Original subtitles

'I'm rejoining the rails for another epic adventure.'

Are you excited? Who wouldn't be?

'I'm travelling around the globe again...'

I'm riding some of the most legendary trains in the world.

HORN TOOTS '..to experience more spectacular railways...'

Look at this place!

'..from the Arctic Circle...'

Ooh!

..to the glorious Andes.

'And the heart of Europe...' Isn't it fantastic?

It's just a ticket hall!

'..to the edge of America.'

Oh, this is amazing!

'And I'll venture off the tracks

'to discover awe-inspiring places...'

England! '..extraordinary people...'

Hey! No!

'..and unforgettable experiences.'

It's staggering, isn't it?

DRAMATIC MUSIC

Ah!

'This time, I'm riding the train through South America.

'I've never been to this continent before in my life

'and I'm really excited to finally make this trip.'

I'm going to be travelling for thousands of miles

and my first stop is Buenos Aires.

'My journey through South America is going to take me across Argentina,

'deep into the Andes

'and out to the Amazon,

'before leaving me at the ancient city of Machu Picchu,

'a place I've been waiting my whole life to see.'

We haven't even got to Buenos Aires yet

and already there's a full-scale party on the train!

I've always wanted to come here

because it's such a diverse place, so many different peoples.

'But lots of South American countries are having a hard time at the moment

'with economic and political upheaval.

'On my journey, I want to understand what that means for everyday people,

'starting here in Argentina.'

'The shadow of Eva Peron

'still looms large in the capital,

'and tensions are high right now

'as the country moves through another economic crisis.

'With a few hours in town before I catch my next train,

'I want to know how the hard-working people of this city are coping.'

Oh, the tango! Oh, right, OK!

'So I'm meeting up with local Bibiana Para

'for a whistle-stop tour of the downtown district.'

Amazing multicolours!

'And there's one thing we can't avoid.'

Oh, we almost passed! Oh! Right here!

'Tango was born right here in the working-class neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires.'

It's fantastic! It's a little bit intimate. Yeah.

'It was originally danced by prostitutes and dockworkers,

'but now it's embraced by everyone in society.'

We dance 24 hours because we get addicted to the hug, hugging each other!

Listen, this... Yeah.

..is your moment for tango. Are you ready?

SULTRY TANGO MUSIC

Good!

It felt the tango rhythm, anyway!

'I don't have time to nail the moves,

'but one thing I have got...'

Oh! '..is the attitude.'

That's so rude, isn't it?

'Time to sashay out of here.'

This is a little secret of La Boca,

because... What, this restaurant? Yes.

We're going to sneak the line, OK? Just go with me! Are you sure? Yeah.

'Obviously, there's only one thing on the menu for lunch.'

Oh, this is fantastic!

'Steak is another national obsession in Argentina.'

Well...

Sir, beef and chorizo? Oh, thank you!

Oh, wow! Look at the size of that! Thank you very much.

'The average Argentine consumes three times the amount of beef we do each year.

'I don't each much meat these days, but I've got to give this a go.'

That is very good.

What are we going to do next, because I'd quite like a snooze! SHE LAUGHS

'Unfortunately, it's the wrong time of year to be thinking about naps.'

WHISTLES BLOW

Oh, this is amazing, isn't it?

Do you know what this is?

'Carnival season is about to hit South America.'

I just love it! 'And right now,

'it seems like there's a dance troupe

'rehearsing around every corner of the city.'

Boedo! Hey! What does that mean?

Boedo is the neighbourhood! Oh, right!

'The Boedo Troupe

'are one of the very best in Buenos Aires.

'This looks like modern street dance to me,

'but carnival parades were actually started in the 19th century by the Africans

'who were brought to Argentina as slaves.'

The African cultures in Buenos Aires,

they were the outsiders,

the slavery type. Yeah.

In the carnival, they can express their freedom.

'Once a year, before Lent,

'slaves were allowed a day of revelry on the streets.'

Even the church allowed people to do everything they wanted!

Oh, the church allowed it, too!

'But apparently, this became more than fun.

'The slaves began to dress up in wacky suits and top hats, like these,

'to mock and slight their masters.'

CHEERING

'Carnival became a protest,

'and today, parades like this one

'are still used to express dissent.'

