0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08- Five billion kilometres of roads network our planet.- The drop!
0:00:08 > 0:00:10400 feet, absolutely sheer.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11Instant death then, yeah?
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Yet the desire to communicate and trade means new routes
0:00:15 > 0:00:18are being forged through increasingly challenging terrain.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21- Keep as close as you can there. - I know, but am I OK with that drop?
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Across Arctic tundra.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Zero visibility on the pass. We are mid-drift.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Over mountain passes.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33- Through jungle. - No! Go, Fogle!- Go!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36These roads fight a constant battle with nature.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Let's just calm it down.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42But their very existence is testament to man's ingenuity,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46and driving them requires courage and determination.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48Oh, ge... Woah!
0:00:55 > 0:01:03Adventurer Ben Fogle and comedian Hugh Dennis have teamed up to drive the treacherous route across Peru,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06from the Andes into the very heart of the Amazon.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12On this epic eight-day journey, they will see the beauty and the danger of this extraordinary road.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15They are aiming to get to the geographical centre of Peru.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19As close to that side as you can, now.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21And the road they're taken has some of the most extreme
0:01:21 > 0:01:25driving conditions either of them have ever encountered.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26Careful, careful.
0:01:26 > 0:01:32To make it through, they will need steady hands and nerves of steel
0:01:32 > 0:01:36on one of the world's most dangerous roads.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50Ben and Hugh's journey begins at over 3,000 metres above sea level in the Peruvian Andes.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54So, are you nervous about this at all?
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I'm slightly nervous about it. Can I just check one thing?
0:01:57 > 0:01:59Did you pass your driving test first time?
0:01:59 > 0:02:02I didn't pass my driving test first time.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05- That matter?- That's fine. How many times did you take it?
0:02:05 > 0:02:07- Seven.- Seven times? Seven?
0:02:07 > 0:02:09I like to think it makes me a better driver, by the way.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12That's fine, because I've never passed one.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15- Seven times! - That makes me feel so much better...
0:02:20 > 0:02:25Their route runs for 1,000k across Peru and will take them through
0:02:25 > 0:02:29three very different but challenging types of terrain.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33They have to cross the Andes on one of Peru's highest roads,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37before heading down into the Amazon Rainforest.
0:02:37 > 0:02:43After that, it's 500 kilometres of rough jungle roads to the town of Pozuzo.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48Finally, they will have to make it across the mighty Huancabamba Canyon
0:02:48 > 0:02:52and along miles of mud roads to reach the centre of Peru.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58Here they hope to find Constitucion, a city which in the 1980s was intended to replace Lima
0:02:58 > 0:03:02as Peru's new capital but today doesn't even appear on the map.
0:03:04 > 0:03:10But their adventure begins at the gateway to the Peruvian Andes in the town of Concepcion.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14This is where local people come to start their journey into
0:03:14 > 0:03:17the mountains and the taxi drivers here know this route backwards.
0:03:17 > 0:03:22Ben sees an opportunity to try out his rusty Spanish on them.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Hola. Mi nombre es Ben.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Somos en nuestro coche. We're in our car.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Que bueno, que bueno.
0:03:36 > 0:03:42Digame, que tal es la carratera? How is the road between here and there?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03So he's saying the roads are very dangerous and there's lots of...
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Polvo is dust.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09It comes up and you can't see anything. Are there big drops?
0:04:13 > 0:04:15Ooh! 500 to 1,000 metre drops.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24- Concepcion?- No, Constitucion.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31The drivers don't seem to know much about the city of Constitucion,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34except that it's somewhere in the jungle.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37So will we be OK?
0:04:41 > 0:04:45He said the biggest danger is other drivers, and he said
0:04:45 > 0:04:47said we have to be very, very careful on all the corners.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- Plus we have to worry about you. - And I have to worry about me.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Gracias, senor. Gracias.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Hasta luego.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59OK, let's hit the road.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04Armed with local knowledge, they're aiming for a quick getaway.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06But the road has been temporarily closed.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13I find it amazing we're in the middle of nowhere
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- and we've come across the biggest brass-band competition I've ever seen.- It's amazing, isn't it?
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I don't think I've ever seen a brass-band competition.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Where have you seen one before?
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Have you ever seen one?
0:05:26 > 0:05:3335 bands from all over Peru will parade through town today before the road re-opens.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36You think this is a cool thing to do, then? If you're a kid?
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Do you think the cool kids are in the brass band?
0:05:40 > 0:05:41Would you think it's all the dweebs?
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- I don't know.- I think it's cool.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46- Do you?- Yeah.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49If I was out here, I'd be in a brass band.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Do you think we'll ever actually get out of this place now?
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Well, there are more coming.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02That lot are my favourite.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I think they're going to win.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07Shall we head back to the car?
0:06:07 > 0:06:11- Can we get out, do you think? - I think we should go this way.
0:06:20 > 0:06:27After Conception, the road quickly rises up into the Andes - the second highest mountain range in the world.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31This route over the mountains and into the Amazon was mapped out by
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Franciscan monks almost 500 years ago
0:06:34 > 0:06:39as they searched for indigenous tribes to convert to Christianity.
0:06:39 > 0:06:46We're about 4,500 metres up now, so in Alps terms that's almost the top of Mont Blanc.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52Today, huge herds of llama and alpaca roam this area,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55and avoiding them is going to be the boys' first challenge.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56Here we go.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02- Oh... Woah..- Excuse us. Excuse us!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Hey, chaps. That one's getting out of the way.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09This one isn't. Have you seen an alpaca before?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11- Yeah.- They're pretty cool.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13I've always wanted to be an alpaca farmer.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Well, you could. You can do that in England, can't you?
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It's not quite the same as here in the Andes though, is it?
0:07:22 > 0:07:25I've been lucky enough to come to Peru a couple of times over the years.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31I came here when I was about 18 and fresh out of school, so this is where I had my learning experience.
