All language subtitles for M.P.S01E20.1080p.WEB.h264-BAWD_track3_[eng]

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR:
Our journey begins in Argentina.

We are looking for
the loneliest man in the world

and already the way to him
is very lonely.

In order to find him we have
to organise an ancient road map.

On newer maps or in the Satnav
his town doesn't even exist.

As soon as we've crossed the hill
the landscape changes drastically.

Where tarmacked roads
were a second ago

muddy trails form the path
to a big lake.

And there is supposed to be
a city here?

The closer we get to the town
the odder the landscape becomes.

Thousands of dead trees
are stood alongside the road.

What happened here?

What dark secret is behind the town
with only one inhabitant?

And who lives here in the middle
of nowhere in Argentina

out of their own free will?

The drive takes over 20 minutes
through this barren landscape

without us meeting a single person.

Until suddenly out of nowhere
a modern gate appears.

Villa Epecuen.

The mysterious town 600 kilometres
south of the capital Buenos Aires.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: A town where only
a single person is living.

But it quickly becomes clear
the modern gate is deceptive.

Not much of Epecuen is left.

- (chirruping)

NARRATOR: Many thousands of people

must have once lived
in Villa Epecuen.

Today few buildings
still have all four walls.

Most of the city is destroyed.

As if a gigantic explosion
has torn everything apart

within a fraction of a second.

It seems more like
a warzone than a town.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: On our search
for the loneliest man in the world

we are venturing deeper and deeper
into the naked ruins of this place.

- (vehicle engine rumbling)

NARRATOR:
And then we hear him from afar...

It is an odd feeling to see someone
approaching you

after hours of being alone here.

May we introduce...the probably
most lonely man in the world.

Driving the possibly
coolest car on the planet.

- (they speak Spanish)

NARRATOR:
What an entrance. What a guy!

Thousands of questions that we
want to ask the 85-year-old

shoot through our brains.

But mainly one specific one:
What happened here?

- (speaks Spanish)

- (engine starts)

NARRATOR: Where Pablo lives now
the water was ten metres high

just a few years ago

and where we are driving along here
in the buggy

used to be the bottom of a lake.

Pablo takes us on a
sightseeing tour through the town

and tells us about its history.

A story that is inseparably
connected with the lake.

The Lago Epecuen has a similar
salt content to the Dead Sea

and had been attracting tourists
from all over the world

since the 1920s.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: The ruins of the pool
are silent witnesses

to Epecuen's better days.

Week-long exceptionally heavy rain

made the water levels
rise dramatically in 1985.

The dam breaks and the water floods
the city in only a few hours.

For 25 years to come
Epecuen would vanish in the lake

until in 2009,
due to a long drought,

the water begins to retreat
and the remains of the town

are exposed again.

- It looks like this city
experienced a war.

Aren't you sad
when you see it right now?

NARRATOR: While driving
through the ruins with Pablo

we feel as if they are still alive
for the 85-year-old.

On the left a cafe,
on the right an ice-cream parlour -

a journey into the past for us.

And never-faded memories for Pablo.

- (gentle string music)

NARRATOR: We notice how much
the loneliest man in the world

is enjoying telling someone
about his city.

And suddenly we are stood
in front of Pablo's favourite place.

For him it is
the same place as back then.

A pile of rubble consisting of
washed stones and dead poplar trees.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: Not even one hour
after the dam broke

the water inside the hotel
had reached the ceiling.

Hurriedly, Pablo left the house,
then not knowing

that he would only get to see
this place again 25 years later.

Anything that doesn't swim very well

is still at the same place
as it used to be.

But how can Pablo live here
in the ruins of his town?

He doesn't live in these,
his buildings anymore.

Down by the shore
all the structures are destroyed.

A bit further up the road
many houses survived

the years underwater better.

We want to find out how Pablo fends
for himself and most importantly:

how he deals with the loneliness.

If you don't count the three dogs...
and the approximately 150 chickens.

- (door squeaks and thuds)

- (chirping)

NARRATOR: About five years ago
the then-80-year-old

swapped his TV
and shower for this life here.

