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This programme contains some strong language. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
-Five billion kilometres of roads network our planet. -The drop! | 0:00:06 | 0:00:08 | |
400 feet, absolutely sheer. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:10 | |
Instant death then, yeah? | 0:00:10 | 0:00:11 | |
Yet the desire to communicate and trade means new routes | 0:00:11 | 0:00:15 | |
are being forged through increasingly challenging terrain. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
-Keep as close as you can there. -I know, but am I OK with that drop? | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
Across Arctic tundra. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
Zero visibility on the pass. We are mid-drift. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
Over mountain passes. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:28 | |
-Through jungle. -No! Go, Fogle! -Go! | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
These roads fight a constant battle with nature. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:36 | |
Let's just calm it down. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
But their very existence is testament to man's ingenuity, | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
and driving them requires courage and determination. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
Oh, ge... Woah! | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
Adventurer Ben Fogle and comedian Hugh Dennis have teamed up to drive the treacherous route across Peru, | 0:00:55 | 0:01:03 | |
from the Andes into the very heart of the Amazon. | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
On this epic eight-day journey, they will see the beauty and the danger of this extraordinary road. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:12 | |
They are aiming to get to the geographical centre of Peru. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:15 | |
As close to that side as you can, now. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
And the road they're taken has some of the most extreme | 0:01:19 | 0:01:21 | |
driving conditions either of them have ever encountered. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:25 | |
Careful, careful. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:26 | |
To make it through, they will need steady hands and nerves of steel | 0:01:26 | 0:01:32 | |
on one of the world's most dangerous roads. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:36 | |
Ben and Hugh's journey begins at over 3,000 metres above sea level in the Peruvian Andes. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:50 | |
So, are you nervous about this at all? | 0:01:50 | 0:01:54 | |
I'm slightly nervous about it. Can I just check one thing? | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
Did you pass your driving test first time? | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
I didn't pass my driving test first time. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
-That matter? -That's fine. How many times did you take it? | 0:02:02 | 0:02:05 | |
-Seven. -Seven times? Seven? | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
I like to think it makes me a better driver, by the way. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:09 | |
That's fine, because I've never passed one. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:12 | |
-Seven times! -That makes me feel so much better... | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
Their route runs for 1,000k across Peru and will take them through | 0:02:20 | 0:02:25 | |
three very different but challenging types of terrain. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
They have to cross the Andes on one of Peru's highest roads, | 0:02:29 | 0:02:33 | |
before heading down into the Amazon Rainforest. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
After that, it's 500 kilometres of rough jungle roads to the town of Pozuzo. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:43 | |
Finally, they will have to make it across the mighty Huancabamba Canyon | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
and along miles of mud roads to reach the centre of Peru. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:52 | |
Here they hope to find Constitucion, a city which in the 1980s was intended to replace Lima | 0:02:52 | 0:02:58 | |
as Peru's new capital but today doesn't even appear on the map. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
But their adventure begins at the gateway to the Peruvian Andes in the town of Concepcion. | 0:03:04 | 0:03:10 | |
This is where local people come to start their journey into | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
the mountains and the taxi drivers here know this route backwards. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
Ben sees an opportunity to try out his rusty Spanish on them. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:22 | |
Hola. Mi nombre es Ben. | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
Somos en nuestro coche. We're in our car. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
Que bueno, que bueno. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
Digame, que tal es la carratera? How is the road between here and there? | 0:03:36 | 0:03:42 | |
So he's saying the roads are very dangerous and there's lots of... | 0:04:01 | 0:04:03 | |
Polvo is dust. | 0:04:03 | 0:04:05 | |
It comes up and you can't see anything. Are there big drops? | 0:04:05 | 0:04:09 | |
Ooh! 500 to 1,000 metre drops. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:15 | |
-Concepcion? -No, Constitucion. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:24 | |
The drivers don't seem to know much about the city of Constitucion, | 0:04:27 | 0:04:31 | |
except that it's somewhere in the jungle. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:34 | |
So will we be OK? | 0:04:34 | 0:04:37 | |
He said the biggest danger is other drivers, and he said | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
said we have to be very, very careful on all the corners. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:47 | |
-Plus we have to worry about you. -And I have to worry about me. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
Gracias, senor. Gracias. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
Hasta luego. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
OK, let's hit the road. | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
Armed with local knowledge, they're aiming for a quick getaway. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:04 | |
But the road has been temporarily closed. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
I find it amazing we're in the middle of nowhere | 0:05:10 | 0:05:13 | |
-and we've come across the biggest brass-band competition I've ever seen. -It's amazing, isn't it? | 0:05:14 | 0:05:19 | |
I don't think I've ever seen a brass-band competition. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:22 | |
Where have you seen one before? | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
Have you ever seen one? | 0:05:24 | 0:05:26 | |
35 bands from all over Peru will parade through town today before the road re-opens. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:33 | |
You think this is a cool thing to do, then? If you're a kid? | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
Do you think the cool kids are in the brass band? | 0:05:36 | 0:05:40 | |
Would you think it's all the dweebs? | 0:05:40 | 0:05:41 | |
-I don't know. -I think it's cool. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:44 | |
-Do you? -Yeah. | 0:05:44 | 0:05:46 | |
If I was out here, I'd be in a brass band. | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
Do you think we'll ever actually get out of this place now? | 0:05:53 | 0:05:56 | |
Well, there are more coming. | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
That lot are my favourite. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:02 | |
I think they're going to win. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:06 | |
Shall we head back to the car? | 0:06:06 | 0:06:07 | |
-Can we get out, do you think? -I think we should go this way. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:11 | |
After Conception, the road quickly rises up into the Andes - the second highest mountain range in the world. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:27 | |
This route over the mountains and into the Amazon was mapped out by | 0:06:27 | 0:06:31 | |
Franciscan monks almost 500 years ago | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
as they searched for indigenous tribes to convert to Christianity. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:39 | |
We're about 4,500 metres up now, so in Alps terms that's almost the top of Mont Blanc. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:46 | |