0:07:31 > 0:07:38It's where I found myself, as such. So, for me, it's somewhere I really love and I get very excited by still.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Inspired by his first trip to Peru, Ben took a degree in Latin American
0:07:43 > 0:07:48studies and has since returned to South America many times as a professional adventurer.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Is that a road?
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Is that thing a road going up there?
0:07:52 > 0:07:55It must be. With the switchbacks... I don't know if that's what we're going up.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57It looks very off-road, doesn't it?
0:07:57 > 0:07:58Bloody hell.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I've never been to Latin America. I've never been to South America.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06I've been to all the other continents but I've never been here.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08I'm so pleased I'm doing it.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11This is a fantastic journey.
0:08:11 > 0:08:18It's a journey that will take Hugh further off the tourist trail than he's ever been before.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29The town of Comas was established over 2,000 years ago.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33But the first vehicles only appeared here in the 1930s, when road crews
0:08:33 > 0:08:36finally blasted through the mountains surrounding the village.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42It's the last chance before the jungle for drivers to check
0:08:42 > 0:08:47that their tyres are up to scratch with local mechanic, Rui Cardenas.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Hola.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51- Mi nombre es Ben.- Gusto, gusto.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55I'm going to say... Is it fair for me to say we don't know much about tyres? Do you?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Am I being presumptuous there?
0:08:58 > 0:08:59No, it'd be fair to say.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:09:06 > 0:09:11I'm just saying what happens if there's a hole and we don't have spare inner tubes or anything.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Wow, you're thatching the inside of a tyre.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27So he's saying the best thing is to use leaves and things.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32This would be, in my opinion, the very best use for rhubarb.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38So he's saying we can actually put our clothes in here as well.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- Your jacket.- Use your clothes!
0:09:42 > 0:09:44He's saying we can borrow his.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47We don't need to stuff you in there at this stage.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50They're so resourceful out here, aren't they? I suppose that's what you have to do.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52You have to just make do with what you have.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Y cuantos? Mucha mucha?
0:09:59 > 0:10:00Until it's pretty solid.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Do you think that'd pass the MOT in England?
0:10:04 > 0:10:06It makes you wonder why they bother to fill them with air.
0:10:24 > 0:10:31Roughly what he was saying there are that no foreigners are crazy enough to come on this road.
0:10:35 > 0:10:36At the end of their lesson the day is nearly over,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41the next stage of the road is too dangerous to drive in the dark.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46So they have to spend the night in Comas.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Their roadside hotel doubles up as a restaurant
0:10:50 > 0:10:54to feed and house the people who drive this route every day.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Today, there is only one dish on the menu.
0:10:58 > 0:11:05I don't mind eating the dish of the day when I'm in England and you know roughly what you're going to get.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Buenas noches. Que tal?
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Gracias.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Have a look at the head area.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21That's a guinea pig.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23That's a guinea pig.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Teeth, ribs...
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Is that its heart?
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Qui qui I think is what they call it.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37If nobody told you what that was, I think you'd just think that was chicken.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39It's fairly obvious what it is.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44The only clue it's missing is that it's not in a hutch.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48We're joking about eating guinea pig but this is kind of what they eat out here.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54I always feel sensitive about not wanting to laugh at other people's cultures and what they eat.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58- No, no that's absolutely fine. - They keep them in their bedrooms.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03Like the long rooms they sleep in, the guinea pigs, maybe up to 60, sleep under the bed
0:12:03 > 0:12:07and multipurpose, like a heater, they move around all night
0:12:07 > 0:12:10and the heat they make goes up through the bed, keeps them warm
0:12:10 > 0:12:13- and then they eat them for breakfast. - I had guinea pigs when I was
0:12:13 > 0:12:16a child, and as I remember, they ate each other.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Ben and Hugh have completed the first stage of their journey,
0:12:24 > 0:12:29but the tarmac road they've enjoyed so far ends abruptly in Comas.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Now they have to drive 150 kilometres over the Andes
0:12:32 > 0:12:37on an unpaved mountain road, and then down to the jungle town of Satipo.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50The single-track Comas road reaches heights of over 4,500 metres.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Its hairpin bends and sheer drops combine to
0:12:55 > 0:13:01make it one of the most challenging drives anywhere in South America.
0:13:01 > 0:13:02Look.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04That must be our road.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07- That is our road. - That is unbelievable.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12This is fantastic. How do you build a road like that?
0:13:12 > 0:13:14It's just extraordinary.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Wow. It's quite a steep drop just here.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Yep, I saw that.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I was aware of that.
0:13:22 > 0:13:29The Comas road was carved out of the mountainside by huge gangs of manual labourers throughout the 1940s.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34Its engineers followed the track charted by the missionaries centuries earlier.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39With drops of over 1,000 metres to the valley below,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43even the smallest miscalculation can lead to disaster.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45Do you see the landslide there?
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Don't be looking at it too much, because this is also here.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52Look, down there is the bottom of the valley and also the end of your life.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Look at the road going up.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01And to survive on the Comas road, it also pays to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12OK, we've got a bus behind us.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19I would not want to be in a bus. Would you?
0:14:19 > 0:14:24Well, the thing is about a bus is that you're in the hands of some driver you know nothing about.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26Oh, that's like us!
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Exactly.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31He's also going faster than you.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32HORN SOUNDS
0:14:33 > 0:14:35He honked at me!
0:14:35 > 0:14:38With 1,000-foot drop, or whatever that is, next to me.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Do we let him pass us?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44- Keep going for a bit.- Shall we?
0:14:44 > 0:14:46Yeah. Bloody hell.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49We'll just let him go here.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Go on, then.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55This might be one of his stops.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58That's fine.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03- Do you think we copped out there?- No.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Most fatal accidents here involve other vehicles.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Roadside shrines mark the most dangerous corners,
0:15:15 > 0:15:20where drivers and their passengers have gone over the edge.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23So, I reckon those shrines are there because
0:15:23 > 0:15:26they'll just have misjudged that bend, won't they?
0:15:29 > 0:15:30Wow.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35How far down do you reckon that is?
