All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S02E15.Searching.for.Shangri-La.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg.en

[ Chimes Peal ]

Gates: We Have This Idea
Of This Place,

This Paradise
Up In The Mountains,

What We Call Shangri-La.

♪♪

Those Are All Caves.
-Yes, They Are.

All Made By People.

Come On, Come On,
Come On, Come On.

Be Careful.

Very Slippy
And Incredibly Dangerous.

It's Not A Cave.

It's A City.

Oh, My Word!

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

Captions Paid For By
Discovery Communications

♪♪

The Great Western
Religions Tell Us

That Heaven Doesn't Have
A Physical Address.

You Can't Use Google Maps

To Calculate
The Route To Paradise.

But The Legend Of Shangri-La
Says Differently.

♪♪

For Hundreds Of Years,
Explorers, Spiritualists,

And, Well, Nutcases
Have Been Lured To The Himalayas

By The Tantalizing Promise
Of A Mystical, Hidden Valley,

A Real Utopia.

The Residents There,
They Say, Never Age

And War And Sickness
Are Just Distant Memories.

But, Surely, The Story
Of Shangri-La Is Just That --

A Story, A Hopeful Myth
About A Magical World.

But Maybe Not.

In The Most
Remote Reaches Of Nepal,

Near The Border Of Tibet,
Is An Area Known As The Mustang,

A Region That Has Been Closed
Off To The Outside World

And, Seemingly,
To The Passage Of Time.

But Now Archaeologists
Have Been Granted Access

To Explore This Hidden Realm.

They've Discovered Thousands
Of So-Called Sky Caves,

Man-Made Chambers Carved
Into The Sides

Of Impossibly High Cliffs.

Who Made Them, How,

And What Secrets
Are Hiding Inside?

Several Caves Have Already
Been Explored

And Have Yielded Up
Incredible Artifacts

And Manuscripts That May Point
To A Real Paradise.

I Plan To Join A Team
Of Explorers

Near The Roof Of The World,
Seeking The Truth

Behind The Mythical Kingdom
Of Shangri-La.

The Mission Is Dangerous,

But The Reward Could Be Nothing
Short Of Heaven On Earth.

♪♪

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!

[ Laughs ]

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."

My Expedition Begins

Half A World Away
From The United States,

In The Himalayan Nation
Of Nepal.

[ Flute Plays ]

[ Birds Crying ]

♪♪

Kathmandu, A City Of More
Than A Million People,

Perched At The Intersection
Of Faith And Commerce.

You Step Off The Curb Here,
And You're Swept Up In A River

Of Buddhists And Hindus,

Of Taoists And Trekkers,

All Somehow Blended Together
In A Beautiful Chaos.

♪♪

[ Horns Honk ]

Kathmandu Has Long Been
A Destination

For Spiritual Pilgrims

And A Magnet For Daring Climbers
From Around The World.

Inside One Of The City's
Many Bookshops,

I Even Manage To Learn My First
Lesson About Shangri-La.

So We All Know And Use
The Term "Shangri-La"

To Describe Anything That Seems
Like A Paradise On Earth.

It Was First Coined In 1933
By A British Writer

Named James Hilton In His Novel
"Lost Horizon."

And, In The Book, He Uses It
To Describe This Mystical Valley

In The Himalayas,
A Place Of Eternal Happiness,

Whose Residents
Are Nearly Immortal.

But It Turns Out That Hilton
Based The Term Shangri-La

On Something Much Older.

♪♪

To Learn About The Real Origins
Of Shangri-La,

I'm Meeting A Monk
At Swayambhunath Temple,

Otherwise Known

As Charlton Heston's
Worst Nightmare.

Monkeys -- Very Cute,
But They Can Be

A Bit Moody And Aggressive.

These Monkeys
Are Considered Holy,

Which Means That Nobody
Messes With Them

And They Basically
Run The Joint.

Easy. Easy.

I Have No Idea Where
All These Monkeys Are Going.

I Assume There's A Matinee

"King Kong" Screening
Happening Up Here.

[ Chattering ]

At The Top Of The Temple,
I Emerge Into Another World

A Realm Of Incense,

Of Prayer Wheels,
And Of Sacred Spaces.

I Must Have Come
To The Right Place.

After All, The Lama That
I'm Meeting Is Named Buddha.

We Have This Idea
Of This Place,

This Paradise
Up In The Mountains,

What We Call Shangri-La.

Is It Based, Though,
On Something Real?

Yeah.
We Don't Call Shangri-La.

Traditionally, We Call
It Shambhala.

Shambhala.

Shambhala Is A Sacred
Land, Pure Land.

It's A Kind Of
A Physical Place,

But We Can't Go There
With Mortal Body

That We Have Now.

Tibetan Buddhism Teaches

The Pursuit Of Enlightenment,
A Mental State Achieved

Through Meditation,
Encapsulated By Pure Joy

And A Total Release
Of A Sense Of Self.

Shambhala Is
The Physical Expression

Of This Enlightenment.

If I Go To Shambhala,
All My Suffering Is Gone.

It's Only Bliss There.

It's Blissful World.

So How Do I Get To Shambhala?
-Very Easy.

You Can Go To Himalayas
And Meditate

And Then
Begin Your Journey.