Today, huge herds of llama and alpaca roam this area, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:52 | |
and avoiding them is going to be the boys' first challenge. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:55 | |
Here we go. | 0:06:55 | 0:06:56 | |
-Oh... Woah.. -Excuse us. Excuse us! | 0:06:58 | 0:07:02 | |
Hey, chaps. That one's getting out of the way. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
This one isn't. Have you seen an alpaca before? | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
-Yeah. -They're pretty cool. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:11 | |
I've always wanted to be an alpaca farmer. | 0:07:11 | 0:07:13 | |
Well, you could. You can do that in England, can't you? | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
It's not quite the same as here in the Andes though, is it? | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
I've been lucky enough to come to Peru a couple of times over the years. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
I came here when I was about 18 and fresh out of school, so this is where I had my learning experience. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:31 | |
It's where I found myself, as such. So, for me, it's somewhere I really love and I get very excited by still. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:38 | |
Inspired by his first trip to Peru, Ben took a degree in Latin American | 0:07:38 | 0:07:43 | |
studies and has since returned to South America many times as a professional adventurer. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:48 | |
Is that a road? | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
Is that thing a road going up there? | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
It must be. With the switchbacks... I don't know if that's what we're going up. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
It looks very off-road, doesn't it? | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
Bloody hell. | 0:07:57 | 0:07:58 | |
I've never been to Latin America. I've never been to South America. | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
I've been to all the other continents but I've never been here. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
I'm so pleased I'm doing it. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
This is a fantastic journey. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:11 | |
It's a journey that will take Hugh further off the tourist trail than he's ever been before. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:18 | |
The town of Comas was established over 2,000 years ago. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:29 | |
But the first vehicles only appeared here in the 1930s, when road crews | 0:08:29 | 0:08:33 | |
finally blasted through the mountains surrounding the village. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
It's the last chance before the jungle for drivers to check | 0:08:39 | 0:08:42 | |
that their tyres are up to scratch with local mechanic, Rui Cardenas. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:47 | |
Hola. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:48 | |
-Mi nombre es Ben. -Gusto, gusto. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:51 | |
I'm going to say... Is it fair for me to say we don't know much about tyres? Do you? | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
Am I being presumptuous there? | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
No, it'd be fair to say. | 0:08:58 | 0:08:59 | |
HE SPEAKS SPANISH | 0:08:59 | 0:09:02 | |
I'm just saying what happens if there's a hole and we don't have spare inner tubes or anything. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:11 | |
Wow, you're thatching the inside of a tyre. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:19 | |
So he's saying the best thing is to use leaves and things. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:27 | |
This would be, in my opinion, the very best use for rhubarb. | 0:09:27 | 0:09:32 | |
So he's saying we can actually put our clothes in here as well. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:38 | |
-Your jacket. -Use your clothes! | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
He's saying we can borrow his. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
We don't need to stuff you in there at this stage. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
They're so resourceful out here, aren't they? I suppose that's what you have to do. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
You have to just make do with what you have. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:52 | |
Y cuantos? Mucha mucha? | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
Until it's pretty solid. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:00 | |
Do you think that'd pass the MOT in England? | 0:10:00 | 0:10:04 | |
It makes you wonder why they bother to fill them with air. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
Roughly what he was saying there are that no foreigners are crazy enough to come on this road. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:31 | |
At the end of their lesson the day is nearly over, | 0:10:35 | 0:10:36 | |
the next stage of the road is too dangerous to drive in the dark. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
So they have to spend the night in Comas. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:46 | |
Their roadside hotel doubles up as a restaurant | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
to feed and house the people who drive this route every day. | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
Today, there is only one dish on the menu. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:57 | |
I don't mind eating the dish of the day when I'm in England and you know roughly what you're going to get. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:05 | |
Buenas noches. Que tal? | 0:11:05 | 0:11:07 | |
Gracias. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:12 | |
Have a look at the head area. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
That's a guinea pig. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
That's a guinea pig. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:23 | |
Teeth, ribs... | 0:11:27 | 0:11:29 | |
Is that its heart? | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
Qui qui I think is what they call it. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
If nobody told you what that was, I think you'd just think that was chicken. | 0:11:33 | 0:11:37 | |
It's fairly obvious what it is. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
The only clue it's missing is that it's not in a hutch. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:44 | |
We're joking about eating guinea pig but this is kind of what they eat out here. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:48 | |
I always feel sensitive about not wanting to laugh at other people's cultures and what they eat. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:54 | |
-No, no that's absolutely fine. -They keep them in their bedrooms. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:58 | |
Like the long rooms they sleep in, the guinea pigs, maybe up to 60, sleep under the bed | 0:11:58 | 0:12:03 | |
and multipurpose, like a heater, they move around all night | 0:12:03 | 0:12:07 | |
and the heat they make goes up through the bed, keeps them warm | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
-and then they eat them for breakfast. -I had guinea pigs when I was | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
a child, and as I remember, they ate each other. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:16 | |
Ben and Hugh have completed the first stage of their journey, | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
but the tarmac road they've enjoyed so far ends abruptly in Comas. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:29 | |
Now they have to drive 150 kilometres over the Andes | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
on an unpaved mountain road, and then down to the jungle town of Satipo. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:37 | |
The single-track Comas road reaches heights of over 4,500 metres. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:50 | |
Its hairpin bends and sheer drops combine to | 0:12:53 | 0:12:55 | |
make it one of the most challenging drives anywhere in South America. | 0:12:55 | 0:13:01 | |
Look. | 0:13:01 | 0:13:02 | |
That must be our road. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
-That is our road. -That is unbelievable. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
This is fantastic. How do you build a road like that? | 0:13:09 | 0:13:12 | |
It's just extraordinary. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
Wow. It's quite a steep drop just here. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
