All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S02E18.Incan.Kings.Mummy.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BurCyg.en

Gates: So Atahualpa

Really Is The Last
Of The Great Incan Emperors?

Exactly, Yes.

♪♪

If We're Looking For Atahualpa,
That's The Place To Look?

That's The Place.

The Jungles
Swallow Everything.

[ Whispers ]
Oh, Man. Look At This.

This Is Some Indiana Jones
[Bleep] Right Here.

Feels Like
The Top Of The World.

The Mummy Of Atahualpa
Could've Been Right Here.

That's Right.

♪♪

-Josh, Come Here!
-What Do You Got?

-I Don't Know What It Is!
-Ooh.

[ Bleep ]

♪♪

♪♪

When You Think Of A Mummy,

You Might Envision A Dusty,
Cloth-Wrapped Monster

Dragging Itself
Through A Torch-Lit Tomb.

In Hollywood,
These Undead Rulers

Are Always On The Move.

But It Turns Out There's
One Real-Life Mummy

That Also Refuses
To Stay In One Place.

His Name Is Atahualpa.

He Was The Last King
Of The Inca Empire.

His Reign Ended When Spanish
Conquistador Francisco Pizarro

Murdered Him And Brought
The Inca Civilization

To Its Knees.

But Atahualpa Retained
Great Power And Wealth,

Even In Death.

Like All Incan Kings,
His Body Was Mummified

In A Sacred Ritual Designed

To Give Him Supernatural Sway
Over The World Of The Living.

And Then His Body Vanished.

♪♪

It Was Long Believed
That Atahualpa Was Buried

Where He Died In Peru.

But Recently Unearthed Documents
Suggest That His Body

Was Secretly Carried
Back To Ecuador

To Empower An Incan Army.

In The Ecuadorian Highlands,
A Team Of Archaeologists

Are Investigating
Forgotten Ruins

That May Be Linked
To The Mummy's Tomb.

And, For The First Time,

They're Using
Aerial Scanning Technology

To Hunt For Answers In Some
Of The Densest Jungles On Earth.

They Say You Can Rest
When You're Dead,

But Not
If You're An Incan Mummy.

I'm Heading To South America
To Join The Search

For The Last Great
King Of The Inca

And A Legend
That Refuses To Die.

♪♪

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!

Aah! [ 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...

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

Captions Paid For By
Discovery Communications

[ Blows Air ]

So This Is
Where Our Story Begins.

We Are In Ecuador,
And I'm Standing In The Palace

Of The Last Of The Great
Incan Kings, Atahualpa.

But You Won't Find
Any Stately Ruins

To Admire Here Today.

The Only Thing Down Here Now
Are Ghosts.

What Was Once A Palace
Is Now A Tomb.

This Is A Catacomb.

But The Only Remains
Of Atahualpa's Palace

Come In The Form
Of Broken Bricks.

And As For The Mummy
Of The Great Leader,

It Is Nowhere To Be Found.

Trust Me. I've Looked.

The Bones
That You See Down Here,

Those Are The Remains
Of Spanish Priests.

And, 500 Years Ago, The Spanish

Transformed This Incan World
Above Into A Catholic Empire.

[ Blows Air ]

This Is
The San Francisco Church.

♪♪

It Was Built By The Spanish
In 1534

On The Still-Smoking Ruins
Of Atahualpa's Throne.

13 Cloisters, 3 Churches,
Sprawling Courtyards.

There's Even A Winery
In Here Somewhere.

As For The Decorations, Well,

They're Not Exactly
Understated --

Gold Upon Gold.

But Atahualpa's Mother

And His Son
Are Both Entombed Here.

And Among The 3,000
Or So Paintings

Are Depictions Of Incas
Converting To Christianity...

...Voluntarily, I'm Sure.

When Conquistador Francisco
Pizarro First Met The Inca,

They Were The Largest Empire
In The Americas.

They Were Advanced
In Mathematics And Astronomy,

Master Road-Builders
Of The Andes.

Yet, Pizarro
Decimated Their Entire Empire

In Less Than 2 Years.

Now, Standing On Top
Of One Culture

And Within Another...

I'm About
To Emerge Into A Third.

[ People Singing
In Native Language ]

♪♪

Incredible Quito,
The Beating Heart Of Ecuador,

Cradled In A Valley

Nearly 10,000 Feet Up
In The Andes.

♪♪

It's Incan Roots May Be Buried,

But Its Spanish Overlay Is
Nothing Short Of Breathtaking.

This Is, Bar None,

The Best Preserved Colonial City
On The Continent.

♪♪

And Maybe It's The Lack
Of Oxygen,

But The Atmosphere In Quito
Feels Utterly Relaxed.

♪♪

Folks Here Truly Aren't Afraid
To Have Fun.

Sir, Please.
I'm A Visitor In This Country.

Yes.
Okay. He Won't Let Go.

Seriously, He Won't
Let Go Of Me.

♪♪

Once I Managed To Escape,

I Beelined For The City's
True Claim To Fame.

This Is Probably The Most
Famous Site In Ecuador.

