Long Way Up (2020) s01e07 Episode Script
Peru
1
Got sun on my face
Sleeping rough on the road
I'll tell you all about it
When I get home
Gonna roll up the sidewalk
Gonna need letting up
Comin' round to meet you
The long way up
We're gonna ride 13,000 miles through 13 countries.
From Ushuaia, in and out of Argentina and Chile, to the Atacama Desert,
heading up to La Paz before we cross Lake Titicaca,
continuing along the Andes to Colombia, over to Panama,
through Central America and Mexico, arriving in Los Angeles 100 days later.
We're gonna give these guys video cameras,
and they're also gonna have cameras with microphones on their crash helmets
so they can film themselves as they're riding along.
Is this a road? Oh, my God!
A third motorcycle will travel with them,
and on it will be Claudio, our cameraman.
In addition, Russ and I will travel in two electric pickup trucks,
along with cameramen Jimmy,
Anthony and Taylor, who will also help with logistics.
We'll be filming the guys from the vehicles,
linking up with them at borders,
but otherwise, the motorcycles will be on their own.
Copacabana.
We got here last night, and I didn't feel very well when we arrived here.
My glands were swollen, and I was thinking, "Uh-oh.
I'm bound to have picked up some kind of bug or something."
I feel better this morning.
We're leaving Bolivia for the last time. Thank you, Bolivia.
Bolivia's been so different from Chile and Argentina.
The culture has been very present and very different.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Was surprised to see how far up we've come. It's really great.
Yeah. Brilliant.
If you look at a map from where we started,
we've come a long way.
We've crossed Argentina, and we've crossed Chile and Bolivia.
And now we're going into Peru.
And Peru is the home of Machu Picchu,
and I've wanted to visit Machu Picchu ever since I was a kid.
Okay. Here we go. We're in Peru.
We're heading to Puno.
Lake Titicaca.
At school, you know when we were kids, we would have had such a laugh at that.
Yeah.
But the truth is we're not that different now.
No, not really.
Some of us never grow up.
We're both really looking forward to Machu Picchu.
But before then, we've got a couple of places to visit,
including this intriguing site near Lake Titicaca.
What's the scene here, Maxim?
So, what's the scene? So, it's an Inca site.
-It's called Inca Uyo. -Inca Uyo.
Uyo Inca obviously means Inca.
Uyo refers to male genitals.
-Okay. -Yeah, it's a nice way of saying it. Uyo.
-All right. -Cool. Okay.
And so, it's now called The Temple of Fertility.
And that's how modern Peruvians view it.
Because it's such fine stonework, you know that it's an important structure.
So, it would have either been a temple, the house of a curaca,
like an important administrative leader.
Or it might have been somewhere
where the Inca would stay when you'd come and visit.
This is where the Inca Empire originated.
Well, believed that it's here in Lake Titicaca.
Oh, right.
The stonework, you can see that it's an important structure.
Obviously, it's been destroyed mostly, but you can see the foundations.
People now come here when they have fertility problems.
Do they have success?
Yeah, they say they do. Lots of women who've had twins claim
that it's because they came here and sat on one of the little mushrooms.
You wanna get a little bit more fertility in you?
Suck it in, Ewan.
I didn't mean to say that. It just came out.
If you just take a shot of those two,
I think that's all you have to know about what this fertility place is like.
Just those two over there.
Mate, no. We don't need any of that. I know you like me. No, no.
We don't need that. No.
No. No.
No, we don't need that.
-Oh, no. Oh, no, no. -He's getting excited now.
Did you see how fertile I am right now?
Did you see that dog not being able to leave me alone? Amazing.
It works. It absolutely works.
Wow. There's a good view.
Pretty cool place.
We're heading to Cusco today, which is 243 miles.
Today, we are gonna go see this condor sanctuary.
Where they sort of rehabilitate them and send them out into the wild.
So this is the animal sanctuary of Ccochahuasi.
The Andean condor that we can see just over there
-that's our main focus right now. -Oh, my God.
The condor is the world's largest flying bird
and has huge symbolism in Peru for health and immortality.
Now, were they brought to you injured, these birds?
-Yes. -They were?
Some of them came due to the Yawar Fiesta.
The Yawar Fiesta is a festival where
they tie the feet of the condor on the back of a bull.
And the condors They come out with some broken wings,
lacerations on their feet and sometimes
they just break their necks.
-Dying in the process. -Is this because of a
-traditional -This illegal tradition.
The bull represents the Spanish people.
And the condor is the representation of the Inca.
This is the meaning of the fight, of the ancient times.
So, when the bull wins,
it means it's gonna be a bad year.
And if the condor wins this fight,
it's gonna be a good year.
The people just invest in some crops.
This is all wrong, you know?
Because the condor is the one that suffers here.
-Yeah. -Of course.
I never like to see big wild animals stuck behind cages
and behind bars.
But in this case, I guess I really believe
they were trying to rehabilitate them and release them if they could.
My God, look at the size of this one.
That was the flight of the condor.
That was amazing.
Those two animals are Andean geese.
They pick a partner
and stay with that partner for the rest of their lives.
The bond that they make is so strong
that when one of them dies,
the other could die from the sadness.
Or even worse
they commit suicide.
-Really? -No.
-That's right. -Really?
They just throw from the cliffs, from that top part
and without flapping their wings, just dive into the ground.
-Oh, my gosh. -Oh, my God.
Because life's not worth living without their partner.
That's why they are said to be
a symbol of love and fidelity here.
I think I'd be sad but
-You would, right? -What? For Olly?
-Yeah. -Wouldn't be worth living.
Well, exactly. So you'd just do it then.
Well, I'm not sure if I would throw myself off a cliff.
I'd choose another way of doing it.
I'm beyond excited because tonight,
we're taking the train to Machu Picchu.
I love that old bell. That's nice. It takes you back.
Mind the gap.
Machu Picchu by train. It doesn't get any better.
But yeah, this is specific to Machu Picchu.
A whole train just for one tourist site.
It'll be nice to sit in a train for a couple of hours.
On the way to Machu Picchu. Oh, my God.
I can't believe it.
I had a poster on my wall at school somewhere of it.
Used to daydream about it when I was in class.
I've always wanted to see it.
I'm really, really excited about it.
Machu Picchu sits at nearly 8,000 feet.