Yep, I saw that. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:18 | |
I was aware of that. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
The Comas road was carved out of the mountainside by huge gangs of manual labourers throughout the 1940s. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:29 | |
Its engineers followed the track charted by the missionaries centuries earlier. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:34 | |
With drops of over 1,000 metres to the valley below, | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
even the smallest miscalculation can lead to disaster. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:43 | |
Do you see the landslide there? | 0:13:43 | 0:13:45 | |
Don't be looking at it too much, because this is also here. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:47 | |
Look, down there is the bottom of the valley and also the end of your life. | 0:13:47 | 0:13:52 | |
Look at the road going up. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:54 | |
And to survive on the Comas road, it also pays to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror. | 0:13:56 | 0:14:01 | |
OK, we've got a bus behind us. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
I would not want to be in a bus. Would you? | 0:14:16 | 0:14:19 | |
Well, the thing is about a bus is that you're in the hands of some driver you know nothing about. | 0:14:19 | 0:14:24 | |
Oh, that's like us! | 0:14:24 | 0:14:26 | |
Exactly. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:28 | |
He's also going faster than you. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:31 | |
HORN SOUNDS | 0:14:31 | 0:14:32 | |
He honked at me! | 0:14:33 | 0:14:35 | |
With 1,000-foot drop, or whatever that is, next to me. | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
Do we let him pass us? | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
-Keep going for a bit. -Shall we? | 0:14:42 | 0:14:44 | |
Yeah. Bloody hell. | 0:14:44 | 0:14:46 | |
We'll just let him go here. | 0:14:46 | 0:14:49 | |
Go on, then. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
This might be one of his stops. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
That's fine. | 0:14:57 | 0:14:58 | |
-Do you think we copped out there? -No. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
Most fatal accidents here involve other vehicles. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:11 | |
Roadside shrines mark the most dangerous corners, | 0:15:11 | 0:15:15 | |
where drivers and their passengers have gone over the edge. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
So, I reckon those shrines are there because | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
they'll just have misjudged that bend, won't they? | 0:15:23 | 0:15:26 | |
Wow. | 0:15:29 | 0:15:30 | |
How far down do you reckon that is? | 0:15:33 | 0:15:35 | |
-Well, we're level with 1,000 feet... 12,000 feet? -Far enough. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:42 | |
It's a bit scary actually. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
You really do need to keep your eyes on the road and you don't think about that. | 0:15:44 | 0:15:47 | |
Well, I'm assuming that's what's happened here. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:49 | |
A car has misjudged that bend. | 0:15:49 | 0:15:53 | |
Slightly sobering, isn't it? | 0:15:53 | 0:15:56 | |
Not really a pleasant thought. | 0:15:56 | 0:15:58 | |
The threat of landslides is an ever-present danger | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
on the Comas road. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:12 | |
Hundreds of cubic tonnes of loose rock can | 0:16:12 | 0:16:14 | |
sweep down from the mountainside, destroying everything in its path. | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
Maintenance teams fight a constant battle to keep the road open, | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
and there is always a team in action somewhere on the road. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:29 | |
OK, so they've opened this road for 20 minutes for us. | 0:16:36 | 0:16:39 | |
She's saying we've got to go. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:41 | |
She said always go very carefully. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
Did you get that? | 0:16:46 | 0:16:47 | |
-Yep. -Look. Careful, careful. | 0:16:47 | 0:16:50 | |
Can I get past that? | 0:16:52 | 0:16:55 | |
-It still coming down? -It's still coming down. | 0:16:55 | 0:16:57 | |
Bloody hell. There's stuff coming off. | 0:16:57 | 0:16:59 | |
It's actually coming down quite fast now. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
The mountainside above the car is unstable, but despite assurances, | 0:17:02 | 0:17:06 | |
the road ahead is now blocked. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:09 | |
We have to wait here for a sec. It's crazy, isn't it? | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
They just said they'd opened the road and there's a bulldozer. | 0:17:15 | 0:17:18 | |
There's a phenomenal digger loading up a lorry. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:21 | |
I think we do just pass. | 0:17:23 | 0:17:24 | |
-Did you smile? -He nodded. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
He nodded as if to say, "Go at your own peril." | 0:17:27 | 0:17:30 | |
This road crew is part of a major five-year project to resurface the Comas road. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:37 | |
It's a vital link that connects the isolated mountain communities to market towns in the jungle, | 0:17:37 | 0:17:42 | |
and all 150 kilometres of the route need to be scraped and compressed before re-surfacing can begin. | 0:17:42 | 0:17:49 | |
Gracias. | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
Oh, here's a traffic jam. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:53 | |
They look very jolly about working at 3,500 m, | 0:17:53 | 0:17:56 | |
quarrying earth on a road about six or seven feet wide with an enormous digger. | 0:17:56 | 0:18:01 | |
Woah, look at that. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:02 | |
All the dust coming off. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
That really looked like part of that hill was going fall... | 0:18:05 | 0:18:08 | |
while we were under it. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
After six hours on the Comas road they reach its highest point - 4,589 metres above sea level. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:19 | |
Drivers often suffer exhaustion and blurred vision here. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:26 | |
At this altitude, people sometimes take oxygen. | 0:18:28 | 0:18:32 | |
What, just because of the altitude? | 0:18:32 | 0:18:34 | |
-Yeah. How you feeling? -Slightly drowsy. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
-You got any symptoms? -No, I'm fine. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
I've had a slight headache for a while, | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
but I think that's just being with you. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:44 | |
-Thanks. -Yeah. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:45 | |
So, somewhere down there is the jungle. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
That gives me the feeling of enormous power. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
Does it you? Does it make you feel sort of... | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
Yeah. It's pretty amazing we're above the clouds. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
So from now on, we're heading down into the jungle, and then in the jungle | 0:18:59 | 0:19:05 | |
we've got to find Constitucion. Which was built in the '80s? | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
The government said they would relocate the capital city | 0:19:09 | 0:19:12 | |
to the geographical centre of Peru, the middle point, which happens to be in the middle of the jungle. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:19 | |
They did it in Brazil. They moved the capital city to a man-made one, Brasilia. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
I think most capital cities are man-made. I don't want to pick you up on that point. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:28 | |
Artificially located, let's change my wording. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:32 | |
But there's a long way to go before they get off the Comas road, | 0:19:33 | 0:19:37 | |
and the descent is particularly dangerous at this time of day. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
I can't see anything at all. Can you see anything? | 0:19:42 | 0:19:46 | |
I'll walk. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:48 | |
Can you see anything? | 0:19:48 | 0:19:49 | |
Yeah, I can see... Yeah. I've got a little bit of the road here. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