And It's A Memorial

That Commemorates The 1739
French Geodesic Expedition

That Mapped The Circumference
Of The World,

Established The Meter
As A Unit Of Measurement

And Declared This Place
What We Now Know As The Equator.

Welcome To Mitad Del Mundo,
Or The Center Of The World.

The Monument Is Modeled
After An Inca Temple.

On One Side,
The Northern Hemisphere.

On The Other, The Southern.

A Breathtaking View
Of The Middle Of The Planet.

Oh, Just One Thing.

It Is Slightly
In The Wrong Place.

Wait, What? That Can't Be True.
Is That True?

Yeah, It's Down The Street.

[ Sighs ] Okay.
Pack It Up, Boys. Come On.

♪♪

Let's Try This Again.

[ Music Rewinding ]

I Walk 787 Feet
To Meet Mayra, A Park Ranger

And Educator At The Place
Global Positioning Satellites

Say Is The Actual
Zero-Zero-Zero.

This Is The Real Equator?

-This Is The Real Equator.
-Mm-Hmm.

Because I've Been --
I've Been Lied To Before.

-Did You Go To The Monument?
-I Did.

-That's The Old Equator.
-Right.

-And This Is The New...
-Right.

-...More Accurate Equator Line.
-That's The Fake-Quator.

Fake Equator.

No, I'm Tryin' To Sell You
On One Word Here -- Fake-Quator.

Fake-Quator. All Right.
Yeah, That Can Be, Uh...

-Did I Just Come Up With That?
-Yes.

#Fakequator.

[ Giggles ]

Both Monuments
Are Pretty Awesome, Actually.

This One Is Decidedly Kitschier,

Complete With Supposedly
Scientific Demonstrations

Of Water Draining Clockwise
In The Southern Hemisphere

And The Other Way In The North.

Mayra Also Claims That,
At The Truequator,

You Can Balance
An Egg Upright On A Nail.

Ah, There You Go.
Very Good.

Huh? Huh? How 'Bout That?
I Have To Say,

That Was Eggs-Tremely Difficult.
I Mean, That Was...

-You Did An Awesome Job.
-Thank You.

That Was Not Over Easy.

Seriously, I Could Do
These Yolks All Day.

Along With These
Modern Monuments,

There Are Also Ruins
In The Nearby Hills.

Turns Out The Inca
Managed To Find The Equator

Without Satellites
500 Years Ago.

To Learn More About Them

And About Their Powerful
Missing Mummy,

I'm Heading For A Meeting
At Quito's Ministry Of Culture.

Very Recently, A Trove
Of Previously Unknown Documents

Was Discovered Here.

And Historian Pablo Garcia
Believes They May Hold The Key

To Finding The Last
Great King Of The Inca.

This Is An --
An Incredible Archive.

Yes, And This Institution

We Hold 1,500,000,
Uh, Documents

From The History Of Ecuador.

And Have You Read
Through All Of Them?

-I Wish I Had The Time. No.
-[ Laughs ]

So Atahualpa Really Is The Last
Of The Great Incan Emperors?

Exactly, Yes, Definitely.

When Did They Come
To Ecuador?

Early 1500S.

-Why Did They Come Here?
-The Equator.

Closer To The Sun To Worship
Their Most Important God.

In 1532, Atahualpa Has Just
Killed His Own Brother

To Unite The Inca Kingdoms

And Is Now Emperor Of A Newly
Consolidated Incan Empire.

And Then What Happens?Pizarro Happens.

While Atahualpa Takes Power,
Conquistador Francisco Pizarro

Sails To South America
With Only 200 Spanish Soldiers.

Atahualpa, On The Other Hand,
Has 80,000 Men At His Command.

He Invites Pizarro To Meet
In The Town Of Cajamarca, Peru.

However, Pizarro Arrives First

And With The Benefit
Of Spanish Guns,

Ambushes The Incan King.

♪♪

Atahualpa Is Kidnapped
And Locked

In A So-Called Ransom Room.

Pizarro Promises To Release Him

Only If He Can Fill
The Chamber Twice Over

With Pure Gold And Silver.

Amazingly, Atahualpa
Fulfills The Request And Then,

In One Of History's Most
Appalling Double Crosses,

Pizarro Sentences Him
To Death By Burning.

Atahualpa Begs The Spaniards
Not To Be Burned.

Every Dynasty,

Their Remains Had To Be
Maintained And Mummified.

They Would Dress Them.
They Would Feed Them.

They --
Their Palaces Were Kept.

-Were They Seen As Magical?
-Supernatural, Yes, Sir.

So He Requested To Be Killed
In A Different Way.

If Atahualpa Leaves No Mummy,

He'll Have No Power
In The Afterlife.

So He Agrees To Convert
To Christianity.

And, In Return, Pizarro
Grants Him Bizarre Mercy --

A Death By Strangulation.

Atahualpa Will Remain
All Powerful.

His Mummy Is Buried
Where He Fell In Cajamarca,

Or So It's Been Thought
For The Last 450 Years.

In The History Books,
I've Read

That The Body
Gets Buried In Peru.

-Yes.
-So Why Am I In Ecuador?