And with its limited access by road,
this train track has been built to reach it,
which will take us just under two hours.
I can't believe we made the train.
Usually when we've got a date to hit, we're like a day or two behind.
But this time we just
totally got here, got changed. Just got on the train.
It was a nice train journey up here.
Ten o'clock at night, 10:02.
And in the morning, we'll get up at 4:00.
Four-thirty, to be out the door at 5:00 to try and get up to Machu Picchu.
And
It's kinda hard to believe it, 'cause I've always wanted to see it.
I've always wanted to be here.
I just want to be up in that special place tomorrow.
And I can't really believe we're here. I can't really believe that I'm here.
Night, all.
Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu day.
And I've heard the best time to experience the place is at sunrise.
So we're not taking any chances.
-Ain't this pretty cool? Look at that. -That is incredible, isn't it?
Just suddenly we're in a totally different landscape.
This is really jungly, isn't it?
I don't like it. The bus is very close to the edge of the hill.
Why am I at the window?
Getting up early has paid off. We're first in the queue.
-This way? Si. Gracias. -Up.
-Excuse me, where is Machu Picchu? -I say--
I say, are we close?
We've started the main climb. And with an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet,
getting to the summit is no walk in the park.
I don't know how much of it there is.
-Jesus. -You don't know where
I can feel my legs burning already.
You go up. I'll go down. 'Cause I might--
-No, no. I'll come with you. -No, it's all right.
-I don't mind. -I don't want you to miss that.
-After you. After you. -No, just need a rest.
Okay, okay.
-Go for it. -Thank you.
Ewan's racing ahead. I couldn't have done that.
I mean, my legs are just not up for that anymore.
Here we go. Uppity up, up. I hope we see it from up here.
He's going up to the Sun Gate. Which is like a 45-minute walk up.
And then we'll carry on this side.
I can barely talk.
It's such a shame you can't see it all because only 2,500 people a day
are allowed to come here, so you're privileged to be here.
Apparently, it was built in the 13th century.
It was hidden until its rediscovery in 1911.
And I've been looking forward to seeing this so much.
Never-ending. Well, maybe it's not for the faint of heart,
and it'll be less crowded here than it is down there.
-Hola. -Hola.
One, two, three.
-All right. -Thanks, buddy.
Thanks.
Oh, goodness. This wasn't quite the experience
I was expecting to have up here. Oh, well.
For the picture.
At the top of the Sun Gate, I hadn't realized that
people do that four-day trek coming up from the other side.
And so that when we got there, there was like 50, 60
And it just turned into a bit of a photo session for me.
-That's awesome. Have a good trip. -Cheers, man. Thanks.
Where should we sit?
Or should we just go down the path a little bit?
I think we're gonna-- Yeah.
Well, I might spoil everybody else's experience. That's the problem.
-Hey. How are you? Nice to meet you. -How you doing? Nice to meet you.
-Yeah, yeah. That's okay. Yeah. -Yeah? Thank you.
These clouds aren't clearing anytime soon.
I'm going to check out another famous site.
-Hola. -Hola, buenos días.
Is this the bit where you have to sign your life away?
Okay.
It's so dangerously steep, that you have to sign yourself in
and sign yourself out for safety.
I can't believe how steep it is. Oh, my God.
Okay. No pushing, guys.
-Oh, the bridge. -The bridge.
Wow.
And they have steps going down as well. They're built into the rock.
God, that's incredible.
They've blocked it off now because people would come,
and they'd hang off the bottom of it and take selfies
and do all kinds of crazy, stupid things.
We will be lucky. It's clearing, no?
Looks like it here, doesn't it? In another hour or so,
-then we could be really lucky. -Yeah, yeah.
And there it is.
I gotta turn the camera.
This is so amazing. I'm so happy to see it.
I can't believe we were standing here before, and it was just there.
We couldn't see it at all.
Many Inca sites were destroyed by Spanish invaders,
but they never found Machu Picchu. Thank goodness.
Finally made it up here. And there's Machu Picchu.
Finally, the clouds have broken. How beautiful it is.
The excitement of coming up here and seeing it. And then
And I think what's quite nice is that we've had to wait for it.
So, we've kind of had a look around, and we were talking about it,
and we were trying to imagine what it must be like.
We've seen the pictures and then suddenly, it started to show itself.
Mind-blowing. Overwhelming.
It's stunning.
Stunning.
Most archaeologists believe that it was built as an estate
for the Inca emperor, Pachacuti,
while others think it was a religious site.
Amazing, isn't it?
New day, new dawn.
Okay.
Ollantaytambo, goodbye, just now.
We haven't had a rainy day for a while. Might have our first rainy ride.
Cobblestones in the rain. Yucky, yucky, yucky.
We're now 39 days into our ride from Ushuaia to Los Angeles.
And we've got just three days to get to Ayacucho, where we're arranged
to travel deep into the rain forest to meet a tribe community.
Quite sad to be leaving Machu Picchu.
It was quite an amazing experience, I must say.
Yeah, I just wanted to sit today on my motorbike
and remember all the lovely things I saw up in Machu Picchu yesterday.
Consider how lucky I am that I'm able to make dreams come true
to see something like that.
Hang on. It's turn right back there, guys.
I wonder
Hope this isn't gonna turn out to be some very long dirt road.
Gravel.
I think this dirt road is about eight miles.
That's a busy old road, this.
It's the M6. It's the M6 of Peru.
The M stands for mud.
Oh, the--
-Did he get you? -Unbelievable.
Can you have a look?
Oh, my God. He really got your visor.
Absolutely got the whole side of my body.
This could be very slippy.
It is super slippy.
Shit. It's down.
Are you okay there, Ewan?
This little cut-through's great.
Oh, my God.
Okay, ready? If you get under the bags. One
Just under the bags or something under there.
One, two, three.
Well done, guys.
Okay.
Gracias, amigo.
Two.
-Are you okay? -Comedy of errors.
I'm okay, yeah. Thanks, guys.
Look at this. Like this little oasis.
We're riding the famous Ruta 35 from Abancay to Ayacucho.
It's a remote mountain area with long, winding passes so,
the riding should be epic.
We made it to Los Angeles. Cactus.
-Yeah, Los Angeles. -Los Angeles.
So that's it, guys. It's been real.
