Expedition Unknown (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Temple of Doom - full transcript

GATES: Oh, my God!

That was like
some power of God [bleep]

Oh, my God.

Look at this!

I recently read a report

about the discovery
of a lost city

deep in the jungles of Cambodia,

and I jumped at the chance
to investigate.

I want to tell you a story

that begins
over a thousand years ago.

It's 802 A.D. in Southeast Asia,



and a mysterious ruler
named Jayavarman II

appears on the scene.

Inscriptions say he founded
a city in the mountains,

where he conducted
a strange ritual.

Supposedly, a mystical priest
used spells and powerful magic

to give a sacred stone artifact,
known as a linga,

the divine powers
of the Hindu god Shiva.

The king or anyone else
who controlled the stone

would have the ability
to incinerate his enemies.

You remember the Sankara Stones

from "Indian Jones
and the Temple of Doom"?

Yep.
Those were lingas.

And I think we all remember
how that turned out.

[ Thunder crashes,
woman screams ]



So, it all sounds crazy, right?

But here's the thing --

This ritual might
just have worked.

Because the so-called god-king

succeeded in kick-starting
a dynasty that went on to become

one of the most advanced
civilizations

in the ancient world.

Oh, and his lost city?

It just got found.

Using high-tech laser scanners
known as lidar,

archaeologists
have stripped back the jungle

and pinpointed the ruins.

So I'm setting off
for Southeast Asia

to see the lost city for myself.

My ultimate goal --

immersing myself
in Cambodia's past

to discover if the legend
of the linga is real.

More importantly, could it hold
a potentially lethal power?

[ Birds squawking ]

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.

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

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...

Early afternoon
in the city of Phnom Penh.

Shouldering the banks
of the mighty Mekong River,

it is a confusing and beautiful
assault on the senses.

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.

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

We got fruit, we got flowers,
we got religious offerings,

dodgy stacks
of foreign currency --

You name it.

The seafood couldn't get
any fresher.

Pick them up?

Like, what are those?

Whoa!

Tried to escape.

[ Laughs ]

But the appetizers here
can be a challenge.

What in the holy hell
is this thing?

I mean,
this is from another planet.

A water cockroach --

Of course, delicious
in the hot afternoon sun.

A lot of protein.

Lot of protein in this.

[ Woman laughs ]

And if the city
doesn't overwhelm you,

there's always the heat.

Let's talk about the temperature
for a second.

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

Picture being inside
a wood-burning oven

that is inside a volcano

that is on
the surface of the sun.

That's roughly
where we're at right now

in terms of temperature.

It's warm.

There have been
many landlords here,

and most did little
to impress their tenants.

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

a Japanese-occupied territory,

and a kingdom torn apart
by civil war.

In the middle of town
sits Tuol Svay Pray High School,

which was turned
into a detention center

during the country's
darkest chapter.

From 1975 to 1979,

Cambodia fell under the thumb
of the Khmer Rouge,

a radical communist party

that longed to return
to the glory of the Khmer empire

and to exercise
their own godlike powers.

They tried, in a sense,
to turn back time

by emptying the cities
and forcing the population

into primitive
agricultural slavery.

The sick, the educated --
Anyone who spoke out was killed.

When it was all over,

more than two million people
died in the Cambodian genocide.

Today they stare back
at visitors

in a stunned,
collective silence.

A lot of these people knew,
when the photo was taken,

that they were
gonna be executed.

This young kid, they got a chain
around his neck,

and he's about to be killed.

Apologies.

Some things are just too insane
to make sense of.

[ Birds chirping ]

But against the odds,

hope has proved irrepressible
in Cambodia,

and today life goes on.

[ Speaking Cambodian ]

What are these guys?

BOY: For good luck.

I need some good luck.

Cambodia's tarnished capital

is, today,
in the midst of a rebirth.

You ready for this?

Yeah.

Here we go.

[ Pleasant music plays ]

Everywhere you look,
life is returning to normal.

This I can get used to,
seriously.

RAY: Sure.

Cheers.