Even they have lyrics.

They protest about things that are not good in the society... Yeah.

..with a very sarcastic humour. We call it humor negro, the black humour.

'This year, the economic crisis is sure to be the topic on everyone's lips.'

Oh, Sam, have you seen these ones? These little kids!

'It's a powerful way to make yourself heard.

'Good on you, little man.

'These guys really epitomise what Buenos Aires is about for me -

'people coming together to have a good time,

'regardless of the circumstances,

'whether that's through food or football or dancing.

'I'd love to party into the night with this lot,

'but I've got to dash to Retiro Station now

'to catch my next train.

'I'm leaving behind the hustle and bustle of the city to head into Argentina's mountains.

'I'm going there to find a famous old railway,

'known as the Train to the Clouds.

'The line out of Buenos Aires

'travels 800 miles north to the city of San Miguel de Tucuman,

'but then things get tricky.

'Argentina was once home to the tenth largest rail network in the world,

'but after the economic struggles of the last century,

'the railways started to fall into disrepair.

'The train no longer travels any further than Tucaman.

'It's all old track and ghost stations from here on.

'So I have to use four wheels to get to my final destination,

'but it's worth the effort.

'The Train to the Clouds is one of the highest railways on earth

'and I'm desperate to experience the thrill.

'Coming up,

'I find out what train travel at high altitude really feels like...

'..things get a whole lot better on a five-star train...'

Ooh, that is so gorgeous.

'..and Peru stakes a claim as party capital of South America.'

Yay! Peru! Peru! Peru! Peru!

'I'm on an expedition through South America.

'From Buenos Aires, I've travelled 1,000 miles

'into the north-western corner of Argentina

'and finally arrived at the departure gate

'for the Train to the Clouds.

'Today, this is one of the most desolate parts of the country,

'but things weren't always this way.

'100 years ago, silver and other precious metals were discovered in these mountains

'and a gold rush erupted here.' Hello. Hello.

'But years ago, the last piece of silver was pulled from the ground

'and everyone packed up and left, leaving only this,

'the mine's old railway.'

ANNOUNCEMENT IN SPANISH

'Today, people come from all over the world

'to ride the so-called Train to the Clouds

'because it's an experience like no other.

'This is one of the highest railway trips on earth.'

Excuse me.

'We're already at 3,800 metres above sea level

'and we're about to ascend 400 more.

'This kind of altitude can do interesting things to the human body.'

I'm having to walk a bit slowly and carefully

going down this corridor

because apparently people chuck up on this train

because of the movement and the acceleration

and, most of all, because of the lack of oxygen.

'So I'm exploring the train's unique selection of onboard services

'to find something that might help.'

Oh, this is good. Little shop!

'Not sure a t-shirt is the cure.'

Look, nice selection of booze. 'Or that.'

MAN SPEAKS SPANISH

They've got a "sala asistencia medica",

a first-aid cabin, a whole emergency unit,

with its own nurse and its own doctor.

Hello. Hang on, I've got the crew behind me.

Sean, how are you feeling? A bit drunk!

Really? You genuinely feel wobbly? Yeah. All over the place.

How about you, Chris? I've got a bit of a headache coming on.

You see, this is real! We need these guys!

Does someone get ill every single trip?

Are you feeling all right or a little bit dizzy?

I'm a little bit wobbly!

'No chances are taken at this altitude.

'The oxygen in the air up here is in shorter supply,

'so some of us need a bit of extra help.'

Some trains I've been on, the height of luxury

is a bottle of champagne or some nice canapes,

on this one it's oxygen at my hooter!

Thank you! Bish-bosh-bash, I'm going back!

Goodbye! Goodbye! Adios!

'This sky-high railway was originally built

'to transport minerals from the mountains down to the coast,

'but building train tracks through such steep terrain was no mean feat.

'Construction took a gruelling 27 years to complete

'and inspired some of the most ingenious railway engineering of the 20th century.

'They had to carve curves, zig-zags and tunnels.

'And I've hopped off the train with conductor Cecelia

'to witness something pretty neat.'

Why do we need another engine?

It's the same engine, we just changed place of the engine.

Oh, so it was pulling it... Exactly. ..and now it's going to push it. It was pulling the train.