Two rooms: kitchen, bathroom -
completely without any electricity.

But with a gas cooker
and...he shows it with pride.

- (rooster crows)

NARRATOR: Pablo
doesn't need anything more.

And if something should be required,
like a new bottle of gas,

his children
and 14 grandchildren help him.

One of them even only lives
half an hour away by car

and comes by every week.

All the rest
is done by Pablo himself.

And that is exactly how he wants it.

He is especially proud of something
that he built himself in the garden.

- (rustling)

- Why did you choose to live
right here in this house?

NARRATOR: Pablo receives
a small state pension

that he can survive on easily.

One of his grandsons
brings him fresh fruit

and vegetables
from the supermarket every week.

And just as you would expect
from a real Argentinian...

also lots of wine and meat...

so Pablo rarely leaves his town.

- (fire crackles)

NARRATOR: And we too realise
that for this evening

we don't need anything else.

This is all very well, but only
one question is still on our minds.

- Don't you feel
sometimes alone out here?

- (chuckles)

NARRATOR:
When we set out on our search

for the loneliest man in the world

we had expected to meet
a bitter human being.

But here in the Argentinian Atlantis
we found quite the opposite.

An 85-year-old who is hospitable
and full of joie de vivre.

And who also, just on the side,
makes an incredible Asado.

In the end we are sure: Pablo
isn't lonely at all. He is happy.

- (engine idling)

- (speaks to Pablo in Spanish)

What do you wish for the future
of Villa Epecuen?

- OK. Muchas gracias, Pablo.

NARRATOR: At the moment
there are no plans of rebuilding

the ruins of Villa Epecuen.

But as long as Pablo is living here
he will keep his city alive.

# LEONARD COHEN: My Oh My

# Wasn't hard to love you

# Didn't have to try #

NARRATOR: Wenling in China.

Here there is supposed to be
a strange house.

We ask for directions.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: We are driving
into said direction.

The area looks like a warzone.

Everywhere there are half-destroyed
houses. Something is going on here.

Nobody seems to live here anymore.

We stop by the side of the road
and ask the workers

who are in the middle
of tearing down a building

what the strange house is all about.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

- (drilling)

NARRATOR: And the workers are
still busy tearing everything down.

More and more houses are vanishing.
But what happened to the residents?

We continue our drive.

And after the next bend
there is really a house

right in the middle of the road!

Is this the house
that we are looking for?

There is not much traffic here yet,

so we park up
right next to the building.

Are we in the correct place?

From the balcony of a neighbouring
house we see that it is.

It looks pretty run-down.

On the sides you can see where
the other buildings around it

were torn down.

And the higher levels look
as if they are uninhabitable.

Does somebody really live there?
In a ruin? In the middle of a road?

Let's see if someone will open up.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: Luo Baogen is 67 years old
and has been living

right in the centre of the road
for over a year with his wife.

The road is completely new and
was constructed around his house.

The tarmac leads to the also newly
erected train station of Wenling.

A short while ago the city
of over one million inhabitants

was connected to the high-speed
train network.

The residents had to move away

and the municipal government
compensated them

with about 27,000 dollars

so they could buy
a new property somewhere else.

400 families had to move
because of the mammoth project.

But one person refused. Lou Baogen.

He feels that the compensation
is not enough.

He wants more money
from the government.

NARRATOR: So together with his wife
he is holding his ground.

The government have increased
their offer to 32,000 dollars -

but the couple are still refusing.

NARRATOR:
Over time Lou Baogen's face

keeps getting more
and more well known.

At first blogs
and social media report about him.

Then national television.

- (overlapping news reports)

NARRATOR: By now Luo Baogen
is famous all over the world.

Rehousing of people due to building
projects often occurs in China.

As well as property owners
that refuse to leave.

The Chinese call these people
and their houses

"nails" and "nail houses".

But no one has ever held out
as long as Luo Baogen.

Therefore
the internet community calls him:

"the hardest nail of all time."

20 years ago he already lived here.

