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Oh my god.

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That was like some power of god.

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F***.

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Oh my god.

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Look at this.

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Oh my god.

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Look at this.

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I recently read a report about the discovery of a lost city deep in the jungles of Cambodia,

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and I jumped at the chance to investigate.

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I want to tell you a story that begins over a thousand years ago.

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It's 802 AD in Southeast Asia,

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and a mysterious ruler named Jayavarman II appears on the scene.

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Inscriptions say he founded a city in the mountains where he conducted a strange ritual.

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Supposedly, a mystical priest used spells and powerful magic to give a sacred stone artifact

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known as a linga, the divine powers of the Hindu god Shiva.

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The king, or anyone else who controlled the stone, would have the ability to incinerate his enemies.

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You remember the Shankara stones from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?

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Yep, those were lingas, and I think we all remember how that turned out.

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So, it all sounds crazy, right?

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But here's the thing, this ritual might just have worked.

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Because the so-called God King succeeded in kick-starting a dynasty that went on to become

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one of the most advanced civilizations in the ancient world.

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Oh, and his lost city? It just got found.

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Using high-tech laser scanners known as Lidar, archeologists have stripped back the jungle and pinpointed the ruins.

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So I'm setting off for Southeast Asia to see the lost city for myself.

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My ultimate goal? Immersing myself in Cambodia's past to discover if the legend of the linga is real.

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More importantly, could it hold a potentially lethal power?

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My name is Josh Gates, with a degree in archeology and a passion for exploration.

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I have a tendency to end up in some very strange situations.

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There has gotta be a better way to make a living.

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My travels have taken me to the ends of the earth as I investigate the greatest legends in history.

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We're going to fly, let's go.

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This is Expedition Unknown.

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Early afternoon in the city of Panam Pen.

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Shouldering the banks of the mighty Mekong River, it is a confusing and beautiful assault on the senses.

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I'm here to begin my journey to reach the lost city, but with a few hours to kill before meeting my first contact, I've got time to soak up the capital.

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Southeast Asian markets are kind of a one-stop shop for anything.

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We've got fruit, we've got flowers, we've got religious offerings, dodgy stacks of foreign currency, you name it.

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The seafood couldn't get any fresher.

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Big mud? Like what are those?

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Try to escape.

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But the appetizers here can be a challenge.

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What in the holy hell is this thing?

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I mean, this is from another planet.

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A water cockroach, of course, delicious in the hot afternoon sun.

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There's a lot of protein, a lot of protein in this.

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And if the city doesn't overwhelm you, there's always the heat.

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Let's talk about the temperature for a second.

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I wish there was a way for me to communicate this.

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Picture being inside a wood-burning oven that is inside a volcano that is on the surface of the sun.

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That's roughly where we're at right now in terms of temperature.

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It's warm.

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There have been many landlords here, and most did little to impress their tenants.

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In the past 100 years alone, this has been French Indochina,

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a Japanese-occupied territory, and a kingdom torn apart by civil war.

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In the middle of town sits Tuol Svei Prey High School,

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which was turned into a detention center.

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From 1975 to 1979, Cambodia fell under the thumb of the Khmer Rouge,

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a radical Communist party that longed to return to the glory of the Khmer Empire

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and to exercise their own god-like powers.

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They tried, in a sense, to turn back time,

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by emptying the cities and forcing the population

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into primitive cities.

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They tried to turn back time,

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and they tried to turn back time,

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and they tried to turn back time,

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by emptying the cities and forcing the population into primitive agricultural slavery.

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The sick, the educated, anyone who spoke out, was killed.

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When it was all over, more than 2 million people died in the Cambodian genocide.

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Today, they stare back at visitors in a stunned, collective silence.

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A lot of these people knew when the photo was taken that they were going to be executed.

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This young kid, they got a chain around his neck, and he's about to be killed.

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Apologies. Some things are just too insane to make sense of.

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But against the odds, hope has proved irrepressible in Cambodia,

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and today, life goes on.

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So, today, bye. What are these guys?

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I need some good luck.

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Cambodia's tarnished capital is today in the midst of a rebirth.

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You ready for this? Here we go.

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Everywhere you look, life is returning to normal.

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This I can get used to. Seriously.

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My first mission is to sit down with my old friend Nick Ray,

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one of the first journalists to jump on the story of the lost city,

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whose name I can barely pronounce.

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It's called Mahindra Parvada.

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Exactly.

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And basically, using this new technology called LiDAR,

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this sort of military grade,

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high technology that can pierce through the earth and the jungle canopy,

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they suddenly found out that this was a much bigger city,

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a vast, vast complex, up on this jungle plateau.

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It's the birthplace of the Khmer Empire.