'Halfway through the ascent, the train stops and the engine swaps ends

'so it can push the carriages up the final stretch.'

I love being able to get on and off trains!

That kind of manoeuvre is exactly the thing that gets me going!

'Back on the train, we're reaching a dizzying 4,000 metres now.

'And it seems I'm not the only one feeling giddy.'

Why did you decide to come on it? I wanted to propose to her...

Propose to her? ..a very special present.

Fantastic! Whoa! Can we join you? How lovely!

So, you've only known for about half an hour that you were going to be man and wife?

Well, gladly, yes!

Did you go down on one knee?

Two knees!

'Everything's so much more romantic in Latin America!'

Did she say yes straight away?

I think yes. I don't know!

Because you were so nervous!

LAUGHTER Well, congratulations, guys!

Yes! Congratulations. Thank you very much.

'There's a buzz of excitement sweeping through the carriages now,

'as we reach our peak altitude of 4,200 metres

'and I finally get my first view of our end's destination -

'the Polvorilla Viaduct.

'This is one of the highest railway bridges on earth.

'Today, this is where the line ends

'and us railway tourists are turfed out to buy souvenirs.'

Yes, you're very beautiful!

I think I'm in love! HE LAUGHS

The trains used to go thousands of kilometres in that direction to Chile,

and also to extract the mineral wealth down there

and transport it to the sea in that direction,

but that was long, long ago.

Now there's no passenger trains any further than here,

no freight trains,

just an awful lot of railway track.

'So much of South America's railway network doesn't join up any more

'because the lines have fallen into disrepair.

'That's not only a problem for travellers like me,

'it's also stunting the trade of food and other goods across South America.

'But there's one railway business

'that's doing very nicely in this part of the world...'

ROUSING MUSIC

..the high-end tourist train.

'I've crossed the Andes into Peru

'to find South America's first luxury sleeper train,

'the Belmond Andean Explorer.'

This is a train! It's actually a train!

'Well, more like a five-star hotel on wheels.'

Ahh! There's so many little things to look at!

Ooh! That's a window.

'Cabins are decked out with every home comfort you could ask for.'

You've got a whole chest of drawers.

Yeah, they're really soft. Not the old rubbish Lenny Henry gets.

'Mind you, it costs ya!'

Lots of pretty postcards.

'A two-night journey in this suite will set you back over £3,000.'

I know what I'm going to look at, is the toilet.

I like a nice toilet.

Ooh! HE LAUGHS

Oh, look at that! Beautiful shower!

'Oh, I'd happily spend the rest of the trip in here.'

The fittings are so good!

'But there's so much more to explore.

'This train winds a spectacular path through southern Peru,

'between the cities of Arequipa and Cusco.

'Right now, we're making our way to one of the world's greatest lakes - Titicaca.

'The entire route covers more than 400 miles

'and takes three days.'

Isn't that the most beautiful bar you've ever seen? Look at this.

A piano!

'That means there's plenty of time to get your money's worth of the onboard services.'

Ooh, that is so gorgeous!

This is so weird!

I'm in not THE spa treatment room,

but one of the spa treatment rooms on this train.

But the weirdest thing of all is, I've never, ever had a massage before

in front of a donkey.

DONKEY BRAYS

'This actually sums up the odd thing about this trip.

'I'm in a five-star spa,

'travelling through a pretty desolate part of Peru.

'Away from the big cities, many Peruvians still earn their keep farming the land.

'The average salary here is about £30 a day,

'so at thousands of pounds a ticket, it's only tourists that can afford to travel on this railway line.

'Our train is pulling into its first stop now -

'Lake Titicaca.

'Situated four kilometres high in the Andes,

'this is one of the world's most iconic stretches of water.

'But it's not the geography that interests me here.

'I've come to meet some local people

'who've somehow built a life on this water.'

Oh, you've got a little baby fish.

What's that? This is the kingfish.

'I've been invited fishing with Omar and Isiah,

'two members of an indigenous group called the Uros.'

It's a trout, isn't it? Yeah, definitely a trout.

'The Uros have been living off the fruits of Lake Titicaca

'since the 1400s.'

I've got another fish! He's massive!

Hooray! Look at that!

'We caught that just in time to go home for lunch.