'Cause There's A Different
Version Of The Story.

♪♪

A Curator Carries In A Box
From Deep In The Archives.

Inside Is Something That Could
Change History As We Know It

And Perhaps Lead
To A Supernatural Mummy.

♪♪

Gates:
In Ecuador's National Archives,

Historian Pablo Garcia
Shows Me Newly Found Documents

That May Point The Way
To The Lost Mummy

Of The Emperor, Atahualpa.

Garcia: We Are Looking Right
At The Moment

At 500-Year-Old Documents.

-Wow.
-This Is Astounding.

This Is A Chronicle
By One Of The Sailors

That Came Along
With Francisco Pizarro

Along The Conquest
In 1500S.

He Was The Witness
Of A Great Procession

Carrying This, Uh,
Remains Of A Dead Person.

Does He Mention
Atahualpa By Name?

No, He Doesn't,
But It Must've Been Him Because,

After The Murder
Of Atahualpa In Cajamarca,

One Of The Generals
Of The Empire, Rumiñawi,

Went To Recuperate
His Remains.

Since The Mummy Was Believed

To Have Supernatural Powers,

Rumiñawi Likely Wanted It
To Help Command His Army.

The Procession
Would Have Traveled

More Than 600 Miles
Toward Quito.

But Where The Remains
Were Entombed --

Well, That's The Mystery.

Originally, Uh, Historians
Discovered The Will

Of Atahualpa's Son.

Wow. And What Is The Date
Of This Document?

1583.

How Astounding Is It
To See Something Like This

From The 16Th Century.

What Does The Will
Of Atahualpa's Son Reveal?

It Shows Where This Family
Maintained Property.

There Is A Possibility

That This, Uh,
Section Of Ecuador

Is The Place Where The, Uh,
Remains Were Buried.

Would It Have Been Common
To Put A Sacred Mummy

On Family Land Like This?
-For Sure.

Atahualpa Was Born
In The Kingdom Of Quito,

So It Was The Ideal Place

To Go And Hide The Remains
Of The King Of The Empire.

Gates: Even More Intriguing,

Archaeologists
Have Identified A Set Of Ruins

Within This Land
Known As Malqui-Machay

That Appear
To Be Incan In Origin.

Could This Be
The Final Resting Place

Of Atahualpa's Divine Mummy?

These Are The Pieces
Of The Puzzle

That Will Lead
To The Remains Of Atahualpa.

♪♪

I Grab A 4X4 And Head
To The Ruins Of Malqui-Machay

Where A Team Of Archaeologists
Are Investigating The Lead.

Considering I'm Headed
Well Off The Grid

In The Ecuadorian Highlands,

I'll Need To Make A Pit Stop
To Grab Some Supplies.

[ People Singing
In Native Language ]

Just Outside Of Quito
Is Saquisilí,

And Every Thursday,
There's A Market In Town.

Or, More Accurately,
The Entire Town

Turns Into A Market --

A Giant, Open-Air
Department Store.

First Priority Is,
As Always, Food.

Buenos Días. ¿Cuánto Cuesta?
How Much?

$1.

-For All This?
-Todo.

Man, I'm Gettin' Totally
Ripped Off On Bananas

Back At Home, It Turns Out.

♪♪

The Market Offers A Lot
On The Menu,

Some Of It Unusual...

I May Need A Toilet
In The Next 35 Seconds.

Some Of It Downright Adorable.

Ma'am,
How Much For All Of Them?

I'm Setting You Free.[ Laughs ]

I Quickly Grab Some Gear
For Jungle Trekking.

-How Much Is The Backpack?
-Veinte Dólares.

$20? Okay.
I'll Take It.

Can You Throw In
The Toilet Paper, Too?

Sí.

I'm Gonna Need
Every Roll, Ma'am.

It's Been A Good Haul.

Papa's Got A Brand-New Bag,
A Bunch Of Bananas

And A [Bleep]-Load Of Tp.

Time To Hit The Highway...

Or What Passes
For A Highway Up Here.

♪♪

A Few Hours South Of The Capital

And The Landscape
Turns Positively Prehistoric.

Man:
♪ Can You See The Sunrise ♪

♪ Goin' Through The Trees ♪

Gates: I Climb Past
Vertical Rain Forests,

Spectacular Lagoons,

And Dodge Some Of The More
Than 30 Active Volcanoes Here.

Man: ♪ I Can Hear The Mountains
Callin' Me ♪

Gates: And Then The Road
Climbs Into An Ethereal Mist.

These Are
Ecuador's Cloud Forests --

Foggy, High-Altitude Jungles

And Places Of Untold Mystery.

Man: ♪ Callin' Me ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

Gates:
Finally, The Vapor Clears,

And I Approach
The Archaeological Site

Of Malqui-Machay,

Where I've Arranged To Meet
With Researcher, German Molina.

With Him Is His Colleague
And Translator, Cale Rodriguez.

-Hola.
-Hola.

Hola. ¿Qué Tal?
Hi. How Are You?

-Hola. Soycale.
-I'm Josh.

Welcome To The Middle
Of Nowhere.