0:15:35 > 0:15:42- Well, we're level with 1,000 feet... 12,000 feet?- Far enough.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44It's a bit scary actually.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47You really do need to keep your eyes on the road and you don't think about that.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Well, I'm assuming that's what's happened here.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53A car has misjudged that bend.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Slightly sobering, isn't it?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58Not really a pleasant thought.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11The threat of landslides is an ever-present danger
0:16:11 > 0:16:12on the Comas road.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Hundreds of cubic tonnes of loose rock can
0:16:14 > 0:16:18sweep down from the mountainside, destroying everything in its path.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Maintenance teams fight a constant battle to keep the road open,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and there is always a team in action somewhere on the road.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39OK, so they've opened this road for 20 minutes for us.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41She's saying we've got to go.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46She said always go very carefully.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47Did you get that?
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- Yep.- Look. Careful, careful.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Can I get past that?
0:16:55 > 0:16:57- It still coming down? - It's still coming down.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Bloody hell. There's stuff coming off.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's actually coming down quite fast now.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06The mountainside above the car is unstable, but despite assurances,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09the road ahead is now blocked.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15We have to wait here for a sec. It's crazy, isn't it?
0:17:15 > 0:17:18They just said they'd opened the road and there's a bulldozer.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21There's a phenomenal digger loading up a lorry.
0:17:23 > 0:17:24I think we do just pass.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- Did you smile?- He nodded.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30He nodded as if to say, "Go at your own peril."
0:17:32 > 0:17:37This road crew is part of a major five-year project to resurface the Comas road.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42It's a vital link that connects the isolated mountain communities to market towns in the jungle,
0:17:42 > 0:17:49and all 150 kilometres of the route need to be scraped and compressed before re-surfacing can begin.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Gracias.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Oh, here's a traffic jam.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56They look very jolly about working at 3,500 m,
0:17:56 > 0:18:01quarrying earth on a road about six or seven feet wide with an enormous digger.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Woah, look at that.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05All the dust coming off.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08That really looked like part of that hill was going fall...
0:18:08 > 0:18:11while we were under it.
0:18:12 > 0:18:19After six hours on the Comas road they reach its highest point - 4,589 metres above sea level.
0:18:21 > 0:18:26Drivers often suffer exhaustion and blurred vision here.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32At this altitude, people sometimes take oxygen.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34What, just because of the altitude?
0:18:34 > 0:18:36- Yeah. How you feeling? - Slightly drowsy.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39- You got any symptoms?- No, I'm fine.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42I've had a slight headache for a while,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44but I think that's just being with you.
0:18:44 > 0:18:45- Thanks.- Yeah.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51So, somewhere down there is the jungle.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53That gives me the feeling of enormous power.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Does it you? Does it make you feel sort of...
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Yeah. It's pretty amazing we're above the clouds.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05So from now on, we're heading down into the jungle, and then in the jungle
0:19:05 > 0:19:09we've got to find Constitucion. Which was built in the '80s?
0:19:09 > 0:19:12The government said they would relocate the capital city
0:19:12 > 0:19:19to the geographical centre of Peru, the middle point, which happens to be in the middle of the jungle.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24They did it in Brazil. They moved the capital city to a man-made one, Brasilia.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28I think most capital cities are man-made. I don't want to pick you up on that point.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Artificially located, let's change my wording.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37But there's a long way to go before they get off the Comas road,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41and the descent is particularly dangerous at this time of day.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46I can't see anything at all. Can you see anything?
0:19:46 > 0:19:48I'll walk.
0:19:48 > 0:19:49Can you see anything?
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Yeah, I can see... Yeah. I've got a little bit of the road here.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58- Shall I walk up the other side? - I think I'm OK for now. I'll tell you if I...
0:19:58 > 0:20:02I've never had sun quite so strong straight into the face.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05If we have another run of sheer slope, then you can get out.
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Good visibility is essential here, as there are still more obstacles to overcome on the road.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20- Moo.- Excuse us.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Excuse us.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- That one's getting out the way. - This one isn't.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Shall I go and herd them? - HORN BEEPS
0:20:29 > 0:20:32What you've done there is, you've put another one in the way.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37You've honked, and now the one that wasn't in the way is in the way.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Get out.. Right, OK. Hang on...
0:20:39 > 0:20:41That's it. There's a gap.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Thank you, thank you very much.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Easy! We're like pros.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51The Anchor butter commercials led me to believe that cows could talk,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54- but they didn't seem to understand anything.- Not really.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59After a day's drive above the clouds,
0:20:59 > 0:21:04the boys must now drop back through them to get to the Amazon basin.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08It does give the illusion of driving into thin air, doesn't it?
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Driving in the air... I could sing that for you.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18- TO TUNE OF "THE SNOWMAN": - # We're driving in the air... #
0:21:18 > 0:21:20No!
0:21:26 > 0:21:30At dusk, visibility drops to a few metres,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32but after 12 hours on the road,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36they make it down to Satipo, and a bed for the night.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Ben and Hugh have made it to the Amazon basin
0:21:47 > 0:21:52and must now head further into the rainforest towards the centre of Peru
0:21:52 > 0:21:55on their search for the city of Constitucion.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59But first, they need to negotiate the road to Pichanaki,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02where temperatures can reach 40 degrees by midday.
0:22:10 > 0:22:11Agh-yyah!
0:22:11 > 0:22:13I just wanted to wake you up.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20I've been bitten by sand flies, actually.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22I've got them all over my face.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28- They don't actually itch so much. - They don't itch at all, as far as I can see. Are they nasty?- Well,
0:22:28 > 0:22:32probably shouldn't tell you this now, but they do carry this rather nasty disease
0:22:32 > 0:22:38that, out here, they call "uta", and back in England is called Leishmaniasis.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40I don't want to know.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42You'll be fine, Hugh.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53The Peruvian Amazon covers nearly a million square kilometres.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58Over the last century, there has been a vast increase in the number of roads into the area,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03built to harvest the enormous natural wealth of the jungle.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08The road from Satipo to Pichanaki was originally created by loggers 60 years ago
0:23:08 > 0:23:13but is now used primarily by the coffee farmers who live alongside it.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Liliana Palomino manages her family's farm, one of the oldest in this area.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23Her father arrived here from the highlands in the early 1950s, looking for land.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25TRANSLATION:
0:23:30 > 0:23:34So, she's saying that her father came from Comas, where we've come from,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38- but there was no big highway like we just came on.- VAST highway!
