A modern-day explorer touches down in Manila

You’d think that, after decades of Lonely Planet, backpackers and all the travel shows out there, the world would be pretty much covered by now. Nothing new to see.

Anthony Morse wants to debunk that notion. The young host of History Channel’s Hidden Cities touched down in Manila a few days ago to begin two weeks of filming on our shores. His show, now in its second season, looks at “little-known worlds filled with forgotten palaces and temples and untold stories” set in Asian locations.

Things like the underground city beneath Tiananmen Square.

Wait. You’ve never heard of the underground city beneath Tiananmen Square?

Notes from underground: TV host Anthony Morse glimpsed a vast underground complex beneath Beijing’s streets.

“In Beijing, there’s an extensive underground bunker system that Chairman Mao had built from 1969 to ’72, something like 80 square kilometers of underground tunnels. Because Mao thought the Soviets might aim their nuclear warheads at China, so he went all-out and built this underground city beneath the streets of Beijing. We got to explore three sections of the tunnels that are closed off to the public.”

So how are the malls down there, I ask?

“No, no malls, but they had built stages, cinemas, hospitals, schools, gymnasiums, restaurants. But they never had to use it.”

That definitely qualifies as a “hidden city.” I asked Morse about the weirdest thing he’s experienced so far, doing the series.

“We were in Sumatra, in Lake Toba, doing a story on the Batak, an ethnic group there. One of the practices they had was — well, they weren’t cannibals, but they did eat human flesh. It wasn’t like they went on these warring raids and wiped out neighboring tribes; it was more in their justice system. If a person was found guilty of a crime, they would demote the human to the status of an animal.

“So the person would be stored or locked up in the same area as the cows were. Well, they use cows for farming, milking and eating. So now the human is at that level. And they go through this elaborate process of preparing the convict, dismembering him, and they would season the person with salt and lime juice and chilies…”

All of a sudden this is starting to sound like a food show, I tell him.

“It was very elaborate, but kind of funny in a dark, twisted way. Because the lady telling us this, it sounded like she was preparing chicken or a meal. So there are times where we just burst out laughing because of how ridiculous it seems.”

That was the weirdest moment. The most serendipitous moment was when he sent an online audition video to History Channel, which was casting around for a host last year. The affable Morse — an American-Rawang theology major based in Thailand who’s into sports, music and backpacking — won the job of modern-day explorer. “I thought it would be fun, it combines all my interests and passions, so I sent in my three-minute audition clip.”

With a staff of archaeologists, scientists, historians, writers, photographers and guides, plus local experts to guide the way, the series promises to show us something new about our world.

“Hidden Cities is really a metaphor,” he says. “It could be a village, or a story that’s not as well known. But oftentimes, we’re traveling to locations that may not show up in the Lonely Planet travel book.”

Now, for the second season, he’s uncovering untold stories in Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, China — and, of course, the Philippines. Where will you be heading, I ask?

“We’re going to be looking at parts of the Philippines during the WWII experience, the influences of the Spanish here, the US presidents here,” he answers vaguely. “And every episode of Hidden Cities tries to look at what’s going on today, so maybe the lighter moments, like the dancing, or the Arnis martial arts.”

Easy rider: Modern-day explorer Morse takes his love of travel on the road.

I ask him if it’s difficult, relying on locals to fill him in on local stories. Isn’t there bound to be a lot of B.S. mixed in with the truth — especially among Filipinos, who love telling tall tales? Morse smiles, says he’s just happy that he won’t have to conduct interviews here through a translator (he speaks English and some Rawang, his mother’s North Burmese tongue). “On a personal level, I’m very interested in these folk tales, local legends and creation myths. So when we encounter that, we just qualify it — okay, there’s no conclusive evidence, but this is what the locals believe. And if a significant amount of people believe that, then that’s valid, it’s become a belief system that affects their daily life.”

I press for more info on his locations here, but Morse is under lock and key: he cannot divulge the show’s secret itinerary. I fish around: Yamashita treasure? Bataan death camps? “No, no, we won’t be going in that direction,” he says. Part of the show’s stated mission is to look at cultural areas not already done to death by other travel shows.

Too bad. I’d really like to learn about that Yamashita treasure.

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Hidden Cities premieres on History Channel this Oct. 16, 10 p.m.