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It's where, in 802, Jai Vaman II, he invoked the power of the Hindu god Shiva.

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So how does one become a god king? What's the move?

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He takes a linger, linger in Hindu temples,

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and this holy priest uses these magic rituals to bring this power of Shiva down into this object,

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which is then put into a yoni or a female fertility symbol.

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And this gives Jai Vaman II the power of Shiva on earth

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to make him the most powerful king Southeast Asia would ever see.

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These are a lot of local lore and legend about the mountain itself.

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It's a very, very important thing to remember about the temple.

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Is there a lot of local lore and legend about the mountain itself?

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Definitely so.

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It's certainly belief that there could be the ghost of the god king himself.

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It's a place, you know, of real, real mystery.

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From here, the ruins are 200 miles away.

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Nick suggests I travel from Panampen by 4x4 through the city of Badambang

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and then to the ancient capital of Siam Reep, which is just 30 miles from the dig site.

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Once you're in Siam Reep, you're okay to go up by dirt bike or four-wheel drive

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to get to the main part of the mountain.

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But then your problem's star.

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The roads are going to be a big issue because, well, there aren't any roads.

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And then there's the land mines.

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Why is it so mine?

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Because the Khmer Rouge, they were overthrown pretty much from 79 until the late 1990s.

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They hid up there and to defend it against the government, they planted mines everywhere.

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And how much of that mountain do you think has been cleared?

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None of them have been demounted.

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Do not stray from the path.

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Josh, can I give you a top-up?

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Oh, yeah.

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Say one thing, I'm never going to find this lost city if we keep drinking.

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By the light of a new day, I'm leaving Panampen and following Nick's directions to the north.

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So it should be about an eight-hour drive up to Siam Reep through the city of Badambang.

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In Badambang, I plan to meet with an expert who knows more about the legendary power of the linga.

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Driving here is not for the faint of heart, as lanes are merely suggestions,

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and other drivers crowd the road with slightly oversized loads.

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But beyond the grip of the city, the traffic things, and my Cambodian road trip is finally getting underway.

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It's a bit like driving in a time machine, with each passing mile the trappings of the modern world fade

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and give way to a landscape and ways of life that haven't changed much in the last thousand years.

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As soon as you get outside of the cities, it all just drops away.

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Tons of rice paddies, a lot of agriculture, very rural.

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Nearly six hours into the drive, however, it's back to reality.

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Well, I was making really good time.

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And now, I am driving in a field.

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Okay, this is not good.

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With the construction backed up for miles and no other road, I'm going to have to find another way to get to Badambang.

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Next, luckily, there's a train here.

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Sort of.

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All aboard the bamboo railroad.

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A bullet train, it is not, but it gets the job done.

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When the French abandoned their stake in Cambodia in 1953, they took their trains, but left behind the tracks.

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They're a bath, they're on their...

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So the enterprising locals made their own locomotives, also known as a creaking wooden platform powered by a rubber belt and an outboard motor.

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The tracks are barely aligned, and the bridges aren't exactly up to code.

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Dodgey bridge.

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Generally, the whole thing feels like an open-air death trap, which is to say, it's pretty awesome.

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For me?

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Oh, thank you very much.

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Yes, I look like a middle-aged woman on an Eat Pray Love tour, but considering the 115 degree heat, I'm cool with that.

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The bamboo railroad is an ingenious system.

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That is, until you realize that these tracks are used to travel in both directions.

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Uh-oh.

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We're going to die.

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I'm crossing Cambodia to reach a lost city deep in the jungle.

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I was headed to interview an expert, who I hope can give me more information on the supernatural artifact that could be hiding in the ruins, when suddenly I encounter an oncoming train.

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Uh-oh.

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We're going to die.

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Hi.

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One, two, three, four, five, six versus one, two, three, four, five.

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Okay, we lose.

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Standoffs along the bamboo railroad are solved without argument.

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The arbiter?

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Simple math.

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The train with more passengers wins.

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And the losers have to disassemble their locomotive and move the whole contraption further down the line.

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Okay.

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Good.

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Okay, we're back.

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All aboard.

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Next stop, Batam Bang.

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After several more kilometers of ass-busting travel, we sputter our way into Batam Bang.

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Though the rail yards here have seen better days, this is in many ways the heart and soul of the country.

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It is a patchwork quilt of history.

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Remnants of war.

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Signs of peace.

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Just another confusing day in Cambodia.

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I have a few hours before my meeting with an antiquities expert, so I hike up to the edge of a remote mountain for a glimpse of something magical.

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Every night at sunset, about a million bats supposedly shoot out of this cave going out to feed for the night.

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There should be quite a show.

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As the sun sets, I sit down with the expert who has insider information about the lost city.