I See.

So Shambhala
Is A State Of Being.

But Could It Also Be Related
To A Real Place?

There's A Team
Of Archaeologists Trying

To Figure That Out Right Now
In A Remote,

Ancient Kingdom Within Nepal
Known As The Mustang.

They've Recently Begun

To Explore A Valley Filled
With Mysterious Sky Caves

And Whether This Could've Been
A Real-Life Shambhala.

My Mission Is To Join Them
And To Find Out.

♪♪

But Before Journeying
Into The Mustang,

It's Important
That I Get Properly Equipped.

-I Have You Want.
-You Have What I Want?

-Oh, Yeah.
-What Do I Want?

[ Whimsical Tune Plays ]

This Is What I Want?Yeah.

A Pornographic Pipe.

You Know Me Too Well.Ah. [ Laughs ]

But Kathmandu Is Also
A Staging Area

For The Nearly 100,000 Trekkers

Who Pass Through These Crowded
Markets Every Year.

Stores Are Filled
With Climbing Gear

For Even The Most
Hardcore Expeditions.

Whew. Sir,
Is It 100 Degrees In Here?

I Don't Think
It's Gonna Be This Cold.

Okay. If You Say So.

You're The Expert.

I Just Got To Get My Shoes
On Here.

I'm Close.
[ Panting ]

Just Got To Get My --

I Feel Like I'm In
"A Christmas Story" Right Now.

I Got This, Guys.
Nobody Jump In.

♪♪

By The Light Of A New Day,

My Crew And I Head
To Kathmandu's Airport.

We're Accompanied By Our Fixer
And My Dear Friend, Mahendra,

One Of My Most Trusted
Contacts In The Region.

To Link Up
With The Archaeologists

Investigating
The Sky Caves Of Mustang,

I'll Need To Undertake
One Hell Of A Commute.

First, We'll Have To Fly
By Plane From Kathmandu

To The Remote Landing Strip
In Jomsom.

From There, We'll Take
A Convoy Of 4X4s North

Into The Mustang Valley
And The Village Of Chhusang.

Unfortunately, My Crew
And I Have Arrived

During A Political Firestorm.

Tensions Are Brewing To The
West, And India Has Decided

To Shut Off All Fuel Flowing
Into Nepal.

The Result?

A Crippling Gasoline Shortage

That Threatens To Derail
My Entire Expedition.

♪♪

With No Fuel, A Lot Of People
Are Stranded Here,

Turning The Domestic Terminal
Here Into Bedlam.

Our Flight To Jomsom
Is No Different.

Our Fixer, Mahendra,
Talks To The Pilot

And Brings Back What I'm
Hoping Is Good News.

What's The Word?

A Charter Flight, Yeah.

Charter's Canceled?Yeah.

♪♪

♪♪

Gates: My Crew And I Are Trying
To Get Out Of Kathmandu Airport

To Meet Archaeologists
Working In The Himalayas,

Investigating
A Real-Life Shangri-La.

But Things Aren't Looking Good.

Charter's Canceled?
-Yeah.

100%?

-No Gas.
-Yeah.

-So They Can't Fuel The Plane.
-Yeah.

So How Do We Get To Jomsom?

Well, Let's See
If They Can Hook Us Up.

Thanks.

Mahendra Goes To Wheel And Deal.

And We Wait.

20 Minutes Later,
We Get Our Answer.

-You Got It?
-Yeah, We Got 'Em.

-Seriously?
-Yeah.

We Have A Limited
Window There,

But We Should Be Okay.

Let's Do It.

There's A Catch, Though.

Due To The Altitude,

We Have To Limit
The Weight Of Our Gear,

And We Can't Go Over
By A Single Pound.

13.6 Plus?

-5.5.
-5.5 Plus?

-16.3.
-16.3.

So We're At 579 Pounds.

What's Our Max Weight?

-880 Pounds.
-880. We're Good. We're Under.

-All Right.
-All Right.

Everybody Had A Salad
For Dinner Last Night?

Yep.

With Our Gear Stripped Down,
We Hit The Runway.

Due To Its Location,
Kathmandu Airport

Is Socked In By Fog
Nearly Every Morning

And All Manner Of Aircraft
Have To Wait For A Window

To Punch Through The Mist.

Incidents And Accidents
Are Common.

I Try To Put That
Out Of My Mind, Though,

As We Climb Aboard Our Modified,
High-Altitude Chopper.

♪♪

Coordinates? Check.
Seatbelts? Check.

Fuel? Sure.

[ Voice Over Radio ]
Tower --

Speaker: Clear For Takeoff.

Gates:
As We Rise Over Kathmandu,

The Scope And Scale
Of The City Comes Into View.

And Then, We Enter The Clouds.

This Is, In Short,

Some Of The Most Stressful
Flying On Earth.

It Doesn't Matter How High
The Helicopter Rises

Because All Around Us Are

8 Of The 10 Tallest Mountains
In The World.

♪♪

♪♪

There Is Nothing In The World

To Which I Can Compare
This View,

No Metaphor To Do It Justice.

Beyond The Glass,
There Is Only The Towering,

Snowcapped Majesty Of Himalaya.

Is It Any Wonder
That Buddhists Consider

This The Home Of The Gods?