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

one of the first journalists
to jump on the story

of the lost city whose name
I can barely pronounce.

It's called
Mahendraparvata.

Mahendraparvata.

Exactly.

And basically, using this
new technology called lidar,

this sort of military-grade
high technology

that can pierce through
the earth and the jungle canopy,

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

a vast, vast complex
up on this jungle plateau.

It's the birthplace
of the Khmer Empire.

It's where, in 802,
Jayavarman II,

he invoked the power
of the Hindu god Shiva.

So, how does one become
a god-king.

What's the move?

He takes a linga.

Linga in Hinduism
is a phallic symbol.

And this holy priest uses
these magic rituals

to bring this power of Shiva
down into this object,

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

And this gives Jayavarman II
the power of Shiva on Earth

to make him
the most powerful king

Southeast Asia
had ever seen.

Is there a lot of local lore
and legend

about the mountain itself?

Definitely so.

There's certainly belief

that there could be the ghost
of the god-king himself.

It's a place
of real, real mystery.

From here,
the ruins are 200 miles away.

Nick suggests I travel
from Phnom Penh by 4x4

through the city of Battambang

and then to the ancient capital
of Siem Reap,

which is just 30 miles
from the dig site.

Once you're in Siem Reap,

you're okay to go up
by dirt bike or four-wheel drive

to get to the main part
of the mountain,

but then
your problems start.

The roads are gonna be
a big issue because --

Well, there aren't
any roads.

[ Laughs ]

And then
there's the land mines.

Why is it so mined?

Because the Khmer Rouge,
when they were overthrown,

pretty much from '79
until the late 1990s,

they hid up there,

and to defend it
against the government,

they planted mines
everywhere.

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

None of them
have been demined.

Do not stray
from the path.

Josh, you want me
to give you a top-off?

Oh, yeah.
I'll tell you one thing --

I'm never gonna find
this lost city

if we keep drinking.

[ Chuckles ]

[ Insects calling ]

By the light of a new day,
I'm leaving Phnom Penh

and following Nick's directions
to the north.

So, it should be
about an eight-hour drive

up to Siem Reap
through the city of Battambang.

In Battambang,
I plan to meet with an expert

who knows more about the
legendary power of the linga.

Driving here
is not for the faint of heart,

as lanes are merely suggestions,

and other drivers crowd the road
with slightly oversized loads.

But beyond the grip of the city,
the traffic thins,

and my Cambodian road trip is
finally getting underway.

It's a bit like driving
in a time machine.

With each passing mile,

the trappings
of the modern world fade

and give way
to a landscape and ways of life

that haven't changed much
in the last thousand years.

♪ I traveled far away ♪

♪ To places
I've not been before ♪

Soon as you get outside
of the cities,

it all just drops away --

tons of rice paddies,
lot of agriculture, very rural.

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

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Well, I was making
really good time.

And now I am driving in a field.

Okay, this is not good.

With the construction backed up
for miles and no other road,

I'm going to have to
find another way

to get to Battambang.

Next.

Luckily, there's a train here --

sort of.

All aboard the bamboo railroad.

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

When the French abandoned
their stake in Cambodia in 1953,

they took their trains,
but left behind the tracks.

Is there a bathroom
on this?

No.

So the enterprising locals
made their own locomotives,

also known
as a creaking wooden platform

powered by a rubber belt
and an outboard motor.

The tracks are barely aligned,

and the bridges aren't
exactly up to code.

Dodgy bride.

Generally, the whole thing feels
like an open-air deathtrap,

which is to say
it's pretty [bleep] awesome.

For me?

Oh, thank you very much.

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.

The bamboo railroad is
an ingenious system.

That is, until you realize
that these tracks are used

to travel in both directions.

Uh-oh.

We're gonna die.

GATES:
I'm crossing Cambodia

to reach a lost city
deep in the jungle.

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.

Uh-oh.

We're gonna die.

[ Brakes squeak ]

Hi.

One, two, three,
four, five, six

versus one, two, three,
four, five.