I Know.
I-I Used The Gps,

And I Sort Of Thought
This Must Be Wrong.

So -- So What --
What Is This Place?

Es Un Lugar Inca Ceremonial.

It's A Ceremonial
Inca Place.

♪♪

The Jungles
Swallow Everything.

Little By Little,
We Are Realizing

That There Are
More Inca Sites In Ecuador

Than We Ever Suspected.

German Believes
That The Documents

In Quito Are Correct

And That Atahualpa's Mummy Was
Not Only Brought Back To Ecuador

But May Have Been
Hidden Here At Malqui-Machay.

♪♪

We Walk Even Deeper
Into The Jungle.

Here, The Land
Looks Much The Same

As It Would Have When
The Inca Ruled The Continent

Or When King Kong
Battled That T-Rex.

What Do You Think The Weight
Rating Is On This Thing?

-Oh, We Are Over It.
-[ Laughs ]

Gates: We Cross Rivers
And Climb Into The Chilly Hills.

Eventually, Though,
Signs Of Inca Civilization

Start To Come Into View.

♪♪

♪♪

All Of This Is Incan, German?

And This Too, This Road?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

You Can Tell Because The Fact
That It's 2 Meters Wide...

Right.

As All The Inca Road
In The Whole Empire.

So This Is Inca, 100%

Really Amazing Thing Is That
It's In Near-Perfect Condition.

I Mean, You Could --
You Could Drive A Car Up This.

-[ Laughs ]
-How Old Is This Construction?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

Around 500 Years.

We Have Roads In New Jersey
That Are 50 Years Old

That Look Like They Got Hit
With A Missile.

[ Laughs ] If The Inca
Didn't Build This For Last,

They Cut Their Heads Off.
So...

Yeah, The Union Guys Don't Have
That Same Kind Of Pressure.

It's True.
And It Continues Up?

Yep.

-Yeah?
-Let's Go Up.

Wow. There's A Ton
Of Stonework Here.

Look At This, An Aqueduct.

An Incan Aqueduct.

♪♪

You've Got Construction Here
That's Half A Millennia Old.

It's Still Working Perfectly.

Rodriquez: Water Was Holy.
Mother Nature Is Holy.

So It Could Mean That A Very
Important Thing Happened Here.

[ Speaks Spanish ]

-There's Other Canals Up There?
-Mm-Hmm.

-Can You Show Me?
-Yeah.

Gates: The Dense Jungle Growth
Has Covered Everything Here,

An Inca Settlement Beautifully
Preserved Beneath It.

And If You Move
Any Of This Away, You See...

-The Rocks.
-The Rocks.

Yeah.

Just Hidden Underneath It
Like A Perfect Cobblestone.

Further Up The Hill, Though,

Is A Structure
That Indicates To German

That Atahualpa's Mummy
May Very Well Have Been Here.

Look At That.

Wow, Big Blocks.

This Structure Here Is Not Part
Of The Inca Road.

This Is Other Kind
Of Structure.

Look At That. The Tree Is Just
Growing Right Out Of It

And All Back Here, Too.

[ Speaks Spanish ]

It's Square-Shaped,
Carved Stone, Which Is Imperial.

It Means That We May Find
An Imperial Construction Here.

Underneath All The Moss,
Underneath All The Grass,

There Could Be Actually
A Temple Here Of Some Kind?

This Is Run By Nature Now.

But It Could Be A Whole Complex
Here, Undiscovered.

This Is Some Indiana Jones
[Bleep] Right Here.

This Is, Like,
Undiscovered Country.

♪♪

We Step Further Down
Into The Ruins

Into An Even More
Impressive Discovery.

What Is This?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

This Is The Most
Important Building

Of The Whole Complex.

We Believe
That This Is The Place

Where Atahualpa's Mummy
Was Kept Every Night.

-Right Here?
-Yeah.

So The Mummy Of Atahualpa

Literally Could've
Been Right Here?

Laying Seated, How Would He
Have Been Positioned?

He Would Be
In A Seated Position

Like The Inca King
Was, Uh, On His Throne.

The Problem, Though,
Is That He's Not Here Now.

So, If They Took The Mummy,
Where Would They Have Taken It?

The Inca Were Fleeing
From The Spaniards.

And Whoever Has The Mummy
Possessed The Power Of The Inca.

They Needed To Protect
This Mummy.

They Knew How To Get
In Higher Land.

Up There?
Up There Looks Difficult.

Yeah, That's The Point.

So, If We're Looking
For Atahualpa,

That's The Place To Look?
-That's The Place.

♪♪

♪♪

Gates: In The Jungle
Highlands Of Ecuador,

I've Been Led To A Remote Ruin
That May Have Once Housed

The Reportedly Supernatural
Mummy Of The Last Incan King.

But Since Spanish Conquistadors
Were On A Quest

To Eradicate His Empire,
The Mummy Was Likely Moved.

But To Where?

It Should Then Be
Over There.

Up There?
Up There Looks Difficult.

We Actually Have Colleagues

That Are Working There
In The Highlands In The North.

And They Are Looking
For Inca Trails

That May Lead To A Complex,
A-A Place Like This.

