Original subtitles

♪♪

♪♪

So This Is The Place. [Bleep] Me.

♪♪

♪♪

Imagine A Legend Where Gangsters,

Military Generals, And A Secret Organization

Conspire To Hide Millions Of Dollars

In Gold And Jewels Inside Tunnels And Caves.

Okay, Now Imagine It's True.

This Is The Story Of Yamashita's Treasure.

♪♪

As World War Ii Rages In The Pacific,

The Japanese Loot Millions From Across Asia.

The Treasure Is Covertly Transported To The Philippines

Under The Direction Of Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

But When The Allies Win The War,

The Location Of This Vast Fortune Is Lost.

Flash-Forward To 1970,

When A Filipino Treasure Hunter Makes An Astounding Find --

Part Of Yamashita's Treasure,

In The Form Of Gold Bars

And A Golden Buddha Filled With Diamonds.

But A Dictatorial Government Seizes The Loot

And Imprisons The Man Who Found It.

Now The Treasure Hunter's Son

Is Picking Up Where His Father Left Off,

And He Believes He's Close

To Finding More Of The Missing Millions.

There's Also Reports That A Shadowy Team Of Armed Men

Have Dynamited Into A Sea Cave

And Removed Wooden Crates.

Could They Have Found Part Of The Lost Bounty?

And If So, Did They Leave Anything Behind?

The Search For Yamashita's Treasure

Has Consumed Men For Decades.

Some Have Even Paid With Their Lives.

Now It's My Turn To Join The Search.

My Plan -- To Determine If The Treasure

Is Really Out There

And Then To Make It Back Home Safe To Tell The Tale.

♪♪

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord!

[ Laughing ] Yeah!

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is "Expedition Unknown."

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

Manila -- A Study In Chaos.

12 Million People, All Of Them On The Move.

Manila Is Not The Kind Of City

That Inspires Love At First Sight.

It's More Of A Relationship You Have To Work At.

Nearly Every Description Of This Place

Uses Words Like "Gridlock," "Noise,"

"Pollution," And "Poverty."

This Is An Ever-Expanding Urban Jungle

Wrapped In A Blanket Of Heat And Humidity.

But The Key To Manila's Heart Is Not Its Architecture.

It's Its People.

[ Children Laughing ]

I Love Anybody With A Great Sense Of Humor,

And It Doesn't Take Long To Realize That Filipinos

Are Total Goofballs.

Maybe It's The Heat.

Look At This Guy.

Look, Forget The Onions.

Sell Fans.

For Whatever Reason, Filipinos Always Seem To Be Laughing.

The Pervasive Sense Of Humor Here Is Impressive,

Especially Considering Manila's Difficult And Devastating Past.

So, If You Really Want To See The Fingerprints

Of The Many Colonizers Here In The Philippines,

All You Have To Do Is Come To The Battle-Scarred Walls

Of Fort Santiago.

This Place Was Built Over 400 Years Ago By Spain

When All Of This Was Part Of The Spanish East Indies.

The British Were Here For A Hot Second.

And Then Later, The Americans Took Control.

We Gave Up The City To The Japanese In World War Ii,

Only To Come Back In 1945 To Retake It.

While The Nazis Were Plundering The Riches Of Europe,

The Japanese Were Doing The Same In Southeast Asia,

Amassing Millions Of Dollars In Gold And Jewels.

Enter Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

He Comes To Manila In 1944 To Defend Against Allied Forces

And Reportedly To Oversee The Burial

Of The Stolen War Treasures

Brought To The Philippines For Safekeeping.

Yamashita Was Known As The "Tiger Of Malaya"

And Oversaw What Became Known As The Massacre Of Manila.

As Many As 500,000 Filipino Civilians Were Killed

And 90% Of The City Destroyed In The Process,

Including Much Of Fort Santiago.

During World War Ii, Nearly 1,000 P.O.W.S

Died In These Tunnels And Dungeons Under The Fort.

And Then After The War, This Really Became

The Prime Candidate For Where People Thought

That Yamashita's Treasure Might Be Hiding.

But Even Though Treasure Hunters Turned These Tunnels

Upside Down, Not A Single Piece Of Gold

Was Ever Found Down Here.

To Figure Out The Truth About Yamashita's Treasure,

I Need To Learn More About The Man It's Named After.

To Do That, I'm Going To Meet A Historian Across Town.

Unfortunately, Manila Suffers From The Worst Traffic

On The Planet,

So I'm Taking A Local Train,

And I Do Mean Local.