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It was small tracks. A lot of it was river, because this was virgin rainforest.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48Liliana's farm contains over 2,000 coffee plants which need to be picked by hand,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50and it can be risky work.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Oh, OK!
0:24:01 > 0:24:04So, what kind of snakes do you have?
0:24:11 > 0:24:13This is becoming quite a long list!
0:24:14 > 0:24:16I think "shushupe" is bushmaster.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- Bushmasters are nasty, aren't they?- Yep.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46What she's basically said is, the quality of the roads is integral to their way of living,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48because coffee, here, is life.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53So, hopefully no bushmasters on our way back. Do you want to lead?
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Was that bad?
0:24:55 > 0:24:57- BEN LAUGHS - Quite bad, yeah.- Sorry.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00That ruins my Indiana Jones credibility there.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01Not that I ever had any!
0:25:06 > 0:25:11The unpaved Pichanaki road is the only way for locals to get to market,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13and there are frequent accidents on this route.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Look at this child.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23- There are four people on there. - There's four people on that bike,
0:25:23 > 0:25:28and that child has just got a... like a...shawl wrapped around it, holding it on.
0:25:32 > 0:25:33- Gracias.- Gracias.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Do you say "gracias" because you were expecting four back?
0:25:36 > 0:25:40Yeah, I was expecting each one to... Check this out!
0:25:42 > 0:25:46- There is a man.- In the boot! - Oh, no, a woman.- Fantastic.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48- That's very funny. - What they've done...
0:25:48 > 0:25:53It's an old lady, they've put in the back of the car!
0:25:53 > 0:25:56They've put Grandma in the boot!
0:25:56 > 0:25:58- Shall we take over this truck as well?- Yeah.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- The only good thing you can say about that is that she wasn't strapped to a roof rack.- True!
0:26:10 > 0:26:14After a dusty five-hour drive, they reach Pichanaki,
0:26:14 > 0:26:19a busy town where coffee and citrus fruits and are brought to market.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24- Not quite sure what this truck's doing.- It's turning left, I think, by the indicator.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29Oh... I've been in the jungle for so long, I'm almost getting urban shock.
0:26:29 > 0:26:35This road was built in the 1960s to encourage migration from the highlands,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and it's now one of the busiest in the Peruvian jungle.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41Lots of these little motor taxi things.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46- These three-wheel drive things? There seems to be quite a lot. - There are thousands of them.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51When the road arrived in Pichanaki, it was a village of 300 people
0:26:51 > 0:26:56and the surrounding area was populated by indigenous tribes.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01Today, those tribes have been pushed out by an influx of over 60,000 settlers.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08Ben and Hugh stay the night here before heading further into the rainforest
0:27:08 > 0:27:10and the centre of Peru.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16To get there, they first have to drive the mountain jungle road to Pozuzo,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20which runs alongside the dangerous Pichanaki River.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I bet in the winter, when it's rainy season,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26this must just fill up.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30The Pichanaki, a powerful tributary of the Amazon,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33can rise four metres above its current level.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37Whole sections of this road are regularly washed away,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40and it's been the scene of several fatal accidents.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44See this bit here? That looks like it's been blasted, or something.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49- It's got these lines in it. - Scrape marks.- So what are they?
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Maintenance teams are fighting a desperate battle
0:27:52 > 0:27:57to move the road away from the collapsing riverbank and keep it open to traffic.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02It does look they're laying something up there, doesn't it?
0:28:02 > 0:28:06- They're uncoiling something. - They're sticking things in tubes. This bloke here,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11I think they've put a tube in and he's got a stick
0:28:11 > 0:28:14and he's ramming...charge, I guess.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18If they are going to blow that up, we're going to have an extraordinary...
0:28:18 > 0:28:20- Long wait?- ..seating view.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25That's the difference between us. I'm really excited, you're worried about the traffic jam!
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Unfortunately for Ben, chief engineer Harold Abad
0:28:29 > 0:28:33wants all vehicles to clear the road before blasting begins.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38- Hi, I'm Hugh.- Hi, Harold. I'm Ben. You speak English? - More or less.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43- How do you clear that rock? Drill a hole?- Yeah.- Put dynamite in?
0:28:43 > 0:28:46Yeah, we have a hole maybe three metres...
0:28:46 > 0:28:51- put some TNT...and explosions. - And that's what they're doing now?
0:28:51 > 0:28:52Yeah.
0:28:52 > 0:28:58- You're working with dynamite and landslides, that must be very dangerous work?- Yeah,
0:28:58 > 0:29:02because here, it's not exactly strong, this part.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07For example, yesterday, we were working
0:29:07 > 0:29:11and we have, coming down, very, very big rocks,
0:29:11 > 0:29:16and the last year, we have one people die for that reason.
0:29:16 > 0:29:20- Hit by a rock? - Yeah, he died, he pass away.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25- So the most dangerous time for us to be on this road would be when they blow it up?- Uh-huh.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28- So we need to get out of the way? - Uh-huh.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31- We'll get going.- OK. See you.- Bye. - Bye. See you.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35The car's been stuck in traffic for two hours now,
0:29:35 > 0:29:41and there's still another 30km of roadworks to get through.