German And Cale
Are Part Of A Larger Team.

While We've Been Busy
Investigating The Ruins

At Malqui-Machay,

The Rest Of His Group
Has Been Exploring Inca Trails

In The Jungles To The East.

Their Plan Is To Map
This Network Of Roads

And Determine If It Leads
To Any Significant Sites.

And Have They Found
Anything Yet?

A Farmer Up There
In The Highlands

Who Have Found
Some Inca Stones.

We Just Don't Know
What It Is.

But We Wanna Go There
And Take A Look.

-Could Be An Incan Site?
-Yeah.

Gates: If This Farmer Has Found
Inca Stones In The Same Area

Where Atahualpa's Mummy
Was Likely Taken,

Then We Need To Get There Fast.

But With No Proper Roads Ahead,

This Is The End Of The Line
For My 4X4.

Lucky For Me,
My Companions Thought Ahead.

[ Engines Start ]

[ Engines Revving ]

It Might Seem Weird That We're
Trying To Track Down A Farmer.

But, In Fact, People
Who Live Up Here

Are Often The Ones
Who Find These Ruins First.

I'm Really Intrigued To See
What It Is That This Guy Found.

Tree.

♪♪

It's Incredible --
The Higher We Go,

We're Literally Getting
Into The Clouds.

♪♪

Pretty Sure I Have Cow Poop
In My Mouth.

Here's An Expert Travel Tip --
Always Pack An Extra Toothbrush.

Eventually,
We Arrive At The Farm

But Don't Exactly Receive
A Warm Welcome.

-Buenos Días.
-Buenos Días.

Hola. Buenos Días.

Cameras? No. No Cameras.

All Right, Guys.
Camera Down. Camera Down.

[ Lowered Voice ]
If He Has Found Something,

And It's Archaeological,
Artifact Or -- Or A Site,

And The Government
Finds Out About That,

You Can Go To Prison
For Three Years.

So He May Be
Worried About That.

...Al Diferente Partes.

Hola.It's Possible?
Can We Chat With Him Or No?

Cale:
Uh, I Think It's Possible.

If He's Comfortable Kind Of
Showing Us What He's Found

Or Pointing Us In The Direction
Of Where He's Found It,

We Can Keep Him
Totally Anonymous.

That's Easy.

Gates:
Cale And German Manage

To Convince The Farmer To Share
What He's Found With Us.

And I Can Hardly Wait To See It.

Oh, My God.

Look At That.
[ Laughs ]

Are You Kidding Me?

This Is Beautiful.

Oh, My God.
[ Exhales Deeply ]

I Thought That
He Was Gonna Have Found

Some Bricks Or Ceramic, Maybe.

This Is Unbelievable.

This Is A Remarkable Find
In And Of Itself.

But It Could Also Mark
The Way To The Jackpot --

The Mummy Of Atahualpa.

[ Man Speaking Spanish ]

This Is, Uh,
For The Chiefs.

It's Like A --
Like A Chest Plate?

...Representación Del Sol.

It Is From The People
Of The Sun.

From The People Of The Sun?
From The Inca?

What Is It Made Of?
It Looks Like Copper.

-Tumbaga. Tumbaga.
-It's A Material

They Called Tumbaga,
Made From Gold And Copper.

-It's A Mix.
-And Do You Think

This Is The Right Time Period
For Atahualpa?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

It's Amazing.
Where Did He Find It Exactly?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

It's A Mountain With A --
Another Mountain On The Top.

It's A Hill Over A Mountain.

It Has A Trail, Like, A Path
That Goes Like A Spiral,

He Says, Like A Snail.

Gates:
The Farmer Describes

A Strange, Conical Hill
Due East Of His Farm.

But Even The Atvs Aren't
Going To Make It There.

♪♪

We're Now On Foot.

And, Unfortunately For Us,
The Weather Is Taking A Turn.

We Are Literally In A Cloud,

So Maybe Not Surprising
That It Is Raining.

Cale:
If It Wasn't For The Compass,

We Can Be Easily Lost.

Gates:
In A Matter Of Minutes,

The Fog Comes Down
Like A Blanket

And Smothers Our Visibility,

Which Is Probably
For The Best,

Since It Means That No One
Can See Me Panting.

We Are Now Above 12,000 Feet,

So The Air Up Here --
Little Thin.

♪♪

Aquí Está. Mira.

[ Speaks Spanish ]

That's It!
That Is A Hill And A Hill.

And It Looks Like A --
A Circular Trail.

Yeah. Goes In Spiral.

Gates:
We Forge Ahead Toward The Peak

When, Suddenly, The Ground

Seems To Drop Away
In Front Of Us.

Whoa. What Is That?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

He Thinks It's
An Incan Trail.

This Ditch Is The Secret Path

That They Used
To Go Up And Down.

Gates: We Descend
Into The Strange Gully

And Begin To Follow It Uphill.

♪♪

We Push Through Several
Overgrown Sections

And Eventually Emerge
To A Promising Site.

-Loose Stonework Here.
-Yeah.

This Looks Like
Construction All In Here.

