Life on the road takes crisp shirts and chinos

By TIM WATKIN

Standing before a crowd of 550 at the New Zealand Herald Dymocks literary lunch, Michael Palin looks as though he's just stepped out of the Sahara and through a television set.

His crisp blue shirt and somewhat crumpled fawn chinos are part of his travel programmes and his creased face is instantly familiar.

Palin said the editors who put his television productions together preferred standard dress, so they could cut back and forth between days on the road without confusing viewers.

He travels with six identical shirts and several pairs of Craghopper pants, "a totally magnificent desert trouser".

Palin said a director and his assistant always complete the trip before deciding on his route.

During the making of the Sahara series he filmed in 56C heat in Mali, was disappointed by the "sad, run-down town" of Timbuktu, got sick on camel livers and spoke to troupes of both travelling dentists and transvestite dancers in the Marrakesh markets.

The sometime comic, novelist, playwright and adventurer says that his well-worn passport now declares "actor" as his profession.

It used to say "writer", but its association with "journalist" meant trouble getting into some countries.

Everyone loves an actor, he says. Even at the toughest border crossings, mention kissing Jamie Lee Curtis on screen and guards drop their Machineguns and ask how it was.

"If only I could have 'Jamie Lee Curtis snogger' on my passport," he sighs.

The famously nice Palin was full of funny yarns, many as improbable as a Monty Python sketch.

He told of heading into the desert proper, only to have one of the trucks break down.

As they stood pouring mineral water over the engine, another truck appeared.

A local "with piercing eyes and a hawked nose" asked if he could help.

They said they were fine, but as he turned to go his eyes narrowed and, in the middle of nowhere, he said, "I am a nomad. Here is my card." The business card included an email address.