The Pilot Navigates
Between Two Soaring Peaks.

And While It Seems
Like The Absolute Ends

Of The Earth Up Here,

I'm Amazed To See A Village
And An Airstrip Below.

Fuel Is Running Low.

And We Circle In To Land

With Nearly 50-Mile-An-Hour
Wind Gusts.

♪♪

Let's Go Find Shangri-La.

♪♪

We Suck In The Thin, Cool Air

And Enter What Feels
Like A Waking Dream,

A Picture-Perfect Village
8,800 Feet Above Sea Level.

This Is The Village Of Jomsom.

It's Little More Than A Street
With A Few Little Shops

And Guest Houses For Trekkers
Who Make It Up This High.

For Us, A Staging Area
Where We Can Begin

Prepping Our Vehicles
For The Road Ahead.

And I Do Mean Theroad.

♪ Somebody Take Me ♪

♪ Home ♪

There's Only One Here.

♪ Destination -- Anywhere ♪

Here's The Plan -- From Jomsom,
We'll Follow The Snaking Canyon

North To The Town Of Chhusang,
To Meet The Archaeologists.

From There, Our Convoy
Will Push Further North,

To Investigate
The Mysterious Sky Caves

That Could Be
The Real-Life Shangri-La.

♪ Destination -- Anywhere ♪

♪♪

A Few Miles North,
We Pass A Faded Sign.

Rough Translation --
"Entering The Mustang Region --

No Trespassing By Outsiders."

This Is A World That Was
Totally Closed Off To Foreigners

Until The 1990S.

Even Today, Entry Permits
Like Ours Are Extremely Limited.

The Result?
A Place Out Of Time

And Nearly Untouched
By The Modern World.

It's Almost Night When We Arrive
At Our Destination.

Welcome To Chhusang.

This Is A Tea House

And You Find These
All Over The Himalayas.

They're Basically
Very Simple Guest Houses;

Caters To A Lot Of Trekkers.

A Family Will Run This Place.

They Have Food,
Hot Tea, And Coffee.

They Are Very Simple,
But Essential Accommodations.

These Are Lifesavers Up Here.

There Is No Heat Here
Or Electricity At Night,

It Doesn't Look Like,
But That's Okay Because,

Well, It's Not Outdoors.

I Mean, It's Almost Outdoors.

It's Really Cold In This Room.

Home Sweet Home. Brr.
[ Cow Lows ]

♪♪

In The Morning, My Crew
And I Get Busy Packing

For The Onward Journey

And Right On Schedule Is
Archaeologist Mark Aldenderfer

And Mohan Singh Lama From
Nepal's Archaeological Ministry.

This Is Your Office?
-Yes, This Is My Office.

That's Right.
-What An Office, Huh?

Mark May Look
Like The Lost Allman Brother,

But He Happens To Be One
Of The Leading Experts

On High-Altitude Civilizations.

So We're Just Getting
The Cars Loaded Up,

But While They're Doing That,
Maybe You Give Me A Walk Around?

-Yeah, Let's Do It.
-Please Lead The Way.

-Let's Take Off.
-Yeah. Come On.

We Hike Out Of Chhusang
To Find Our First Clue

To Shambhala's Location,
And Mark Leads Me To A View

That I've Traveled
8,000 Miles To See.

Okay, This Is Stunning.

It's A Pretty Extraordinary
Place, Isn't It?

Those Are All Caves.
-All Caves, All Made By People.

-All Those Little Black Dots?
-All Made By People.

They're Not Natural
Caves At All.

Do We Know Who Built Them?

We Believe That The
People Who Built These

Were From
The Tibetan Plateau.

How Many Individual Caves,
Total, Do You Think There Are?

I Would Guess There's
More Than 10,000.

More Than 10,000?

And, Of That 10,000,

How Many Have Explorers
Been Into?

-300.
-[ Laughs ]

You Guys Got A Lot
Of Work To Do.

The Cliffs Are Made
Of Very Poor Sandstone

Riddled With Larger Rocks.

The Result
Is A Fragile Conglomerate

That Can Collapse
At The Slightest Touch.

Several Climbers
Have Been Injured,

Attempting To Reach Some
Of The Caves,

Which Is Why Most
Are Still Unexplored.

Now, If You Want Something
Hard To Get Into,

Check That Out Up There.

-Those Are Caves?
-Yes, They Are.

That's Insane!

I Mean, Those Must Be
1,000 Feet Off The Ground.

So Those Could Be Filled
With Archaeological Treasures?

Yes.

♪♪

To Understand
Who Made These Cave Complexes

And Whether They Could Be
Related To Shambhala,

Mark Guides The Convoy
Further North Into The Valley.

His Route Will Take Us To Caves
Near The Village Of Chhoser

And Then To Lo Manthang --

Once The Capital
Of An Ancient Kingdom

And The Largest Village
In The Region.

How Would You Describe
The Roads North Of Here?

There's Some Parts
Of It That Are Decent,

And Then Most Of The Road
Is Quite Scrappy.

When You Say,
"Some Parts Are Decent."

A 1/2-Mile.

You're Gonna Want To Use
Whatever Driving Skill

You Have Achieved Over
The Years Of Your Life.