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He has agreed to be interviewed only if we hide his identity, since the ruins could be targeted by tomb raiders.

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Not the hot girl from the video game, but actual, real life tomb raiders.

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It is a real problem. It is a very big problem.

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So if I want to buy a relic, I want to buy a sandstone, small sandstone statue from a dig. How much do you think?

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The one in the good condition, it costs more than 10,000 US dollars.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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And so what about this lost city? Is this a place that looters have to go?

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Well, it's a place that looters have to go.

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It's a place that looters have to go.

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It's a place that looters have to go.

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It's a place that looters have to go.

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And so what about this lost city? Is this a place that looters are targeting?

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Yes.

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What do they hope to find there?

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Sandstone statues and especially the linga.

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They believe that the linga has the immense power.

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Do the looters know where the dig site is yet?

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I think they know.

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You think they do know?

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It is their business.

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Yeah.

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So they always keep their ears open.

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If these artifacts fall in the hands of the bad people, we are not only losing the artifacts,

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but we are losing the identity of our country.

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Early the next morning, I'm renewing my efforts to reach CMR, the gateway to the lost city.

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I've taken the bamboo railroad to its last stop, so I'm switching to Cambodia's original highway system.

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It's a six hour steam from Baton Bong to CMR, with my route taking me across the great Tan Le Sap lake.

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It was once the lifeblood of the ancient Khmer Empire, and for countless modern Cambodians, it still is.

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So this is the floating village.

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You've got 5,000, 10,000 people living out here in hundreds of these floating homes.

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Basically a totally self-sufficient ecosystem.

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They've got markets, gas stations, restaurants, schools, churches, you name it.

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Pretty amazing.

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It even has its own version of a 7-Eleven.

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Hey, I want something to drink.

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Do you have beer?

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What's that?

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One.

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I mean, you know, I get used to this.

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New day, new city.

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I finally made it to the edge of CMR, but now I have to face the biggest threat to my journey.

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Landmines.

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I'm at the nearby Cambodian Landmine Museum to meet with Akirad, one of the world's foremost authorities on their disposal.

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Akirad.

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Hi.

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Hello.

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Nice to see you.

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Nice to see you too.

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Thank you very much for talking with me.

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I appreciate it.

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How long have you been clearing landmines?

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For 20 years.

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How many landmines are left in Cambodia?

236
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,000
Still, four or five million left.

237
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,000
Four or five million?

238
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,000
Yeah.

239
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,000
Active landmines?

240
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,000
Yeah.

241
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,000
And how old were you when you became Khmer Rouge?

242
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,000
About 10 years old.

243
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:36,000
Akirad was recruited as a child soldier after the Khmer Rouge murdered both of his parents.

244
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:40,000
Under their command, he personally laid thousands of mines.

245
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,000
Now, he's on a mission of redemption, personally removing every explosive he can find.

246
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,000
How many do you think that you've cleared?

247
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,000
I cleared almost 50,000 landmines.

248
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,000
And will you show me how to spot them?

249
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,000
Yeah, I can show you.

250
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:55,000
Will it be safe?

251
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,000
Safe, yeah.

252
00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:05,000
Akirad agrees to teach me how to avoid mines by taking me along for a firsthand look at the terrifying reality that all Cambodians have to live.

253
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000
This is not a good sign.

254
00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,000
This minefield was discovered right next to a village and has not been fully cleared.

255
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,000
What is this going to do?

256
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000
The protective suits aren't exactly out of the hurt locker.

257
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,000
Great.

258
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,000
Okay, follow me, please.

259
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,000
Not safe.

260
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,000
Not safe.

261
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Not safe.

262
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:36,000
Safe.

263
00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,000
I'm going to pick up the minefield.

264
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:47,000
No.

265
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,000
Did he find something?

266
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,000
Yeah, yeah.

267
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,000
You found a mine?

268
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,000
Yeah.

269
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:58,000
This is about three feet from where I'd been walking, not five minutes ago.

270
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:03,000
So he's just found a landmine back there.

271
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:08,000
He's going to reveal it a little bit and then they're going to get ready to detonate it.

272
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,000
If you stepped on that, it would take off your leg.

273
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:11,000
Yeah.

274
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,000
Are there any other things I should avoid?

275
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,000
Places I should not go?

276
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,000
Many leaves like this.

277
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,000
Be careful.

278
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:19,000
There's a leaf cover, huh?

279
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:20,000
Yeah.

280
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,000
And what else?

281
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,000
Like this, you can step on.

282
00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,000
Uh-huh.

283
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000
But when the tree grow up like this, you can step on.

284
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,000
Uh-huh.

285
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,000
So anywhere there's a tree right there is pretty safe?