0:29:41 > 0:29:42They honked.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44HORN BEEPS
0:29:44 > 0:29:47That's a good honk, I've noticed they do that here.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50You've become like my wife, you lean across.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53- Was that encroaching on your personal space?- Yeah.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56- Am I becoming too over-familiar? - Yes, hmm.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58I've always been most concerned about other drivers -
0:29:58 > 0:30:02and I don't necessarily mean Hugh - but I'll get back to that in a second.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Whoa! Try not to... SCRAPING
0:30:04 > 0:30:08- I won't bottom out the car. - No, no.- I mean, how could I have avoided that?
0:30:08 > 0:30:12Hugh and I have been in a car for a few days now, and I'm feeling confident,
0:30:12 > 0:30:17but the terrain has changed, so it's one thing feeling confident up in the mountains,
0:30:17 > 0:30:18it's different in the jungle.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23Don't go more to the right now. That truck is close enough as it is.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Ben does this thing whereby he says thank you to people...
0:30:28 > 0:30:31who obviously can't hear him, who are miles away.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35I think if you had gone more to the right... Gracias!
0:30:35 > 0:30:38Hmm. If I'd gone more to the right?
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Rather than just going... he will actually go, "Thank you!"
0:30:41 > 0:30:46- Are we going to be stuck behind this truck for the whole way? - You want me to overtake?
0:30:46 > 0:30:50- Well...- He wants me to overtake. - Yeah, he does. Go, go, go, go, go.
0:30:50 > 0:30:51I was just chatting.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53Gracias.
0:30:53 > 0:30:59- Go.- Hey, look, now.- Now you've got yourself in a right pickle. What are you going to do?
0:30:59 > 0:31:04- I'm going to avoid the lorry and I'm going to avoid the minibus. - Weren't you just cutting him up?
0:31:04 > 0:31:06- The minibus. Look.- Well done.
0:31:18 > 0:31:24Ben and Hugh have now reached the Huancabamba canyon and the dirt track which runs alongside it.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27It's a notoriously unstable road
0:31:27 > 0:31:31with drops of over 300 metres into the river below.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36- I think this is the bumpiest section we've been on.- Yes.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43- Is it possible to get whiplash at 15 miles an hour?- I think so.
0:31:47 > 0:31:48Steady...
0:31:53 > 0:31:56This is the highest point of the canyon,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and oncoming traffic is a real danger.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02In 2009, two tourists veered off the road here
0:32:02 > 0:32:05and plunged to their deaths in the valley below.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12BOTH: Ohhh-ohhh!
0:32:23 > 0:32:27Stop here? He wants us to go over here.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- Does he want us to go over here? - I don't know.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35It's a single-track road and the trucks aren't giving way.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40Shall I go into there?
0:32:45 > 0:32:49- Oh, blimey.- How close am I?
0:32:49 > 0:32:51Is that enough room?
0:32:57 > 0:32:58Look at this drop here.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09He was fairly insistent, wasn't he?
0:33:09 > 0:33:13He didn't want us to go there. That was like, "You're going there, mate."
0:33:27 > 0:33:28I thought that was quite slick.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Do you think they could tell we weren't from around here?
0:33:37 > 0:33:41- What's that?- Wilkommen.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Wilkommen in... What does that say?
0:33:43 > 0:33:46Pozuzo.
0:33:46 > 0:33:52- Einzigen Osterriechisch Deutschen kolonie der welt. - Can you translate that?
0:33:52 > 0:33:58Welcome to Pozuzo - the only Austrian, German colony...
0:33:58 > 0:34:01- in the world. 1859.- This is weird.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10This is weird.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15It looks like we have arrived in an Austrian village.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19This is so un-Peruvian.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21It's like a ski resort, isn't it?
0:34:21 > 0:34:24A ski resort in the jungle.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27It's incredibly neat as well, isn't it?
0:34:27 > 0:34:31This is a bit freaky, it's a bit like a toy town, isn't it?
0:34:33 > 0:34:36He looks German - that man looked German.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- Where?- There. Look how tall he is!
0:34:39 > 0:34:47There is a very, very great danger of me starting to indulge in national stereotyping.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51How on earth did a place like this get here?
0:34:51 > 0:34:53That's what I don't understand.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58Pozuzo is still inhabited by the descendants of the
0:34:58 > 0:35:02European settlers, who arrived here in the mid 19th century.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Like local resident Jose Castrada.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09We can't help but notice there is an enormous ship in the middle of the square -
0:35:09 > 0:35:11in the middle of the jungle here. What on earth is this here?
0:35:11 > 0:35:14The story began
0:35:14 > 0:35:21in 1850. The Government here in Peru pursued the idea of colonising the central jungle.
0:35:21 > 0:35:28334 people board in Antwerp - a part of them were Austrians and a part of them were Germans.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31So, can you tell us a bit about the boat journey and how long it took?
0:35:31 > 0:35:35It took about four months to come here from Antwerp.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40It was a guano ship - they ration the water, they ration the food and everything.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- I think six people died there.- So, pretty miserable existence on board.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45Of course.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50They landed here in Peru and they hiked more than two years to come here.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53It took them two years to get from the coast...?
0:35:53 > 0:35:54Yeah, from the coast here.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Only 180 came here to Pozuzo.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00So, what happened to
0:36:00 > 0:36:02that missing 150 or so?
0:36:02 > 0:36:05Lots of them gave up and lots of them died on the way.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Died from disease?
0:36:07 > 0:36:12From disease, from hunger, cold and so on.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13So, what were they expecting when they got here?
0:36:13 > 0:36:18Did they think there would be buildings and roads, what were they promised?
0:36:18 > 0:36:24No, they was expecting to have land and to have a road connection to the capital.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26- Which they didn't? - They didn't.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28So when did the road finally arrive?
0:36:28 > 0:36:34Well, after 100 years of isolation, in 1975,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38the road arrived here in Pozuzo for the first time.
0:36:38 > 0:36:43And with the road came also the new things - new materials, new communications.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46- And wealth?- And wealth also.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50- Jose, thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52- Auf Wiedersehn.- Auf Wiedersehn.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Pozuzo has thrived since the arrival of the road
0:36:56 > 0:37:03but it remains proud of its European roots and still receives financial support from Germany and Austria.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11The next stage of the journey to find the city of Constitucion, runs from Pozuzo across the fearsome
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Huancabamba Canyon, to the town of Codo.
