A Fork in the Road is a people-based travel series which gives a charmingly idiosyncratic view of the lives of locals and luminaries alike in locations off the beaten track. The six episodes begin with the Rhone-Alpes region of France where Pria speaks with Paul Bocuse and hunts for wild boars with some locals.
Episode two takes us to Hong Kong where we take a look at the high and low life of the island.
Episode three sees Pria at the Egyptian oasis where Alexander the Great was crowned, and camping with the Bedouin in the desert.
Episode four is set in Tuscanny and Umbria and includes a discussion on Italian cooking with renowned cook Lorenza de Medici and a cameo appearance by the late great Ferrucio Lamboghini.
Using an evening of medieval dance as an opening backdrop, Pria explores the Scotish Highlands in episode five.
Episode six reveals New York as a city of contrasts as we join Pria in a walk through Harlem and a visit to Southampton, Manhattan's high-society hideaway.
Pria Viswalingam says of A Fork in the Road "I like to immerse myself in other peoples' lives and and I like to focus on the idiosyncratic." In this second series Pria visits the Indonesian island of Sumatra where he shares dinner with a local farmer and does the weekly shop with a Dutch hotelier.
In the second episode we are taken to booming Buenos Aires for lunchtime target practice with an accountant and a tango in the streets with the Sunday crowds.
Episode three sees Pria in a hot air balloon over the Vosges Mountains and at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
From the top of the Golden Gate Bridge to Fisherman's Wharf, Pria shows San Francisco is an exciting town with a varied history.
Episode five looks at Athens through the eyes of some locals and travels to the island of Hydra where the original English bar owner drank with Coward, Onassis, Bardo and Cleese.
Wildlife in Chobe National Park and the lives of two families in Harare, one white and one black, are the highlights of episode six on Zimbabwe.
Pria continues to take the viewer away from the usual tourist spots to show a fresh Chicago in episode one. Concentrating on the African-American majority population in Chicago the ghetto stereotype is broken down.
Episode two sees Pria in Sicily in the sleepy mountain village of Forza D'Argo. Palermo is the next stop with its eclectic mix of decaying grand architecture.
A stylised, nostalgic look at Paris with its wine bars and student life as well as a night of Thia-boxing makes up episode three.
In episode four the President of Malta takes us through the history and culture of this small limestone outcrop in the Mediterranean.
Prias' journey in India begins in the old port town of Kerala - the wet, green south-western state of India. Episode five of the series looks at the Keralites who have been trading spices for thousands of years.
Episode six is set in the south island of New Zealand with the wind-swept secluded Otanerito Bay and a trek to the island capital of Christchurch.
Pria Viswalingam says that he "simply meets up with some locals who show him their home and neighbourhood - the ups and downs, the beauty as well as the problems." In the fourth series of A Fork in the Road it is the Creoles of New Orleans that show Pria around in episode one.
Episode two and three concentrate on Budapest, the old capital of Hungary. Pria joins in a shopping trip for chicken paprikash and has an illuminating chat with Hungarian director Istvan Szabo.
Rio de Janeiro is known for the Carnaval, Copacabana and the Christ statue, but in episode four, Pria takes us into the lives and homes of the Cariocas - the residents of Rio.
Episode five takes us to Marseilles, the melting pot of North African, Greek, Roman and French cultures.
Finally in episode six, Pria takes us on a tour of the country in which he was born, Malaysia. He provides a contrast between two eras - a rubber plantation in the late sixties and the modern high-energy Kuala Lumpur.
With a touch of drama, Pria Viswalingam the series host, shows us Washington DC in episode one. Connections are everything in this town and "backbiting" is a local pastime.
Episode two takes us to Omori on the south west coast of Japan, an old silver town where some Japanese are returning to escape the pressures of city life.
Fiesta and the art of flamenco are the passion of southern Spain, the setting for Episode three. Pria also ventures to the north west - the vineyards, haciendas and naturally - the bulls.
Episode four picks up on the rhythem of Montego Bay, Jamaica's tourist capital. But Pria prefers the local road-side diner to the usual tourist haunts.
Episode five and six see Pria spending time in Ireland. First we see the cultural side of Ireland exploring its great literary history. Then Pria spends time in Dublin and the southern coastal town of Kinsale.