This Is The Ultimate Test.

How Bad Could It Be?

♪♪

Bad.

There's No Pavement,
And Instead Of A Shoulder,

You Get A 300-Foot Drop Into
A New Career In Archaeology.

As A Subject.

As We Progress, The Road
Gets Markedly Steeper.

Then It Gets
Downright Sinister.

Ice.

Wow, Look At This.

Okay. Here We Go.

♪♪

I See Water.

Come On, Come On,
Come On, Come On, Come On.

Come On, Come On, Come On.

♪♪

♪♪

Gates: Struggling To Pass
12,000 Feet Above Sea Level,

My Road Trip To The Sky Caves
Of Nepal Hits A Major Roadblock.

Literally.

I Get Out Of The Car
To Assess The Situation.

We Might Be Stuck.

Cascading Ice And Water
From The Peaks Above

Have Turned An Unstable Road
Into A Death Trap.

One Of Our Vehicles
Is Now Stuck In The Slushy Mess.

Real Icy In Here And Wet
And So Much Weight

In The Cargo Vehicles That You
Just Can't Get Through It.

Our Team Tries To Fill The Hole
With Flat Stones

Over Which The 4X4 Can Roll.

Ah!

[ Speaking
Native Language ]

Go, Go, Go, Go, Go,
Go, Go, Go! Yeah!

Nice Work.

Out Of Breath, But Safe,
We Climb Back Into The 4X4s

And Drive Until The Steep And
Rocky Terrain Forces Us To Walk.

-Stop Here.
-Yes, Sir.

No More Road.
On Foot.

♪♪

Okay.
Let's Get Ready To Hike.

♪♪

The Landscape Here
Is Utterly Empty.

For The First Time
In My Life,

I'm Getting A Good Idea Of
How Buzz Aldrin Must Have Felt.

Whew!

Not Easy.

[ Choir Sings ]

Mark Has Brought Us Here
Because Archaeologists

Have Identified Another
Collection Of Sky Caves,

And Locals Claim
To Have Spotted

Other Structures
That Have Never Been Explored.

We Hike On, Enveloped
By The Clearest Sunshine

And Purest Air On Earth.

Though, As We Pass 13,000 Feet,

I Could Use A Bit More
Of The Air.

[ Panting ] Hold On.

♪♪

Caves, Yeah?

♪♪

Hours Of Hiking,
And We've Arrived

At Some Seriously Remote,
Manmade Caves.

Okay.
Now, We Just Have To Get In.

Get The Ladders Goin'.
We'll Get Up There.

The Nepalese Team Quickly
Lashes The Two Ladders Together

Into An Extension Ladder
In Which I Have Zero Confidence.

Okay.

Let's Get Into It.

One Of Our Local Guides Takes
The First Trip Up To The Cave.

Okay.

Next, It's Mark's Turn.

You Make It, Mark?

I'm Good.

Okay, I'm Comin' Up.

♪♪

This Is One Crazy Ladder.

Almost There.

Okay, Here We Go.

Oh, Wow.

Climbing In, I See
That The Small Opening

In The Cliff
Was Just The Beginning.

A Low Passage Leads
To A Sunsoaked Chamber

And On The Walls -- Painted Art
From More Than 500 Years Ago.

♪♪

[ Gasps ]

I Was Not Expecting This.

Oh, My Word.

This Was Worth
The Walk Up, I Hope, No?

Oh, My God, Big Time.

That Is Incredible.

From Floor To Ceiling,
The Walls Are Covered

With Meticulously Painted
Buddhist Imagery,

And Within That Art,
Clues To Help Understand

The Cave Itself.

What Makes This Unique
Is That There's

Artistic Designs
In Different Hands.

So, In Other Words, A Number
Of Different Individuals

Came Here And Painted This
On The Walls Of This Cave.

When You Look
At Each Of These Panels,

There Is A Variety
Of Different Artistic Styles

That Are Represented
On This Wall.

-Okay.
-So You Take A Look

At This Individual Here
With, You Know,

The Staring Black Eyes
Looking Right Out At You.

There's An Identical Image
Found In A Monastery

In Ladakh, Which Is
In Northwestern India.

Only One Of Two Images
Like That In The World.

-That's Correct.
-Wow.

But That Tells You
The Strength

And Power Of This Place.

The Existence Of Work
By Different Ancient Artists,

As Well As The Same Painting
In Two Different Places,

Means That People Traveled
Hundreds Of Miles By Foot

To This Cave As A Destination.

Sadly, It Is Vanishing
Before Our Very Eyes.

They're Gonna Be Reclaimed,
I Would Think, At Some Point,

By The Environment.

Even Though It's Dry,
It's Still Wet Enough

That, You Know,
If Water Begins

To Seep In Cracks,
The Paint Peels Off,

Right.The Art Is Gone.

In 100 Years, It Is Almost
Certain This Place Will Be Gone.

Perhaps, Like Shambhala Itself,

One Day, These Caves
Will Be Thought Of As A Myth,

So I Count Myself Lucky
To Have Seen Them.

Mark, This Was Amazing.

We Carefully Move Back
Through The Narrow Cave Entrance

And Down The Ladder
To Continue Our Investigation.