'But it's not land we're heading back to,

'because, remarkably, the Uros live right here in the middle of the water.

'This floating network of manmade islands

'is a place 2,000 people call home.'

Oh, that's great. Am I safe to get off?

'Thank you, matey!'

Shall I give this to you?

Mum, will you have that?

'Staggeringly, the islands are made entirely from reeds

'which grow around the lake.'

You called this island a raft.

Is it completely manmade? Yeah.

Wow! So we make the islands here. We use this plant.

And would it be possible, if there was a big storm,

for the island to break free and start floating off into the lake?

We had a problem with the rainy season

and sometimes the rafts, the synthetic nylons are broken

and the islands crush to another island.

'The Uros originally moved from land to water in the 1400s

'when an enemy group expanded onto their territory.'

Could I have a look inside one of your houses? Yeah, yeah.

'But today, living on the lake

'has also become a means of surviving Peru's rising land and property costs,

'which are making life tricky for the poor.' How many people live in this house?

Six people. And they all sleep in this big bed?

'It's summer at the moment, but I can't imagine what it's like here in the winter,

'when temperatures can drop as low as minus seven.'

CHILDREN SING

'I'd love to spend all afternoon with this lovely lot,

'but my train is about to depart.'

Goodbye, everybody! Thank you for having us.

'I'm so glad we stopped off here. This community doesn't have it easy,

'but they're still in high spirits and it's so infectious.

'It seems as though a lot of South America lives by this philosophy.

'My train leaves in just 30 minutes...'

UPBEAT MUSIC

'..but the crew and I are struggling to make it to the station

'because there are a lot of very jolly people in the way.'

SHE SINGS IN SPANISH

# La-la-la-la-la # SHE CHEERS

'We've stumbled on a Peruvian carnival parade.'

WOMAN SHOUTS IN SPANISH

Apparently, this isn't even the real parade!

That starts next week.

This, believe it or not,

is just the rehearsal.

'Titicaca's town actually puts on the third biggest carnival party

'in the whole of Latin America.'

Yay! Peru! Peru! Peru! Peru!

'It's a raucous display of dancing and costume.

'The dainty bowler hats the ladies are wearing

'couldn't look more Peruvian to me but, actually, they're a British import.'

Do you see all these women with bowler hats?

Apparently, 100 years or so ago,

the British guys who were building the railways, the navvies, loved bowler hats,

so when they came over here, the rail authorities...

HE CHEERS

..they shipped over hundreds of bowler hats,

but when the hats got here they realised they were too small for the navvies,

so the railway authorities sold them to the local women.

The women bought them and they loved them and they've been wearing them ever since.

MAN SPEAKS SPANISH Thank you.

Peru! Peru! Do I smoke this or shove it up...

I am from Peru! ..somewhere!

'I think it's time we got back on the train.

'This place is pretty incredible.

'The area around Lake Titicaca is one of the poorest in Peru,

'suffering from widespread poverty,

'and yet the people here throw one of the biggest parties in the continent.'

It feels a bit odd.

I'm standing on this luxury train as we pull out of Titicaca,

and I've spent the most wonderful time

with people who live really tough, much more rudimentary lives

than all the cocktails

and nice little nibbles I've got here.

CARNIVAL MUSIC It kind of makes me feel a little bit guilty.

'Coming up, I travel deeper into the mountains...'

Look, I've got my first view of the foothills of the Andes.

'..I face my fears in the Amazon...'

I know the trick is not to look down.

Agh!

'..and board a special train to Machu Picchu.'

This is the life!

'I'm on a railroad adventure through South America.

'I'm currently in the wilds of southern Peru,

'on one of the most luxurious sleeper trains on earth.

'As the sun begins to set and our train chugs into the Andes, dinner is called.'

It says in the brochure that dress code in the restaurant car

is smart casual with a touch of understated elegance,

so this is what I've...

..chosen.

I think that fits the bill, don't you?

'These wagons actually started life in Australia

'as the great South Pacific Express Train.'

Hello.

'In the late '90s, this locomotive faithfully transported passengers

'between Sydney and the Australian rainforest,

'before eventually running out of steam.'

Thank you.