This Is Known As The Train Track Taxi.

The Community Here Basically Borrows The Train Tracks

For Little, Local Runs Around The City.

It's Cheap. It's Environmentally Sound, Human-Powered.

Really, I Can't Think Of Anything

That Could Go Wrong Here.

Oh, Wait.[ Train Horn Blowing ]

Train? Train. Okay, Here We Go.

-Train. Everybody Off. -Oh, Oh. It's Coming.

[ Train Horn Blowing ]

Okay, Game On.

And We're Back.

Here We Go.

Safety Last.

High Five. Bam.

♪♪

After Hopping Off, I Link Up With Dr. Arnel Joven,

A World War Ii Historian.

We're Supposed To Be Meeting At Yamashita's Headquarters.

But Looking Around, I Feel Like We Might Be In The Wrong Spot.

Gates: This Is Not Exactly What I Pictured.

Like, We're On The Side Of The Freeway.

Well, This Area Used To Be A Military Fort.

-Right Here? -Right Here.

-Wow, Okay. -During The War,

This Was Yamashita's Headquarters Down There.

With The American And Allied Forces

Closing In On Manila,

Yamashita's Base Of Operations

Is Concealed Deep Underground.

Gates: Are These Guys Here For Us?

-Yep. -Wow.

Joven: We Got A Special Access, Josh.

Men: One, Two, Three.

Gates: A Team Of Police And Government Officials

Have Agreed To Open The Normally Sealed Entrance

To The Tunnels.Careful.

Wow.

Look At That.

It's Just Stairs Going Down Into The Darkness.

-Underneath A Big City. -All Right. You Ready?

-Yep. -All Right. Let's Do It.

[ Breathes Deeply ] Here We Go.

-Crazy. -Yeah.

And It Just Keeps Going.

We Descend The Steep Staircase,

Which Keeps Going And Going...And Going.

By The Time We Hit The Bottom,

We're At Least 100 Feet Under The Streets Of Manila,

And It's At Least 100 Degrees Down Here, As Well.

So, This Was Turned Into A Bomb Shelter At Some Point?

It Was A Bomb Shelter, Yeah.

These Silent Tunnels Were Once Abuzz With Activity,

The Command Center For The Man

Who Reportedly Hid Millions In Gold And Treasures.

I Had No Idea That It Was Going To Be This Big Down Here.

Does He Leave Any Clues Behind For Us?

Is There Any Path To Follow From Yamashita?

Well, Josh, You Have To Remember,

Many Of The Senior Japanese Officers

Were Executed After The War...

-Right. -...Including Yamashita.

Yamashita Was Found Guilty Of War Crimes

And Was Executed By Hanging In February Of 1946.

With Him Went The Whereabouts Of The Treasure --

A Mystery That Has Turned Into A National Obsession.

So, If I'm Looking For The Treasure,

Where Do I Start? -I Think It's, Like, In A Cave,

But It's Most Likely Guarded By Booby Traps.

-Booby Traps? -Yeah.

During The Japanese Period,

Many Of The Soldiers Did Set Up Booby Traps.

-So That's A Real Thing? -It's A Real Thing.

Unfortunately, People Got Killed

Before They Could Get To Those Treasures.

Really?Proceed With Caution.

With No Physical Clues In Yamashita's Command Center,

We Ascend To The Surface And Call It A Night.

By The Light Of A New Day, I Grab An Old Jeep Willy

And Head Up The Coast.

There Have Recently Been Reports That Treasure Hunters

May Have Located Part Of The Loot.

Before I Delve Into The Latest Leads In The Case,

I'd Like To Make Sure That I Don't Accidentally

Blow Myself Up While Looking For The Gold.

Hey, Guys!

Do You Know Where The Beach Is?

-It's There! -There!

[ Laughs ] All Right! Thanks, Dudes!

-Bye! -Bye!

I've Wrangled An Audience

With Government Explosives Expert Hernan Cruz.

He's Going To Give Me The Keys

To Surviving A Treasure Hunt In The Philippines.

I'm Here Because I'm Interested In Yamashita's Treasure.

-Okay. -Part Of The Story

Is That The Treasure May Be Booby-Trapped.

-Well, That's True. -It Istrue?

Yeah, That's True. We Have Records.

Those Who Are Involved In The Treasure Hunting

Were Being Killed By The Booby Traps.

-Really? -Yeah.

So What Should I Be On The Lookout For?

Well, If You Want, I Can Show You Some Demonstrations,

How To Determine Booby Traps.