Luo Baogen is a duck farmer.

He raises his ducks at a little pond
just across the road.

- (quacking)

NARRATOR: But unfortunately
he doesn't make

a lot of money from this.

So he grows his vegetables
and rice himself.

In order to buy his house
he had to borrow the money.

He is also fighting so fiercely for
a better offer because of the debt.

It is not really "living"
in the house anymore.

The upper floors are empty.

Formerly Luo Baogen's daughter used
to stay here with his grandchildren

but they moved out a long time ago.

The house attracts many
curious onlookers.

Every couple of minutes
somebody stops to take a picture.

And many encourage Luo Baogen.

- (speaks Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: Many are surprised
as to how long

the protest has been tolerated.

NARRATOR: In order to chase
nail house inhabitants away

the government
have been known to turn off

the electricity and the water.

At Luo Baogen's house
everything is still working.

- (conversation in Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: But it seems
as if the authorities

are slowly getting fed up
with us being here

and the subsequent attention.

This black pickup truck
keeps driving past the house.

Luo Baogen is very nervous now.

NARRATOR: After a longer
phone conversation

he doesn't want
to speak to us anymore.

Not even inside the house.

Again and again
he suddenly stops the interviews.

NARRATOR: He takes us to the door.

Luo Baogen is hoping
for the issue to be settled soon

and he doesn't want to ruin
the chance of this happening

through the interviews.

Of course we respect this.

He is afraid
that in our radio microphone

there is a hidden government
transmitter and gives it back to us.

NARRATOR: We don't want to agitate
Luo Baogen even more

and drive back to our hotel.

The next morning
we want to speak to him again.

But a police car is on patrol
outside the house and prevents us

from parking in front of it.

The police tell us that we
may not film here anymore.

Apparently everyone, including
passers-by and onlookers

are being sent away.

From now on
we are under surveillance.

We have to go back to the hotel.

There a government official
is already waiting for us.

But she doesn't want to say
anything on camera.

She informs us that the police
is supposed to keep the peace

at the house so the negotiations
with Luo Baogen can continue.

Meanwhile, we want to know:

How do the people that
already moved away live now?

Ying You Shun and his wife Ying Feng
Ling were rehoused two years ago.

With the compensation money they
built a house on this new property.

On the bottom floor
they have opened a supermarket.

The lady from the government
follows each of our steps.

Of course, now the couple's
answers are anything but critical.

- (speaks Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: That Lou Baogen could get
more money than them in the end

due to his protest,
doesn't bother them.

- (drum music)

NARRATOR: And really... Shortly
after we had to leave the area

the house is torn down.

A Chinese colleague was able
to film with a small camera.

What happened?
Did Lou Baogen give up?

He is nowhere to be seen.

We try to reach him via telephone.
His wife picks up.

NARRATOR: The couple have accepted
the government's offer

of 32,000 dollars.

Also, they are going to be given
a plot of land in another area.

It seems as if
they didn't get into trouble.

NARRATOR: Why exactly they gave up
now...we will never find out.

It also remains unclear why
we weren't allowed to film

the all in all
positive outcome of the story.

And finally now Chinese television
is extensively reporting

the tearing down of
"the hardest nail house" in history.

We are leaving China and are
moving on to Wieliczka in Poland.

The Cathedral of Wieliczka.

Underground
and made entirely out of salt.

Through an unassuming door we enter.

For over 900 years
salt has been dug up here.

Commercial mining was only
stopped 20 years ago.

First we have to walk down
some steps...

To be more specific: 380 of them.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: We are now
64 metres underground

and begin our tour in a chapel

that is normally closed
to visitors of the mine.

It is the oldest chapel,
dedicated to St Anthony

and was built in the 17th century.

But sadly
it is in very bad condition.

We almost can't recognise
any of the old statues.

For a long time warmth and damp air
entered the chapel

and due to the high amounts
of condensation

the statues were destroyed.

Over time the rocks oxidised
and patinated,

like silver covered with dust.

But everything is pure salt here.

Here in Wieliczka the salt
isn't in the ground in layers,

but in big lumps.