It's Roughly Cut,
But Something Was Here.

¿German, Qué Es Esto?
What Do You Think All This Is?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

¿Pucara? ¿Qué Es Pucara?

It's An Incan Watchtower.

Gates: Pucaraswere
A Kind Of Incan Fort.

They Were Placed In The Hills
Within Earshot Of One Another,

Blasting Out A Warning

To Other Watchtowers
In The Event Of Danger.

♪♪

As A Cold Rain Begins To Fall,

We Break Out Metal Detectors
And Scan The Hillside.

If The Farmer's Incan Relic
Was Found Here,

Could Atahualpa's Mummy
Be Stashed Nearby?

What? Oh, My God!

You Found Something?!

Josh! Come Here!

What Do You Got?

Cale:
I Don't Know What It Is!

[Bleep]

Whoa! Watch It!

It's A Big Hole.

-You Found A Hole.
-[ Laughs ]

Maybe You Could've
Opened With That.

-Are You Okay?
-I'd Be A Lot Worse

If I Was Down There.

-How Far Down Does That Go?
-I Don't Know. 15 Feet?

[ Exhales Deeply ] Okay.
What The Hell Is That?

[ Speaking Spanish ]

German Believes
It's A Tomb.

Why Would There Be A Tomb Here
At A Fortress, Do You Think?

[ Speaks Spanish ]

Maybe It's A Huge Offering.

[ Speaks Spanish ]

This Was
An Important Pucara.

Do You Think It Could've
Been The Mummy?

Who Knows?
Who Can Say?

Let's See If We Can Get Eyes
Down To The Bottom.

♪♪

Gates: Though I'm Not
Entirely Confident

About The Rigging
Of Our Wet Rope,

I Eagerly Descend Into The Pit,

Hopeful To Discover
What's Hiding At The Bottom.

[ Panting ]

Okay. I'm Down.

This Has All Been Carved Out,

And Then They Went In
A Little Bit.

Loose Debris Down Here.
Some Stone, As Well.

Could Someone Run Back And
Grab Me That Metal Detector?

Here It Is.

[ Pinging ]

Yeah, I Got A Hit Down Here.

There's Something
In This Corner, I Think.

Shovel? Thanks.

I Got A Hit Over Here
A Minute Ago.

Just Seein' What It Is.
May Be A False Hit.

No, I Got Somethin'!
Oh, Man.

Look At This.

♪♪

Gates: Deep Inside
The Cloud Forests Of Ecuador,

Archaeologist
German Molina And I

Discover A Strange,
Man-Made Hole

At The Ruins Of An Incan Fort,

Known As A Pucara.

Could This Be
The Final Resting Place

Of Their Last Emperor,
The Mighty Atahualpa?

No, I Got Somethin'!

-Oh, Man. Look At This.
-What Is It?

I Don't Know What It Is.
It Looks Very Old.

Oh, My God. Ha!
Beautiful.

-Oh, My God.
-What Is That?

-[ Speaks Spanish ]
-[ Speaks Spanish ]

A Thing They Use To Clip
Their Clothes Together.

What's It Made Of?

-Tumbaga. Cobre Y Oro.
-Copper And Gold.

Copper And Gold. [ Laughs ]

-Unbelievable!
-This Is Surreal.

-Whoo!
-That's Incredible!

[ Speaks Spanish ]

-Should Be Something More.
-Okay. I'll Keep Looking.

Gates: I Spend The Next
Soggy Hour Carefully

Exploring The Bottom
Of The Pit...

♪♪

...But To No Avail.

Not One Other Hit Down Here.

-Guys, I'm Comin' Back Up.
-All Right.

[ Panting ]

-Hey. Awesome, Awesome Job.
-[ Laughs ]

Gates: Unearthing
A 500-Year-Old Artifact

In The Remnants Of An Incan Fort
Is A Major Thrill.

But We're Left With
More Questions Than Answers.

Why Was This Watchtower Built
In Such A Remote Location?

And What Was It Guarding?

We Should Meet With
The Rest Of Our Team.

-It's A Few Hours Away.
-You Can Find Them From Here?

-We Can Find Them With Gps.
-Please.

♪♪

Gates: This Entire Area
Is Riddled With Incan Trails.

And About 4 Miles
From Our Location,

The Rest Of German
And Cale's Team

Has Been Busy Mapping
Each And Every One.

Now We Just Need To Reach Them.

We Descend To Their Location,
And, Soon, The Sun Follows Suit.

Honestly, It's Spooky
As Hell Out Here,

Which Is Why, After 4 Hours
Of Stumbling Around In The Dark,

I'm More Than A Little Relieved

To Spot Some Light
In The Distance.

-I See A Fire.
-Here They Are.

Benoit, Diego!

[ Speaking Spanish ]

-I'm Josh.
-Benoit.

Nice To Meet You.
How Are You?

Gates: Benoit Duverneuil Is
A Trailblazer In A New Field --

Aerial Archaeology.

And He's Dedicated
His Mastery Over Drones

To Studying
The Inca Civilization.

Really Crazy Day.
Went To Machay, Started There.