Yep.
Thanks for everything. Thanks for the memories.
It was lovely. It was nice to do another one together.
We're back up at 13,500 feet.
And
This looks amazing.
Well, we've been going kind of-- It feels like we've just been going up,
-doesn't it? -Yeah.
The whole morning. And so, we've used a lot of--
We're at 41% with 46 miles to go
and we have 68 miles to where we want to go.
So, we're hoping that we get a bit of down soon.
When we're going downhill, the bikes can then recharge.
It's basically the same as a hybrid car. There are motors in there
that regenerate charge back into the battery.
Meaning that we can now go a little further and faster.
This is good regen, man. Good regen.
Here we go. Regen, regen, regen.
On the way, we saw this cyclist going up the hill,
and he was powering up the hill.
And we thought, "Christ, that's big."
And as we got closer and closer, we realized that he only had one leg.
Nice to meet you.
How amazing.
How long did it take to come up the hill?
-Tres horas. -Three hours.
-Tres horas. -Wow, man. That's amazing.
60 kilometers.
A hundred kilometers.
Turn around and go back.
120 kilometers.
So cool.
He's a Peruvian Paralympian, and he's going to the Olympics.
-What is your discipline? -Road.
Road cycling.
Si.
-He's got good training here. -Amazing mountains to train on.
He got into a traffic accident and lost his leg right up by his hip.
I had a traffic accident in 2012.
And I understand a little bit about rehabilitation
and getting to a point where you're so low
because you've had a life-changing accident like he has.
And where do you go from there? How do you get on?
What do you do after that?
And I think one of the biggest things
to happen to you when you have a trauma
is to try and get back to some kind of normality.
To decide that yes, okay, I've got these ailments,
but I'm not gonna make them define me.
I'm gonna push on and move forward.
And that's what he did. And look at him, he's off to the Olympics.
Pretty incredible.
50K there and then 50K back. That was his routine.
That's a hell of a climb up the hill though. My goodness.
That's a hell of a climb just on a motorbike.
Let alone with one leg.
But what a guy. What an amazing chance to bump into someone like that up here.
At the top of the world.
We're now approaching Andahuaylas
and still need to make up 150 miles to get to Ayacucho.
Gracias. Thank you.
-Okay? Si. -Si.
Working?
Yes. Gracias.
-Let's do it. -We have 100 miles but
-Robot. -He's being a robot.
Okay.
Right, no. Is he okay?
Okay, let's do it. Let's go.
Think we should get this show on the road.
The riding of the last few days has just been incredible.
We've been going up and down--
up to 4,000 meters, back down to 2,500, back up to 4,000,
back down to 2,500, on these most incredible roads.
The tarmac and the landscape and the views.
Looking down into the valley,
plunging down, down to the valleys, and the towns.
It has been just incredible.
Tomorrow, we're going to leave our bikes behind and head off
into the Amazon rainforest to visit a partnership between an NGO
and a tribal community, who are both trying to reduce deforestation.
We're gonna have a look at the system for Cool Earth.
It's a new way of thinking. It's a different way of thinking.
It's empowerment. It's giving people jobs.
It's giving people a sustainable income, rather than just chopping down the forest.
So, let's see what happens.
We had to take the helicopter, because we just couldn't get in by bike.
Here we go. Up, up and away.
It's beautiful! The river running through the valley.
How pretty.
We're flying 90 miles to Cutivireni,
a community of Asháninka people in the Amazon rainforest,
to visit one of their 12 villages there.
That's really cool.
So beautiful, the jungle.
The amount of bugs and animals and
everything that is in there,
it's just bubbling with life.
Here. Look.
There's a patch on top of that hill
deforested a little bit.
Taking the skin off the world.
We won't be able to breathe.
Yeah.
It's very difficult, isn't it?
Because you're sitting there with your little house
and you're looking back at all this hardwood.
Someone's saying, "I'll give you money"
And then someone else says
"Oh, no. You've got to keep the forest."
And you're like, "Yeah, but I've got to feed my family."
It's an immediate thing, but
you know, what do you do?
Yeah, that's the dilemma, isn't it?
Is this the place?
A lot of people.
Wow, the colors!
This village is called Tinkareni, with a population of nearly 200 people.
We're gonna be supporting this community with our carbon mitigation.
-Hello. Cómo estás? -Hello. Buenos días.
So, you say
It's like "hello" in Asháninka.
We welcome you.
They've come from really far to visit us here.
He was greeting all the chiefs from the different villages
that have come here to welcome you as well.
They're gonna paint your faces. It's different for men and women.
Okay.
Hello.
Very nice.
You look like a little leopard or something.
-You got little wings like a bird. -I can't see.
-How do you say thank you in their -Gracias.
We just had the most wonderful ceremony to welcome us,
and this is one of the first Cool Earth projects.
It's been going on for about 10 years.
The entire Cutivireni community
covers over 30,000 hectares of rain forest.
When you are working in the forest and you can't find water,
then you can find some lianas.
And then you can drink it.
And it's also medicinal.
Look at that. Here it comes.
-Look. -There it is.
It's delicious and fresh.
For communities, the forest is like the market.
When they need food,
when they need to build houses, they come to the forest.
And also they use it to generate some income to survive.
So, that's how we came and provided some funding.
So they don't feel the pressure of getting some income generation
from illegal logging or from cocaine.
We help them to stop deforestation and minimize it.
You've been involved with Cool Earth for about 10 years,
and what does it mean to you guys as a community?
There are a few of us who preserve and love the forest.
It's where we get our food
and everything we need.
The forest is very important to us.
They get financial support.
With that, children are able to go to school,
and they're maybe able to afford more health services.
So, this is an amazing thing for them.
He wants to show his house. You wanna go?
-Yeah. -Si.
Okay.
Weaving. Hello.
That's the wife, Albertina.
Hola.
This is a huge place he has.
Look, he's got TV. Stereo.
-Beautiful, isn't it? -Si.
I don't think I've ever been anywhere like this. Where you see
people really living from the forest like this.
It's hoped that by encouraging sustainable agriculture,
the traditionally nomadic Asháninka people will remain here long-term,
and protect their lands from further deforestation.
Jaime, you aren't planning to move anymore, right?
After moving a lot, I want to stay put.