-Shall I walk up the other side? -I think I'm OK for now. I'll tell you if I... | 0:19:53 | 0:19:58 | |
I've never had sun quite so strong straight into the face. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:02 | |
If we have another run of sheer slope, then you can get out. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:05 | |
Good visibility is essential here, as there are still more obstacles to overcome on the road. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:15 | |
-Moo. -Excuse us. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:20 | |
Excuse us. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
-That one's getting out the way. -This one isn't. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
-Shall I go and herd them? -HORN BEEPS | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
What you've done there is, you've put another one in the way. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
You've honked, and now the one that wasn't in the way is in the way. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:37 | |
Get out.. Right, OK. Hang on... | 0:20:37 | 0:20:39 | |
That's it. There's a gap. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:41 | |
Thank you, thank you very much. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:44 | |
Easy! We're like pros. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:47 | |
The Anchor butter commercials led me to believe that cows could talk, | 0:20:47 | 0:20:51 | |
-but they didn't seem to understand anything. -Not really. | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
After a day's drive above the clouds, | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
the boys must now drop back through them to get to the Amazon basin. | 0:20:59 | 0:21:04 | |
It does give the illusion of driving into thin air, doesn't it? | 0:21:04 | 0:21:08 | |
Driving in the air... I could sing that for you. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
-TO TUNE OF "THE SNOWMAN": -# We're driving in the air... # | 0:21:15 | 0:21:18 | |
No! | 0:21:18 | 0:21:20 | |
At dusk, visibility drops to a few metres, | 0:21:26 | 0:21:30 | |
but after 12 hours on the road, | 0:21:30 | 0:21:32 | |
they make it down to Satipo, and a bed for the night. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
Ben and Hugh have made it to the Amazon basin | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
and must now head further into the rainforest towards the centre of Peru | 0:21:47 | 0:21:52 | |
on their search for the city of Constitucion. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
But first, they need to negotiate the road to Pichanaki, | 0:21:55 | 0:21:59 | |
where temperatures can reach 40 degrees by midday. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
Agh-yyah! | 0:22:10 | 0:22:11 | |
I just wanted to wake you up. | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
I've been bitten by sand flies, actually. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
I've got them all over my face. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
-They don't actually itch so much. -They don't itch at all, as far as I can see. Are they nasty? -Well, | 0:22:22 | 0:22:28 | |
probably shouldn't tell you this now, but they do carry this rather nasty disease | 0:22:28 | 0:22:32 | |
that, out here, they call "uta", and back in England is called Leishmaniasis. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:38 | |
I don't want to know. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:40 | |
You'll be fine, Hugh. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:42 | |
The Peruvian Amazon covers nearly a million square kilometres. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:53 | |
Over the last century, there has been a vast increase in the number of roads into the area, | 0:22:53 | 0:22:58 | |
built to harvest the enormous natural wealth of the jungle. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:03 | |
The road from Satipo to Pichanaki was originally created by loggers 60 years ago | 0:23:03 | 0:23:08 | |
but is now used primarily by the coffee farmers who live alongside it. | 0:23:08 | 0:23:13 | |
Liliana Palomino manages her family's farm, one of the oldest in this area. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:18 | |
Her father arrived here from the highlands in the early 1950s, looking for land. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:23 | |
TRANSLATION: | 0:23:23 | 0:23:25 | |
So, she's saying that her father came from Comas, where we've come from, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
-but there was no big highway like we just came on. -VAST highway! | 0:23:34 | 0:23:38 | |
It was small tracks. A lot of it was river, because this was virgin rainforest. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:42 | |
Liliana's farm contains over 2,000 coffee plants which need to be picked by hand, | 0:23:42 | 0:23:48 | |
and it can be risky work. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
Oh, OK! | 0:23:59 | 0:24:01 | |
So, what kind of snakes do you have? | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
This is becoming quite a long list! | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
I think "shushupe" is bushmaster. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
-Bushmasters are nasty, aren't they? -Yep. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
What she's basically said is, the quality of the roads is integral to their way of living, | 0:24:41 | 0:24:46 | |
because coffee, here, is life. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:48 | |
So, hopefully no bushmasters on our way back. Do you want to lead? | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
Was that bad? | 0:24:53 | 0:24:55 | |
-BEN LAUGHS -Quite bad, yeah. -Sorry. | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
That ruins my Indiana Jones credibility there. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:00 | |
Not that I ever had any! | 0:25:00 | 0:25:01 | |
The unpaved Pichanaki road is the only way for locals to get to market, | 0:25:06 | 0:25:11 | |
and there are frequent accidents on this route. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:13 | |
Look at this child. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
-There are four people on there. -There's four people on that bike, | 0:25:19 | 0:25:23 | |
and that child has just got a... like a...shawl wrapped around it, holding it on. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:28 | |
-Gracias. -Gracias. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:33 | |
Do you say "gracias" because you were expecting four back? | 0:25:33 | 0:25:36 | |
Yeah, I was expecting each one to... Check this out! | 0:25:36 | 0:25:40 | |
-There is a man. -In the boot! -Oh, no, a woman. -Fantastic. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:46 | |
-That's very funny. -What they've done... | 0:25:46 | 0:25:48 | |
It's an old lady, they've put in the back of the car! | 0:25:48 | 0:25:53 | |
They've put Grandma in the boot! | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
-Shall we take over this truck as well? -Yeah. | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
-The only good thing you can say about that is that she wasn't strapped to a roof rack. -True! | 0:26:00 | 0:26:05 | |
After a dusty five-hour drive, they reach Pichanaki, | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
a busy town where coffee and citrus fruits and are brought to market. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:19 | |
-Not quite sure what this truck's doing. -It's turning left, I think, by the indicator. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:24 | |
Oh... I've been in the jungle for so long, I'm almost getting urban shock. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:29 | |
This road was built in the 1960s to encourage migration from the highlands, | 0:26:29 | 0:26:35 | |
and it's now one of the busiest in the Peruvian jungle. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:38 | |
Lots of these little motor taxi things. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
-These three-wheel drive things? There seems to be quite a lot. -There are thousands of them. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:46 | |
When the road arrived in Pichanaki, it was a village of 300 people | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
and the surrounding area was populated by indigenous tribes. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:56 | |
Today, those tribes have been pushed out by an influx of over 60,000 settlers. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:01 | |
Ben and Hugh stay the night here before heading further into the rainforest | 0:27:03 | 0:27:08 | |
and the centre of Peru. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
To get there, they first have to drive the mountain jungle road to Pozuzo, | 0:27:11 | 0:27:16 | |