Therefore, unique halls and chambers
come to exist when it is extracted.

For the caves not to collapse,

they had to be supported
by elaborate wooden constructions.

The bigger the block of salt,
the bigger the halls

whose wooden frames
are pieces of art in themselves.

Like this 35-metre-high cave
from the 17th century.

The pillars were built in 1905.

200 years ago this chamber
was practically empty.

The stairs were
somewhere on the side

and everything was dark in here.

The salt was chiselled from the rock
by hand and shaped into cylinders

so that it could be rolled
more easily.

Salt is heavy.
It weighs twice as much as water.

A cylinder like this
weighs 1.5 tons.

In order to take it up to the
surface there were different aids,

such as pulleys or horse mills.

The horses too were
lowered down into the mine

in special slings this way.

In 2002 the last horse was hoisted
up to the surface and retired.

We carry on deeper
into the mountain:

to the second tier
in over 90 meters depth.

Here the chapel
of "St Kinga" is located.

This is the real attraction
of the former mine.

The miners used to extract
two different kinds of salt here.

Apart from only digging up salt,

the miners also utilised
their artistic skills

and used the created cavities in
order to produce amazing places

for the generations to come.

Everything here is made out of salt.

Only three miners created
this incredible cathedral

within about 70 years
of building time.

From the floor to the statues
to the chandelier...

everything is made of salt.

Every week, mass is held here.

The grotto is a consecrated church
100 metres below the ground.

For over 700 years tourists have
been led through the piece of art

made from salt.

Copernicus, Goethe and Jim Carrey
have already been here.

For the miners the chapels
had a great significance.

The work was dangerous
and every day they prayed

that they would come back
to see daylight again.

Equipped like real miners we go down
into a shaft from the 15th century.

- (chatter)

NARRATOR:
Without any lighting and decorations

the salt chambers are less inviting.

What isn't looked after regularly
falls victim to decay.

Small chapels and prayer alcoves
can also be found everywhere here.

The oldest is from the 17th century.

An amazing labyrinth of corridors
and chambers.

For us novices...
completely unfathomable.

Totally as a surprise
100 metres below the ground,

suddenly a cave with a huge obelisk
dedicated to the Emperor of Austria

as a memoir to his visit
some time during the 19th century.

And we carry on even deeper down.

Our destination is
the hall of Maria Theresa.

Also from the time of "the Kaiser".

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: The salt mine
of Wieliczka is absolutely unique:

huge halls, a gigantic cathedral,
frescoes and statues -

everything made of salt
and deep below the ground.

- (dramatic music continues)

NARRATOR:
We leave this fascinating place

and travel on to Hong Kong.

A ship in the middle of the city.

From above it's an incredible sight.

Surrounded by skyscrapers
and rush-hour traffic.

A stranded passenger liner?

How in the world did it get here?

We head for the district
of Hung Hom.

That's where it's supposed to be -
the City Ship.

Huge, high-rise buildings
all around,

and right in the middle we find it.

A real ship - completely seaworthy.

110 metres long, 20 metres high,

and 14 metres wide.

Right in the middle of the street.

The only water in sight
is a little puddle.

So we'd like to know
what the ship is doing here.

- (speaks Chinese language)

NARRATOR: So nobody here is
surprised by a huge passenger ship

in the middle of the city.

We want to know a bit more
about all this,

so we take a look inside the vessel.

- (jaunty music)

NARRATOR: In an area over
130,000 square metres in size

there are 300 shops,
cinemas, game halls,

and even a bowling alley.

We are in the shopping mall and
there's even a gourmet restaurant.

Inside, you don't notice
you're in an unusual structure.

We still don't really know the story
behind the stranded ship,

so we've come to see Agnes,
PR spokeswoman for the mall.

Apparently,
the building has cult status.

- (speaks Chinese language)

NARRATOR: The shopping mall
was only constructed

in the ship quite recently.

Before that it was empty
for a few years.

Agnes shows us the deck.

From the railing to the radio mast,

everything is in
perfect working order.