286
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,000
Yeah.

287
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:39,000
Having spent some time learning critical skills on where to step in these booby trap jungles,

288
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,000
it's time to detonate this mine from a safe distance.

289
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:48,000
Mine is transported by hand to a safe detonation place, which seems insane.

290
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,000
And so now what happens?

291
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,000
You're going to blow it up here?

292
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,000
Yeah, I'll just throw it here.

293
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,000
Sounds sketchy.

294
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000
Let's do it.

295
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,000
Think you have a tough job?

296
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,000
This is a dangerous job.

297
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,000
You sit down like this, there, because the inflows you.

298
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,000
It will come like this.

299
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,000
You protect only in front.

300
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:13,000
Get this in place?

301
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,000
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

302
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,000
You have to close your neck because a lot of fragments come.

303
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,000
Yeah.

304
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,000
Okay, so this goes up here, yes?

305
00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,000
Okay, and then straight.

306
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,000
Got it.

307
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,000
Okay, the device is armed.

308
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:26,000
Stand by.

309
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,000
Stand by.

310
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,000
And fire now.

311
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,000
While investigating an active minefield in Cambodia,

312
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,000
a powerful explosive has been discovered just a few feet away.

313
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,000
Disposing of these mines requires moving them by hand

314
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,000
before rigging them with a detonator.

315
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,000
Stand by.

316
00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,000
And fire now.

317
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,000
Fire now.

318
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,000
Unbelievable, 30 foot by 60 foot explosion,

319
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000
just from this one little device.

320
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,000
One more down, four or five million to go.

321
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,000
Thank you, Appiarat.

322
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000
Thank you.

323
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,000
After seeing what one mine is capable of,

324
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,000
I'm heading into the city of Siam Reap

325
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,000
with a new appreciation for the dangers beneath my feet.

326
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,000
Legend says that on a nearby mountain,

327
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,000
King Jai of Armin II used powerful magic,

328
00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:38,000
placing a sacred stone relic known as a linga

329
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,000
into a pedestal called a yani,

330
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,000
allowing him to tap into the power of the gods.

331
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000
And down here in Siam Reap,

332
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,000
there is compelling evidence of that power.

333
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,000
This town was little more than a provincial outpost

334
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000
when French explorers pushed through the dense jungles

335
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,000
in the 19th century on a mission to rediscover lost temples.

336
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,000
What they found was far beyond anything

337
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,000
they could have ever imagined.

338
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,000
Nearly 50 years ago,

339
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000
nearly 50 years after taking power,

340
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,000
Jai of Armin II passed away,

341
00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,000
his city swallowed by the jungle,

342
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,000
but the empire he started only grew.

343
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,000
Future kings moved down the mountain

344
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000
and used the same magic and rituals,

345
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,000
and what they built here does seem beyond the ability

346
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,000
of mortal men.

347
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,000
From the overgrown ruins of Tapram,

348
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,000
to the majestic stone gates of Angkor Thom,

349
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,000
each king attempted to outdo his predecessor

350
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000
on a scale that's almost unimaginable.

351
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,000
One god king constructs a sandstone temple,

352
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,000
another installs a 2,000-foot-long royal bathtub,

353
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:56,000
one even plastered 216 massive carvings of his own face

354
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,000
on the soaring Bayon Temple,

355
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,000
and at the center of it all sits Angkor Wat,

356
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,000
the largest religious structure in the world.

357
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,000
A 600-foot-wide hand-dug moat

358
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,000
kept back the cloying vines of the jungle,

359
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,000
preserving the mother of all temples.

360
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,000
It is quite literally heaven on earth,

361
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000
a representation of the home of the Hindu gods,

362
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000
and of course, the king.

363
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,000
John Mixick is an expert on the Khmer Empire

364
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000
and knows the exact coordinates of the ruins,

365
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,000
but I also want his opinion on the linga

366
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,000
before risking my life on a wild goose chase.

367
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,000
Tell me about Panamkulin, the holy mountain.

368
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,000
This is where Jayavarman II became a god king?

369
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,000
Yes, for hundreds of years thereafter,

370
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,000
they always refer to that ritual.

371
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,000
Makes it a pretty potent object, I would say.

372
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,000
That's right, it could instantly turn you into ashes.

373
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,000
So what do you think happened to Jayavarman II's linga?

374
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,000
What do you think happened to this potent image of Shiva?

375
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,000
Could it still be up there in the jungle?

376
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,000
It could well be.

377
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,000
I would not put it out of the range of possibility.

378
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,000
It's only now being cleared off.

379
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,000
Anxious to reach the remote dig site,

380
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,000
I decide to take a direct route to the mountain.