'For ten years, the carriages languished, unloved, in a railway workshop

'until finally, Peru shipped them halfway across the world

'and gave them a new home as the Andean Explorer.'

Time for bed,

in, really, a bed that you couldn't believe

would ever be on a train!

Night-night.

'Over the course of the evening, we make our way higher into the Andes

'and by morning we're approaching our final destination,

'the mountain city of Cusco.'

Come in!

Oh, thank you, Carolina.

Thanks.

Ah, lovely.

I had a great sleep last night,

and now look,

I've got my first view of the foothills of the Andes.

'To get a better look,

'I'm heading out to the observation car with train manager Arnaldo.'

The Andes is the second largest mountain range all over the world. Yeah.

It covers seven countries in South America.

What a great place to put a luxury train!

It is.

Now, I woke up this morning in the siding

and I looked out of the window

and literally a couple of yards away from me,

there was an old lady,

with a massive sack on her back, walking past.

It did feel a little bit weird.

Actually, you know what, these people, they actually like the way they live.

They don't really want to go to the big cities and live in a big building.

They are happy with their houses. They have their farm right outside their houses.

So that's the real life of the people around this area and they're not unhappy.

There are, look, there's a couple of donkeys there, aren't there?

There are farms right outside your window.

Corn is actually growing right there, in front of you.

Part of our many areas,

it actually comes from here.

Oh, really? Yeah. The menu that we had yesterday was made of corn, you know?

'It's been such a privilege,

'and really eye-opening, travelling through Peru's countryside like this.

'But the fanfare is drawing to a close now

'as we pull into Cusco Station

'and applaud ourselves on a successful journey.

'Either that, or this lot are pleased to see the back of me.'

Thank you, guys.

That was, without doubt, one of the greatest train journeys I've ever been on

in my entire life.

Viva el Peru!

See, it says it over there, Viva el Peru!

It's brought me to the ancient city of Cusco,

which travellers from all over the world use as a stepping-off point

if they want to visit the Sacred Valley, which is over in that direction,

or the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, which are over there.

But I want to go somewhere slightly different.

This is probably the nearest I'll ever get to the Amazon basin,

so I'm going to go over there

to the rainforest.

'I've never been to the Amazon before,

'so I'm slapping on the mozzie spray and heading just east of Cusco,

'to the jungle.

'The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world.

'It spans nine countries across South America.

'After Brazil, Peru has got the second largest portion of it.

'This is where ten percent of all known species on earth live,

'making it the most biologically diverse place on the planet.

'And that's exactly why I've come here.

'I'm spending some time with conservationists

'from the Inkaterra Association.'

Monkey alert! Monkey alert!

'I wanted to discover some of the amazing and rare creatures that live in the Amazon

'and the work that's being done to protect them.'

Sam, can you see that one right up there? He's right up high!

They are hoatzins.

"Watsons"? Yeah. Hello, Watson.

'Conservationist Hugo Boluarte has agreed to take me upstream

'to get acquainted with the wildlife.'

Oh, over there, is that an alligator?

Yeah, a Caiman.

Oh, God, I can see his eye, bright and shiny!

Wow, that's beautiful!

So we've got all this activity going on

by the side of us,

but below us, all I can see is muddy brown water.

What is below us?

Here we have piranhas.

Four species of piranhas,

like yellow piranha or golden piranha...

'I wish he'd stop saying piranha.'

..the white piranha or silver piranha,

red piranha and black piranha.

'I hope that's all.'

We have anacondas, electrics eels, stingrays,

we have leeches.

So just about every bad thing you can think of...

Yeah. ..that lives in the water,

is under us right now.

Yeah, in this water, you can find almost all the dangerous animals

that are in the movies about the Amazon.

I don't know why I've got a life jacket on. I think I'd rather die quickly.

'Feeling like a piranha out of water,

'Hugo sent me off to meet his colleagues,

'to learn more about how the wildlife here is being protected.'

OK, we have one bird here. Oh, where?

Just follow me. Oh, it's all tangled up!

Is that OK? Is that a fair catch? Yeah. It's OK.

'Biologists Juan and Noe

'are responsible for monitoring animal life in this part of the rainforest.

'Today they're focusing on the birds.'

I don't quite understand. Is this a mistake or is this meant to happen? No, this is the process.