This ship really could sail away.

NARRATOR: And there she lies
in a sea of skyscrapers.

We leave this impressive place

and travel to a place
just off the coast of Taiwan.

We are looking for hearts
that are supposed to be in the sea.

The island
with its 60,000 inhabitants

uses two hearts for its
advertising wherever it can.

And not even ten minutes after we
have set off we already find them:

the "Twin Hearts".

A stone formation
right in the middle of the ocean.

It almost looks as if someone
had simply placed

a huge necklace in the see.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: We even find
a viewing platform.

But wherever we look: no tourists.

On the information board
it says that the "Twin Hearts"

were especially built
by the islanders.

But why? The only
information board in the area

does not answer this question.

Somebody has to be able to tell us
what they are all about!

Are they art
or some kind of superstition?

So we drive to the next village.

Maybe somebody here
can tell us more.

- (woman speaks Chinese)

- (speaks Chinese)

NARRATOR: The friendly gentleman
also has another tip for us.

He says that it only gets
really exciting near the hearts

in the afternoon.

And really... on our second visit

the platform is heaving
with tourists

with their selfie sticks
and happy couples.

As we look more closely
we discover why.

The tide is low and the hearts made
of stone are clearly visible now.

Then something
starts to happen at the shore.

Chin Hao and Chong Wua appear.

Everyone has been waiting
for these two men.

So they are not artists.

Just two fishermen that have
come to see to their fish trap.

Their grandfathers carefully piled
the structure up by hand.

And this is how it works:

the tide drives the fish
in the direction of the heart.

Through the small opening
they swim into the basins

and due to the currents
they can't get back out again.

When the tide is low
the water level sinks

and the animals are caught
inside the heart.

Probably the easiest
way of catching fish ever!

On Magong Island
the people have been fishing

like this for centuries.

Chin Hao and Chong Wua only have
to drag their nets through the water

for a couple of minutes.

A job that doesn't take
any longer than 20 minutes.

But...somehow there aren't
really that many fish

in the net in the end.

To be precise,
not a single edible one.

Coincidence?

So the islanders
really used to fish like this.

Today it is only show.

The fisherman may not make
any money from the spectacle

but are happy that visitors
come to their island.

We leave the hearts in the sea and
travel to our last mysterious place.

To Ha Long in Vietnam.

From here we set out on our journey.
Three hours across the open sea.

At the bottom of some sheltering
rocks in the middle of the ocean

the floating village
of Cua Van is located.

Seven hundred inhabitants live here.

There are neither
any streets nor cars

and the people are mainly fishermen.

One of them is Hung.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: Hung and the villagers
are so-called water nomads.

They only settled here
ten years ago in Cua Van.

Previously nobody lived here.

The houses are attached
to the rocks with ropes.

Polystyrene and air-filled spheres
keep them afloat.

They make the houses swim.

70 children live in Cua Van and none
of them have ever set foot on land.

Early on they learn how to row
with their hands and feet.

This keeps the villagers fit.

Linh is seven years old
and for a year now

she's been rowing to school
every morning.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: The school is probably the
only floating school in the world.

The pier in front of the school,
at a length of six metres,

is the longest walkway
in the village.

- (children speaking Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: Once a week
wholesalers from the mainland -

which is three hours away -

sell their wares to the traders
in the village.

Quan is the oldest vendor in here.

She would like to leave this place -
like almost all the adults here.

NARRATOR: Electricity, a car
and a television are Quan's dream.

Meat and vegetables are very
sought after in the village

as normally there is only fish.

Fisherman Hung
still doesn't want to leave.

NARRATOR: With his income
from the fishing

Hung mainly buys rice in order
to feed his wife and child.

For six months Hien from Hanoi
has been teaching

the three year groups
in the village.

Very quickly she realised that
teaching here is very different.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: The legends say
that a dragon ploughed through

the land with its tail
and this way created

almost 2,000 limestone rocks
in the middle of the sea.

Thanks to these rocks the water
village even survived the Tsunami.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

- (dramatic music)

Subtitles by Sky Access Services