381
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,000
John agrees to drop me off as close as possible to the lost city.

382
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000
Our flight plan will take us 30 miles north of Siem Reap

383
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,000
to a remote village on the mountain.

384
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,000
From there, I'll use John's coordinates

385
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,000
to reach the dig site by motorbike.

386
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:24,000
In terms of these dig sites,

387
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,000
what are they actively digging up right now?

388
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,000
What we're looking at now is Jayavarman II's palace.

389
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,000
That's incredible.

390
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,000
For the 10 Williams to find Jayavarman II's palace

391
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,000
would be one of the major discoveries of all time.

392
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000
Soaring high above the jungles,

393
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000
the country seems to unfold like an endless green map.

394
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,000
And soon, the ground rises up as we approach our destination.

395
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,000
That's Panopulan straight ahead of us now.

396
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,000
There it is. There's Panopulan.

397
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:54,000
The holy mountain.

398
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000
There's any red road up there,

399
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,000
and there's the rest of our footpaths through the forest.

400
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,000
So it's still heavily forested, still landmines?

401
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,000
Still landmines, I'm afraid.

402
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,000
There's still not too well land or is it there too?

403
00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:10,000
Beautiful.

404
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,000
Okay, I can see a nice place to put it down.

405
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,000
I'm on my way to find a lost Cambodian city

406
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,000
that's rumored to hold a mystical and powerful artifact

407
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,000
that has the power to turn men into gods.

408
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,000
The pilot descends onto a clearing in a mountain village.

409
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,000
John has given me the coordinates to find the lost city

410
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000
and has dropped me as close as possible to the dig site.

411
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,000
I've finally reached the holy mountain of the God King.

412
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,000
Granted, it wasn't my most subtle entrance.

413
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,000
Sosaday!

414
00:25:58,000 --> 00:25:59,000
Sosaday!

415
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,000
Sosaday!

416
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,000
The village turned out.

417
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,000
Now it gets really hard.

418
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,000
This is the village of Preah Ang Tham.

419
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,000
It's the absolute end of the line for most

420
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,000
since it's impossible to drive a 4x4 any deeper into the interior.

421
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,000
It's also home to a mystical temple

422
00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,000
where visitors come to stock up on spiritual protection

423
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:25,000
for the journey ahead.

424
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000
It's hot and that's a lot of stairs.

425
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,000
Okay.

426
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000
Amidst the smoke, the monks and their religious relics is this.

427
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,000
A stone linga and yanni pedestal

428
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,000
and they're still being used in sacred rituals.

429
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,000
It's essentially a modern version of what has evolved

430
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,000
from the original ceremony that Jai Bharmana II did in 802 AD.

431
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,000
A Hindu priest blesses supplicants with water,

432
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,000
which is made holy by flowing around the linga

433
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,000
and through the yanni.

434
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,000
And while I'm not sure this particular rock

435
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,000
is going to turn me into a god king,

436
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,000
considering I'm about to go into a deadly jungle,

437
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,000
I'll take all the help I can get.

438
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,000
At a bare minimum, it's the first shower I've had in three days.

439
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,000
I head back into the village for the most challenging part of my trip.

440
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,000
To reach the archaeologists at the dig site,

441
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,000
I'll have to navigate through a heavily landmine jungle.

442
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,000
To do that, I need some wheels.

443
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,000
And then I saw her, the marginally least crappy bike in the fleet.

444
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,000
This, you're hiding the good bike. This is the good one, yeah?

445
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,000
This is number one.

446
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,000
Okay, I'll take this one.

447
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:18,000
A momentary pit stop in the rural Cambodian version of the gas station for a quick fill-up.

448
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,000
Give me the high-out tank, give me the phantom.

449
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000
That's the high-test stuff, right?

450
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,000
The Cambodian gas station fuel is in a old soda bottle.

451
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000
Feels like there's a little bit of potential for some dangerous confusion there, but hey, it works.

452
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000
And then it's time to head into the unknown.

453
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,000
My goal is close at hand.

454
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,000
To be one of the first outsiders to document the Lost City

455
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:49,000
and look for evidence that the story of Jayavarman's ceremony is more than just a myth.

456
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,000
Lost City? Here I come.

457
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,000
On either side of these narrow trails, the mountain is littered with deadly explosives

458
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,000
and staying upright is something of a challenge.

459
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,000
This is some **** road.

460
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,000
This is some **** road.

461
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:08,000
Whoa!

462
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,000
That was way down there.

463
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,000
Oh, can somebody get a machete back here, please?

464
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,000
After a punishing ride, I spot a clearing and pulled a bike over.

465
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,000
What I see next takes my breath away.

466
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,000
Look at this!