We're Trying To Spot
Never-Before-Excavated

Rock Structures
That We Were Alerted To

By The Locals
In The Village Below.

We Carefully Hike
Across The Sheer Ridge.

There's Little Room
For Error Here.

Watch Your Step.

Once Across, We Look For A Way
To The Top Of The Rise.

♪♪

If You're Afraid Of Heights,
Here's A Pro Tip For You --

Don't Ever Lean
A Homemade Ladder

Up Against A Crumbling Rock
Tower At The Edge Of A Cliff.

Wall Is Crumbling Here, Guys.

Be Careful.
Back Up, Back Up, Back Up.

You Okay?

It's Really Sketchy Up Here.

So, What Do We Got?

When You Have Small
Chambers Like This,

There Are Only One Of Two
Things Usually Put Inside --

Something Stored
Or Human Burials.

So, Let's See
What The Hell's In There.

♪♪

Oh, My God.

♪♪

♪♪

Gates: At Nearly 14,000 Feet
In The Himalayas,

We've Discovered A Rock Tower

That Could Help Unravel
The Mystery

Of Why People Came To This
Valley So Many Centuries Ago.

Aldenderfer: Now, Let's See
What The Hell's In There.

♪♪

We Got Human Burials.

Oh, My God.

Wow.
-Very Good Score.

Any Sense Of How Old
This Might Be?

It's Earlier Than 800 Ad.

This Is Actually An Amazingly
Important Find.

This Is Astounding.

We've Discovered Human Remains

That Indicate That,
Even In Ancient Times,

People Considered
These Mountains Sacred.

By Extension,
The Dizzyingly High Sky Caves

May Have Been Put Up Here
For The Same Reason --

To Be Closer To The Gods.

No Doubt That Many Of The Caves
Were Considered Holy Ground

For Cremations
And Burials Of The Dead.

Look At That.
This Is A Group Of People

That Still Are Largely
A Mystery, Right?

If It's As Early
As I Think It Could Be,

It Might Help Us
Recalibrate

What Our Thinking Is
About This Region.

This Is A Really Tangible
Link To The Past.

♪♪

After Photographing The Site,
We Hike Back Down The Mountain

To Our 4X4s And Drive
Toward Our Next Stop --

The Ancient City Of Lo Manthang.

It's Dark By The Time
We Arrive At Our Tea House,

So We Won't Get Our First Look
Until Morning.

♪♪

Morning In The Mustang Region.

We're Only About 20 Miles
From The Border Of Tibet,

And We're On The Doorstep
Of A Place

That I've Traveled
A Long Way To See.

This Is Lo Manthang.

Population --
About 1,400 People,

But, Believe It Or Not,
That Still Makes This

The Biggest City
For Hundreds Of Miles.

This Was Once The Capital
Of The Kingdom Of Lo,

A Walled Fortress
With 14 Guard Posts

And Two Gates
To Keep Out Potential Invaders.

Today, This Is Not Just
An Entrance To A City.

It Is A Portal
To Another Time And Place.

♪♪

Welcome To The Past,

A City Made Of Mud,
Sweat, And Prayers.

This Isn't A Tourist Attraction.

This Isn't A Reenactment.

This Is, For All Intents
And Purposes,

Life In The Middle Ages.

It Is Also
The Best-Preserved Example

Of Ancient Tibetan Culture
Left On Earth.

Residents Even Collect
And Dry Out Yak Dung

To Burn In Their Stoves.

Excuse Me.
Just --

If I Could Just --
-[ Lowing ]

It's Fine.

Hi.

As I Continue My Stroll
Through The 1400S,

I Notice That The Women
Of Lo Manthang

Seem To Be Doing A Lot
Of The Heavy Lifting.

Meanwhile,
I Find The Guys In Town

Hanging Out At The Local Bar.

Namaste.

Just Without The Bar Part.

What Are We Talkin' About?
Women? Money?

The Usual.

[ Lows ]

Sure Enough, It Isn't Long
Before Someone Brings A Tray.

And It Isn't Just Tea
They're Pouring.

For Me?
-Yeah.

-What Is This?
-Oh, Very Good.

Smells Good.

Whew! Whoo-Hoo-Hoo!
-Yoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo!

Hoo-Hoo!

Think I Just Found
Enlightenment.

This Is Raksi,
Nepalese Moonshine.

Cheers. Cheers.
-Cheers.

I'd Tell You
What It Tastes Like,

But I Can No Longer Taste
Anything Else For Comparison.

[ Laughter ]

Aha!

Ahh. You Guys Are The Best.

I Love You Guys.

Let's Always Stay In Touch.
Yeah.

Because I'm Driving,
I Leave My Full Glass Of Raksi

With Norm And Cliff Back There
And Take A Stroll

Before We Load Up And Move
Further Into The Mustang.

♪♪

Okay, Convoy, We're Movin' Out.
Here We Go.

Where Are We Headed?

Today, We're Headed
Toward The Martung Area.

Apparently, There's A Cave
System Called Pumamba.

And What's
In The Pumamba Caves?

Well, We Don't Know What's
In The Pumamba Cave.

-A-Ha!
-They Have Not Been Explored

By Anybody's Team,
So I Think That

They're Worth
Taking A Look At.