We Have A Lead On A Farmer
Who Found...

[ Speaks Native Language ]
-Oh, Wow.

Right. So We Went Up From Where
The Farmer Had Found This,

And It's A Pucara.

Yeah, An Inca Fortress
With This Trench Trail

Going Up To The Summit,
Totally Un-Excavated Place.

What We Came Across Today,

How Does That Fit
Into Your Mission Here?

Gates:
Benoit Has Been Undertaking

Complex Aerial Mapping
Of The Region.

And What He's Uncovering
Is Unprecedented.

His Drones Have Snapped
Countless Terabytes Of Photos,

Which Have Been
Stitched Together

To Reveal A Network
Of Incan Trails

And Un-Excavated Pucaras,

Incan Watchtowers Arranged
In A Perimeter.

Could It Be That
They're Protecting

An Undiscovered Sacred Site
And The Remains Of Atahualpa?

Do You Buy Into This Idea

That His Mummy Came
From Peru Into Ecuador?

So Where Do You Think
The Mummy Went?

Gates: Tomorrow,
We'll Continue The Hunt.

But, For Tonight,
We Need To Rest And Get Warm.

However, These Guys
Aren't Serving Hot Cocoa.

[ Sniffs ] Whew.

-Cale, What -- What Is This?
-[ Laughs ]

It's Canelazo.
It's A Local Liquor

Made With Fruits And Cinnamon
And A Lot Of Sugar.

-It's Good For The Altitude?
-Yeah.

Because It Kills You?

[ Laughter ]
Perfect. Well, Cheers, Boys.

-Cheers.
-Bottoms Up.

-Salud.
-Cheers.

Here We Go.

-Hold On. That's Great.
-[ Laughs ]

It's Like A Warm Margarita.
How Strong Is This?

-Very Strong.
-I'm Gonna Be So

[Bleep]-Faced In,
Like, 10 Minutes.

♪♪

[ Horse Whinnies ]

[ Snoring ]

Does Anybody Have Any Aspirin?

[ Exhales Deeply ]

Gates: The Previous Night's
Revelry Blurs Away.

And After A Little Housekeeping
And About 10 Cups Of Coffee,

We Get Back To Work.

All Right. Let's Do It.[ Horse Whinnies ]

Gates: Llamas Are
Packed Up With Supplies,

And We Mount Up On Horseback

To Head Even Higher
Into The Hills.

Our Plan Is To Explore
Unmapped Incan Trails...

And To Investigate The Area
Inside The Perimeter

Of The Ruined Pucarafortresses.

Are We On A Trail Here?

You Think It's Conceivable That
The Mummy Followed This Route?

[ Horse Whinnies ]

And Now It's Raining.

That's The Problem
With A Wet-Air Cloud Forest --

Very Unpredictable.

We Keep Passing Through
Different Environments

As We Get Up Here
To The Clouds.

It's Just Turned Into
A Thick Jungle.

The Wall Of Fog
Has Gotten The Better

Of My Sense Of Direction.

It's Just Like Being
Inside A Cloud Here.

You Can't See Anything.

But It's Not A Problem
For Benoit.

Yeah, Let It --
Let It Look Ahead Of Us.

Sounds Like A Good Idea.

Gates: Benoit's Plan Is Both
High-Tech And Yet Simple --

Send Up An Aerial Camera

To Take Photos
Of Incan Trails From Above

And Then Use Computers
To Stitch The Images

Into A 3-D Road Map
Of The Unknown.

Also, We're Basically
Lost Out Here,

So, Hopefully, We'll Be Able

To Kill Two Birds
With One Drone.

♪♪

Up And Away. Here We Go.

So, Heading Uphill. Misty.

Gates: The Drone Peers Down
Through The Fog

And Quickly Spots Trails.

-So We've Got Terraces In Here?
-Yep.

Gates:
And Also Something Else.

Ooh! Right There!
Look At That!

What Is That?

I Mean, This Definitely
Does Not Look Natural.

Gates:
On A Rainy Mountain In Ecuador,

Explorer Benoit Duverneuil
Has Sent Up An Aerial Camera

To Get Us A Lay Of The Land.

Through The Thickening Fog,
We Spot One Hill

That Looks Strangely Different
Than The Rest.

Ooh! Right There!

It's Huge.

I Mean, This Definitely
Does Not Look Natural.

It's Weird You Can't See It
From Down Here.

It's Blocked By --
By All The Vegetation.

How Far Is That From Us?

Yeah, Let's Check It Out.

[ Whirring ]

Gates: Too Steep And Muddy
For The Animals,

We Have To Hoof It
To The Site Ourselves,

An Undertaking Made
All The More Difficult

By The Thin Air
And Wet Conditions.

But Soon, We're Standing
At The Foot Of The Rise.

Well, There It Is.

It Does Have
A Strange Shape.

Yeah, It Looks Like
It Flattens Out.

This Hill Is Curious,
To Say The Least.

Steep Sections Lead
To Flattened Terraces.

Is This Natural
Or Something Else?

A Trench.

-It's Like The Other Site, Yeah?
-Yeah.

I Mean, It's Really Uniform.