I'm thinking of the generations to come,
my grandchildren.
Leaving something here for them.
Good morning, everybody.
This is what I've woken up to, in the middle of the jungle.
In this beautiful village.
I just slept like an absolute champion in here.
Here in the village of Cutivireni.
It's refreshing.
They weren't heavy-handed. They weren't just like,
"Nobody can knock a tree down." They really understood the communities,
and they were trying to work with the communities to try
and help them to just make less of an impact in the forest
or to appreciate what the forest gives them.
Charley and I, we weren't driven to do this trip
on electric bikes because we're environmentalists.
I think we wanted to do it because it's the future.
Because we're excited about electric bikes.
But as we're doing it, it's opened my mind up
to what is going on in the world.
I can't believe we've done Machu Picchu and Cool Earth.
The first UNICEF project.
All of those things seemed so far into the trip,
and we've done them already.
I'm just so over the Andes.
We've just gotta get over this last hill. This could be it, right?
I don't wanna get too excited.
That's a beautiful si-- Wow. That's nice.
We've crossed the Andes and now we drop down 4,000 meters
to the coastal town of Ica in Peru.
Next, we're headed to see the 2,000-year-old giant artworks,
the Nasca Lines, that I've heard about before.
Today, we're going to see the amazing etchings
in the Earth's surface.
It's clearly meant to be viewed from above,
but they were done long before we had flight, so
Who were they done for? Was it for the aliens?
We don't know. Let's see today.
Yes, we're going to fly over the Nasca Valley
to the lowest altitude we can, okay?
When we arrive to a figure, we will be turning to the left
and to the right, okay?
So, everyone is going to see it. Yes?
The turns will be from 30 to 50 degrees, okay?
So, it's gonna be fun. Yes?
I would make sure we find a bag before we get in this plane.
-It's a good choice of bag, isn't it? -Yeah.
Nice clear one, just so you can see exactly what you had for breakfast.
Fasten your seat belts.
-Just relax. Go with the flow. -Go with the flow, man.
Despite alien conspiracy theories about the origins,
it's more likely that the Nasca created the huge artworks
to ask their weather gods for rain.
We're dead.
Now we're going to see the first figure. Okay?
There he is. There, look. Right in front of you.
There on the hillside. On the hill.
It's amazing.
There are over 1,000 artworks here.
Some are over 400 meters tall.
I feel a bit sick now.
Now I'm feeling sick.
What if we could go in tight circles both ways around something else now?
-Like really-- -Perfect.
I just wanna get down.
-Thank you. -Gracias. Thank you very much.
Hope you enjoyed it.
We had a lovely time. Thank you.
How were the turns?
-Very nice. Thank you. -Nice and smooth.
Not for me.
We're getting back on the road.
It's getting warm now, isn't it? It's getting properly dry and hot.
Easy riding.
I'm just looking forward to getting to a new country now,
to Ecuador.
It gets quite exciting then.
Ready to go?
Rivian have made a major breakthrough.
They've figured out a way for us to fully charge the bikes
from their cars in just two hours.
There, we got a pulse. Yep.
Yeah.
I think it's really nice that some new charging tech
has been developed for us,
and it could be used by other people in the future.
One hour, twenty-four to full.
Two hours. Done.
I think I'm finally starting to get this Peruvian traffic.
Oh, yeah.
Jesus, careful. Careful. Easy.
Easy. Easy. Easy.
Oh, boy.
They can use that as what happens after the adverts.
-You know, a teaser or a cliff-hanger. -Yeah. Cliff-hanger.
"Careful, careful."
-How many shows are like that? -You come back after the break
with the clip straight to him, "Careful. Careful. Careful."
And then, you know.
Here we go. Heading to the Ecuador border.
We're off to visit our friends at UNICEF
who've set up a camp to help some of the refugees fleeing from Venezuela.
Hundreds of Venezuelans are fleeing the country in an effort
to escape an ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis there.
People have traveled hundreds of miles
through Colombia and Ecuador in an attempt to reach families
and to find work in Peru and Chile.
There's all the tents and everything.
This camp in Tumbes is supporting around 100 mothers with babies
as well as 50 children with no parents with them.
Is this a child-friendly space?
They're two actors.
Hola.
Hola.
Hola.
Children are incredibly resilient.
But they do need protection and help.
Can you imagine getting out of Venezuela and coming across Colombia and Ecuador
to get here on buses or by foot.
You know, it's been pretty brutal for those children.
They just don't have time to be kids anymore, you know.
Maria is 16, and her brother Abraham's only 14,
and they're here at the border fending for themselves.
They've been here 47 days.
What was it like in Venezuela when you had to leave?
The situation was really critical.
That's why we decided to leave the country.
So, you had to leave your home and your school and your friends.
Everything.
What hurts me the most is to leave my family.
It's hard to be separate
after being with them for so long.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, that's so difficult. So hard.
-The situation is extremely volatile. -Yeah.
People have lost their jobs. The money they have is worth nothing.
They sell everything they have to try and get out.
So, they left behind their mother and their older brother.
Do they know what the mother and their older brother
is doing in Venezuela?
Do you know how your mom and brother are doing
back in Venezuela?
-Your beautiful mom, right? -Sweetheart.
Don't cry.
My gorgeous boy.
-I'm sorry. -Yeah.
You kids are strong, you know?
You're gonna get through this. You are.
Yeah.
What you're seeing is really devastating to witness.
They can't go back to Venezuela.
They just need three days to get across Peru by bus to get to Chile,
where they can get in, and they know that they've got family members there,
and they've got a future there, but they're stuck here.
Some of them for 47 days.
-Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. -Okay.
All right.
For us, it's relatively easy to cross the border
and enter into Ecuador.
Ecuador.
And this next leg is possibly gonna be the trickiest part of the whole trip.
Basically, you can go from the bottom of South America
to the top of North America on the Pan-American Highway.
But there's a 100-mile gap in the middle called the Darién Gap,
which is impenetrable forest, no roads.
Full of terrorists. You don't wanna go there.
So we have to either take a boat 'round or fly over.
Really, these are so heavy, the only way to get these 'round is on a boat.
We just need to get to that port as soon as possible.
No, the cell reception here is zero. I think, let's stay together if we can.
We'll follow you out of town anyway, mate. It's a bit crazy.
