Back in the dark days of the New Order, Lawrence and Lorne Blair- two British documentary makers walked, sailed, hiked and climbed their way through the Indonesian archipelago for 10 long adventure-filed years (funded remarkably by Ringo Starr) in the steps of 19th century British explorer and naturalist Alfred Wallace. In their path they stumble across dragons, sultans, transvestite priests, princesses, magicians, star children, notorious gipsy pirates, head-hunters, cannibals, and birds of paradise to name a few during their awe inspiring voyage.

The 5-episode ‘Ring of Fire’ documentary series, are hands down the best and most eye opening programmes about Indonesian culture, wildlife and art I’ve ever seen and is still mighty impressive by today’s documentary making standards. Follow Lawrence and Lorne as they travel with Bugis pirates and see witness the birds of paradise in  ‘Spice Islands Saga’, surge deep into the jungles of Papua and live amongst the Asmat tribe in ‘Dance of The Warriors’, delve into the mysticism that is Java and Bali in ‘East of Krakatoa’, trek through the impassable rain forests of Kalimantan in ‘Dream Wanderers of Borneo’ before a later reflection of the entire expedition in  ‘Beyond the Ring of Fire’.

To watch the Blair brothers’ legendary ‘Ring of Fire’ series, please click on the following links for direct access to all five documentaries: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 or buy the DVD here.