-Great. -Okay.

Let's Do It, Yeah.

-So If You Were Standing Here... -Right.

...That Is Vegetation.

There Is A Trip Wire Set.

Wait. I Don't Even -- I Don't See It.

Already Not Doing Well Here. I Don't --

Oh, I See It Now. I See It.

This Is A Trip Wire.

Any Amount Of Disturbance On That Wire,

And That Will Explode? -Yes.

Wow. If I Come Across Something Like This...

-Mm-Hmm. -...What Do I Do?

You Locate The Other End.

-Which Is Here, Yes? -Here.

And You Will See A Bamboo. -So, There It Is.

-Secure The Pin... -Uh-Huh.

...And Bend Each End.

Okay. I See. So Then The Pin Can't Come Out.

-Yes. -So Now It's Safe?

It's Already Secured. Very Carefully Cut The Wire,

And We're Safe. -And We're Safe. Okay.

Unfortunately, It's Not Just The Bamboo Grenades

I Have To Watch Out For.

There Are Also Poison-Gas Traps,

Land Mines, And Trick Helmets

Used As Bait For Greedy Treasure Hunters.

He's Even Rigged One Up With Live Explosives.

Yeah. If You Move The Helmet, It Will Explode.

And Again, It's Nearly Invisible In There.

And How Big Is That Explosion, Typically?

-I Can Show You. -You'll Show Me?

-Yeah. -Okay.

All Right. Yeah.

So, Try Not To Disturb The Helmet.

-Uh-Huh. -Then Put The Tape To Secure It.

That's It.

So We're Spooling This Out, Obviously Being Really Careful

Not To Have Any Tension On This Line.

How Far Back Do We Need To Go?

Maybe 20 Feet.

Okay. Maybe 30.

I Think This Is Safe Enough.

As Long As You Think So.

Fire In The Hole!

♪♪

[ Explosion ]

Gates: I'm In The Philippines,

Hunting Down A Legendary Lost Treasure From World War Ii.

For Protection, Explosives Expert Hernan Cruz Is Showing Me

How Notto Get Blown Up By A Japanese Booby Trap.

Fire In The Hole!

[ Explosion ]

Gates: Oh...My...God.

That's Crazy. That Went Right Through Me.

Yeah.

I Could Feel That In My Gut.

Yeah, You Can Feel The Shock Wave.

So, We're 30 Or 40 Feet Away, And It's That Strong.

So If You Were Standing Right On Top Of That,

If You Picked Up That Helmet, You'd Be Dead?

When Searching For Yamashita's Treasure,

Be Very Careful.

-Be Very Careful. -Yeah.

Yeah, No Kidding. That Is Crazy.

After A Terrifying Lesson

In How Careful I Need To Be, Here,

I Take My New Knowledge Into The Field

And Continue Up The Coast.

♪♪

There Are A Lot Of Different Places Where People

Think That Yamashita's Treasure Could Be Buried.

Recently, Though, There Have Been Whispers

That A Group Was Searching For This Treasure

Out By The Coast, In An Area Known As Alaminos.

The Reports Were Kind Of Sketchy.

They Said That These Guys Went Out There In Boats,

And They Were Financed By Some Kind

Of Shadowy Foreign Entity, Very Cloak-And-Dagger Stuff.

It Turns Out, Though, That There Were Some Fishermen In This Area

Who Claimed To See These Guys Digging For The Treasure.

I've Managed To Get Ahold Of One Of Those Guys,

Who's Agreed To Talk With Me

As Long As I Obscure His Identity.

Thank You Very Much For Meeting With Me.

I Understand That You -- You Saw These Treasure Hunters.

Is That Right? -[ Speaking Filipino ]

Interpreter: Yes, I Saw 12 Men Going In Boats

Every Day For Several Weeks.

I Would Sell Them Fish.

Then I Saw Them Hauling Gold Bars Out Of The Hole

And Loading Them Into A Boat.

I Never Saw Them Again.

Who Was Leading The Group?

A Foreigner, But I Don't Know Who He Was.

Do You Know Exactly Where This Happened?

I Mean, Is It Easy To Get Out To This Place?

No. It's A Dangerous Spot Called Bakon.

Very Bad Waves And Current There.

And Do You Think There's Still Treasure Out There?

The Authorities Heard About Them,

So They Cleared Outin A Hurry.

There's Probably More In The Cave.

♪♪

So, The Fisherman's Story

Is Compelling But Also Kind Of Fantastic,

And It Begs The Question,

"Is It Really True?"