0:37:16 > 0:37:23But first they need to change their vehicle, as the road ahead can't be driven in an ordinary 4x4.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28This garage rents pick-up trucks with higher ground clearance
0:37:28 > 0:37:30to cope with the most challenging jungle tracks.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34- So this must be our car. - I think so, Hola, senor.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:37:43 > 0:37:46So he said, this is the car we wanted for the route.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50- Let's have a look around. - Why do you kick that?
0:37:50 > 0:37:54It's what everyone does. I've seen them. You kick it and it makes it look good.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56- You have no idea what it's for though.- I'm going to check the back.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00This is great, one of us can ride up in the top here.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04That's fine by me, I'll drive you stay up there.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Do you think it'll be bouncy?
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Oooh!
0:38:09 > 0:38:12The road out of Pozuzo is crossed by several streams, which cascade into
0:38:12 > 0:38:18the river below, making the road-surface unpredictable and prone to collapse.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Well, the locals say that this is one of
0:38:23 > 0:38:27the hardest parts that's coming up.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30I'm actually, for the first time, feeling a little bit nervous.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Look at this!
0:38:36 > 0:38:38Where does the road go?
0:38:39 > 0:38:41Where is the road?
0:38:43 > 0:38:46I think the road used to go there.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49- Across there? - That must be the road there.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Sorry, you couldn't really see it, could you?
0:38:52 > 0:38:54You keep your eyes on the road,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57or one the track or on the mud, whatever we call it.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04I do think you should be careful at this bit here.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Because it's straight on?
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Well, because I can see there are marks
0:39:08 > 0:39:11that go straight on and it looks like someone's done that already.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13- There are, aren't there? - This is where people skid off.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Those tyre tracks go right over the edge.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19There's not a car over there, is there?
0:39:20 > 0:39:22Oh, Lord!
0:39:23 > 0:39:26This is mad.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31This is not a road.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Ben and Hugh are still 350 kilometres away from the centre
0:39:43 > 0:39:46of Peru and the site chosen for the new capital of Constitucion.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49Do you think we'll find this place?
0:39:51 > 0:39:55I find it a bit worrying that it's not on our map
0:39:55 > 0:39:56that we were looking at but other people have heard of it.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59- Some people have heard of it. - It was only built in the 1980s.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Well, we don't even know how much of it was built.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09And the further we go, the more ridiculous I think this idea of a new capital is.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15They now have to cross the river to reach the town of Codo.
0:40:15 > 0:40:21A brand new two-lane bridge is under construction but unfortunately it doesn't open for another few weeks.
0:40:21 > 0:40:27They will have to use the old bridge, which is currently being prepared for demolition.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Oh, bloody hell.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33- No way!- Look at that!
0:40:36 > 0:40:37Oh, my God!
0:40:39 > 0:40:44As they approach the bridge, Hugh is worried about the brakes.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46How does that feel?
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Should be all right, as long as I can stop it.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51- Well, that's the thing, can you? Do you want to try here.- Oh, I can now.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53You can? Definitely stop?
0:40:53 > 0:40:56We're going... I'm serious though we will go straight over that edge.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58Look at this tight...
0:40:58 > 0:40:59You've got to somehow turn here.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02You're going to have to do a zillion point turn.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09I'm not in any gear.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Push the clutch.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14That's low so that should be back into high, so can you get a gear now?
0:41:14 > 0:41:17- Are you into reverse?- I don't want reverse, I want to go forward.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19You should be able to now, OK.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24OK, OK, that's probably close.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33- Do you want me to actually get out and point you over here? - Yeah.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Hola, senor.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Pull her round this way.
0:41:44 > 0:41:45THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:41:45 > 0:41:48He said it's safe.
0:41:48 > 0:41:49Turning, turning more.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54You've got lots of room here, Hugh, lots more room.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56Yeah, but none here.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00I've got to go back, I can't do that. I've got to go back.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03The pick-up is pressing against one of the pillars holding the bridge up.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06And now the engineer is concerned.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08HE SPEAKS SPANISH
0:42:11 > 0:42:12Whoa!
0:42:14 > 0:42:15You OK?
0:42:21 > 0:42:23I've got to go back.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27Turn the wheels around, turn the wheels more,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29turn them more, turn the wheels more.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Yeah, yeah, that's good.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34ENGINE REVS
0:42:40 > 0:42:43Start turning, turning more. Full on.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Now turn the wheels over to this side here.
0:42:50 > 0:42:51OK.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55THEY SPEAK SPANISH
0:42:56 > 0:42:57OK.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09We're not even across the bridge yet and that's the most terrifying bit of it.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13This is unbelievable. We're not off it yet.
0:43:13 > 0:43:14How am I doing on that side?
0:43:14 > 0:43:16You've got lots of room.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21- When you say loads of room... - Lots.- Gordon Bennett!
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Look at it bouncing. Can you feel it?
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Yeah, don't worry, I'm going very slowly now.
0:43:30 > 0:43:31- Woo hoo!- I'm going to jump.
0:43:35 > 0:43:38- Have a look, that is unbelievable. - I'm gonna get out and have a look at that.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Yeah, that was a terrifying bridge to go across.
0:43:47 > 0:43:54When he was turning his wheels, they were going into the wire and actually hanging over the bridge.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57- How much did you sweat?- Quite a lot.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59- Do you want to feel that? - Not really.
0:43:59 > 0:44:06I was steering, Ben was guiding, so the fact I hit the pillar is at least 40% his fault.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09So, no truck can get across there, can it?
0:44:09 > 0:44:10We have seen two trucks today.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13They can't have come across that, can they?
0:44:14 > 0:44:17It was "bien danado",
0:44:17 > 0:44:21which means well damaged, as one of the workmen said as we drove past afterwards.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24I kept that secret from Hugh. I think he was a bit...