For Sure.

God! Just A Little
Bumpy In Here.

The Road To Paradise
Is Far From Paved.

We're Driving Near
The Restricted Border Of Tibet

To A Valley That Contains
The Mysterious Sky Caves.

We Drive Through
The Seemingly Barren Valley,

Inventing The Road As We Go.

But Soon, We Hit The End
Of The Line.

Okay.
So Here We Are.

Pumamba Is Just A Little
Bit Further Downvalley.

Okay. Here We Go.

We're Less Than An Hour's Hike
To The Caves,

But Once The Sun Goes Down,
It Gets Really Cold Around Here,

So We'll Need To Make Camp
Before We Set Off On Foot.

Josh, You Want Me
To Carry One Of Those?

No, No, I Got This, Brian.

-Are You Sure?
-No, No, Don't Worry About It.

All Right.
You Look Pretty Solid.

You Know, You Just Stand There
With That One Small Camera.

-Okay.
-I Got All This.

[ Clapping ] Josh Gates
Finally Doin' Some Work

Around Here, Finally.

This Is How I'm Gonna
[Bleep] Kill All Of You.

I'm Gonna Leave You All
Out Here For Dead.

♪♪

With Camp Set, It's Time
For Another High-Altitude Hike.

We're Setting Out
To Survey A Group Of Sky Caves

That Have Never Been Explored.

The Enigmatic Caverns
Of This Region

Have Been Linked
To The Shangri-La Legend,

So We're Eager To See
What Might Be Hiding Inside.

Is That It?
-That's Pumamba,

Right Dead Ahead.
-Wow.

So Nobody's Been Up
Inside Them Before?

No. This Is Uncharted
Territory For Us.

♪♪

Caves Are Absolutely Stunning
And Really Mysterious Looking,

But As You Get Close To Them,
They're Also Something Else.

They're Terrifying.

The Enormity Of The Caves
Is Finally Clear To Me,

And One Thing Is For Certain --

We're Going To Need
A Bigger Ladder.

That Is A Real Challenge.

[Bleep] Me.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm In The
Himalayan Mountains Of Nepal,

Searching For The Origins
Of The Shangri-La Legend

And My Investigation
Just Got A Whole Lot Harder.

Good Lord.
That Is A Real Challenge.

Looks Doable.
You Know,

With The Right Kind Of
Ropes And A Good Guide,

You Should Be Able To Get
In There, No Problem.

♪♪

You'regoing In There.
-No, I'm Not Going In There.

-Really?
-Really.

Bad Back.

I Got Bad Everything, Mark.
-[ Laughs ]

High-Altitude Caves, Like This,
Are Mark's Passion,

But, Since He's Recovering
From A Recent Injury,

He Won't Be Able
To Attempt An Ascent.

Who Is The Man In Charge, Then?

I Think That The Most
Important Thing To Do Is

To Put This All In Nima's
Hands 'Cause He's The Pro.

He Know How To Get
Into These Places.

Our Local Team Member Nima
Has Been Climbing

In This Region All His Life
And Knows Firsthand

How Dangerous These Crumbling
Cliffs Really Are.

First, We Need To Put
Some Anchors Up There

And Then Traverse
That Scary, Rough Section,

And Then Climb Up
To The Rocky Point.

Okay, Great.
Let's Get To Work.

♪♪

The Cliffs Here Are Made Up
Of The Softest Rock

This Side Of Barry Manilow,

Which Is Why They're Collapsing
To Dust Before Our Eyes.

My Cameraman, Jj, Sums Up
The Climb Very Succinctly.

If This Snaps, I Die.

So, Order Of Events --

You're Gonna Go Up First.
-Yep.

You Guys Are Gonna Set
The Anchor Points.

We're Followin' Up,
And We'll Be Talkin' To You

On Walkie-Talkie.
-Sounds Good. Climb Safe.

-Hey, Thanks, Man.
-Good Luck.

We Carefully Hike

Up The Lower Embankment, While
Nima Sets Pitons Into The Rock.

We'll Then Clip In
To A Fixed Rope

And Move Together
Across The Cliff Face.

The Problem Is
That These Canyons Are Made

Of Loose Conglomerate.

Step In The Wrong Place, And The
Whole Hillside Can Come Down

Like The World's
Biggest Game Of Jenga.

There They Go.

♪♪

I Thought Shangri-La
Was Supposed To Be Peaceful.

This Is Terrifying.

We Make It
Up To The First Plateau

And Then Clip In
To The Next Section Of Rope

And Ease Our Way Across
The Face Of The Cliff.

Very Slippy And Very Loose.

These Are The Widowmakers
Right Here.

There's Just Huge Boulders
And All This Loose Conglomerate

Waiting To Let Go Makes This
Incredibly Dangerous.

♪♪

Whew.
Got A Kind Of Foothold.

Okay, Now What?
What Now? What?

I Got It.

Finally, We Make It
To The Edge Of The Caves.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

Hey.

That Was [Bleep] Stupid.
Oh, God.

Look At How Sketchy This Thing
Is Now That We're Inside Of It.

It Looks Twice As Bad.

How The Hell Am I Gonna
Get Down From Here?

The Cave Openings That We Saw
From The Ground Are Deceptive.