I Drive On To Meet With Inyong Garan And Arlie Juarez,

Two Treasure Hunters Who Plan To Find Out.

How Long Have You Been Treasure Hunting For, Inyong?

-Five Years, Sir. -Five Years?

Why Did You Start Treasure Hunting?

Every Time I Bring Up Yamashita's Treasure To Someone,

Everybody Knows The Story. -Yes.

And Do Lots Of People Look For Treasure Here?

-Even The Politicians? -Yeah.

Wow. How Come You Guys Are Gonna Be The Ones To Find It?

Why Are You Looking Around Here?

♪♪

If They Got The Treasure Out, What Are You Guys Looking For?

I See. So They May Have Left Stuff Behind.

-Yeah. -Okay.

So What's The Plan Of Attack?

Okay. Right.

Right.

Yes, I've Learned About That. Okay, Let's Do It.

Gates: We Prep Dive Gear And Load Up Several Motorized Outriggers.

Once Aboard, We Hit The Open Water...

And Head Toward The Mysterious Cave.

♪♪

-This Is The Place. -This Is It.

That Is It.

You Can See It Very Clearly.

Arlie Spots What Appears To Be A Blast Hole In The Rock.

But Between It And Us Are 150 Yards Of Swirling Ocean

And No Dock In Sight.

[Bleep] Me.

I Don't See How We Would Get Near That Thing

Without Destroying This Boat.

Careful Over There. Rocks On The Right.

This Is Suicide In Here.

How Did Those Guys Get In There?

And When Is It Usually Calm Around Here?

So Not Right Now? [ Laughs ]

This Is What We In The Business Call A Challenging Day.

Gates: The Current Is Too Much For Inyong's Comfort,

But Arlie Is Game To Try.

So I Call Over To One Of My Cameramen On Our Other Boat,

Who Happens To Be One Of The Best Divers I Know.

Hey, Evan! -Yeah?

Feel Like Going For A Swim?

Sorry, I Can't Hear You. Let's Swim In!

All Right. I'm Down For Anything.

We Decide To Take A Chance And Dive Into The Wild Swells.

♪♪

We Swim Against The Current As Quickly As Possible.

But Once We Reach The Shore, It Takes Everything In Our Power

Not To Get Slammed Into The Rocks.

Trying To Find A Place To Scramble Up.

♪♪

Okay. I'm Up.

[Bleep]

Okay. We're Alive. [ Chuckles ]

Okay. Let's Go.

Let's Do It.

We Climb Over The Rocks,

Trying Not To Tumble Back Into The Rough Water.

Is That The Hole Right There? -Yeah.

How Cool Is That?

Look At That -- Just This Huge, Round Opening.

Evan: That's Not Natural. No Way.

If The Japanese Really Did Use This

As A Secret Storage Space,

It's No Wonder It Remained Hidden

For So Many Years.

We Know These Guys Came Here.

Question Is, What Did They Pull Out Of Here,

And Is Anything Left Behind, Is Any Evidence Here

That This Could Have Been Part Of Yamashita's Treasure?

You Can Hear Water, So It Must Connect Out To The Ocean.

So There May Be Another Entrance?

Juarez: Yeah.

You Going First, Or Am I Going First?

I Won't Argue With That.

Let's Do It.

♪♪

Okay.

Oh, My God!

We Got A Hole That Goes Forward And A Hole That Goes Down.

But That Lower One Looks Partially Flooded.

With The Tide Rushing In,

We Only Have Limited Time To Check Out The Tunnel,

So I Decide To Take A Risk And Head Below.

♪♪

Gates: I'm Exploring A Cave Off The Coast Of The Philippines

With A Local Treasure Hunter,

Hoping To Spot A Sign Of Yamashita's Stolen Gold

From World War Ii.

-I'm Okay! -All Right.

Okay, Let's Go Quick, Boys. Come On.

Juarez: Okay.

[Bleep]

With Water Levels Rising, We Have Limited Time

To Check Out The Rest Of The Cave.

Stay Too Long, And We'll Drown.

Deeper In The Cave, I Find Evidence

That Maybe The Japanese Were Actually Here.

There's Stuff Back Here. Looks Like A Rail System.

Looks Like They Were Moving Something On A Rail Here, Maybe.

It Keeps Going And Going Back Here.

Five Minutes, And We're Out. You Got It.

Let's Just Try To Get To The Back Of This Thing.

Try To Get Around This Corner.

I Got Parts Of Metal.

This Could Definitely Be World War Ii.

