He has walked the length of the Nile and ventured through some of the world’s most remote places.
But TV explorer Levison Wood says nothing compares to his latest trip around the Arabian Peninsula.
The former Army major describes the 5,000-mile journey as his “crowning glory”, beginning in Kurdistan before moving through Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Lebanon.
IS was in control of large parts of Iraq and Syria during his six months in the region.
He witnessed the shocking scenes of cities in ruins, broken families and then sailed on waters targeted by pirates.
Wood, 37, famed for documentaries on walks in the Himalayas, the Americas and from Russia to Iran, said: “Going through Iraq, we were embedded with the militia groups who were fighting against IS.
“It was the last few weeks of the war. At that point, we didn’t know it but the Iraqi forces were winning.”
The ex-Para added: “I had fought in Afghanistan and travelled to lots of war zones but this felt like all the wars packed into two days because it was so intense.
"t felt like I was on some strange Hollywood set.
We were driving through bombed-out towns and villages, and it didn’t feel quite real – especially with the black flags of IS flying.
“I did feel fairly safe but there was always a chance I might die.”
His scary exploits were filmed for a Discovery Channel documentary, Arabia With Levison Wood, and he believes there are signs of hope for the future.
He said: “To see these villages being liberated, with women and children running out and thanking Iraqi troops for saving them, was amazing.”
Wood met Iraqi sniper Abu Tahsin al-Salhi, who shot more than 350 IS soldiers, but then Wood found out he had been killed, aged 63, on the last day of the war.
“That brought it home how dangerous it was out there,” he said.
Another character he came across was a Bedouin nomad, who lives in a cave and is illiterate. Wood said: “But we’re still friends on Facebook – as we communicate using only emojis.
Isn’t that fantastic?” What struck him was how some people try to get on with their lives, “not caring about politics or religion”.
He had to leave Yemen because if he went further West there was a likelihood of a drone strike by the Saudis.
Wood explained: “We got on a fishing boat over the Arabian Sea – the most heavily pirated waters in the world. It was basically a floating matchbox for five days, which was terrifying.
“You don’t know who the bad guys are. The police chief might be organising piracy, the local governor might be the leader of al-Qaeda, or the head of the army might fund terrorists.”
He realised many of the IS soldiers that the Iraqis were fighting were from other countries, including Britain.
Londoner Wood said: “It is embarrassing as a Brit to have Iraqis asking, ‘Why are you sending us these scumbags that are ruining our country?’
“If they are warring against British soldiers, that’s tantamount to treason.”
- Arabia With Levison Wood, Discovery Channel, 9pm, tomorrow night.