which runs alongside the dangerous Pichanaki River. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:20 | |
I bet in the winter, when it's rainy season, | 0:27:20 | 0:27:23 | |
this must just fill up. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
The Pichanaki, a powerful tributary of the Amazon, | 0:27:26 | 0:27:30 | |
can rise four metres above its current level. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
Whole sections of this road are regularly washed away, | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
and it's been the scene of several fatal accidents. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:40 | |
See this bit here? That looks like it's been blasted, or something. | 0:27:40 | 0:27:44 | |
-It's got these lines in it. -Scrape marks. -So what are they? | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
Maintenance teams are fighting a desperate battle | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
to move the road away from the collapsing riverbank and keep it open to traffic. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:57 | |
It does look they're laying something up there, doesn't it? | 0:27:57 | 0:28:02 | |
-They're uncoiling something. -They're sticking things in tubes. This bloke here, | 0:28:02 | 0:28:06 | |
I think they've put a tube in and he's got a stick | 0:28:06 | 0:28:11 | |
and he's ramming...charge, I guess. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:14 | |
If they are going to blow that up, we're going to have an extraordinary... | 0:28:14 | 0:28:18 | |
-Long wait? -..seating view. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:20 | |
That's the difference between us. I'm really excited, you're worried about the traffic jam! | 0:28:20 | 0:28:25 | |
Unfortunately for Ben, chief engineer Harold Abad | 0:28:25 | 0:28:29 | |
wants all vehicles to clear the road before blasting begins. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:33 | |
-Hi, I'm Hugh. -Hi, Harold. I'm Ben. You speak English? -More or less. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:38 | |
-How do you clear that rock? Drill a hole? -Yeah. -Put dynamite in? | 0:28:38 | 0:28:43 | |
Yeah, we have a hole maybe three metres... | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
-put some TNT...and explosions. -And that's what they're doing now? | 0:28:46 | 0:28:51 | |
Yeah. | 0:28:51 | 0:28:52 | |
-You're working with dynamite and landslides, that must be very dangerous work? -Yeah, | 0:28:52 | 0:28:58 | |
because here, it's not exactly strong, this part. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:02 | |
For example, yesterday, we were working | 0:29:02 | 0:29:07 | |
and we have, coming down, very, very big rocks, | 0:29:07 | 0:29:11 | |
and the last year, we have one people die for that reason. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:16 | |
-Hit by a rock? -Yeah, he died, he pass away. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:20 | |
-So the most dangerous time for us to be on this road would be when they blow it up? -Uh-huh. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:25 | |
-So we need to get out of the way? -Uh-huh. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:28 | |
-We'll get going. -OK. See you. -Bye. -Bye. See you. | 0:29:28 | 0:29:31 | |
The car's been stuck in traffic for two hours now, | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
and there's still another 30km of roadworks to get through. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:41 | |
They honked. | 0:29:41 | 0:29:42 | |
HORN BEEPS | 0:29:42 | 0:29:44 | |
That's a good honk, I've noticed they do that here. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
You've become like my wife, you lean across. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
-Was that encroaching on your personal space? -Yeah. | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
-Am I becoming too over-familiar? -Yes, hmm. | 0:29:53 | 0:29:56 | |
I've always been most concerned about other drivers - | 0:29:56 | 0:29:58 | |
and I don't necessarily mean Hugh - but I'll get back to that in a second. | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
Whoa! Try not to... SCRAPING | 0:30:02 | 0:30:04 | |
-I won't bottom out the car. -No, no. -I mean, how could I have avoided that? | 0:30:04 | 0:30:08 | |
Hugh and I have been in a car for a few days now, and I'm feeling confident, | 0:30:08 | 0:30:12 | |
but the terrain has changed, so it's one thing feeling confident up in the mountains, | 0:30:12 | 0:30:17 | |
it's different in the jungle. | 0:30:17 | 0:30:18 | |
Don't go more to the right now. That truck is close enough as it is. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:23 | |
Ben does this thing whereby he says thank you to people... | 0:30:24 | 0:30:28 | |
who obviously can't hear him, who are miles away. | 0:30:28 | 0:30:31 | |
I think if you had gone more to the right... Gracias! | 0:30:31 | 0:30:35 | |
Hmm. If I'd gone more to the right? | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
Rather than just going... he will actually go, "Thank you!" | 0:30:38 | 0:30:41 | |
-Are we going to be stuck behind this truck for the whole way? -You want me to overtake? | 0:30:41 | 0:30:46 | |
-Well... -He wants me to overtake. -Yeah, he does. Go, go, go, go, go. | 0:30:46 | 0:30:50 | |
I was just chatting. | 0:30:50 | 0:30:51 | |
Gracias. | 0:30:51 | 0:30:53 | |
-Go. -Hey, look, now. -Now you've got yourself in a right pickle. What are you going to do? | 0:30:53 | 0:30:59 | |
-I'm going to avoid the lorry and I'm going to avoid the minibus. -Weren't you just cutting him up? | 0:30:59 | 0:31:04 | |
-The minibus. Look. -Well done. | 0:31:04 | 0:31:06 | |
Ben and Hugh have now reached the Huancabamba canyon and the dirt track which runs alongside it. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:24 | |
It's a notoriously unstable road | 0:31:24 | 0:31:27 | |
with drops of over 300 metres into the river below. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:31 | |
-I think this is the bumpiest section we've been on. -Yes. | 0:31:32 | 0:31:36 | |
-Is it possible to get whiplash at 15 miles an hour? -I think so. | 0:31:40 | 0:31:43 | |
Steady... | 0:31:47 | 0:31:48 | |
This is the highest point of the canyon, | 0:31:53 | 0:31:56 | |
and oncoming traffic is a real danger. | 0:31:56 | 0:31:59 | |
In 2009, two tourists veered off the road here | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
and plunged to their deaths in the valley below. | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
BOTH: Ohhh-ohhh! | 0:32:10 | 0:32:12 | |
Stop here? He wants us to go over here. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:27 | |
-Does he want us to go over here? -I don't know. | 0:32:27 | 0:32:30 | |
It's a single-track road and the trucks aren't giving way. | 0:32:30 | 0:32:35 | |
Shall I go into there? | 0:32:38 | 0:32:40 | |
-Oh, blimey. -How close am I? | 0:32:45 | 0:32:49 | |
Is that enough room? | 0:32:49 | 0:32:51 | |
Look at this drop here. | 0:32:57 | 0:32:58 | |
He was fairly insistent, wasn't he? | 0:33:06 | 0:33:09 | |
He didn't want us to go there. That was like, "You're going there, mate." | 0:33:09 | 0:33:13 | |
I thought that was quite slick. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:28 | |
Do you think they could tell we weren't from around here? | 0:33:30 | 0:33:32 | |
-What's that? -Wilkommen. | 0:33:37 | 0:33:41 | |
Wilkommen in... What does that say? | 0:33:41 | 0:33:43 | |
Pozuzo. | 0:33:43 | 0:33:46 | |
-Einzigen Osterriechisch Deutschen kolonie der welt. -Can you translate that? | 0:33:46 | 0:33:52 | |
Welcome to Pozuzo - the only Austrian, German colony... | 0:33:52 | 0:33:58 | |
-in the world. 1859. -This is weird. | 0:33:58 | 0:34:01 | |
This is weird. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:10 | |
It looks like we have arrived in an Austrian village. | 0:34:10 | 0:34:15 | |
This is so un-Peruvian. | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
It's like a ski resort, isn't it? | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
A ski resort in the jungle. | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
It's incredibly neat as well, isn't it? | 0:34:24 | 0:34:27 | |
This is a bit freaky, it's a bit like a toy town, isn't it? | 0:34:27 | 0:34:31 | |
He looks German - that man looked German. | 0:34:33 | 0:34:36 | |
-Where? -There. Look how tall he is! | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
There is a very, very great danger of me starting to indulge in national stereotyping. | 0:34:39 | 0:34:47 | |
How on earth did a place like this get here? | 0:34:47 | 0:34:51 | |
That's what I don't understand. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:53 | |
Pozuzo is still inhabited by the descendants of the | 0:34:55 | 0:34:58 | |
European settlers, who arrived here in the mid 19th century. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:02 | |
Like local resident Jose Castrada. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:05 | |