Really?

More Canisters.

It Looks Blocked Back Here.

This Very Last Part Looks Like It's Caved In.

We've Hit A Dead End, And Time Is Running Out.

But That's When I Find Just The Proof I've Been Looking For.

100%, I See Drilling Holes...

-Yeah. -...Here And Here.

This Might Actually Have Been Blown Out, It Looks Like.

This Section Looks Like It's Caved In, Though.

I Think We're Going Back To The Boats.

We Got To Try To Find Another Way Into This Thing,

Maybe Around The Corner.

Okay, Let's Go.

We Get Out Just In Time

And Swim Back To Our Boat To Regroup.

♪♪

Arlie Is Confident There's Another Way

Into This Cave System,

So We Sail Around To The Other Side,

Where The Waters Are Calmer And More Protected.

That Tunnel That We Found

Looks Like It Went Straight Through To This Side,

So We're Gonna Try To Dive Up And Down The Shore

Here A Little Bit, See If We Can Find

Any Other Underwater, Flooded Entrances

That Might Go Into The System.

♪♪

♪♪

We Dive Along The Shore.

And While The Sea Life Is Incredible,

We Don't See Any Other Openings Into The Caves...

Until We Surface, That Is.

You See That Over There?

But We're Not Gonna Fit In There With Scuba Gear.

So We Can Remove Our Fins

So A Little Bit Easy For Us.

You're Crazy.

In Theory, Going In Seems Easy.

But The Reality Proves To Be A Little More Complicated.

All Right, Here's Your Tank.

It's My Turn Next To Squeeze In.

I'm Just Happy I Passed On That Breakfast Burrito This Morning.

Okay. Let's See What We Got Down Here.

Despite The Terrifying Entrance,

It's Actually An Oddly Beautiful World Down Here.

But Soon, Things Get Darker.

♪♪

Arlie Leads The Way Through A Maze Of Passages.

Visibility Drops To Nothing, So Arlie Sets A Guide Rope.

Let Go Of This Line,

And We Risk Becoming Permanent Residents

In This Cavern.

♪♪

I Follow Arlie Into The Unknown,

Hoping It Will Lead Us To Either Yamashita's Gold

Or At Least Evidence That It Was Once Here.

And Then A Clue.

Minutes Later, Arlie Finds Another Bullet.

Both Appear To Be World War Ii Era.

We're Beyond Excited

And Set To Work Canvassing The Rest Of The Cavern.

We Discover What Looks Like More Drilling Marks,

But No Trace Of The Gold.

With Tanks Running Low On Air,

We Pull Ourselves Back Along The Guide Line

And Out Of The Narrow Exit.

Two Bullet Casings Down There, As Well, Which Is Really Cool.

And They Look Old, Yeah? -Yeah.

Looked Really Old. They're Not Modern.

But One Is Mine, Huh?

-One's Yours. One's Mine. -Yeah. [ Laughs ]

Cave Exploration! -It's So Cool.

Really Cool.

Saying Goodbye To Arlie And Inyong,

I Leave The Sea Behind And Return To Shore...

♪♪

...Steering My Jeep Uphill And Into The Mountains.

My Destination

Is The Philippines' Second-Largest City,

Where There's A Man With A Rare Connection

To Yamashita's Treasure.

He's Actually Seen Some Of It.

So, This Is The City Of Baguio.

Baguio Is Really Cool, Literally.

It's Probably 30 Degrees Colder Here Than It Is Down In Manila,

But It's Also Just Kind Of Otherworldly.

You Don't Really Feel Like You're In Southeast Asia.

It's These Pine Forests,

And You're Almost In The Cloud Layer,

So This Kind Of Eerie Fog Comes Through The City

Throughout The Day.

I Haven't Eaten All Day, So My First Stop

Is In The Baguio City Public Market.

What Am I Gonna Do With These?

Boy, This Place Is A Real Sausage Fest.

Look At This.

So, This Is A Real Frog

That Has Been Dried Out

And Turned Into A Purse.

Is That -- Am I Understanding That Correctly?

Yes.It's A Little Tight.

I Got A Little Bit Of A Frog In My Throat Here.

And You Don't Have One That's, Like, A Tadpole Bigger, Do You?

Despite The Bounty On Display,

I Don't Leave With Anything Except A Bunch Of Punch Lines.

Down The Street Is My Next Stop --

One That Underscores The Real Human Cost

Of Pursuing A Legend Like Yamashita's Gold.