Let's See Where It Goes.

Like The Trench
We Saw Yesterday,

This Path Wraps Around The Hill
Almost All The Way To The Top.

♪♪

Another Flat Layer.

It Looks Completely Leveled Off
Just Like The One Below It.

It's Almost Like
It's Stepping Up.

Where Does It All Lead,
Is The Question.

Yeah, For Sure.
Let's Keep Looking.

♪♪

Look At This.

Whew!
That's Breathtaking.

Feels Like The Top Of The World.
Look At That.

From The Peak, We Look Down
Through A World Of Vapor

To Seemingly Endless
Jungles Below.

Incredible.
Really Has A 360-Degree View.

Yeah.

Unbelievable.

Clouds Are Starting To Sock Us
In On This Back Side.

-Look At That.
-Yeah.

Huge Stones.

Right.
Let's Get Those Tools,

See If We Can Dig
Around A Little Bit

And, Uh, Reveal Anything.

Gates: The Path, The Stones,

The Oddly Shaped Terraces --

This Hill Appears To
Have Been Engineered,

And Exploring The Peak
Reveals Even More Mysteries.

-Drop Over Here.
-Yeah.

Oh, Look At That!
Guys, Come Here! Come Here!

Gates: We've Spotted An Opening
In The Ground --

One That Definitely
Doesn't Look Natural.

Oh, My God...

You Think It Could Be Part
Of The Trench System?

Well, I'll Grab A Couple Tools
And The Metal Detector.

Let's Check It Out.

Gates:
While I Gather Some Equipment,

Benoit Wastes No Time
And Jumps Down Into The Pit.

-Here You Go. Tool.
-Right.

He's Looking To See
If There's Any Actual Masonry

Or Whether It's Just A Raw Pit.

Any Stones?

Can You Go Forward At All?

There's No Way We're Gonna
Get Further In That

Without Some
Serious Equipment

And Some Way To
Buttress That Thing.

All Right. Come On.
[ Grunts ]

This Is The First Thing
That I've Seen That Says To Me,

This Is Not Just
A Farming Site.

Something Else
Is Going On Here.

Okay. So What Do You Think?
Could -- It Could Be A Passage?

Uh-Huh.

So What's Our Move?

Sure. Let's Break It Out.
Come On.

Gates: The Inca Sun God
Is Clearly Not On Our Side.

Above Us Is A Ceiling
Of Concrete,

And Heavier Rain And Darkness
Are Moving In Fast.

Hopefully, The Camera
Can Cut Through The Fog In Time.

You Ready?

Gates: Beneath Our Feet
Is A Massive Mystery --

One That's About To Be Solved.

♪♪

Want Even More
"Expedition Unknown"?

You Can Dig Deeper
Into Each Expedition

With Behind-The-Scenes Photos,
Deleted Scenes, And More

At Travelchannel.Com

♪♪

Gates: We're Racing
Against Daylight And Weather

To Scan A Massive Hill
Beneath Our Feet

That Might Be
An Important Incan Site.

To Find Out,
Benoit Unleashes A Drone,

Connected To State-Of-The-Art
Mapping Software.

Walk Me Through This.
How Does This Work?

Okay, Wow.[ Camera Shutter Clicking ]

[ Camera Shutter Clicking ]

Look At That.

♪♪

Oh, My God. Look At It.
You Can See The Whole Thing.

-Yep.
-It's Enormous.

I Mean, You Can Clearly
See The Shape Of It.

There's Symmetry.
There's Terraces.

You Can See How It Steps Up.
It's Definitely Man-Made.

Gates:
The Drone Struggles In The Rain

But Still Manages To Snap
Thousands Of Photos...

Which Are Digitally Woven
Together Into A 3-D Image

That Renders In Real-Time.

It Is A Structure.

It's So Big,
It Looks Like A Temple.

And So In Terms
Of Atahualpa,

In Terms Of The Mummy,
You Think It's Possible

That It Could've Come Here?

If The Mummy Was Brought Here,
It Could've Been Removed.

Or Who Knows?
It Could Be Interred Here

Or At One
Of The Other Sites.

Right.
It's -- It's Incredible.

Thank You, Guys, So Much.
Benoit.

-Thank You, Josh. Good Job.
-Thank You Very Much.

Gates: The Puzzle Pieces
To The Location

Of Atahualpa's Mummy
Are Falling Into Place.

Faded Documents Reveal
It Was Brought To Ecuador

Where There Are Ceremonial Sites
Fit For An Incan King

And Imperial Treasures
Recovered Far From Civilization.

In This Untouched Wilderness
Are Overgrown Trails

Leading To Long-Abandoned
Incan Ruins.

These Battlements
Must Have Guarded Something

And Seem To Encircle
Our Final Destination,

A Massive Hill That Eagle-Eye
Technology Has Revealed

Is Actually A Towering,
Undiscovered Incan Fortress.

The Next Step Is To
Peel Back The Vegetation

And Explore What's Underneath.

Until Then, Atahualpa Will Keep
Us Frantically Searching,

Proving That He Still
Retains Power

Nearly 500 Years
After His Death.