Have you seen the guy on the left with the silver shotgun?
Got sun on my face
Sleeping rough on the road
I'll tell you all about it
When I get home
Gonna roll up the sidewalk
Gonna need letting up
Comin' round to meet you
The long way up
We're gonna ride 13,000 miles through 13 countries.
From Ushuaia, in and out of Argentina and Chile, to the Atacama Desert,
heading up to La Paz before we cross Lake Titicaca,
continuing along the Andes to Colombia, over to Panama,
through Central America and Mexico, arriving in Los Angeles 100 days later.
We're gonna give these guys video cameras,
and they're also gonna have cameras with microphones on their crash helmets
so they can film themselves as they're riding along.
Is this a road? Oh, my God!
A third motorcycle will travel with them,
and on it will be Claudio, our cameraman.
In addition, Russ and I will travel in two electric pickup trucks,
along with cameramen Jimmy,
Anthony and Taylor, who will also help with logistics.
We'll be filming the guys from the vehicles,
linking up with them at borders,
but otherwise, the motorcycles will be on their own.
Copacabana.
We got here last night, and I didn't feel very well when we arrived here.
My glands were swollen, and I was thinking, "Uh-oh.
I'm bound to have picked up some kind of bug or something."
I feel better this morning.
We're leaving Bolivia for the last time. Thank you, Bolivia.
Bolivia's been so different from Chile and Argentina.
The culture has been very present and very different.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Was surprised to see how far up we've come. It's really great.
Yeah. Brilliant.
If you look at a map from where we started,
we've come a long way.
We've crossed Argentina, and we've crossed Chile and Bolivia.
And now we're going into Peru.
And Peru is the home of Machu Picchu,
and I've wanted to visit Machu Picchu ever since I was a kid.
Okay. Here we go. We're in Peru.
We're heading to Puno.
Lake Titicaca.
At school, you know when we were kids, we would have had such a laugh at that.
Yeah.
But the truth is we're not that different now.
No, not really.
Some of us never grow up.
We're both really looking forward to Machu Picchu.
But before then, we've got a couple of places to visit,
including this intriguing site near Lake Titicaca.
What's the scene here, Maxim?
So, what's the scene? So, it's an Inca site.
-It's called Inca Uyo. -Inca Uyo.
Uyo Inca obviously means Inca.
Uyo refers to male genitals.
-Okay. -Yeah, it's a nice way of saying it. Uyo.
-All right. -Cool. Okay.
And so, it's now called The Temple of Fertility.
And that's how modern Peruvians view it.
Because it's such fine stonework, you know that it's an important structure.
So, it would have either been a temple, the house of a curaca,
like an important administrative leader.
Or it might have been somewhere
where the Inca would stay when you'd come and visit.
This is where the Inca Empire originated.
Well, believed that it's here in Lake Titicaca.
Oh, right.
The stonework, you can see that it's an important structure.
Obviously, it's been destroyed mostly, but you can see the foundations.
People now come here when they have fertility problems.
Do they have success?
Yeah, they say they do. Lots of women who've had twins claim
that it's because they came here and sat on one of the little mushrooms.
You wanna get a little bit more fertility in you?
Suck it in, Ewan.
I didn't mean to say that. It just came out.
If you just take a shot of those two,
I think that's all you have to know about what this fertility place is like.
Just those two over there.
Mate, no. We don't need any of that. I know you like me. No, no.
We don't need that. No.
No. No.
No, we don't need that.
-Oh, no. Oh, no, no. -He's getting excited now.
Did you see how fertile I am right now?
Did you see that dog not being able to leave me alone? Amazing.
It works. It absolutely works.
Wow. There's a good view.
Pretty cool place.
We're heading to Cusco today, which is 243 miles.
Today, we are gonna go see this condor sanctuary.
Where they sort of rehabilitate them and send them out into the wild.
So this is the animal sanctuary of Ccochahuasi.
The Andean condor that we can see just over there
-that's our main focus right now. -Oh, my God.
The condor is the world's largest flying bird
and has huge symbolism in Peru for health and immortality.
Now, were they brought to you injured, these birds?
-Yes. -They were?
Some of them came due to the Yawar Fiesta.
The Yawar Fiesta is a festival where
they tie the feet of the condor on the back of a bull.
And the condors They come out with some broken wings,
lacerations on their feet and sometimes
they just break their necks.
-Dying in the process. -Is this because of a
-traditional -This illegal tradition.
The bull represents the Spanish people.
And the condor is the representation of the Inca.
This is the meaning of the fight, of the ancient times.
So, when the bull wins,
it means it's gonna be a bad year.
And if the condor wins this fight,
it's gonna be a good year.
The people just invest in some crops.
This is all wrong, you know?
Because the condor is the one that suffers here.
-Yeah. -Of course.
I never like to see big wild animals stuck behind cages
and behind bars.
But in this case, I guess I really believe
they were trying to rehabilitate them and release them if they could.
My God, look at the size of this one.
That was the flight of the condor.
That was amazing.
Those two animals are Andean geese.
They pick a partner
and stay with that partner for the rest of their lives.
The bond that they make is so strong
that when one of them dies,
the other could die from the sadness.
Or even worse
they commit suicide.
-Really? -No.
-That's right. -Really?
They just throw from the cliffs, from that top part
and without flapping their wings, just dive into the ground.
-Oh, my gosh. -Oh, my God.
Because life's not worth living without their partner.
That's why they are said to be
a symbol of love and fidelity here.
I think I'd be sad but
-You would, right? -What? For Olly?
-Yeah. -Wouldn't be worth living.
Well, exactly. So you'd just do it then.
Well, I'm not sure if I would throw myself off a cliff.
I'd choose another way of doing it.
I'm beyond excited because tonight,
we're taking the train to Machu Picchu.
I love that old bell. That's nice. It takes you back.
Mind the gap.
Machu Picchu by train. It doesn't get any better.
But yeah, this is specific to Machu Picchu.
A whole train just for one tourist site.
It'll be nice to sit in a train for a couple of hours.
On the way to Machu Picchu. Oh, my God.
I can't believe it.
I had a poster on my wall at school somewhere of it.
Used to daydream about it when I was in class.
I've always wanted to see it.
I'm really, really excited about it.
Machu Picchu sits at nearly 8,000 feet.