One Of The Things About The Legend

Of Yamashita's Treasure

Is That For A Long Time, People Thought It Was Just That --

A Legend, A Story.

After All, Aspects Of It Sound Really Far-Fetched.

That All Changed In 1970,

When A Filipino Treasure Hunter Made An Astounding Discovery.

In 1970, A Locksmith Named Rogelio Roxas

Got Information From A Japanese Soldier

About Part Of Yamashita's Treasure

Buried In A Tunnel Underneath Baguio City.

Roxas Gathered A Team Of 20 Men,

Dug Deep Down, And Hit The Jackpot --

Countless Boxes Of Gold Bars

And A 3-Foot-Tall, 1-Ton Golden Buddha

Filled With Diamonds.

But When Philippines Prime Minister Ferdinand Marcos

Heard About The Treasure, Roxas Was Apprehended.

His Son, Henry, Has Taken Up His Father's Work

And Resumed The Search,

And He Believes That He Is Close To Making A Major Discovery.

I'm Meeting Henry At Their Family Museum,

Which Sits Right In The Heart Of The City.

It's Home To An Impressive Collection

Of Uncovered World War Ii Treasure,

As Well As An Incredible International Coin Collection.

There's No Shortage Of Items Here

Memorializing His Father's Golden Buddha Discovery.

So, This Is A Replica Of What Your Dad Found.

Henry, You Have An Amazing Collection Here.

I Want To Know More About What Happened

After His Father Found The Golden Buddha

And Marcos Sent His Men To Confiscate It.

They Took Everything?

How Long Was He In Prison For?

In 1987, Roxas Sued Marcos,

Which Launched A Lengthy Court Case.

It Eventually Went To Trial,

And The Roxas Family Was Victorious.

But Before He Could Collect,

The Victory Was Snatched Away In A Tragic Twist.

You Don't Think He Died Naturally?

Have A Lot Of People Over The Years

Met With Foul Play Looking For The Treasure?

I've Heard That You Have A New Place That You're Looking

That You Think Is Promising.

So You're Convinced That This Is The Place?

What Are We Waiting For? Let's Go.

Yes, Sir.

We Leave The Museum, Bound For A Top-Secret Location

Where Henry Believes He's About To Discover

Yamashita's Treasure.

Gates: I'm In Baguio City In The Philippines

With Treasure Hunter Henry Roxas At His Museum.

Okay. Here We Go.

He's Asked Me To Join Him In Excavating His Family Legacy,

A Secret Cave Where His Late Father

Believed Some Of Yamashita's Treasure Is Hidden.

Is This Us? -Yeah. Everything.

-This Is Us? -Yeah.

-This Is Your Jeepney? -Yeah.

-Look At This Thing! -[ Laughs ]

Customizing Jeepneys Is A Big Deal Here In The Philippines.

People Take A Lot Of Pride In These Cars.

The Owner Of This Jeepney, Obviously, A Big Fan Of 'Murica.

♪♪

Very Patriotic, Which I Appreciate.

♪♪

Henry, Are We All Gonna Fit In This Thing?

-We'll Go Upstairs? -Yes.

On The Roof? Oh, Okay. Is That Safe?

No, No, It's Not.

Yeah! This Is It.

Let's Do It.

♪ Well, I'm A Truck-Drivin' Man ♪

♪ Don't You Hear That Horn? ♪

[ Horn Honks ]

♪ I'm A Truck-Drivin' Man ♪

♪ Don't You Hear That Horn? ♪

Gates: It's A Long, Bumpy Ride,

And I Have No Idea Where We're Going.

-Careful. -Look Out.

In Between Dodging Fallen Branches

And Live Power Lines,

Henry Informs Me That Our Destination

Is Filled With Some Venomous Guests.

-A Flying Snake? -Yes.

Snakes Aren't Dangerous Enough. Now They Can Fly?

-Yes. -Come On, Philippines.

Now You're Just Messing With Me.

♪♪

It's Around Here?

We Arrive In The Middle Of Nowhere

And Unload The Massive Amount Of Gear.

I Have No Idea

How We're Gonna Get It All To The Excavation Site,

But Henry Tells Me That He's Arranged For Some Extra Help.

[ Buffalo Moos ]

[ Buffalo Mooing ]

Gates: That's Our Help?

-Yes. -Our Help Is The Buffalo?

-Buffalo. -Okay, Great.

The Buffalo May Look Intimidating,

But They Can Haul Hundreds Of Pounds With Ease.

Aah![ Laughter ]

Gates: You Just Have To Be Careful Where You Stand.