0:44:24 > 0:44:26I think he felt a bit dented himself.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29- Shall we carry on?- Yeah, let's.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31I thought I was going to have a heart attack earlier. Can you drive?
0:44:31 > 0:44:33Can I drive?
0:44:39 > 0:44:42It's taken an hour to clear the bridge and they have to drive
0:44:42 > 0:44:47the rest of the road in the dark before reaching Codo, where they can plan the route ahead.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51This last bit.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55We were in the Canyon of the Huancas, did you know that?
0:44:55 > 0:45:00And now we go up here and then somewhere in here...
0:45:00 > 0:45:02is Constitucion...
0:45:02 > 0:45:06and what's rather alarming about it is there is no road
0:45:06 > 0:45:12- or road marks.- And, more notably, no mention of the lost city.
0:45:12 > 0:45:17And we've got to find it. Well, that should be easy.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Ben and Hugh have now reached the final stage of their journey.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Constitucion reportedly lies at the geographical centre of Peru.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30To get there, they must leave the river valley,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34then drive across swampland into the heart of the jungle.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42But the canyon has one final terrifying climb to negotiate.
0:45:43 > 0:45:46It's too early in the morning for this.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54This is so narrow. Can I say, I can't see where the drop is there?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56- Keep as close to that side as you can.- Am I OK with that drop?
0:46:00 > 0:46:04Oh, my God, I feel like I'm actually hanging over the side.
0:46:05 > 0:46:12The pick-up is trapped between a sheer rock-face and the fast-flowing Huancabamba river.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Right, get over there now. Get over there.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17There's another bit.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20Close to that side as you can now.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Bugger me.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27- Tell me how far.- Just stay as close as you can to that wall.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Don't worry about this side but if you keep as close as you can...
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- I can't see that side. - Get over there, get over there, get over there.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39This is ridiculous.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42If I hit the rock, I'll bounce back in.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Well, don't hit the rock then.
0:46:55 > 0:47:01They have finally cleared the river valley and are close to the centre of Peru.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04This section of the road was only built a few years ago but already
0:47:04 > 0:47:07has had a huge impact on the local environment.
0:47:07 > 0:47:12Illegal tree felling has cleared vast areas of rainforest
0:47:12 > 0:47:16and cattle farming ensures that the jungle cannot grow back.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27On the map, we are in the middle
0:47:27 > 0:47:29of the jungle, do you remember looking at that?
0:47:29 > 0:47:31There was no roads - nothing around.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36So this should be thick, primary jungle.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38And look around us.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43I guess this road mostly is just used to take wood, isn't it?
0:47:43 > 0:47:47Take logs. See these trees here - the big ones.
0:47:47 > 0:47:52It looks to me as though they're the ones that have been left.
0:47:52 > 0:47:55They've cleared massive areas of trees, haven't they?
0:47:55 > 0:47:59The further these roads encroach into the rainforest,
0:47:59 > 0:48:02the more the natural resources they're going to be exploiting.
0:48:02 > 0:48:06This could be one of the first landscapes that becomes extinct.
0:48:09 > 0:48:15The end of Ben and Hugh's journey is now only 75 kilometres away.
0:48:15 > 0:48:21But this final stage of the road was only completed two years ago and doesn't even appear on the map.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25It's known to locals simply as the Mud Road.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27This is a good road, isn't it?
0:48:36 > 0:48:40OK, so now we want to go into this one over here -
0:48:41 > 0:48:43so out to the right.
0:48:43 > 0:48:45I'm stuck.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Now into first and if you pull it around to the right a little bit...
0:49:01 > 0:49:05They have only gone three kilometres but they are already stuck.
0:49:07 > 0:49:09It's spinning, spinning.
0:49:09 > 0:49:14What you want to do, Hugh, you've got some drier stuff up here, yeah, exactly.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16Nice, slow tread...
0:49:16 > 0:49:19We're going to go back into that hole. I've got to go back.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26If the pick-up can't get through the mud, they are trouble.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30There are no rescue services in the middle of the jungle.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33If you turn the wheels right...
0:49:34 > 0:49:37I don't know if you can get enough traction.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39It's going to send me back into that hole.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48Agh, so nearly.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53What we want to do is try and get traction up pointing into the jungle - that way.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57It's what we want to try and do. There's a bit of a slope, yeah. Nice slow traction, yeah.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02Go, go, go, go, go...
0:50:02 > 0:50:04Keep going, keep going!
0:50:05 > 0:50:07- Yes!- Now where?
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Into here. Straight on there. Yep.
0:50:10 > 0:50:11Into this bit.
0:50:21 > 0:50:22Don't smile yet.
0:50:25 > 0:50:26We've still got another 50 miles.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28Of this! I know.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Other vehicles are few and far between on the Mud Road.
0:50:33 > 0:50:39This one belongs to Jose Caballero - a local mayor and the official responsible for roads in this area.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41So who built this road?
0:50:42 > 0:50:44He built it.
0:50:53 > 0:50:55I'm saying, for us,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58it's a little bit difficult.
0:51:02 > 0:51:07- What he's saying is, in their winter, this is impassable. - At the moment this is good?
0:51:11 > 0:51:14- This is a great road. - What happens if we get stuck?
0:51:21 > 0:51:26The key is to go with another vehicle and make sure they've got ropes to pull one out.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31No mobile reception or anything here.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33Would you like to come with us?
0:51:33 > 0:51:35I said it's a joke.
0:51:35 > 0:51:41I think he was taking you seriously, although we are being serious, aren't we, in a kind of way?
0:51:43 > 0:51:50Ben has taken over for the final section of the Mud Road, which they hope leads to Constitucion.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53Even experienced local drivers get bogged down here.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Cross over to this side, do you think?
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Yeah, and that side seems to be used.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01As long as it doesn't take us into that tree.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03I could add to your dent.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09- WE made that dent!- I have to agree.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Whoa, fucking hell!