Now That We're Up Here,
There's More Than Meets The Eye.

The Caves Are Merely Windows
To A Huge Network

Of Interconnected Tunnels.

This Place Is Like A Massive
Ant Farm For People.

On The Right, Room After Room.

On The Left?
Not Much.

[Bleep]

♪♪

Long Way Down.

Check This Out.

♪♪

Wow!

This Is So Cool.
Look At This.

Inside The Caverns,
There's Construction --

Mysterious, Mud-Brick Enclosures
Of Every Shape And Size.

Lots Of Little Chambers In Here.

There's Actually
So Much Architecture,

Once You Get Inside
Of These Caves;

They Actually Have Design
To Them.

I Make Sure
To Take Dozens Of Photos

For Mark And Mohan
To Analyze Later.

Okay, Good.
Let's Keep Movin'.

The Number Of Passages
Is Disorienting.

Left, Right, Up, Down.

It's A Total Labyrinth.

But With Effort Comes Reward.

Oh, Look At This!
Come Here.

Look. Look At That.

Beautiful Piece Of Ceramic.

How Cool Is That?

Mark, Can You Read Me?

Yes, Josh.
Come In.

I Found Some Beautiful
Pottery Up Here, Mark.

Looks Like A Bowl Of Some Kind,
Black On The Outside.

Okay. We Think
It's A Cooking Pot.

That Is Unreal.

We Explore For Hours,

Carefully Traversing
Passage After Passage.

In Each Chamber, We Find The
Remains Of A Vanished Culture.

Room After Room After Room.

It's Not A Cave.

It's A City.

Thousands Of People
Could've Lived Up Here.

It's Incredible.

But Just When I Think
I've Explored

Every Nook And Cranny...

Oh, My God.
Look At This! Look At This.

Come Here, Look.

Holy [Bleep]

Oh, My God.

Mark, We Got Artwork Up Here.

There's Painting
On The Wall Here.

It Looks Like A White
And Red Plaster.

It Looks Tibetan.

That Is
Totally Fantastic.

Make Sure You Get A Good
Documentation Of This.

I'll Take A Lot
Of Photos For You.

That Is Somethin'.

I Mean, We Are
The First People To See This.

You Are The First People To See
This In Probably 500 Years.

[ Chuckles ]
That Is Discovery.

This Is Awesome.

The Painting Is Vivid,

Spelling Out A Message
From Across Time.

Josh For Mark.
Come In.

-Mark Here, Josh.
-What Can You See Above Me,

Anything?
How High Up Am I In The Complex?

You're
In The Upper Window.

There's No Place Higher
For You To Go.

I Do Have A Question
For You, Though.

Yeah, Hit Me.

Have You Found
Shambhala Yet?

[ Laughs ]

Maybe I Have.

Copy That.

You Think, "Why Would Anybody
Want To Live In A Cave

On The Side Of A Cliff?"
And Then You See The View.

♪♪

For A Life Of Quiet Reflection,

There's No Better Place
In The World To Be.

Oh, Man.

Imagine Living Here.

Pull Up The Ladders, And No Army
Could Take This Place.

You're In The Ultimate
Fortress Of Solitude.

With The Sun Beginning To Set,
It's Time To Head Back To Camp.

As We Warm Up By The Fire,
I Sit Down With Mark And Mohan

To Review Our Pictures
Of The Caves.

And Here Is The Painting.

Wow, That Is Just
Amazingly Beautiful.

Look How
Well-Preserved That Is.

It's Really Clear And Crisp.
-Yeah.

Not Often Do We Find
Whole Wall Segments

That Have Painting
On It Like This.

Oh, Cool.
What Are We Looking At Here?

A Buddhist Mantra.

Okay.

Looking At The Structure
Of The Rooms,

Looking At The Paintings, What
Can We Say About This Place?

This Is Home.

This Is Home To Families

That Came Down
From The Tibetan Plateau

At Some Point
After 1,000 Ad.

Why Go Through
All The Trouble

Of Going Up To These Really
Dangerous Cliffside Areas

And Hollowing Out These Caves?

You Know, Arable Land
Is So Scarce Here.

What People Are Doing Is

Not Living
On That Arable Land.

Keep In Mind,
There's A Great Deal

Of Political Instability
In The Entire Region,

So People Are Likely
Also Putting Themselves

Into These High Places
To Protect Themselves

From Other Folks
Coming Through

That Might Want To
Take That Away From Them.

That Security Is One
Of The Most Crucial Aspects

Of The Shambhala Myth,

A Safe Place Free
From The Threat Of War.

But The Biggest Clue
About Whether These Caves

Were A Real Shangri-La

Is The Meditation Painting
We Discovered.

The Locals Have Told
Mark And Mohan

That They've Seen
Similar Paintings

At A Remote
And Hidden Monastery,

A Place That Might Have Been
Built By The Same People

Who Constructed The Sky Caves.

Could This Location
Reveal The Truth

Behind Whether This Place
Was Really A Heaven On Earth?

With Temperatures Now
Well Below Freezing,

The Answer Will Have
To Wait Until Tomorrow.

♪♪

My Team And I Face The Day

And Get Ready
For One Last Adventure.

We Notice Some New
Arrivals At Camp.