467
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,000
I have finally reached the edge of the Lost City of Mahendra Parvada.

468
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,000
No tourists, no people.

469
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:44,000
If you want to talk about real discovery, real adventure, this is it.

470
00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,000
There's nobody up here. Nobody comes up here.

471
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,000
These stone temples are a thousand years old

472
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:53,000
and were first spotted by French archaeologists in the 1930s.

473
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:54,000
Amazing.

474
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:58,000
However, the full extent of the ruins remained elusive until just recently.

475
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,000
Unbelievable. Look at that.

476
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,000
So cool.

477
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,000
Nearby, there's more evidence that I'm headed toward the heart of the Lost City.

478
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,000
So at one time, this is a road that would have gone all the way down to the valley below

479
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,000
down to where Angkor Wat is today.

480
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,000
And people would have made pilgrimage up here to the holy mountain.

481
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,000
And they carved these incredible stone animals up here.

482
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,000
Over the hill, I discover something else.

483
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,000
People.

484
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:40,000
Here, far from the outside world, an army of excavators is living and working deep in the jungle

485
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,000
to reveal a city buried for centuries.

486
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,000
With the threat of looters, few outsiders are allowed to see the site.

487
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000
And I'm lucky that John called ahead and secured permission.

488
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:52,000
Richen?

489
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:53,000
Welcome.

490
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,000
Nice to meet you.

491
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,000
Nice to meet you.

492
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,000
Yes, nice to meet you.

493
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,000
This is my good friend, Daryf.

494
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:58,000
Nice to meet you.

495
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,000
Let's start with this.

496
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,000
Why did you choose to hone in on this area?

497
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:10,000
Well, we suspect that this was the royal compound for the very first king of the Angkorid Empire.

498
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000
So you think that this area we're in now was part of Jai-Avarm in the 2nd's royal enclosure?

499
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:23,000
To the best of our knowledge, to the best of the information that we have today, we believe it's a society.

500
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000
Tell me a little bit about what the Lidar showed up here.

501
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:29,000
Oh, okay.

502
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:34,000
Well, Lidar's brand new technology where they send this light through various levels of the canopy.

503
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,000
This is a bit like radar.

504
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,000
Literally, it shows you the outline.

505
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,000
Lidar works by firing bursts of lasers from above.

506
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:49,000
The beams allow archaeologists to virtually strip back the jungle canopy and see not only ruins, but objects hidden underground.

507
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:57,000
In this case, the Lidar revealed the lost city of Mahendra Parvada, a huge network of roads, structures and habitations.

508
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:04,000
All of this was jungle over here and it just stripped away and you can see a perfect outline of the site.

509
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,000
When the data came out, all of us was blown away.

510
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,000
Look at those lines, are those roads?

511
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,000
So like 1200 years ago, there were highways cutting through this plateau.

512
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,000
It's amazing.

513
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,000
We're right here, at this little square.

514
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,000
What would you like to find up here?

515
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:24,000
I think it would be great if we can find the signature of the king, isn't it?

516
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,000
Perhaps you find Jai-Avarm in the 2nd's linga.

517
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:28,000
No, it would be great.

518
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,000
Just up the trail was Jean-Baptiste Chivance, the leading archaeologist at the lost city.

519
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:39,000
Are you JB?

520
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,000
Who showed me another major find.

521
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:44,000
So you see this block here?

522
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,000
Yes.

523
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,000
It's a laterite block.

524
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,000
This is typical of an archaeological feature.

525
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,000
So you started with just this?

526
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,000
Yeah.

527
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:51,000
And then, well, let's see.

528
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:52,000
Yeah, show me.

529
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:57,000
Before the lidar, JB spent years up here excavating individual pieces of the city.

530
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,000
This one stone was a clue that something was nearby.

531
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:07,000
But it took the lidar to reveal that this may have been the edge of a massive monastery.

532
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,000
There are pretty many scales with the building.

533
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,000
Then they start the wall, which is the best preserved section we have here.

534
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:21,000
These stone walls and delicate roof tiles haven't been seen by anyone for a millennium.

535
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,000
And it turns because it continues on this way?

536
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,000
Well, that's just the west.

537
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:29,000
Whoa, scorpion!

538
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:42,000
My long journey to find the lost city of the God King has brought me deep into the jungles of Cambodia.

539
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:48,000
I've found spectacular ruins of the city, as well as the archaeologists who are revealing it brick by brick.

540
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000
I'm also learning that this is a place brimming with danger.

541
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,000
Whoa, scorpion! Back up! Back up! Back up! Back up!

542
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,000
JB, I just saved your life.

543
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,000
Thanks. Thanks, man.

544
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,000
You get a lot of these here?

545
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,000
Yeah, yeah. Basically, the trench is a very good trap.

546
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:05,000
You look pissed off, too.

547
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:06,000
Yeah, he's not happy. He's probably hungry.

548
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,000
And then how do you get them out of there?

549
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,000
We ask my crazy assistant to pick them up.

550
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,000
Hey!

551
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:12,000
What's it?

552
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,000
You're a pick?

553
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,000
Yeah.

554
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:15,000
He just said that you were crazy.

555
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:16,000
No, no, no.

556
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:17,000
Yeah, half-crazy.

557
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,000
Half-crazy?

558
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,000
Completely crazy.

559
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:20,000
What's up?

560
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,000
F***!

561
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:22,000
Well, you won that.

562
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:23,000
No, I don't want it.

563
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,000
Just don't get bitten.

564
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:35,000
Pick!

565
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,000
You are legitimately an insane person.

566
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,000
You need to be evaluated professionally.

567
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,000
You really do have a crazy assistant.

568
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,000
Yeah, yeah.

569
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,000
The trenches that I'd seen were amazing,

570
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,000
but neither seemed to be the right fit

571
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,000
for Jayavarman's ceremony site.

572
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,000
To connect with the gods,

573
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:54,000
he probably used the top of the mountain.

574
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,000
So that's where I needed to get to.

575
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,000
With night falling in a storm on the horizon,

576
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,000
I was about to pack it in

577
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,000
when I received a surprising offer.

578
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,000
I can take you to a place nobody knows about.

579
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:07,000
Like a secret place?

580
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,000
Yeah, like a secret place.

581
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,000
A new place?

582
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:10,000
Yeah.

583
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,000
This is what I came for.

584
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000
Pick has agreed to take me to a location

585
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,000
that archaeologists are only just beginning to explore.

586
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,000
And we can get there in the dark?

587
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:20,000
Yeah, we can get there in the dark.

588
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,000
Very bad.

589
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,000
Very bad.

590
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:23,000
Let's go for it.

591
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,000
Come on.

592
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:25,000
Let's go.

593
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:26,000
Lead the way.

594
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,000
I'm behind you.

595
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,000
With night upon us and a thunderstorm on the horizon,

596
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:34,000
this could be a huge mistake.

597
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,000
But Pick drives on, leading me to an area

598
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,000
that is seldom seen by outsiders.

599
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,000
Here?

600
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,000
All right, yeah, here.

601
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,000
We're near the top of the mountain.

602
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,000
This is ground zero for the legend of Jaya Vaman.

603
00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:56,000
Could this be the spot where he conducted his mystical ceremony?

604
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,000
With a storm fast approaching,

605
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,000
we immediately begin to search for evidence.

606
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,000
Oh, back up, back up, back up, back up.

607
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,000
Oh, oh, back up, back up, back up, back up.

608
00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,000
Snake, snake, snake, snake.

609
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:14,000
Green snake?

610
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,000
Green snake, yeah.

611
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:18,000
It's poisonous, yeah?

612
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:19,000
It's very poisonous.

613
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:20,000
Deadly poisonous.

614
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:21,000
Deadly poisonous?

615
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:22,000
Yeah, deadly poisonous.

616
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:23,000
That bites us? What happens?

617
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:24,000
Oh, you're dead, man.

618
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,000
You may be crazy, but you've got a good eye.

619
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:29,000
Holy s***.

620
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:37,000
Look at this.

621
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,000
Big overhang, yeah?

622
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,000
Oh, my God, look at this.

623
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:54,000
Oh, my God.

624
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,000
These carvings look to be about 1200 years old

625
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,000
and are beautifully preserved.

626
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,000
This is an incredible find

627
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,000
and has been seen by few outsiders.

628
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,000
And the inscriptions indicate that this site

629
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,000
was likely used for rituals.

630
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,000
Look at this.

631
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,000
Here.

632
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,000
This is the world's worst bridge.

633
00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:20,000
It looks very safe.

634
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,000
I've seen a lot of bad bridges before.

635
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,000
This may be the worst.

636
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:30,000
The worst one ever.

637
00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:37,000
Oh, my God.

638
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:39,000
Okay, Alacross.

639
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:41,000
Are you coming over?

640
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,000
I weigh twice as much as you.

641
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,000
If it didn't collapse for me,

642
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,000
you should be fine.

643
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:45,000
Oh, look at this.

644
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:46,000
Huge, Johnny.

645
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,000
Pick has led us to a perfectly preserved bridge.

646
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,000
And we haven't caught aKeys.

647
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:52,000
Here we go.

648
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:53,000
Let's go.

649
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,000
I've confirmed our 무정,

650
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,000
we've both nee diplomatic duties.