Pria Viswalingam turns his idiosyncratic gaze upon Australia. This episode finds Pria exploring Broome, a coastal paradise that is a multicultural success story and home to a thriving pearl industry.
A week in the flat golden paddocks and deep blue skies of a huge farm in the wheat belt of south-east Western Australia. Presented by Pria Viswalingam.
Pria Viswalingam turns his idiosyncratic gaze upon Australia. Unbeknownst to many, Australia is at the forefront of science and technology research.
Pria ponders the sometimes ephemeral nature of friendships and relationships as he visits some of Sydney's prime spots, including a night cruise on the harbour, Centennial Park, the Botanical Gardens and Bondi.
Pria travels to the Sunshine State to introduce us to some of the more unusual Queenslanders.
Pria takes us to Melbourne, arguably the food centre of Australia, where he meets the people, samples the food they cook and discovers likes and dislikes in the Australian culinary stakes.
In Tasmania, Pria explores the cultural cringe whereby our talented classical musicians gain recognition only after having "made it" overseas.
Pria visits Australian ex-pats in the London. He speaks with radio announcer Jonathan Coleman, human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson and Australian High Commissioner Philip Flood about their perceptions of "Australianisms".
Intrepid traveller Pria Viswalingam visits some of Australia's nearest neighbours in this popular series, and examines the emergence of a modern Asia in countries which traditionally cling to their past. Tonight, Pria visits Tokyo and Hokkaido in Japan.
This episode features the normal lives of the burgeoning middle class, of which there are 100 million in India. At work and at play, they live as rich and cosmopolitan a life as any big city dweller. Pria talks about fashion, food and business, set against the visual contrast of Old and New Delhi.
Pria travels to the fabled 3000-year-old city where he discovers a fast-changing city where recent economic reforms have spawned a new-found capitalism. He ventures into people's homes in the new high rise flats and communal family houses or hutongs to talk about life in the city, and samples simple street food along with haute cuisine.
Pria takes us to Daman, south west of Kathmandu, where shamanism is practised and the powers of the local witchdoctors are praised and respected in the local community. By contrast we meet a young Malaysian lawyer who has abandoned the trappings of capitalism to meditate and live simply in the mountains of Nepal. Pria also explores the backstreets of Kathmandu and Bakhtapur, a shaman's life in the mountains and the different styles of Nepali cuisine.
Pria Viswalingam visits Lebanon, a country that suffers a legacy of war and has 17 religious communities. Here, life is expensive and there are no jobs to be found.
From the unspoilt rural village atmosphere of Ubin Island, to suburban homes, from high rise corporate offices to Chinese temples, from home cooked recipes to cosmopolitan night-time revelry on Boat Quay, Pria talks to a diverse cross-section of Singaporeans - housewives, a fisherman and renowned authors - Catherine Lim and Phillip Jheyaratnam, who talk about who their fellow countrymen were, are and want to be.
Pria explores the culture and lifestyle of Guilin in southern China.
Pria takes a colourful jaunt through misty mountain villages, checks out Bangkok's distinctive architecture and lively waterways, and finally travels up to a resort tucked away in the foothills around Chiang Mai.
From azure Mediterranean shores to Troglodyte cave-homes; Chador-clad women to bikini-wearing babes - Tunisia is an ancient country with wildly contrasting lifestyles and attitudes.
Pria meets the four main groups of people who live in Kenya: the Bantu-speaking majority; the Indians – who control the economy; the remnants of the white planters and the Nilots, or Nomadic tribes, which include the legendary Maasai. For most of the time, they are polite friends and, at the very least, they are tolerant of each other but without a doubt, they’re all getting on with the business of being Kenyan.
Over 2 episodes, Pria explores white Cape Town through the eyes of locals such as Aryn Guiney. She lives in Hout Bay, a small coastal town south of the city, and commutes to work each day. Aryn is among other white South Africans featured in the programme unanimously proclaiming that The Cape is, and will always be their home. The reasons for this are varied.
Ethiopia – lush rolling green fields of maize and sunflowers; the remote lip-plate wearing Mursi people; 1500 year-old churches carved from rock; the original cup of coffee and an injera feast ..
Who lives in Madagascar? What do they look like? What are their homes like? What do they wear, eat and talk about in this.. “the closest Asian country to Africa” as the Malagasy prefer it to be known.