The bird is totally fine.

'They've hung nets around the forest

'to catch a sample of birds to check in on their health.'

That's it. Well done.

So you could grab it here

and try to avoid...

Wiggling it about. ..the movements, yes.

I think I ought to sing to it.

'Wildlife here in the Amazon

'faces the constant threat of habitat destruction.'

It's still fluttering a bit but not nearly as much as it was.

'Industries like farming, logging and mining

'are the main sources of income in this part of the world...'

Okey-doke.

'..but they require the rainforest to be cleared,

'meaning animals lose their homes.'

So this is...

..45. 45 grams? 45 grams.

A little thing.

'By checking the bird's health, the guys are assessing if human activities round here

'are affecting the wildlife.'

No wonder she likes that. I think I would!

'Thankfully, in the year 2000,

'this part of the Amazon was named a protected area.'

And the other thing is to do the measurement of the wings.

'Since then, the wildlife here has flourished.'

It looks quite healthy, doesn't it? Yeah, it's healthy, huh?

'Year on year, the guys are actually recording increasing numbers of bird species

'in their section of the forest.

'Health check complete, it's time we let this little fella fly back to business.'

Right, little one, ready to go?

Ready, one, two,

three.

HE CHEERS

That's such a lovely thing to do!

I'd like to do that all day long! HE LAUGHS

'After a day on the jungle floor,

'I'm heading up to the canopy

'to find my digs for the night,

'something that's much easier said than done when you've got a fear of heights.'

Agh!

I would happily

spend the night with a rat,

but I really don't like walking across things like this very much at all.

It does look rickety and I've got an ant on my hand.

But if I get to the other side,

my reward is that I get a night on my own,

away from the crew, in a little cabin lodge.

But it seems to be taking for-bloody-ever.

Yay! I did it!

I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it! I did it!

What have I got here? I've got a bed.

And most ridiculously of all... HE LAUGHS

..what do I need that for?

That's not going to make much difference if I go hurtling down, is it?

Ah!

Ooh, I've just remembered! There's something else

which is supposed to be here. In fact, it is.

It's this. It's a walkie-talkie.

There's nobody around, all right,

but if there's any danger, like if howler monkeys try to get in,

or if a snake pushes its way through the door,

then what I can do is press this.

Hello? Testing, testing?

Hello? Testing, testing?

I don't think it's working.

'Up in the treehouse,

'I pull myself together to face a night alone.'

Can anybody tell me the Wi-Fi password?

'And down on the jungle floor, the creatures of the dark start to come to life.

'This is a place where ocelots and pumas jostle for space.

'I don't think I've ever been anywhere so jam-packed with wildlife.

'I can see why the guys here work so hard to protect it.

'The next morning, I head back to Cusco

'for the final leg of my train journey through South America.'

I loved the Amazon, of course,

but I'm really glad to be back in Cusco,

not least because I want to get on another train

with all that glorious air conditioning!

'I'm finally making my way to Machu Picchu.

'This set of ruins, found high in the Andes,

'is a place I've been waiting my whole life to see.

'There are no roads to the famous archaeological site

'but thankfully, this old railway line still runs through the mountains.

'The locomotive I'm boarding to get there

'is named after the American explorer

'who discovered the ancient wonder.'

Look at this! The Belmond Hiram Bingham.

'Machu Picchu is one of the official Seven Wonders of the World.'

Morning.

'But it was only last century,

'when adventurer Hiram Bingham came here,

'that we all found out about its existence.'

Which way shall I go? That way.

'I'm going to be following in his footsteps to find it.

'Coming up,

'the train takes me high into the Andes...'

Oh, look up there!

Storming!

'..I join the herd to complete my pilgrimage,

'and Mother Nature speaks to us at Machu Picchu.'

THUNDEROUS RUMBLING Wow! It's an avalanche!

'I'm voyaging high into the Andes

'on the last leg of my journey to Machu Picchu.

'I've boarded a train called the Hiram Bingham,

'named after the American explorer who discovered the ancient ruins.'

Look at this beautiful polished wood.

All these fixtures. Lovely tables, all laid out.

Oh, look! I'm getting dotty about these! Luggage racks!

It must be the old age showing! "Luggage racks!"