0:52:13 > 0:52:15Pardon me, viewers.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21The last kilometre of this road is completely submerged
0:52:21 > 0:52:25but the boys are finally getting the hang of mud driving.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28It's coming in through the window.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31- What are you doing? - I'm just following the tracks.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35Oh, that's fantastic. Every time you think it's over, it's not over.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38It's not over till the fat woman sings. Bloody hell!
0:52:40 > 0:52:42Beautiful!
0:52:42 > 0:52:46- Go, go, go.- Go, Fogle!
0:52:46 > 0:52:48Go, go!
0:52:48 > 0:52:51Well done, mate. That was fantastic.
0:52:51 > 0:52:52Yes!
0:52:59 > 0:53:04They have arrived in a small dirt town that emerged in the 1980s to house and feed
0:53:04 > 0:53:09construction crews who came to build the city of Constitucion.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16To discover what happened to the dream of a new Peruvian capital,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Ben and Hugh have come to a local government office...
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Ah, David!
0:53:21 > 0:53:23..Where David Zevallos is a guide and historian.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27This is our ex-president, Fernando Belaunde Terry.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33He was a very important man for us and he decided to build Constitucion city in the middle of the jungle.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35And how big was it going to be?
0:53:35 > 0:53:40It was going to be a big city. It was going to be the capital of Peru.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42Here you can see the plans here.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Here we have the civic centre, the commercial centre,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48- houses that he wanted to build like this for our citizens.- Look at that!
0:53:48 > 0:53:50That is a massive project, isn't it?
0:53:50 > 0:53:54Look at the size of that road! That looks like a triple-lane highway.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58So, why did he choose here as the location for the new capital?
0:53:58 > 0:54:00He thought it was a strategic place.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03- A strategic place?- A strategic place.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Yeah, it was the centre of the jungle.
0:54:05 > 0:54:10It was important but it was nothing at the end, because we couldn't finish that.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12So what went wrong?
0:54:12 > 0:54:14Well, there was a lot of corruption.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16There was a lot of people robbing money.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20- Are you disappointed that this never got off the ground?- Yes, of course.
0:54:20 > 0:54:29As a Peruvian citizen, I am disappointed for that because a lot of people would be living there.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32And now it's just forgotten in the middle of the jungle.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35But you can see it at the end of the road.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37We can see where this was going to be?
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Yes, it was going to be at the end of the road.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Thanks very much. Muchos gracias.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44You're welcome.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50The site chosen for the new capital lies three kilometres away,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53at the exact geographical centre of Peru.
0:54:53 > 0:55:01President Belaunde Terry's grand vision was for a huge road through the jungle, leading to the new city.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05Thousands of indigenous people were moved from their land in preparation.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08But, today, little but the road remains.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14So, this would have all been part of it, I guess, wouldn't it?
0:55:14 > 0:55:18This road we're on now would have all been part of those plans, isn't it?
0:55:20 > 0:55:24So this might be - literally - the end of the road.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28It's not often you actually find that point.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32So this is effectively what's left
0:55:32 > 0:55:33of the city of Constitucion.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41The new city was abandoned after only a few houses were built,
0:55:41 > 0:55:49but it is now inhabited by members of the Ashaninka people - the largest indigenous tribe in Peru.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53The community is led by 72-year-old Alicia Arellano.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55BEN SPEAKS SPANISH
0:56:00 > 0:56:02Alicia.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03Hugh.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11So she's been here for 23 years.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19So that's President Belaunde created these buildings they moved into.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30So they had to clean it all. They had to pull back the jungle again.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35So she is from the jungle.
0:56:35 > 0:56:36Her people are from the jungle.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39So it's kind of they claimed it back almost, haven't they?
0:56:39 > 0:56:42- Gracias.- Gracias.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50There is a community - a proper community here.
0:56:50 > 0:56:56And all these buildings are now used by the tribes that were forced off the land to build the city,
0:56:56 > 0:57:00so they've reclaimed it, which is rather satisfying in a way...
0:57:00 > 0:57:04not for President Belaunde but I find that really rather satisfying.
0:57:04 > 0:57:10I think this journey - this road we've been on - has taken so many twists and turns in every sense.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13It actually doesn't surprise me that the ending has been just as
0:57:13 > 0:57:16strange as everything we've found along the way.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27Ben and Hugh have reached the end of their journey and can now head for home.
0:57:27 > 0:57:31Over the last eight days, they have driven right across Peru,
0:57:31 > 0:57:37on one of the world's most dangerous roads, and survived to tell the tale.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40We were able to travel from the Andes, deep into the rainforest.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44I don't think you'll find a road with quite such variety anywhere in the world.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47It's an incredibly impressive enterprise, actually.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51One, the fact they've got it in the first place, which is almost a miracle, I think.
0:57:51 > 0:57:57And, secondly, the fact they are constantly clearing it and making sure people can get through.
0:57:57 > 0:58:04It's a huge trust experience to take the wheel and be in charge of quite a precious cargo, really.
0:58:09 > 0:58:14There was the odd kind of, "Steer left, steer left, or you're going to kill us!"
0:58:14 > 0:58:16But I think that's fair enough.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19I think all of those stressful moments, happy moments...
0:58:19 > 0:58:22that's what creates the journey, isn't it? It's what
0:58:22 > 0:58:24bonds you together.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28When I hit the dashboard, Mr Fogle...
0:58:28 > 0:58:31I'd like you to do an emergency stop.
0:58:35 > 0:58:37Why are you driving?
0:58:37 > 0:58:39- Don't you think I should be driving? - I didn't crash into a bridge.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42I didn't hit a cow, did I?
0:58:42 > 0:58:44Yours is too bumpy, your driving.
0:58:44 > 0:58:46You don't seem able to cope with bends.
0:58:46 > 0:58:47You got stuck in the mud!
0:58:47 > 0:58:49You got stuck in the mud!
0:58:49 > 0:58:51We both got stuck in the mud.
0:58:51 > 0:58:53Mind the motor, taxi!
0:58:57 > 0:58:59Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd