One of the best parts of living in Hong Kong is that you can be in a strange and not-so-distant land after only a few hours of flying time. Thailand and the relatively new tourist destination of Laos are well worth a visit and they are profiled on this week's Lonely Planet (World, 9pm).
Host Ian Wright begins his journey with a look around the Thai capital, Bangkok, before catching a train to the northern city of Chiang Mai. After a few days of hiking on the Burmese border, he crosses the Mekong River into Laos. His destination: Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of the country.
The mountain town has only 20,000 people but its unique mix of eastern culture coupled with its French colonial past is proving a magnet for tourists. It is also bringing much-needed foreign currency to one of the poorest countries in the world.
Wright then travels to the country's border with Vietnam to inspect an area which was heavily bombed during the Vietnam conflict. He finishes his journey in the capital, Vientiane.
More travel adventure follows in National Geographic: Borneo - Beyond The Grave (World, 10pm). Anthropologist Anne Schiller visits the indigenous Ngaju Dayak, the island's legendary head-hunters. Although head-hunting is no longer practised, the death ritual of the Tiwah is fascinating to watch as it involves animal sacrifice, marathon dancing and the exhumation, cleaning and re-internment of ancestral remains.
The 1999 Martell Grand National (ESPN, 10.30pm), the world's greatest steeplechase, is just one of the many live sporting highlights on television today. Last year, 39 horses started and only five finished.