'The train follows the same route that Bingham trekked back in 1911.'

Now, where am I? 25.

25!

'But his travelling conditions were a world away from the niceties of this train.'

Oh, look up there!

Storming!

'Bingham was quite the Indiana Jones character,

'an American historian who travelled to Peru

'searching for a lost city he'd read about in a chronicle.

'He spent days and days hacking his way through this brush,

'until finally he came across a local farmer

'who knew of some ruins on top of a mountain.

'Bingham was intrigued.

'But to see them, he'd have to find his way through these treacherous peaks.'

It's pretty impressive, isn't it?

'My train pulls into the foothills of those same mountains,

'and just like Bingham did,

'I have to hike to reach the site.

'And it's not just backpackers I share the path with.

'When Bingham arrived here 100 years ago,

'the ruins the farmer spoke of

'were thickly overgrown with vegetation.'

All you could see was a farm with loads of crops and animals,

higher, another farm, higher, another farm,

but then, when he got really close to the top,

he revealed stone walls

and he revealed steps.

And gradually, even though the whole place was, at that time,

90 percent covered in greenery,

he realised that he was in the middle

of one of the great sacred buildings of South America.

So he took loads and loads of photos

and went back to the United States.

'He showed the evidence of his astonishing discovery to National Geographic and Yale

'and it wasn't long before money was gathered

'to uncover the true extent of Bingham's find.'

Years later, they got a team together of 50 people to come back here

and this...

..is what they revealed!

Look at that! DRAMATIC MUSIC

I've always wanted to see this

for the whole of my adult life!

Excuse me if I'm getting a little bit teary but, to me, this is a bit like

watching the World Cup Final and having...

..Adele sing at your birthday party all in one!

'It's not just me that gets emotional at the sight of this place.

'Today, Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist attraction in South America.

'And the man responsible for this whole operation is Jose Bastante.'

How many visitors do you get a year?

Er, 2019, around 1.5 million.

HE GASPS And how many would you like?

Zero. Yeah, of course! Of course. Of course.

The idea here is conservation.

The most important thing is, er, we can maintain Machu Picchu

and we can leave it for future generations.

'But preserving this place isn't easy.

'As well as tourists,

'the site's susceptible to earthquakes and landslides.'

Why would you build it here?

It seems to me like the most impractical place to build a city.

The idea of building the place right here

is because of the sacred geography.

It is a point of connection with the gods.

You can see that, actually, can't you, just standing here?

You can see this great circle of gods,

if that's how they saw the mountains there,

and then right in the middle of it

there's this single mountain rising up.

'It's thought that Machu Picchu was built as a summer retreat

'for the great emperor that ruled this part of the world.

'But construction was hugely difficult.

'Vast terraces had to be cut into the sides of the mountain to stabilise it

'before they could even start building.'

This is the same today, isn't it? There's no shops and...

THUNDEROUS RUMBLING

Wow! It's an avalanche!

Sssh!

ROCKS CLATTER

That was quite big, wasn't it? Yes.

Does that happen very often?

This is a perfect example

of how the Incas managed to stabilise the mountain

and build Machu Picchu.

Oh, I see what you mean. So there was a little avalanche,

but because of the stabilisation processes that took place all those hundreds of years ago,

it didn't turn into a big avalanche

that wiped out all the tourist coaches down the bottom of the mountain!

ROUSING MUSIC

'What a remarkable place!

'I've had the postcard picture of Machu Picchu in my head the whole way round South America.

'But now I'm actually here, there's one thing that strikes me -

'this landscape alone is enough to take your breath away,

'but what humans have added

'has made it even more beautiful.

'I think I can say the same for the rest of South America, too.'

All the colour and all the food,

and the highest trains in the world and the poshest trains in the world,

but I've always wanted to come to Machu Picchu.

Believe me, it doesn't disappoint!

'Next time, I'm starting in Mexico

'on a truly spectacular train line...' Isn't that spectacular?

'..before I cross the border into the US.'

It's so electric!

'I meet some extraordinary people along the way...' I think it's one of the loveliest things I've ever seen.

'..go off the rails in the desert...' Ow!

'..and wrestle with Latino culture.'

..30 years old than your father

and I still whipped your ass! ALL: Whoa!