And with its limited access by road,
this train track has been built to reach it,
which will take us just under two hours.
I can't believe we made the train.
Usually when we've got a date to hit, we're like a day or two behind.
But this time we just
totally got here, got changed. Just got on the train.
It was a nice train journey up here.
Ten o'clock at night, 10:02.
And in the morning, we'll get up at 4:00.
Four-thirty, to be out the door at 5:00 to try and get up to Machu Picchu.
And
It's kinda hard to believe it, 'cause I've always wanted to see it.
I've always wanted to be here.
I just want to be up in that special place tomorrow.
And I can't really believe we're here. I can't really believe that I'm here.
Night, all.
Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu day.
And I've heard the best time to experience the place is at sunrise.
So we're not taking any chances.
-Ain't this pretty cool? Look at that. -That is incredible, isn't it?
Just suddenly we're in a totally different landscape.
This is really jungly, isn't it?
I don't like it. The bus is very close to the edge of the hill.
Why am I at the window?
Getting up early has paid off. We're first in the queue.
-This way? Si. Gracias. -Up.
-Excuse me, where is Machu Picchu? -I say--
I say, are we close?
We've started the main climb. And with an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet,
getting to the summit is no walk in the park.
I don't know how much of it there is.
-Jesus. -You don't know where
I can feel my legs burning already.
You go up. I'll go down. 'Cause I might--
-No, no. I'll come with you. -No, it's all right.
-I don't mind. -I don't want you to miss that.
-After you. After you. -No, just need a rest.
Okay, okay.
-Go for it. -Thank you.
Ewan's racing ahead. I couldn't have done that.
I mean, my legs are just not up for that anymore.
Here we go. Uppity up, up. I hope we see it from up here.
He's going up to the Sun Gate. Which is like a 45-minute walk up.
And then we'll carry on this side.
I can barely talk.
It's such a shame you can't see it all because only 2,500 people a day
are allowed to come here, so you're privileged to be here.
Apparently, it was built in the 13th century.
It was hidden until its rediscovery in 1911.
And I've been looking forward to seeing this so much.
Never-ending. Well, maybe it's not for the faint of heart,
and it'll be less crowded here than it is down there.
-Hola. -Hola.
One, two, three.
-All right. -Thanks, buddy.
Thanks.
Oh, goodness. This wasn't quite the experience
I was expecting to have up here. Oh, well.
For the picture.
At the top of the Sun Gate, I hadn't realized that
people do that four-day trek coming up from the other side.
And so that when we got there, there was like 50, 60
And it just turned into a bit of a photo session for me.
-That's awesome. Have a good trip. -Cheers, man. Thanks.
Where should we sit?
Or should we just go down the path a little bit?
I think we're gonna-- Yeah.
Well, I might spoil everybody else's experience. That's the problem.
-Hey. How are you? Nice to meet you. -How you doing? Nice to meet you.
-Yeah, yeah. That's okay. Yeah. -Yeah? Thank you.
These clouds aren't clearing anytime soon.
I'm going to check out another famous site.
-Hola. -Hola, buenos días.
Is this the bit where you have to sign your life away?
Okay.
It's so dangerously steep, that you have to sign yourself in
and sign yourself out for safety.
I can't believe how steep it is. Oh, my God.
Okay. No pushing, guys.
-Oh, the bridge. -The bridge.
Wow.
And they have steps going down as well. They're built into the rock.
God, that's incredible.
They've blocked it off now because people would come,
and they'd hang off the bottom of it and take selfies
and do all kinds of crazy, stupid things.
We will be lucky. It's clearing, no?
Looks like it here, doesn't it? In another hour or so,
-then we could be really lucky. -Yeah, yeah.
And there it is.
I gotta turn the camera.
This is so amazing. I'm so happy to see it.
I can't believe we were standing here before, and it was just there.
We couldn't see it at all.
Many Inca sites were destroyed by Spanish invaders,
but they never found Machu Picchu. Thank goodness.
Finally made it up here. And there's Machu Picchu.
Finally, the clouds have broken. How beautiful it is.
The excitement of coming up here and seeing it. And then
And I think what's quite nice is that we've had to wait for it.
So, we've kind of had a look around, and we were talking about it,
and we were trying to imagine what it must be like.
We've seen the pictures and then suddenly, it started to show itself.
Mind-blowing. Overwhelming.
It's stunning.
Stunning.
Most archaeologists believe that it was built as an estate
for the Inca emperor, Pachacuti,
while others think it was a religious site.
Amazing, isn't it?
New day, new dawn.
Okay.
Ollantaytambo, goodbye, just now.
We haven't had a rainy day for a while. Might have our first rainy ride.
Cobblestones in the rain. Yucky, yucky, yucky.
We're now 39 days into our ride from Ushuaia to Los Angeles.
And we've got just three days to get to Ayacucho, where we're arranged
to travel deep into the rain forest to meet a tribe community.
Quite sad to be leaving Machu Picchu.
It was quite an amazing experience, I must say.
Yeah, I just wanted to sit today on my motorbike
and remember all the lovely things I saw up in Machu Picchu yesterday.
Consider how lucky I am that I'm able to make dreams come true
to see something like that.
Hang on. It's turn right back there, guys.
I wonder
Hope this isn't gonna turn out to be some very long dirt road.
Gravel.
I think this dirt road is about eight miles.
That's a busy old road, this.
It's the M6. It's the M6 of Peru.
The M stands for mud.
Oh, the--
-Did he get you? -Unbelievable.
Can you have a look?
Oh, my God. He really got your visor.
Absolutely got the whole side of my body.
This could be very slippy.
It is super slippy.
Shit. It's down.
Are you okay there, Ewan?
This little cut-through's great.
Oh, my God.
Okay, ready? If you get under the bags. One
Just under the bags or something under there.
One, two, three.
Well done, guys.
Okay.
Gracias, amigo.
Two.
-Are you okay? -Comedy of errors.
I'm okay, yeah. Thanks, guys.
Look at this. Like this little oasis.
We're riding the famous Ruta 35 from Abancay to Ayacucho.
It's a remote mountain area with long, winding passes so,
the riding should be epic.
We made it to Los Angeles. Cactus.
-Yeah, Los Angeles. -Los Angeles.
So that's it, guys. It's been real.
Yep.