We can't help but notice there is an enormous ship in the middle of the square - | 0:35:05 | 0:35:09 | |
in the middle of the jungle here. What on earth is this here? | 0:35:09 | 0:35:11 | |
The story began | 0:35:11 | 0:35:14 | |
in 1850. The Government here in Peru pursued the idea of colonising the central jungle. | 0:35:14 | 0:35:21 | |
334 people board in Antwerp - a part of them were Austrians and a part of them were Germans. | 0:35:21 | 0:35:28 | |
So, can you tell us a bit about the boat journey and how long it took? | 0:35:28 | 0:35:31 | |
It took about four months to come here from Antwerp. | 0:35:31 | 0:35:35 | |
It was a guano ship - they ration the water, they ration the food and everything. | 0:35:35 | 0:35:40 | |
-I think six people died there. -So, pretty miserable existence on board. | 0:35:40 | 0:35:43 | |
Of course. | 0:35:43 | 0:35:45 | |
They landed here in Peru and they hiked more than two years to come here. | 0:35:45 | 0:35:50 | |
It took them two years to get from the coast...? | 0:35:50 | 0:35:53 | |
Yeah, from the coast here. | 0:35:53 | 0:35:54 | |
Only 180 came here to Pozuzo. | 0:35:54 | 0:35:57 | |
So, what happened to | 0:35:57 | 0:36:00 | |
that missing 150 or so? | 0:36:00 | 0:36:02 | |
Lots of them gave up and lots of them died on the way. | 0:36:02 | 0:36:05 | |
Died from disease? | 0:36:05 | 0:36:07 | |
From disease, from hunger, cold and so on. | 0:36:07 | 0:36:12 | |
So, what were they expecting when they got here? | 0:36:12 | 0:36:13 | |
Did they think there would be buildings and roads, what were they promised? | 0:36:13 | 0:36:18 | |
No, they was expecting to have land and to have a road connection to the capital. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:24 | |
-Which they didn't? -They didn't. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
So when did the road finally arrive? | 0:36:26 | 0:36:28 | |
Well, after 100 years of isolation, in 1975, | 0:36:28 | 0:36:34 | |
the road arrived here in Pozuzo for the first time. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:38 | |
And with the road came also the new things - new materials, new communications. | 0:36:38 | 0:36:43 | |
-And wealth? -And wealth also. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
-Jose, thank you very much. -Thank you. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
-Auf Wiedersehn. -Auf Wiedersehn. | 0:36:50 | 0:36:52 | |
Pozuzo has thrived since the arrival of the road | 0:36:53 | 0:36:56 | |
but it remains proud of its European roots and still receives financial support from Germany and Austria. | 0:36:56 | 0:37:03 | |
The next stage of the journey to find the city of Constitucion, runs from Pozuzo across the fearsome | 0:37:06 | 0:37:11 | |
Huancabamba Canyon, to the town of Codo. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
But first they need to change their vehicle, as the road ahead can't be driven in an ordinary 4x4. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:23 | |
This garage rents pick-up trucks with higher ground clearance | 0:37:24 | 0:37:28 | |
to cope with the most challenging jungle tracks. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:30 | |
-So this must be our car. -I think so, Hola, senor. | 0:37:30 | 0:37:34 | |
THEY SPEAK SPANISH | 0:37:34 | 0:37:38 | |
So he said, this is the car we wanted for the route. | 0:37:43 | 0:37:46 | |
-Let's have a look around. -Why do you kick that? | 0:37:48 | 0:37:50 | |
It's what everyone does. I've seen them. You kick it and it makes it look good. | 0:37:50 | 0:37:54 | |
-You have no idea what it's for though. -I'm going to check the back. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:56 | |
This is great, one of us can ride up in the top here. | 0:37:56 | 0:38:00 | |
That's fine by me, I'll drive you stay up there. | 0:38:00 | 0:38:04 | |
Do you think it'll be bouncy? | 0:38:04 | 0:38:05 | |
Oooh! | 0:38:05 | 0:38:08 | |
The road out of Pozuzo is crossed by several streams, which cascade into | 0:38:09 | 0:38:12 | |
the river below, making the road-surface unpredictable and prone to collapse. | 0:38:12 | 0:38:18 | |
Well, the locals say that this is one of | 0:38:20 | 0:38:23 | |
the hardest parts that's coming up. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:27 | |
I'm actually, for the first time, feeling a little bit nervous. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
Look at this! | 0:38:33 | 0:38:36 | |
Where does the road go? | 0:38:36 | 0:38:38 | |
Where is the road? | 0:38:39 | 0:38:41 | |
I think the road used to go there. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:46 | |
-Across there? -That must be the road there. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:49 | |
Sorry, you couldn't really see it, could you? | 0:38:49 | 0:38:52 | |
You keep your eyes on the road, | 0:38:52 | 0:38:54 | |
or one the track or on the mud, whatever we call it. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:57 | |
I do think you should be careful at this bit here. | 0:39:01 | 0:39:04 | |
Because it's straight on? | 0:39:04 | 0:39:06 | |
Well, because I can see there are marks | 0:39:06 | 0:39:08 | |
that go straight on and it looks like someone's done that already. | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
-There are, aren't there? -This is where people skid off. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:13 | |
Those tyre tracks go right over the edge. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:16 | |
There's not a car over there, is there? | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
Oh, Lord! | 0:39:20 | 0:39:22 | |
This is mad. | 0:39:23 | 0:39:26 | |
This is not a road. | 0:39:28 | 0:39:31 | |
Ben and Hugh are still 350 kilometres away from the centre | 0:39:39 | 0:39:43 | |
of Peru and the site chosen for the new capital of Constitucion. | 0:39:43 | 0:39:46 | |
Do you think we'll find this place? | 0:39:46 | 0:39:49 | |
I find it a bit worrying that it's not on our map | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
that we were looking at but other people have heard of it. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:56 | |
-Some people have heard of it. -It was only built in the 1980s. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:59 | |
Well, we don't even know how much of it was built. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
And the further we go, the more ridiculous I think this idea of a new capital is. | 0:40:04 | 0:40:09 | |
They now have to cross the river to reach the town of Codo. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:15 | |
A brand new two-lane bridge is under construction but unfortunately it doesn't open for another few weeks. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:21 | |
They will have to use the old bridge, which is currently being prepared for demolition. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:27 | |
Oh, bloody hell. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:29 | |
-No way! -Look at that! | 0:40:29 | 0:40:33 | |
Oh, my God! | 0:40:36 | 0:40:37 | |
As they approach the bridge, Hugh is worried about the brakes. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:44 | |
How does that feel? | 0:40:44 | 0:40:46 | |
Should be all right, as long as I can stop it. | 0:40:46 | 0:40:48 | |
-Well, that's the thing, can you? Do you want to try here. -Oh, I can now. | 0:40:48 | 0:40:51 | |
You can? Definitely stop? | 0:40:51 | 0:40:53 | |
We're going... I'm serious though we will go straight over that edge. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
Look at this tight... | 0:40:56 | 0:40:58 | |
You've got to somehow turn here. | 0:40:58 | 0:40:59 | |
You're going to have to do a zillion point turn. | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
I'm not in any gear. | 0:41:07 | 0:41:09 | |
Push the clutch. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
That's low so that should be back into high, so can you get a gear now? | 0:41:11 | 0:41:14 | |
-Are you into reverse? -I don't want reverse, I want to go forward. | 0:41:14 | 0:41:17 | |
You should be able to now, OK. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:19 | |
OK, OK, that's probably close. | 0:41:22 | 0:41:24 | |
-Do you want me to actually get out and point you over here? -Yeah. | 0:41:30 | 0:41:33 | |
Hola, senor. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:37 | |
Pull her round this way. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:41 | |
THEY SPEAK SPANISH | 0:41:44 | 0:41:45 | |
He said it's safe. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:48 | |
Turning, turning more. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:49 | |
You've got lots of room here, Hugh, lots more room. | 0:41:49 | 0:41:54 | |
Yeah, but none here. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:56 | |
I've got to go back, I can't do that. I've got to go back. | 0:41:56 | 0:42:00 | |
The pick-up is pressing against one of the pillars holding the bridge up. | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
