From scary critters to spicy street food, Alexander Armstrong shares his unmissable highlights
Ed Grenby - 3 March 2026
There are, Alexander Armstrong reminds us in his new Channel 5 travelogue, 1.4 billion people in India. And, he tells Radio Times, “I gave it a good shot at meeting them all.”
Clearly he’s a man who’s covered the ground – and here are his highlights…
Must-see: Tigers
We saw all sorts of amazing creatures on this trip: elephants blocking our way on the roads, macaques who’ve learned to steal mobile phones and only return them in exchange for a bag of crisps – and not any old own-brand rubbish either; they want a proper grab-bag. But the truly astonishing thing to glimpse is a tiger, which we saw at Bandipur reserve (bandipurtr.in). Their power, their muscles, their teeth, the way they pad… they’re beautiful but they’re also exciting. Even their ‘camouflage’ is like flame: it’s like watching red-hot lava against the ice of Reykjavik. And these tigers aren’t cosseted. They’re finding their own food – and it’s not grab-bags.
One of the experiences that will live with me forever, scarred onto my retina, is going to the ghats in Delhi. I’m 55, and I’d never seen a dead body before – but then, on these steps beside the river, you can’t move for dead bodies, and they’re beautiful. They’re laid out in resplendent robes, with endless prayers and rituals enacted around them,then the pyre is built up, and liquids are poured on – some sacred, some which I think are actually an aid to burning, squeezed out of a tube like you’d get from the garage for your barbecue – then they’re torched and people stand around to watch.
We were very sweetly invited to film one by the second or third cousin of the deceased, but then one of the sons of the deceased turned round and said ‘What the hell are you doing? Go away!’ so we had to quickly reverse out of that.
There’s a place called The Gem Palace in Jaipur that’s a must-visit even if jewels aren’t a must-buy for you (gempalace.com). It was a total joy being there: there’s a great big pink room modelled on a jewellery box, and they bring parades of things that even at one hundredth of the price would be beyond your dreams. I felt like Barbara Cartland. They’ve served the Queen, Princess Diana, the Clintons… and now Armstrong, as I bought a pair of emerald earrings for Mrs Armstrong.
One place I didn’t buy anything was this little village just outside Jaipur, where the leather-workers are based. As well as all the traditional stuff, we found a man who makes stuff for the ‘kink’ market: ball gags, bondage gear, studded leather pants. Nearly every craftsman I met on the trip said ‘Would you like to take some home for your children?’, but in this case I said ‘No no, I think they’ll be fine thanks’.
Must-avoid: Trapdoor spiders
I’ve learned the hard way to tolerate spiders because, being a father, you can’t squeal and run away when a child says there’s one in their room. So the trapdoor spiders we saw in Mumbai were fascinating – but also fascinatingly scary. We went out with this professor, in this millennia-old jungle that’s somehow only about 500 yards from a Bollywood sound stage, so you could hear people singing and dancing, which was mad. And this expert could read the landscape of the forest to find exactly where the spiders would be. They construct this thing out of bits of leaf mould, and if you tamp with the end of a pencil, the trapdoor goes whoosh and out comes this spider’s finger. Or – oh! – maybe it wasn’t a finger but just a tiny sliver of its fingernail, and it’s much bigger than I thought. It would be absolutely typical of spiders to try and deceive me like that.
Must-eat: Vada pav
Vada pav is the most beloved street food of Mumbai, and there’s one place above all others to try it: Aram Vada Pav, just across from the city’s famous Victoria Terminus railway station (@aramvadapav on Instagram). You queue up, pay a few rupees, and this fantastically grumpy man passes you this deep-fried hollow potato dumpling that gets filled with a quite fiery green sauce with chopped-up vegetables and spices in it. It’s like a sea urchin made of pastry, or a savoury brandy-snap, and you chuck the whole thing entirely into your mouth to avoid spilling it down yourself. And as long as you’re still standing there looking slightly hungry, the grumpy man will just keep passing them to you. Delicious.
Obviously I went to India anticipating some awful gastro complaint at some point, but I didn’t suffer so much as a single gripe the whole time. Is it a bit hubristic of me to say that? Maybe. I’ll probably get the runs tomorrow…
There are, Alexander Armstrong reminds us in his new Channel 5 travelogue, 1.4 billion people in India. And, he tells Radio Times, “I gave it a good shot at meeting them all.”