Zanzibar conjures up images of trade winds and old world spices. Pria’s exploration of Unguja island confirms that Tintin would never be far from the old Stone Town.
Timbuktu – the perfect place for Pria to begin his journey into Mali. This area is home to the Tuareg people who roam the semi-desert, diminishing buffer between Mali’s outer settlements and the unrelenting approach of the Sahara Desert.
From wide-boy comedians to angry authors, Pria ends this series on Africa in Paris. Given France’s large colonial influence in Africa, Pria samples the African diaspora in Paris – asking why they are more French than African and why France is perceived to have been a “better coloniser” than the rest.
Have large families and Latin lovers become romantic memories? With the magnificent backdrop of Venice as his canvas, Pria Viswalingam explores the realities of Italy facing a falling population. With the country now relying on immigrants to bolster the workforce, the family structures that have stood for thousands of years are changing. Meet Danielle Baker, an Australian actress living near Venice. She's just had her baby along with her expatriate buddies from Kenya and Ukraine while her Italian friend is still concentrating on the career thing and the vogue home. Pria meets the old and the new as they come together to form what may be a very different Italy in the future.
They might be Spanish but they are firstly Catalans. The area around the city of Barcelona is almost a country within a country. They have their own language, their own culture and their own problems. Some of the famed eccentrics of the 20th century, like architect Gaudi and artist Dali, have called it home. General Franco attempted to integrate the region with the rest of Spain by force. Pria Viswalingam looks at their architecture, tastes their food and tries to gain some understanding of the psyche of the modern Catalan and discovers that some of the old prejudices die hard.
The French Riviera, playground of the rich and famous where one needs deep pockets and a fat wallet. Pria takes on the character of Templeton, a well-to-do businessman on his annual sybaritic leave in the little village of Ramatuelle, in the hills above St Tropez. Templeton indulges in the sights, the sounds and above all the tastes in this very different look at how the nouveau and not-so-nouveau rich entertain themselves.
Morocco, a surprising land of sun, surf, sand, and even snow is a moderate Islamic country caught between two worlds. It is trying to hold onto its past while trying to accommodate the winds of economic and social globalisation that are sweeping the world. And being just across the Mediterranean from France, Spain and Italy, means that Morocco cops the full force of the sirocco. In the ancient city of Fez, Pria Viswalingam meets a poor tanner trying to earn enough to feed his family by working in the old leather tannery using methods that have remained unchanged for centuries.
Kythera, the idyllic Greek island of Aphrodite, goddess of love is our destination. But what is the reality of living on such a small island? Pria meets both the locals who are scratching a living from the soil and the new arrivals who have come in search of a dream. But then the stuff of dreams is what supplies the people of Kythera with a future and a past. It's an island of legends and myths that fertilise the island's robust grapevine. Join Pria and Aphrodite as they wander the lanes and stir the senses of a relatively unspoilt Greek Isle.
Pria Viswalingam travels the ancient biblical highways to one of the world's oldest countries and yet one of its youngest, Israel. At the heart of Israeli culture is the kibbutz. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." was their creed, a noble socialist sentiment, but how have they fared in today's world, a world of individualism and consumerism? From the delights of the Dead Sea to a decidedly non-kosher Tel Aviv, Pria delves into the reality behind the dream.
At the very entrance to the Mediterranean Sea stands 'the Rock'. Gibraltar has been a British possession for exactly 300 years. In that time it has formed its own culture from the myriad of peoples who have come to live here, a culture that is neither Spanish nor British but unique to the rock. What is it like to live in a country that is only six and a half square kilometres with nearly thirty thousand inhabitants? Where soggy fish and chips share the table with tantalising tapas. Where each family has five cars and thus, there are more vehicles than parking spaces. Where the airport is a five-minute walk from town. And where do you go to get away from it all? Well, across the border to Spain, of course.
Istanbul - just mention the name and a cornucopia of images flood the mind: images of histories, empires, of the east and the west. Of grand palaces and mosques, narrow souks and the Bosphorus. Pria soaks the senses in Turkish history, Ottoman cuisine and local wine before heading to the mountains to refresh and replenish the soul with the good folk of Aydar - a tiny alpine village that could be mistaken for chocolate-box Switzerland except for the huge mosque in the middle of it.