Once We Saddle Up, Our Journey

Continues Through A Vast Rice Paddy.

How Long Did You Say It Was, Henry?

An Hour And 30 Minutes.

I Normally Enjoy A Long Ride,

But The Seats On This One

Give New Meaning To The Term "Rawhide."

I'm Great. They're Very Comfortable.

It Has All The Things I Look For In A Car.

It's Slow And Dangerous. -[ Laughs ]

After Nearly An Hour Of Collecting Bumps And Bruises,

We Arrive At The Edge Of A Jungle.

-This Is It? -Yes.

And Will The Water Buffalo Go Up?

Okay. We Walk From Here.

Okay, Thanks For The Lift.

The Gear Is Once Again Off-Loaded,

And We Begin The Steep Ascent Into The Unknown.

Okay. Great.

-Let's Go. -Yeah. Let's Go.

Okay.

After Getting A Serious Bicep Workout...

[ Knives Cutting Brush ]

...We Finally Reach A Small Clearing,

And I Can't Believe What's Hiding Here.

[ Chuckling ] Whoa.

This Is Insane.

I Didn't Realize It Was Going To Be Such A Big Cave.

-Yes. -This Is Something Else, Really.

From The Looks Of It, You Could Fit A Symphony Orchestra

In This Place.

Let's Get The Gear Set Up And See What's In There.

Henry's Team Soon Arrives At The Cave

With All Of The Necessary Gear In Tow.

They Unpack Metal Detectors Of All Sizes...

[ Device Beeping ]

...And Some Less High-Tech Tools, As Well.

My Official Snake-Clearing Tool?

-Yeah. Yes. -Okay, Great.

We Could Toast Marshmallows Later, Too.

With Only Stick And Flashlight For Protection,

We Set Off Into The Cave.

First Order Of Business Is To Look For Any Snakes,

Which Have Been Known To Slither Near The Opening.

Oh! Henry, Right There. -Oh, Whoa.

-Stop, Stop, Stop. -Uh-Oh.

♪♪

Gates: I'm Inside A Cave,

Deep In The Jungles Of The Philippines,

Searching For Yamashita's Treasure

With Hunter Henry Roxas.

-Oh! Henry, Right There. -Oh, Whoa.

-Stop, Stop, Stop. -Uh-Oh.

-Snake Skin. -Yes.

Cobra?

Yeah.

Well, You're Right About There Being Snakes Here,

That's For Sure.

Be Really Careful Where You're Stepping, For Real.

Oh.

Where? Under The Rock? Where? There?

Be Very Careful, Henry.

Ooh, Yeah. Something There.

Frog.

-Poisonous? -Yes.

Whew. Man, Even The Frogs Are Dangerous.

Let's Keep Going. Don't Touch Anything.

We Go Further Into The Cave,

To An Area That Henry Hasn't Yet Explored For Treasure.

[ Bats Screeching ]

Lots Of Bats.

Ready To Get Down And Dirty,

We Don Our Head Lamps, Pull Out The Metal Detectors,

And Get To Work.

It Doesn't Take Long Before My Detector Starts To Talk.

[ Detector Beeping ]

Ooh.

Henry, I Got A Hit.[ Beeping Continues ]

We Got Something.

Something There.

♪♪

[ Grunting ]

What Is This?

Side Of A Container?

It's A Welded Edge Of Something, But Who Knows What?

It's Old. Been In Here A Long Time.

How Would That Have Been In Here?

So You Think This Is Japanese?

Amazing.

Next, Henry Guides Me Into Another Part Of The Tunnel.

There, We Find More Proof That The Japanese Had Preceded Us.

What The [Bleep] Is That?

Wow.

That Is Just A Vertical Shaft.

You Think This Is Man-Made?

Why Do You Think The Japanese Would Dig That?

There Are Bamboo Spikes Down There.

-Uh-Huh. -Maybe At One Point,

This Was Covered, And You Fall Through It?

Yes.

So The Million-Dollar Question Is, If This Was A Booby Trap,

What Was It Trying To Keep People From?

Have You Been Back In These Tunnels Here?

You've Never Been In Here Because Of Snakes?

-Yes. -Okay.

So, Let's Skirt Around The Edge Of This

And See If We Can Get Back There.

Okay.

We Carefully Sidestep What Remains Of The Booby Trap

And Discover A New Tunnel

That Henry Has Never Seen Before.

Look At The Size Of This Place.

Low Head Room In Here.

Oh, Tunnel Goes Back?