And now the engineer is concerned. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:06 | |
HE SPEAKS SPANISH | 0:42:06 | 0:42:08 | |
Whoa! | 0:42:11 | 0:42:12 | |
You OK? | 0:42:14 | 0:42:15 | |
I've got to go back. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:23 | |
Turn the wheels around, turn the wheels more, | 0:42:26 | 0:42:27 | |
turn them more, turn the wheels more. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
Yeah, yeah, that's good. | 0:42:29 | 0:42:31 | |
ENGINE REVS | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
Start turning, turning more. Full on. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:43 | |
Now turn the wheels over to this side here. | 0:42:43 | 0:42:47 | |
OK. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:51 | |
THEY SPEAK SPANISH | 0:42:53 | 0:42:55 | |
OK. | 0:42:56 | 0:42:57 | |
We're not even across the bridge yet and that's the most terrifying bit of it. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:09 | |
This is unbelievable. We're not off it yet. | 0:43:09 | 0:43:13 | |
How am I doing on that side? | 0:43:13 | 0:43:14 | |
You've got lots of room. | 0:43:14 | 0:43:16 | |
-When you say loads of room... -Lots. -Gordon Bennett! | 0:43:16 | 0:43:21 | |
Look at it bouncing. Can you feel it? | 0:43:21 | 0:43:23 | |
Yeah, don't worry, I'm going very slowly now. | 0:43:23 | 0:43:26 | |
-Woo hoo! -I'm going to jump. | 0:43:30 | 0:43:31 | |
-Have a look, that is unbelievable. -I'm gonna get out and have a look at that. | 0:43:35 | 0:43:38 | |
Yeah, that was a terrifying bridge to go across. | 0:43:45 | 0:43:47 | |
When he was turning his wheels, they were going into the wire and actually hanging over the bridge. | 0:43:47 | 0:43:54 | |
-How much did you sweat? -Quite a lot. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:57 | |
-Do you want to feel that? -Not really. | 0:43:57 | 0:43:59 | |
I was steering, Ben was guiding, so the fact I hit the pillar is at least 40% his fault. | 0:43:59 | 0:44:06 | |
So, no truck can get across there, can it? | 0:44:06 | 0:44:09 | |
We have seen two trucks today. | 0:44:09 | 0:44:10 | |
They can't have come across that, can they? | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
It was "bien danado", | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
which means well damaged, as one of the workmen said as we drove past afterwards. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:21 | |
I kept that secret from Hugh. I think he was a bit... | 0:44:21 | 0:44:24 | |
I think he felt a bit dented himself. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:26 | |
-Shall we carry on? -Yeah, let's. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:29 | |
I thought I was going to have a heart attack earlier. Can you drive? | 0:44:29 | 0:44:31 | |
Can I drive? | 0:44:31 | 0:44:33 | |
It's taken an hour to clear the bridge and they have to drive | 0:44:39 | 0:44:42 | |
the rest of the road in the dark before reaching Codo, where they can plan the route ahead. | 0:44:42 | 0:44:47 | |
This last bit. | 0:44:49 | 0:44:51 | |
We were in the Canyon of the Huancas, did you know that? | 0:44:51 | 0:44:55 | |
And now we go up here and then somewhere in here... | 0:44:55 | 0:45:00 | |
is Constitucion... | 0:45:00 | 0:45:02 | |
and what's rather alarming about it is there is no road | 0:45:02 | 0:45:06 | |
-or road marks. -And, more notably, no mention of the lost city. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:12 | |
And we've got to find it. Well, that should be easy. | 0:45:12 | 0:45:17 | |
Ben and Hugh have now reached the final stage of their journey. | 0:45:19 | 0:45:23 | |
Constitucion reportedly lies at the geographical centre of Peru. | 0:45:23 | 0:45:27 | |
To get there, they must leave the river valley, | 0:45:27 | 0:45:30 | |
then drive across swampland into the heart of the jungle. | 0:45:30 | 0:45:34 | |
But the canyon has one final terrifying climb to negotiate. | 0:45:37 | 0:45:42 | |
It's too early in the morning for this. | 0:45:43 | 0:45:46 | |
This is so narrow. Can I say, I can't see where the drop is there? | 0:45:49 | 0:45:54 | |
-Keep as close to that side as you can. -Am I OK with that drop? | 0:45:54 | 0:45:56 | |
Oh, my God, I feel like I'm actually hanging over the side. | 0:46:00 | 0:46:04 | |
The pick-up is trapped between a sheer rock-face and the fast-flowing Huancabamba river. | 0:46:05 | 0:46:12 | |
Right, get over there now. Get over there. | 0:46:12 | 0:46:14 | |
There's another bit. | 0:46:14 | 0:46:17 | |
Close to that side as you can now. | 0:46:18 | 0:46:20 | |
Bugger me. | 0:46:20 | 0:46:23 | |
-Tell me how far. -Just stay as close as you can to that wall. | 0:46:23 | 0:46:27 | |
Don't worry about this side but if you keep as close as you can... | 0:46:29 | 0:46:31 | |
-I can't see that side. -Get over there, get over there, get over there. | 0:46:31 | 0:46:34 | |
This is ridiculous. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:39 | |
If I hit the rock, I'll bounce back in. | 0:46:39 | 0:46:42 | |
Well, don't hit the rock then. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:44 | |
They have finally cleared the river valley and are close to the centre of Peru. | 0:46:55 | 0:47:01 | |
This section of the road was only built a few years ago but already | 0:47:01 | 0:47:04 | |
has had a huge impact on the local environment. | 0:47:04 | 0:47:07 | |
Illegal tree felling has cleared vast areas of rainforest | 0:47:07 | 0:47:12 | |
and cattle farming ensures that the jungle cannot grow back. | 0:47:12 | 0:47:16 | |
On the map, we are in the middle | 0:47:24 | 0:47:27 | |
of the jungle, do you remember looking at that? | 0:47:27 | 0:47:29 | |
There was no roads - nothing around. | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
So this should be thick, primary jungle. | 0:47:31 | 0:47:36 | |
And look around us. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:38 | |
I guess this road mostly is just used to take wood, isn't it? | 0:47:41 | 0:47:43 | |
Take logs. See these trees here - the big ones. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:47 | |
It looks to me as though they're the ones that have been left. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:52 | |
They've cleared massive areas of trees, haven't they? | 0:47:52 | 0:47:55 | |
The further these roads encroach into the rainforest, | 0:47:55 | 0:47:59 | |
the more the natural resources they're going to be exploiting. | 0:47:59 | 0:48:02 | |
This could be one of the first landscapes that becomes extinct. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:06 | |
The end of Ben and Hugh's journey is now only 75 kilometres away. | 0:48:09 | 0:48:15 | |
But this final stage of the road was only completed two years ago and doesn't even appear on the map. | 0:48:15 | 0:48:21 | |
It's known to locals simply as the Mud Road. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:25 | |
This is a good road, isn't it? | 0:48:25 | 0:48:27 | |
OK, so now we want to go into this one over here - | 0:48:36 | 0:48:40 | |
so out to the right. | 0:48:41 | 0:48:43 | |
I'm stuck. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:45 | |
Now into first and if you pull it around to the right a little bit... | 0:48:54 | 0:48:58 | |
They have only gone three kilometres but they are already stuck. | 0:49:01 | 0:49:05 | |
It's spinning, spinning. | 0:49:07 | 0:49:09 | |
What you want to do, Hugh, you've got some drier stuff up here, yeah, exactly. | 0:49:09 | 0:49:14 | |
Nice, slow tread... | 0:49:14 | 0:49:16 | |
We're going to go back into that hole. I've got to go back. | 0:49:16 | 0:49:19 | |
If the pick-up can't get through the mud, they are trouble. | 0:49:22 | 0:49:26 | |
There are no rescue services in the middle of the jungle. | 0:49:26 | 0:49:30 | |
If you turn the wheels right... | 0:49:30 | 0:49:33 | |
I don't know if you can get enough traction. | 0:49:34 | 0:49:37 | |
It's going to send me back into that hole. | 0:49:37 | 0:49:39 | |
Agh, so nearly. | 0:49:45 | 0:49:48 | |
What we want to do is try and get traction up pointing into the jungle - that way. | 0:49:48 | 0:49:53 | |
It's what we want to try and do. There's a bit of a slope, yeah. Nice slow traction, yeah. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:57 | |
Go, go, go, go, go... | 0:50:00 | 0:50:02 | |
Keep going, keep going! | 0:50:02 | 0:50:04 | |
-Yes! -Now where? | 0:50:05 | 0:50:07 | |
Into here. Straight on there. Yep. | 0:50:07 | 0:50:10 | |
Into this bit. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:11 | |
Don't smile yet. | 0:50:21 | 0:50:22 | |
We've still got another 50 miles. | 0:50:25 | 0:50:26 | |
Of this! I know. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:28 | |
Other vehicles are few and far between on the Mud Road. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:33 | |
This one belongs to Jose Caballero - a local mayor and the official responsible for roads in this area. | 0:50:33 | 0:50:39 | |
So who built this road? | 0:50:39 | 0:50:41 | |