Headed Out To A Place
Called Chuzum.

And What Is This Place?

Well, It's Got
A Cave Monastery.

It's A Branch
Of Tibetan Buddhism,

Which Is Relatively Rare
Around Here.

And Has Anybody Looked
Inside This Place?

Never.

This Is A Place Totally Unseen
By The Outside World.

Only The Locals,
Who Continue

To Maintain The Monastery
For Rituals, Know Its Location.

No Foreigner
Has Ever Filmed There.

[ Snorting ]

♪♪

We're Accompanied By A Local
Monk, Who Carries A Key

And His Blessing
For Us To See The Holy Site.

The Landscape
Is Frigid And Vast

And Roads Are Nonexistent.

Though These Valleys Seem
Like The Surface Of The Moon,

There Is Life Here.

Grass Growing And Signs
Of Agricultural Terraces.

As We Get Further Up Valley...

There It Is!

See It? You See It?

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About Tonight's Expedition?

Then Set A Course For
Travelchannel.Com,

Where You Can Go
Behind The Scenes

With Exclusive Photos,
Never-Before-Aired Footage,

And More.

♪♪

See It? You See It?

Look At That!

On The Trail Of The Legendary
Shambhala, We've Traveled

To One Of The Most Hidden
Monasteries On Earth.

Few People In The Modern Age
Have Ever Seen This Place.

Okay, Let's Tie Up
The Horses Here,

And We'll Try To Find
A Way Up On Foot.

[ Bell Rings ]

We Hike Toward The Cliff.

It Seems Impassable,
But The Monk Leads Us

To A Narrow And Hidden Slot
In The Rocks.

Then, Round The Bend,

We Encounter
Stunning Religious Murals

Painted With The Same Pigments
We Saw At The Sky Caves.

That's Just Beautiful.

Wow!

And Then, Like Characters
From "Lost Horizon,"

The Weary Western Travelers
Arrive Hungry And Tired

At The Door
Of A Remote Monastery.

♪♪

Wow!

This Is Gorgeous.

This Is Unbelievable.

Wood Beams Half A Millennia Old
And Representations

Of Kalachakra,
The Deity Who Guards Shambhala.

Well, Shall We See
What's Inside?

Let's Do.

The Lama Produces A Key
And Unlocks The Door To A Place

That Has Been Hidden Away
For Centuries.

♪♪

This Is Like Something
From Another Age.

I Mean, It's Like
A Time Capsule.

Very Much So.

But As Staggering As This Is,

It's Nothing Compared To What's
Waiting In The Inner Sanctuary.

Wow.

♪♪

Oh, My Word!

Look At This.

Here We Are, At Last,
The Home Of The Gods,

Deities, Created
In Intricate Detail

In The Darkness
Of This Holy Site.

They All Are Demanding
Their Sacrifice.

Each Of Them Has A Skull Cup
In Their Left Hand.

This Is The Top
Of A Human Skull?

Correct.

Tantric Offerings
Are Put Inside Those,

Sometimes Blood,
Sometimes Grain,

Sometimes Water.

That Is Something Else.

The Statues Are Adorned
With Armor And Weapons

Brought Here
Over The Course Of Centuries.

There Are Crossbows
From The 1400S,

Helmets From Tibet,
And Even Armor From The Era

Of Chinggis Khaan.
Wait A Minute.

Is This What I Think
It Is, Mark?

-If Only.
-Oh.

I Know Where You're Goin'
With It, But It's Not.

Boy, For A Second, I Thought
We Really Hit The Jackpot Here.

Returning To The Monastery's
Outer Chamber,

We Try To Take Stock
Of What We've Seen.

This Idea Of Shangri-La,
What's Your Impression Of It

Now That You've Seen
The Collection In Here?

It Looks Like A Very
Uninhabitable Place,

But, Yet,
Look What They Do It.

They Create All Of This
Beauty And All Of This,

You Know, Ritual And All
Of This Circumstance.

They Reflect That Idea
Of The Shangri-La.

They've Turned This Place
Into Something That Is Magical.

It Is.
Very Much So.

This Is The Final Puzzle Piece

In Our Exploration
Of Nepal's Sky Caves.

At Lower Altitudes,
We Saw Caves Used By Buddhists

As Workshops
For Skilled Artists.

The High Caves We Climbed Into

Revealed A City
Inside A Mountain,

A Place For Meditation,
And A Home

With Impenetrable Security,
Which No Army Could Breach.

And Now Here, Evidence
Of Sustained Agriculture,

Terraces That Transformed
Valleys Into Farms,

And Within This Shrine,

A Portal To Commune Directly
With The Gods.

Shangri-La Is Not A Myth.

The Mustang Region Of Nepal Is,
In A Very Real Sense,

An Earthly Shambhala.

It Is A Land Hidden
Among Clouds,

A Place Of Tranquility Cradled
By The Eternal Himalayas.

But It Is Also Fragile.

The Art, The Caves,
Even The Land Itself

Is Constantly Being Returned
To The Earth,

Where It Is Renewed Again.

Here, Time Is Measured In Eons.

The Himalayas
Will Give And Take,

And We Will Continue
To Rest In Their Shadows

And Search For Enlightenment.