Whoa, Tunnel Gets Very Small.

A Tiny Crawlspace Off To The Side Catches Our Eye.

Okay, Sure. Sure.

Nice And Slow, Henry.

Oh, Frog To Your Left.

The Urine From These Frogs Is Poisonous.

And If You Ingest It, It Can Actually Kill You.

Can You See Anything Down There?

Oh, Yeah. It Does Go Back.

It Goes Way Back.

What Do You See?

While Henry Squeezes Toward The End Of The Tunnel,

I'm Keeping An Eye On The Poisonous Frog.

Man: Whoa. He Just Jumped Off. He's On The Move.

-Oh [Bleep] -He's Heading Right For You.

Henry, Henry, That Frog's Right There. Be Careful. [Bleep]

I Give Kermit Here Some Strong Encouragement

To Vacate The Premises,

Straight Toward My Camera Team.

-Get Out Of Here. -[Bleep]

Get Out. Get Out Of Here. [Bleep]

-Whoa! -[Bleep] [Bleep]

Get Out Of Here! Oh, [Bleep]

The [Bleep] Is Going On Down Here Tonight?

It's Too Bad. That Frog Would Have Made A Nice Coin Purse.

Time To Get Back To Work.

Oh, I Got A Nail Here.

Could Someone Hand Me That Small Detector? Thanks.

[ Beep ]

Yeah, There's Nails Back Here -- Old.

[ Beep ]

I'm Getting Some Hits Here, Henry.

There's Metal Back Here, For Sure.

[ Beeping ]

Another Nail.

Looks Like There Might've Been A Box Or Something Back Here.

[ Beeping Continues ]

No [Bleep]

Look At That.

Want Even More "Expedition Unknown"?

You Can Check Out My Personal Photos,

Deleted Scenes, And More At Travelchannel.Com.

♪♪

I'm In A Cave In The Philippines,

Looking For Yamashita's Gold,

And I've Just Found What Could Be

A Serious Piece Of The Treasure.

No [Bleep]. Look At That.

I Got A Coin, Henry.

Coin.

Right Here.

[ Beeping ]

Are You Kidding Me? Another Coin.

Two Coins Back Here, Henry, Both Just Caked In Mud.

[ Beeping Continues ]

Look. Metal. Scraps Of Metal,

Coin. Really Small Coin.

Henry, I'm Finding Treasure. -[ Laughs ]

That's Treasure. [ Chuckles ]

We Got To Go Clean These Off.

Let's Back Out Of Here, Get Some Water On This.

Okay, Let's See What We Got Here.

Here We Go.

We Exit The Tunnel To Wash Off Our Find

And Get A Better Look.

That's Got An Eagle On It.

-Yes. -If It's A U.S. Coin,

It's Not Something In Current Circulation.

It's Not A Quarter.

A 5 Centavos?

This One, As Well, You Think? Same, 5 Centavos?

-Are They Current? -Uh...

-'44 And '45? -Yes.

These Are Wartime. That's Incredible.

That Has An Eagle On It. Are These U.S.-Minted?

I See. And This One, We Don't Know?

Look At That.

Just Sitting In This Cave.

These Centavos, Are These Rare, Or Are These Common?

Oh.

-You Think It Could Be Here? -Yes.

Henry, I Don't Know How Often You Find Coins Like This,

Especially Old Coins, But I'm Shocked.

Like, I Didn't Think We Were Gonna Find Anything.

-Yes. -That's Incredible.

Look At That.

Treasure. -[ Laughs ]

These Coins May Well Be Part Of Yamashita's Treasure,

And Henry Plans On Coming Back Soon

With More High-Tech Equipment

To Do A Full-Scale Excavation Of The Site.

My Expedition Across The Philippines

Has Been A Journey Into Secret Spaces,

From Forgotten Passages Beneath The Streets Of Manila

To Flooded Caverns...

It's Flooded. Back It Up!

...Submerged Tunnels,

And Remote Caves.Wow.

Along The Way, I Discovered How Ruthless Armies Can Be

When It Comes To Hiding Stolen Wealth

And How Ruthless Governments Can Be To Claim It For Themselves.

But It's Also Clear That Brave Explorers

And Determined Believers

Are Willing To Risk Life And Limb

In Their Quest To Recover The Riches.

Their Determination, Their Humor, And Their Passion

Are An Inspiration.

And In This Treasure-Obsessed Country,

I Sincerely Hope That One Day Soon,

They Stumble Upon The Rest Of Yamashita's Gold.