Thanks for everything. Thanks for the memories.
It was lovely. It was nice to do another one together.
We're back up at 13,500 feet.
And
This looks amazing.
Well, we've been going kind of-- It feels like we've just been going up,
-doesn't it? -Yeah.
The whole morning. And so, we've used a lot of--
We're at 41% with 46 miles to go
and we have 68 miles to where we want to go.
So, we're hoping that we get a bit of down soon.
When we're going downhill, the bikes can then recharge.
It's basically the same as a hybrid car. There are motors in there
that regenerate charge back into the battery.
Meaning that we can now go a little further and faster.
This is good regen, man. Good regen.
Here we go. Regen, regen, regen.
On the way, we saw this cyclist going up the hill,
and he was powering up the hill.
And we thought, "Christ, that's big."
And as we got closer and closer, we realized that he only had one leg.
Nice to meet you.
How amazing.
How long did it take to come up the hill?
-Tres horas. -Three hours.
-Tres horas. -Wow, man. That's amazing.
60 kilometers.
A hundred kilometers.
Turn around and go back.
120 kilometers.
So cool.
He's a Peruvian Paralympian, and he's going to the Olympics.
-What is your discipline? -Road.
Road cycling.
Si.
-He's got good training here. -Amazing mountains to train on.
He got into a traffic accident and lost his leg right up by his hip.
I had a traffic accident in 2012.
And I understand a little bit about rehabilitation
and getting to a point where you're so low
because you've had a life-changing accident like he has.
And where do you go from there? How do you get on?
What do you do after that?
And I think one of the biggest things
to happen to you when you have a trauma
is to try and get back to some kind of normality.
To decide that yes, okay, I've got these ailments,
but I'm not gonna make them define me.
I'm gonna push on and move forward.
And that's what he did. And look at him, he's off to the Olympics.
Pretty incredible.
50K there and then 50K back. That was his routine.
That's a hell of a climb up the hill though. My goodness.
That's a hell of a climb just on a motorbike.
Let alone with one leg.
But what a guy. What an amazing chance to bump into someone like that up here.
At the top of the world.
We're now approaching Andahuaylas
and still need to make up 150 miles to get to Ayacucho.
Gracias. Thank you.
-Okay? Si. -Si.
Working?
Yes. Gracias.
-Let's do it. -We have 100 miles but
-Robot. -He's being a robot.
Okay.
Right, no. Is he okay?
Okay, let's do it. Let's go.
Think we should get this show on the road.
The riding of the last few days has just been incredible.
We've been going up and down--
up to 4,000 meters, back down to 2,500, back up to 4,000,
back down to 2,500, on these most incredible roads.
The tarmac and the landscape and the views.
Looking down into the valley,
plunging down, down to the valleys, and the towns.
It has been just incredible.
Tomorrow, we're going to leave our bikes behind and head off
into the Amazon rainforest to visit a partnership between an NGO
and a tribal community, who are both trying to reduce deforestation.
We're gonna have a look at the system for Cool Earth.
It's a new way of thinking. It's a different way of thinking.
It's empowerment. It's giving people jobs.
It's giving people a sustainable income, rather than just chopping down the forest.
So, let's see what happens.
We had to take the helicopter, because we just couldn't get in by bike.
Here we go. Up, up and away.
It's beautiful! The river running through the valley.
How pretty.
We're flying 90 miles to Cutivireni,
a community of Asháninka people in the Amazon rainforest,
to visit one of their 12 villages there.
That's really cool.
So beautiful, the jungle.
The amount of bugs and animals and
everything that is in there,
it's just bubbling with life.
Here. Look.
There's a patch on top of that hill
deforested a little bit.
Taking the skin off the world.
We won't be able to breathe.
Yeah.
It's very difficult, isn't it?
Because you're sitting there with your little house
and you're looking back at all this hardwood.
Someone's saying, "I'll give you money"
And then someone else says
"Oh, no. You've got to keep the forest."
And you're like, "Yeah, but I've got to feed my family."
It's an immediate thing, but
you know, what do you do?
Yeah, that's the dilemma, isn't it?
Is this the place?
A lot of people.
Wow, the colors!
This village is called Tinkareni, with a population of nearly 200 people.
We're gonna be supporting this community with our carbon mitigation.
-Hello. Cómo estás? -Hello. Buenos días.
So, you say
It's like "hello" in Asháninka.
We welcome you.
They've come from really far to visit us here.
He was greeting all the chiefs from the different villages
that have come here to welcome you as well.
They're gonna paint your faces. It's different for men and women.
Okay.
Hello.
Very nice.
You look like a little leopard or something.
-You got little wings like a bird. -I can't see.
-How do you say thank you in their -Gracias.
We just had the most wonderful ceremony to welcome us,
and this is one of the first Cool Earth projects.
It's been going on for about 10 years.
The entire Cutivireni community
covers over 30,000 hectares of rain forest.
When you are working in the forest and you can't find water,
then you can find some lianas.
And then you can drink it.
And it's also medicinal.
Look at that. Here it comes.
-Look. -There it is.
It's delicious and fresh.
For communities, the forest is like the market.
When they need food,
when they need to build houses, they come to the forest.
And also they use it to generate some income to survive.
So, that's how we came and provided some funding.
So they don't feel the pressure of getting some income generation
from illegal logging or from cocaine.
We help them to stop deforestation and minimize it.
You've been involved with Cool Earth for about 10 years,
and what does it mean to you guys as a community?
There are a few of us who preserve and love the forest.
It's where we get our food
and everything we need.
The forest is very important to us.
They get financial support.
With that, children are able to go to school,
and they're maybe able to afford more health services.
So, this is an amazing thing for them.
He wants to show his house. You wanna go?
-Yeah. -Si.
Okay.
Weaving. Hello.
That's the wife, Albertina.
Hola.
This is a huge place he has.
Look, he's got TV. Stereo.
-Beautiful, isn't it? -Si.
I don't think I've ever been anywhere like this. Where you see
people really living from the forest like this.
It's hoped that by encouraging sustainable agriculture,
the traditionally nomadic Asháninka people will remain here long-term,
and protect their lands from further deforestation.
Jaime, you aren't planning to move anymore, right?
After moving a lot, I want to stay put.
I'm thinking of the generations to come,
my grandchildren.