651
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,000
That also shows that

652
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:05,000
these three-storey bridge

653
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,000
do a lot of great things and usefulness

654
00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:08,000
with some great valuables,

655
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:09,000
but they move around.

656
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,000
Maybe they are spreading information

657
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,280
Pic has led us to a perfectly preserved stone yani.

658
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,080
Look at the size of this thing.

659
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:23,120
Want to go around the lingua, coming up swimming the yuni.

660
00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:26,080
Yeah, it's just like the one I saw at the temple in Franca,

661
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,240
except 1200 years old.

662
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:31,760
This ancient sandstone vessel once held a linga.

663
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,120
Though the relic is missing,

664
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,600
the yani is further evidence that this mountain

665
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,400
was once the site of mystical ceremonies

666
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,320
and could even have been the location

667
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,640
where Jayavarman became a living god.

668
00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:46,480
I've seen more than enough to convince me

669
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,440
that Jayavarman's ceremony actually took place,

670
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:51,280
though his magic is still a mystery.

671
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:56,080
We decide to push on, and ominously, the weather pushes back.

672
00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:59,840
Even I'm starting to get wrapped up in the legend of the god king.

673
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,600
Locals think this whole mountain is basically haunted.

674
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,960
They say that the spirit of Jayavarman is up here.

675
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,760
I have to say with the rain and the thunder and the lightning,

676
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,360
it is a very freaky place.

677
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:18,480
Looks like old quick holes.

678
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:20,880
Old steps.

679
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:35,680
That was the craziest bolt of lightning I've ever seen.

680
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:38,240
That was like some power of god.

681
00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:44,240
Finally, the lightning strikes and thunder claps

682
00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:45,760
feel like they're right on top of us.

683
00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:51,120
We quickly head back to the bikes to end our investigation

684
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:52,240
and escape the storm.

685
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,040
Unfortunately, the rain has turned the trails to mud,

686
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,120
and it is now dangerous going on the mountain.

687
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:06,720
We make it down as far as the village,

688
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:08,640
but with the rain coming down in sheets,

689
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:10,560
we take shelter in Picks jungle home.

690
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,280
So we're about halfway down the mountain.

691
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:13,760
Yeah.

692
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:14,160
Now what?

693
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:16,320
Be your time.

694
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:17,200
Be your time, yeah.

695
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:21,520
Okay, let's take a load off.

696
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:24,000
I can reassess my life decisions at this point.

697
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:28,320
Though my drinking companions are mostly former Khmer Rouge soldiers

698
00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:30,240
and one crazy local guide,

699
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,080
I am happy to have a roof over my head

700
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,880
and a bit of light in an otherwise imposing jungle.

701
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:36,560
Picks, is this light on a generator?

702
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:38,240
Is all the power on the generator?

703
00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:39,040
What time does it go off?

704
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,200
By the light of a new day,

705
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:54,240
I head down the mountain and back towards civilization.

706
00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:56,160
There's obviously more to be found here,

707
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:58,800
but it will take years to fully excavate the city.

708
00:40:58,800 --> 00:40:59,760
I gotta get some coffee.

709
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,880
History tells us that the quest for absolute power

710
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:06,160
is a dangerous desire.

711
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:08,960
For the god kings of the Khmer Empire,

712
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:10,480
the power of the linga,

713
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:12,800
or at least the perception of that power,

714
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,840
allowed them to build artistic achievements without equal.

715
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:18,160
For the Khmer Rouge,

716
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:20,800
absolute power gave rise to the very darkest

717
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,040
and most deadly aspects of human nature.

718
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,920
In truth, this country has always been a puzzle to me.

719
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:29,920
Not because of the history,

720
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:33,360
but because of the people who keep picking themselves up

721
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:34,640
and dusting themselves off.

722
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,160
They have adapted, they have endured,

723
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:40,160
and they are, despite everything,

724
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:41,920
filled with hope for the future.

725
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,680
The story of Cambodia is still being written

726
00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:47,040
from both ends of the book.

727
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,720
At this very moment, on a heavily landmine mountain,

728
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:54,080
daring archaeologists are discovering the very first chapter.

729
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,880
We now know that the story of Jayavarman is more than a myth.

730
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:04,160
His city has been revealed by 21st century technology,

731
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:07,040
and the jungle is giving up his long-held secrets.

732
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,000
Having found a ceremonial yani,

733
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:11,760
there may well be a linga here too.

734
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,040
But does it wield the fearsome power of the gods?

735
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:19,600
As archaeologists continue to shift this ancient soil,

736
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,440
new discoveries will be made,

737
00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:24,640
and the lost artifact of power could be next,

738
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:29,120
waiting just beneath our feet.