Clearly he’s a man who’s covered the ground – and here are his highlights…
Must-see: Tigers
We saw all sorts of amazing creatures on this trip: elephants blocking our way on the roads, macaques who’ve learned to steal mobile phones and only return them in exchange for a bag of crisps – and not any old own-brand rubbish either; they want a proper grab-bag. But the truly astonishing thing to glimpse is a tiger, which we saw at Bandipur reserve (bandipurtr.in). Their power, their muscles, their teeth, the way they pad… they’re beautiful but they’re also exciting. Even their ‘camouflage’ is like flame: it’s like watching red-hot lava against the ice of Reykjavik. And these tigers aren’t cosseted. They’re finding their own food – and it’s not grab-bags.
Must-do: Cremation
One of the experiences that will live with me forever, scarred onto my retina, is going to the ghats in Delhi. I’m 55, and I’d never seen a dead body before – but then, on these steps beside the river, you can’t move for dead bodies, and they’re beautiful. They’re laid out in resplendent robes, with endless prayers and rituals enacted around them,then the pyre is built up, and liquids are poured on – some sacred, some which I think are actually an aid to burning, squeezed out of a tube like you’d get from the garage for your barbecue – then they’re torched and people stand around to watch.
We were very sweetly invited to film one by the second or third cousin of the deceased, but then one of the sons of the deceased turned round and said ‘What the hell are you doing? Go away!’ so we had to quickly reverse out of that.
Must-buy: Emeralds
There’s a place called The Gem Palace in Jaipur that’s a must-visit even if jewels aren’t a must-buy for you (gempalace.com). It was a total joy being there: there’s a great big pink room modelled on a jewellery box, and they bring parades of things that even at one hundredth of the price would be beyond your dreams. I felt like Barbara Cartland. They’ve served the Queen, Princess Diana, the Clintons… and now Armstrong, as I bought a pair of emerald earrings for Mrs Armstrong.
One place I didn’t buy anything was this little village just outside Jaipur, where the leather-workers are based. As well as all the traditional stuff, we found a man who makes stuff for the ‘kink’ market: ball gags, bondage gear, studded leather pants. Nearly every craftsman I met on the trip said ‘Would you like to take some home for your children?’, but in this case I said ‘No no, I think they’ll be fine thanks’.
Must-avoid: Trapdoor spiders
I’ve learned the hard way to tolerate spiders because, being a father, you can’t squeal and run away when a child says there’s one in their room. So the trapdoor spiders we saw in Mumbai were fascinating – but also fascinatingly scary. We went out with this professor, in this millennia-old jungle that’s somehow only about 500 yards from a Bollywood sound stage, so you could hear people singing and dancing, which was mad. And this expert could read the landscape of the forest to find exactly where the spiders would be. They construct this thing out of bits of leaf mould, and if you tamp with the end of a pencil, the trapdoor goes whoosh and out comes this spider’s finger. Or – oh! – maybe it wasn’t a finger but just a tiny sliver of its fingernail, and it’s much bigger than I thought. It would be absolutely typical of spiders to try and deceive me like that.
Must-eat: Vada pav
Vada pav is the most beloved street food of Mumbai, and there’s one place above all others to try it: Aram Vada Pav, just across from the city’s famous Victoria Terminus railway station (@aramvadapav on Instagram). You queue up, pay a few rupees, and this fantastically grumpy man passes you this deep-fried hollow potato dumpling that gets filled with a quite fiery green sauce with chopped-up vegetables and spices in it. It’s like a sea urchin made of pastry, or a savoury brandy-snap, and you chuck the whole thing entirely into your mouth to avoid spilling it down yourself. And as long as you’re still standing there looking slightly hungry, the grumpy man will just keep passing them to you. Delicious.
Obviously I went to India anticipating some awful gastro complaint at some point, but I didn’t suffer so much as a single gripe the whole time. Is it a bit hubristic of me to say that? Maybe. I’ll probably get the runs tomorrow…
Alexander Armstrong in India
Thursday 8pm, 5