He built it. | 0:50:42 | 0:50:44 | |
I'm saying, for us, | 0:50:53 | 0:50:55 | |
it's a little bit difficult. | 0:50:55 | 0:50:58 | |
-What he's saying is, in their winter, this is impassable. -At the moment this is good? | 0:51:02 | 0:51:07 | |
-This is a great road. -What happens if we get stuck? | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
The key is to go with another vehicle and make sure they've got ropes to pull one out. | 0:51:21 | 0:51:26 | |
No mobile reception or anything here. | 0:51:29 | 0:51:31 | |
Would you like to come with us? | 0:51:31 | 0:51:33 | |
I said it's a joke. | 0:51:33 | 0:51:35 | |
I think he was taking you seriously, although we are being serious, aren't we, in a kind of way? | 0:51:35 | 0:51:41 | |
Ben has taken over for the final section of the Mud Road, which they hope leads to Constitucion. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:50 | |
Even experienced local drivers get bogged down here. | 0:51:50 | 0:51:53 | |
Cross over to this side, do you think? | 0:51:54 | 0:51:56 | |
Yeah, and that side seems to be used. | 0:51:56 | 0:51:59 | |
As long as it doesn't take us into that tree. | 0:51:59 | 0:52:01 | |
I could add to your dent. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:03 | |
-WE made that dent! -I have to agree. | 0:52:06 | 0:52:09 | |
Whoa, fucking hell! | 0:52:11 | 0:52:13 | |
Pardon me, viewers. | 0:52:13 | 0:52:15 | |
The last kilometre of this road is completely submerged | 0:52:18 | 0:52:21 | |
but the boys are finally getting the hang of mud driving. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:25 | |
It's coming in through the window. | 0:52:25 | 0:52:28 | |
-What are you doing? -I'm just following the tracks. | 0:52:29 | 0:52:31 | |
Oh, that's fantastic. Every time you think it's over, it's not over. | 0:52:31 | 0:52:35 | |
It's not over till the fat woman sings. Bloody hell! | 0:52:35 | 0:52:38 | |
Beautiful! | 0:52:40 | 0:52:42 | |
-Go, go, go. -Go, Fogle! | 0:52:42 | 0:52:46 | |
Go, go! | 0:52:46 | 0:52:48 | |
Well done, mate. That was fantastic. | 0:52:48 | 0:52:51 | |
Yes! | 0:52:51 | 0:52:52 | |
They have arrived in a small dirt town that emerged in the 1980s to house and feed | 0:52:59 | 0:53:04 | |
construction crews who came to build the city of Constitucion. | 0:53:04 | 0:53:09 | |
To discover what happened to the dream of a new Peruvian capital, | 0:53:11 | 0:53:16 | |
Ben and Hugh have come to a local government office... | 0:53:16 | 0:53:18 | |
Ah, David! | 0:53:18 | 0:53:20 | |
..Where David Zevallos is a guide and historian. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:23 | |
This is our ex-president, Fernando Belaunde Terry. | 0:53:23 | 0:53:27 | |
He was a very important man for us and he decided to build Constitucion city in the middle of the jungle. | 0:53:27 | 0:53:33 | |
And how big was it going to be? | 0:53:33 | 0:53:35 | |
It was going to be a big city. It was going to be the capital of Peru. | 0:53:35 | 0:53:40 | |
Here you can see the plans here. | 0:53:40 | 0:53:42 | |
Here we have the civic centre, the commercial centre, | 0:53:42 | 0:53:44 | |
-houses that he wanted to build like this for our citizens. -Look at that! | 0:53:44 | 0:53:48 | |
That is a massive project, isn't it? | 0:53:48 | 0:53:50 | |
Look at the size of that road! That looks like a triple-lane highway. | 0:53:50 | 0:53:54 | |
So, why did he choose here as the location for the new capital? | 0:53:54 | 0:53:58 | |
He thought it was a strategic place. | 0:53:58 | 0:54:00 | |
-A strategic place? -A strategic place. | 0:54:00 | 0:54:03 | |
Yeah, it was the centre of the jungle. | 0:54:03 | 0:54:05 | |
It was important but it was nothing at the end, because we couldn't finish that. | 0:54:05 | 0:54:10 | |
So what went wrong? | 0:54:10 | 0:54:12 | |
Well, there was a lot of corruption. | 0:54:12 | 0:54:14 | |
There was a lot of people robbing money. | 0:54:14 | 0:54:16 | |
-Are you disappointed that this never got off the ground? -Yes, of course. | 0:54:16 | 0:54:20 | |
As a Peruvian citizen, I am disappointed for that because a lot of people would be living there. | 0:54:20 | 0:54:29 | |
And now it's just forgotten in the middle of the jungle. | 0:54:29 | 0:54:32 | |
But you can see it at the end of the road. | 0:54:32 | 0:54:35 | |
We can see where this was going to be? | 0:54:35 | 0:54:37 | |
Yes, it was going to be at the end of the road. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:39 | |
Thanks very much. Muchos gracias. | 0:54:39 | 0:54:42 | |
You're welcome. | 0:54:42 | 0:54:44 | |
The site chosen for the new capital lies three kilometres away, | 0:54:45 | 0:54:50 | |
at the exact geographical centre of Peru. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:53 | |
President Belaunde Terry's grand vision was for a huge road through the jungle, leading to the new city. | 0:54:53 | 0:55:01 | |
Thousands of indigenous people were moved from their land in preparation. | 0:55:01 | 0:55:05 | |
But, today, little but the road remains. | 0:55:05 | 0:55:08 | |
So, this would have all been part of it, I guess, wouldn't it? | 0:55:11 | 0:55:14 | |
This road we're on now would have all been part of those plans, isn't it? | 0:55:14 | 0:55:18 | |
So this might be - literally - the end of the road. | 0:55:20 | 0:55:24 | |
It's not often you actually find that point. | 0:55:24 | 0:55:28 | |
So this is effectively what's left | 0:55:29 | 0:55:32 | |
of the city of Constitucion. | 0:55:32 | 0:55:33 | |
The new city was abandoned after only a few houses were built, | 0:55:37 | 0:55:41 | |
but it is now inhabited by members of the Ashaninka people - the largest indigenous tribe in Peru. | 0:55:41 | 0:55:49 | |
The community is led by 72-year-old Alicia Arellano. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:53 | |
BEN SPEAKS SPANISH | 0:55:53 | 0:55:55 | |
Alicia. | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
Hugh. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:03 | |
So she's been here for 23 years. | 0:56:08 | 0:56:11 | |
So that's President Belaunde created these buildings they moved into. | 0:56:14 | 0:56:19 | |
So they had to clean it all. They had to pull back the jungle again. | 0:56:25 | 0:56:30 | |
So she is from the jungle. | 0:56:32 | 0:56:35 | |
Her people are from the jungle. | 0:56:35 | 0:56:36 | |
So it's kind of they claimed it back almost, haven't they? | 0:56:36 | 0:56:39 | |
-Gracias. -Gracias. | 0:56:39 | 0:56:42 | |
There is a community - a proper community here. | 0:56:48 | 0:56:50 | |
And all these buildings are now used by the tribes that were forced off the land to build the city, | 0:56:50 | 0:56:56 | |
so they've reclaimed it, which is rather satisfying in a way... | 0:56:56 | 0:57:00 | |
not for President Belaunde but I find that really rather satisfying. | 0:57:00 | 0:57:04 | |
I think this journey - this road we've been on - has taken so many twists and turns in every sense. | 0:57:04 | 0:57:10 | |
It actually doesn't surprise me that the ending has been just as | 0:57:10 | 0:57:13 | |
strange as everything we've found along the way. | 0:57:13 | 0:57:16 | |
Ben and Hugh have reached the end of their journey and can now head for home. | 0:57:23 | 0:57:27 | |
Over the last eight days, they have driven right across Peru, | 0:57:27 | 0:57:31 | |
on one of the world's most dangerous roads, and survived to tell the tale. | 0:57:31 | 0:57:37 | |
We were able to travel from the Andes, deep into the rainforest. | 0:57:37 | 0:57:40 | |
I don't think you'll find a road with quite such variety anywhere in the world. | 0:57:40 | 0:57:44 | |
It's an incredibly impressive enterprise, actually. | 0:57:44 | 0:57:47 | |
One, the fact they've got it in the first place, which is almost a miracle, I think. | 0:57:47 | 0:57:51 | |
And, secondly, the fact they are constantly clearing it and making sure people can get through. | 0:57:51 | 0:57:57 | |
It's a huge trust experience to take the wheel and be in charge of quite a precious cargo, really. | 0:57:57 | 0:58:04 | |
There was the odd kind of, "Steer left, steer left, or you're going to kill us!" | 0:58:09 | 0:58:14 | |
But I think that's fair enough. | 0:58:14 | 0:58:16 | |
I think all of those stressful moments, happy moments... | 0:58:16 | 0:58:19 | |
that's what creates the journey, isn't it? It's what | 0:58:19 | 0:58:22 | |
bonds you together. | 0:58:22 | 0:58:24 | |
When I hit the dashboard, Mr Fogle... | 0:58:24 | 0:58:28 | |
I'd like you to do an emergency stop. | 0:58:28 | 0:58:31 | |
Why are you driving? | 0:58:35 | 0:58:37 | |
-Don't you think I should be driving? -I didn't crash into a bridge. | 0:58:37 | 0:58:39 | |
I didn't hit a cow, did I? | 0:58:39 | 0:58:42 | |
Yours is too bumpy, your driving. | 0:58:42 | 0:58:44 | |
You don't seem able to cope with bends. | 0:58:44 | 0:58:46 | |
You got stuck in the mud! | 0:58:46 | 0:58:47 | |
You got stuck in the mud! | 0:58:47 | 0:58:49 | |
We both got stuck in the mud. | 0:58:49 | 0:58:51 | |
Mind the motor, taxi! | 0:58:51 | 0:58:53 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:57 | 0:58:59 |