Leaving something here for them.
Good morning, everybody.
This is what I've woken up to, in the middle of the jungle.
In this beautiful village.
I just slept like an absolute champion in here.
Here in the village of Cutivireni.
It's refreshing.
They weren't heavy-handed. They weren't just like,
"Nobody can knock a tree down." They really understood the communities,
and they were trying to work with the communities to try
and help them to just make less of an impact in the forest
or to appreciate what the forest gives them.
Charley and I, we weren't driven to do this trip
on electric bikes because we're environmentalists.
I think we wanted to do it because it's the future.
Because we're excited about electric bikes.
But as we're doing it, it's opened my mind up
to what is going on in the world.
I can't believe we've done Machu Picchu and Cool Earth.
The first UNICEF project.
All of those things seemed so far into the trip,
and we've done them already.
I'm just so over the Andes.
We've just gotta get over this last hill. This could be it, right?
I don't wanna get too excited.
That's a beautiful si-- Wow. That's nice.
We've crossed the Andes and now we drop down 4,000 meters
to the coastal town of Ica in Peru.
Next, we're headed to see the 2,000-year-old giant artworks,
the Nasca Lines, that I've heard about before.
Today, we're going to see the amazing etchings
in the Earth's surface.
It's clearly meant to be viewed from above,
but they were done long before we had flight, so
Who were they done for? Was it for the aliens?
We don't know. Let's see today.
Yes, we're going to fly over the Nasca Valley
to the lowest altitude we can, okay?
When we arrive to a figure, we will be turning to the left
and to the right, okay?
So, everyone is going to see it. Yes?
The turns will be from 30 to 50 degrees, okay?
So, it's gonna be fun. Yes?
I would make sure we find a bag before we get in this plane.
-It's a good choice of bag, isn't it? -Yeah.
Nice clear one, just so you can see exactly what you had for breakfast.
Fasten your seat belts.
-Just relax. Go with the flow. -Go with the flow, man.
Despite alien conspiracy theories about the origins,
it's more likely that the Nasca created the huge artworks
to ask their weather gods for rain.
We're dead.
Now we're going to see the first figure. Okay?
There he is. There, look. Right in front of you.
There on the hillside. On the hill.
It's amazing.
There are over 1,000 artworks here.
Some are over 400 meters tall.
I feel a bit sick now.
Now I'm feeling sick.
What if we could go in tight circles both ways around something else now?
-Like really-- -Perfect.
I just wanna get down.
-Thank you. -Gracias. Thank you very much.
Hope you enjoyed it.
We had a lovely time. Thank you.
How were the turns?
-Very nice. Thank you. -Nice and smooth.
Not for me.
We're getting back on the road.
It's getting warm now, isn't it? It's getting properly dry and hot.
Easy riding.
I'm just looking forward to getting to a new country now,
to Ecuador.
It gets quite exciting then.
Ready to go?
Rivian have made a major breakthrough.
They've figured out a way for us to fully charge the bikes
from their cars in just two hours.
There, we got a pulse. Yep.
Yeah.
I think it's really nice that some new charging tech
has been developed for us,
and it could be used by other people in the future.
One hour, twenty-four to full.
Two hours. Done.
I think I'm finally starting to get this Peruvian traffic.
Oh, yeah.
Jesus, careful. Careful. Easy.
Easy. Easy. Easy.
Oh, boy.
They can use that as what happens after the adverts.
-You know, a teaser or a cliff-hanger. -Yeah. Cliff-hanger.
"Careful, careful."
-How many shows are like that? -You come back after the break
with the clip straight to him, "Careful. Careful. Careful."
And then, you know.
Here we go. Heading to the Ecuador border.
We're off to visit our friends at UNICEF
who've set up a camp to help some of the refugees fleeing from Venezuela.
Hundreds of Venezuelans are fleeing the country in an effort
to escape an ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis there.
People have traveled hundreds of miles
through Colombia and Ecuador in an attempt to reach families
and to find work in Peru and Chile.
There's all the tents and everything.
This camp in Tumbes is supporting around 100 mothers with babies
as well as 50 children with no parents with them.
Is this a child-friendly space?
They're two actors.
Hola.
Hola.
Hola.
Children are incredibly resilient.
But they do need protection and help.
Can you imagine getting out of Venezuela and coming across Colombia and Ecuador
to get here on buses or by foot.
You know, it's been pretty brutal for those children.
They just don't have time to be kids anymore, you know.
Maria is 16, and her brother Abraham's only 14,
and they're here at the border fending for themselves.
They've been here 47 days.
What was it like in Venezuela when you had to leave?
The situation was really critical.
That's why we decided to leave the country.
So, you had to leave your home and your school and your friends.
Everything.
What hurts me the most is to leave my family.
It's hard to be separate
after being with them for so long.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, that's so difficult. So hard.
-The situation is extremely volatile. -Yeah.
People have lost their jobs. The money they have is worth nothing.
They sell everything they have to try and get out.
So, they left behind their mother and their older brother.
Do they know what the mother and their older brother
is doing in Venezuela?
Do you know how your mom and brother are doing
back in Venezuela?
-Your beautiful mom, right? -Sweetheart.
Don't cry.
My gorgeous boy.
-I'm sorry. -Yeah.
You kids are strong, you know?
You're gonna get through this. You are.
Yeah.
What you're seeing is really devastating to witness.
They can't go back to Venezuela.
They just need three days to get across Peru by bus to get to Chile,
where they can get in, and they know that they've got family members there,
and they've got a future there, but they're stuck here.
Some of them for 47 days.
-Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. -Okay.
All right.
For us, it's relatively easy to cross the border
and enter into Ecuador.
Ecuador.
And this next leg is possibly gonna be the trickiest part of the whole trip.
Basically, you can go from the bottom of South America
to the top of North America on the Pan-American Highway.
But there's a 100-mile gap in the middle called the Darién Gap,
which is impenetrable forest, no roads.
Full of terrorists. You don't wanna go there.
So we have to either take a boat 'round or fly over.
Really, these are so heavy, the only way to get these 'round is on a boat.
We just need to get to that port as soon as possible.
No, the cell reception here is zero. I think, let's stay together if we can.
We'll follow you out of town anyway, mate. It's a bit crazy.
Have you seen the guy on the left with the silver shotgun?