam...

out comes a little miracle.

Oh! Oh! Look at that!

Oil. Essential oil.

Essential, indeed. Essential oil.

Isn't that gorgeous?

I mean, it looks a bit Heath Robinson

and a bit primitive, but, by golly, it works.

Water, stuff, thing, cooling down - oil.

Magic!

Yeah.

Oh, it's... it's intoxicating!

That's sensational.

Look at that. I love it.

I'm going to put this on just for two or three days,

and I'll look like a teenager at the end of it.

I have a feeling this is the elixir of youth.

Terima kasih, Ponky. Thank you so much.

When the eyes and coffers of the world

were focused on these tiny islands,

the magnetism of nutmeg drove ambitious men to extreme lengths.

And I'm following in their wake.

My destination is one of the outlying Banda Islands,

a small plot of land that was once

one of the most desired pieces of real estate in the world.

Of this area, somebody once wrote,

"Here be dragons and leviathans."

This is extremely exciting, finding Run.

Because this little island

played the most colossal part in world history -

this little island of Run.

In 1616... King James I of England

dispatched a Captain Nathaniel Courthope

to lay claim to the nutmeg on Run.

Now, when the islanders saw this peaceful ship docking and coming in

and people not firing guns, they were so grateful and so relieved.

And they said, "Please help us

"because we're battling our mortal foe, the Dutch."

So the chiefs of the island

decided to hand Run over to the English Crown... forever.

Well, King James was so absolutely taken aback

that thereafter, he titled himself King James I

of England, Scotland, Wales... and Run.

Thus are the seeds of the British Empire sown...

..here... on Run.

Look at this. That's a coracora boat.

It looks as though it's out of a history book.

These boats hold a small battalion of men...

Hello! CREW: Hello!

..and were historically dispatched

to meet incoming foreigners, like us.

Good, good. There we are.

That's it. Jalan! OK, jalan.

CREW SINGS

This is kind of Queen of Sheba travelling, really. Pretty gorgeous.

ALL SING

Lovely! Bracing. Soaking!

It's over 400 years

since the English claimed this island as their own.

And a lot has happened since then.

Not that you'd know, as nowadays, Run is a haven of tranquillity.

HE SINGS

Islanders make a living from salted fish and spices.

It's a simple life, but its history is anything but.

In 1667, Run's fate took a remarkable turn,

where an extraordinary deal was struck.

After decades of rivalry,

finally, the English and the Dutch came to an agreement

about what to do with this beautiful little island of Run.

The English, who, after all,

owned this little piece of paradise with money growing off the trees,

swapped it with the Dutch

in exchange for a small, swampy, uninhabited river island

far away in the northern hemisphere,

the cold northern hemisphere, 9,000 miles away,

called New Amsterdam.

It sounds like the English got a pretty raw deal,

except that New Amsterdam was to become

the city so good, they named it twice.

# New York, New York... #

HORNS TOOT

Oh! Oh, look.

This incredible deal went down in history

as the Manhattan Transfer.

The Dutch set about harvesting the island's nutmeg

on an industrial scale.

This vast smokehouse was built

to dry nutmeg kernels in their thousands.

I had no idea of the scale of it.

Huge fires were placed all along here.

At this level, where those triangles are sticking out,

there was another floor constructed,

and it was like a bamboo shelf with gaps in it

so that the smoke could go through.

And on that were all the nutmegs.

Down the middle of it, up there, there was a walkway,

and every six hours, workers would go out with rakes and turn them.

Can you imagine the heat up there?

Absolutely back-breaking.

They'd be dry in three days... all put back into... massive sacks.

And one man with a 50kg sack on his back

would make his way down to the harbour.

The Dutch occupied this land

right up until independence in 1945.

But this old iron house

feels like it hasn't quite shaken off its ghosts.

Something about the great stillness here...

it really feels haunted.

It's odd. It's holding old memories.

I'm leaving the Banda Islands behind.

SHIP'S HORN BLASTS

My Spice Route adventure is taking me 4,000km west...

..to the province of Java and the capital of Indonesia...

..Jakarta.

This megacity swells to 12 million people every day.

When the Dutch founded it, they named it Batavia,

establishing their headquarters here

and modelling the city on Amsterdam.

The city's natural harbour was ideal

to store large quantities of spice

brought in from the Banda Islands and Maluku.

A fortune's worth of spice

was stored in these vast warehouses that still line the streets.

But I'm looking for something that was backstage, if you like.

I wonder, can I look through here to see the building?

Ah, yeah. Yeah? Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

If I'm in the right place,

there should be something explosive hidden behind this lady's house.

These are the huge gunpowder warehouses.

They were built at the end of the 18th century by the Dutch,

and it was to keep gunpowder for them

because they had to protect their newly found colonies down here.

Enormous warehouses. Can you imagine?

Packed to the roof with gunpowder.

I'd walk over, except there's a bit of a swamp in between.

In my excitement, I've gate-crashed someone's home,

and I can't help noticing a strong smell of spice in the air.

Indonesians have a reputation

for being some of the friendliest people on the planet,

and I've been welcomed in like a long-lost friend.

And what's going on here? Cigarettes?

With kretek? So this is cloves? Oh! May I smell? OK.

For me? Oh, I don't know whether I'll try one.

You try. You do it, Ooki. You do it.

I'm going to do this.

'I'm only doing this in the name of research.

'It's not big, and it's not clever.'

These are clove-scented.

Cheaper? Cheaper.

And do they make you feel calm?

Begin to... relax. Relax.

Clove cigarettes are so popular,

223 billion of the things are smoked every day in Indonesia.

And they get their name, "kretek",

from the sound the cigarettes make when lit.

Little bits of clove crackling.

And there we are. There's a little clove cigarette.

You saw it here. You don't do it at home, ever.

Also you can't buy them. So, bad luck.

You have to have them... You have to come out here to Jakarta

and have them made for you privately.

JOANNA CHUCKLES You don't smoke, Leah?

No, Leah doesn't smoke. Leah's good.

Leah is good. Thank you. Ooki and I...

Every day, 20 million vehicles fill the streets of Jakarta.

The city's motorists

spend more than half their daylight hours stuck in traffic.

So imagine being a truck driver here...

or a truck driver's buddy.

I've don't think I've ever been on a delivery before.

It's exciting, but it's tough, facing up to all this traffic

and more scooters than you can shake a stick at in the city.

This is Cenot,

one of Jakarta's thousands of delivery drivers,

and he seems to be a big fan of the little island I live on.

Cenot, this beautiful snake gear lever!

Yeah, it's really cool.

I know what you're wondering - what am I up to?

But there is a method to my madness.

We have a precious cargo on board,

instantly recognised the world over.

A delivery of Coca-Cola, which I think

has got nutmeg in it.

I mean, I'm just saying,

all the signs lead to nutmeg being in Coca-Cola.

So it's starting on its journey to 200 countries.

1.9 billion cans a day being drunk,

nutmeg spreading around the world. Thrilling!

Coca-Cola's recipe is still a secret,

but its inventor, John Pemberton, sold nutmeg to the US government.

So he definitely had the spice on his radar.

And it's listed in an old notebook

that could or could not have been connected to him. So...

There is, however, one local drink

that I can confirm definitely has spices in it.

Come with me to the swanky upmarket Jakartan district of Senopati,

where there's a little speakeasy bar called the Cocktail Club...

Kiki?

'..famed for mixing up a local drink that's all about the spice.'

What a beautiful bar! And how lovely to meet you.

Kiki Moka has been dubbed the rock star of Jakarta's bar scene

and is an authority on Indonesia's adopted national drink.

This drink called pletok. Pletok.

The local people invented the drinks from the spices.

That's colonial era. Because they are Muslim,

they don't want to drink the alcohol.

So they invented this drink... Yeah.

..to enjoy with the Dutch people. Yes.

They saw Dutch people using the shaker, probably.

And it goes, "Pletok, pletok, pletok, pletok." Oh, I see!

Yeah. So that's why they... Lovely.

..they name it. The sound of it. Yeah.

Kiki is so rock and roll,

he's invented a version with a bit of a kick.

And can you make that, Kiki? Yes. Classic cocktail.

The alcoholic version of bir pletok.

We've got ginger, we've got water, we've got lemon juice, lime juice.

This is a very healthy drink, isn't it? Yes.

You won't get scurvy.

Cinnamon. One stick broken, snapped up.

This is something we haven't got.

Oh, my gosh. Kind of curry. Pandan?

Yes. And now for the nutmeg.

Sugar... boil.

60ml of plantation rum.

The fire. Orange liquor.

Already that's a pretty good drink. Yeah.

Maybe we can put some mace as a decoration.

Yes. I brought this from Banda Besar.

Oh, wow. Mace for the history.

And a little bit of mint.

Mmm-mmm-mmm!

Enjoy. Thank you so much.

That's fabulous.

Oh, you are so clever! Thank you.

Chin-chin. Thank you, Kiki. Thank you so much.

Thank you for coming.

As night breaks across Jakarta,

hundreds of food stalls on wheels appear out of nowhere.

They are an Indonesian tradition called warungs.

And if you're really lucky,

you can also catch some entertainment.

Devi and Diah and their Dangdut Orchestra on Wheels

are a regular fixture in this part of town.

South Korea has K-pop,

the US has rhythm & blues and rock & roll,

and Indonesia has dangdut.

Devi! Yeah.

Devi. And Diah. Diah. Tell me,

dangdut - what does it mean?

Dang-dut. Dang... Drums?

Dang-dut, dang-dut... Ah, that's it!

Dangdut is the best.

The best? The best.

How long have you been singing dangdut?

Will you sing me dangdut song? Yes!

RHYTHMIC POP PLAYS

Dangdut is a mash-up

of just about every genre of music you can think of.

There's a bit of Bollywood,

Arabic, western pop and Malay folk music.

SONG: 'Rindu Semalam'

'This song is Rindu Semalam,

'by the singer-songwriter Titi Kamal.

'It's a catchy love song about an absent lover.

'And it's a fitting way to end my trip.

'The music is as warm and eclectic as this intoxicating country.'

I've come to the end of my time in Indonesia,

and I'm leaving with a pocket full of nutmeg.

And the next time I use

this beautiful little nutmeg in London...

..I shall treat it with a different respect

because this little thing changed the history of the world.

And there's something else.

I couldn't resist it.

This... is a nutmeg picker.

When I've fixed it onto a long pole,

taken it back to London, I'll be able to reach

the highest apples and pears on my tree.

And every time I use it,

I shall be reminded of my maiden voyage

to the most remote spice islands in the whole world.

The next leg of my spice odyssey adventure gets a little heated...

Phew!

..when it takes me to the country I was born in... India.

Crossing continents, I venture into Madagascar's vanilla heartlands

to spar with the locals...

..and onwards to the exotic island of Zanzibar,

before a trek across the crossroads of Asia and Europe

takes me to the ancient city of Petra.

Join me on this Spice Trail adventure.

Subtitles by accessibility@itv.com