Okay, we lose.

Standoffs along
the bamboo railroad

are solved without argument.

The arbiter? Simple math.

The train
with more passengers wins.

Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi.

And the losers have to
disassemble their locomotive

and move the whole contraption
further down the line.

[ Straining ] Okay.

Good?

Okay, we're back.

All aboard.

Next stop Battambang!

After several more kilometers
of ass-busting travel,

we sputter our way
into Battambang.

Though the rail yards here
have seen better days,

this is, in many ways,

the heart and soul
of the country.

It is a patchwork quilt
of history --

remnants of war, signs of peace.

Just another confusing day
in Cambodia.

[ Chicken clucking ]

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.

Every night at sunset,
about a million bats

supposedly shoot out
of this cave,

going out to feed for the night.

This should be quite a show.

[ Bats chittering ]

[ Dramatic music plays ]

As the sun sets,
I sit down with the expert

who has insider information
about the lost city.

He has agreed to be interviewed
only if we hide his identity,

since the ruins could be
targeted by tomb raiders --

not the hot girl
from the video game,

but actual
real-life tomb raiders.

So, if I want to buy
a relic,

I want to buy a small
sandstone statue from a dig,

how much do you think?

Wow.

Yeah.

And so, what about
this lost city?

Is this a place
that looters are targeting.

Yes.

What do they hope
to find there?

Mm-hmm.

Do the looters know
where the dig site is yet?

You think they do know?

Yeah.

Early the next morning,

I'm renewing my efforts
to reach Siem Reap,

the gateway to the lost city.

I've taken the bamboo railroad
to its last stop,

so I'm switching to Cambodia's
original highway system.

It's a six-hour steam
from Battambang to Siem Reap,

with my route taking me across
the great Tonle Sap Lake.

It was once the lifeblood
of the ancient Khmer Empire,

and for countless
modern Cambodians, it still is.

So, this is
the floating village.

You've got 5,000, 10,000 people
living out here

in hundreds
of these floating homes.

It's basically a totally
self-sufficient ecosystem.

They've got markets,
gas stations,

restaurants, schools,
churches -- You name it.

Pretty amazing.

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

Hey, I want something
to drink.

Do you have beer?

MAN: One dollar.

One.

I mean, you know...

I could get used to this.

[ Birds chirping ]

New day, new city.

I finally made it
to the edge of Siem Reap,

but now I have to face

the biggest threat
to my journey -- land mines.

I'm at the nearby
Cambodian Landmine Museum

to meet with Aki Ra, one of
the world's foremost authorities

on their disposal.

Aki Ra.

Hi.

Hello.

Hey, hello.

Nice to see you.

Nice to see you, too.

Thank you very much
for talking with me.

I appreciate it.

Yeah.

How long have you been
clearing land mines?

How many land mines are left
in Cambodia?

Four or five million?

Yeah.

Active land mines?

Yeah.

And how old were you
when you became Khmer Rouge?

Aki Ra was recruited
as a child soldier

after the Khmer Rouge
murdered both of his parents.

Under their command,

he personally laid
thousands of mines.

Now he's on a mission
of redemption,

personally removing
every explosive he can find.

How many do you think
that you've cleared?

And will you show me
how to spot them?

Will it be safe?

Aki Ra 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 with.

This is not a good sign.

This minefield was discovered
right next to a village

and has not been fully cleared.

What is this gonna do?

The protective suits

aren't exactly
out of "The Hurt Locker."

Great.

[ Animals calling ]

Not safe, not safe, safe.

[ Speaking Cambodian ]

GATES:
Did he find something?

Yeah, here.

He found a mine?

Yeah.

This is about three feet from
where I'd been walking

not five minutes ago.

So, he's just found
a land mine back there.

He's gonna reveal it
a little bit,

and then they're gonna get ready
to detonate it.

GATES: If you stepped on that,
it would take off your leg.

RA: Yeah.

Are there any other things
I should avoid,

places I should not go?

With leaf cover, uh-huh.

Yeah.

And what else?

Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

So anywhere there's a tree,
right there is pretty safe.

Yeah.

Okay.

Having spent some time
learning critical skills

on where to step
in these booby-trapped jungles,

it's time to detonate this mine
from a safe distance.

The mine is transported by hand
to a safe detonation place,

which seems...insane.

And so now what happens?
You're gonna blow it up here?

Yeah, destroy it here.

Sounds...

sketchy.

Let's do it.

Think you have a tough job?

This is a dangerous job.

Uh-huh.

...will come like this.

Get this in place?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You have to close
your neck

because a lot of fragment
come, yeah.

Okay,
so this goes up here, yes?

Okay, and then straight on,
you do.

Got it.

Okay, the device is armed.

Stand by.

RA: Stand by!

And...

firing now!

GATES: While investigating
an active minefield in Cambodia,

a powerful explosive has been
discovered just a few feet away.

Disposing of these mines
requires moving them by hand

before rigging them
with a detonator.

Stand by.

And...

firing now!

[ Detonator beeps ]

Whew.

Unbelievable.

30-foot-by-60-foot
explosion

just from this one
little device.

One more down,
four or five million to go.

Thank you, Aki Ra.

Thank you.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

After seeing
what one mine is capable of,

I'm heading into the city
of Siem Reap

with a new appreciation
for the dangers beneath my feet.

Legend says that,
on a nearby mountain,

King Jayavarman II
used powerful magic,

placing a sacred stone relic
known as a linga

into a pedestal called a yoni,

allowing him to tap into
the power of the gods.

And down here in Siem Reap,

there is compelling evidence
of that power.

This town was little more
than a provincial outpost

when French explorers
pushed through the dense jungles

in the 19th century on a mission
to rediscover lost temples.

What they found was far beyond
anything they could've imagined.

Nearly 50 years
after taking power,

Jayavarman II passed away,

his city swallowed
by the jungle.

But the empire
he started only grew.

Future kings
moved down the mountain

and used the same magic
and rituals,

and what they built here

does seem beyond the ability
of mortal men.

From the overgrown ruins
of Ta Prohm

to the majestic stone gates
of Angkor Thom,

each king attempted
to outdo his predecessor

on a scale
that's almost unimaginable.

One god-king constructs
a sandstone temple,

another installs
a 2,000-foot-long royal bathtub.

One even plastered 216
massive carvings of his own face

on the soaring Bayon Temple.

And at the center of it all
sits Angkor Wat,

the largest religious structure
in the world.

A 600-foot-wide hand-dug moat

kept back the cloying vines
of the jungle,

preserving
the mother of all temples.

It is quite literally
heaven on earth,

a representation of the home
of the Hindu gods

and, of course, the king.

John Miksic is an expert
on the Khmer Empire

and knows the exact coordinates
of the ruins,

but I also want his opinion
on the linga

before risking my life
on a wild-goose chase.

Tell me about Phnom Kulen,
the holy mountain.

This is where Jayavarman II
became a god-king?

Yes.

For hundreds of years
thereafter,

they always refer
to that ritual.

Makes it a pretty potent object,
I would assume.

That's right.

It could instantly
turn you into ashes.

So, what do you think happened
to Jayavarman II's linga?

What do you think happened
to this potent image of Shiva?

Could it still be up there
in the jungle?

It could well be.

I would not put it out
of the range of possibility.

It's only now
being cleared off.

Anxious to reach
the remote dig site,

I decide to take a direct route
to the mountain.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

John agrees to drop me off

as close as possible
to the lost city.

Our flight plan will take us
30 miles north of Siem Reap

to a remote village
on the mountain.

From there,
I'll use John's coordinates

to reach the dig site
by motorbike.

In terms
of these dig sites,

what are they actively
digging up right now?

That's incredible.

Soaring high above the jungles,

the country seems to unfold
like an endless green map.

And soon, the ground rises up
as we approach our destination.

There it is?

There's Phnom Kulen,

the holy mountain.

So it's still heavily forested,
still land mines.

Beautiful.

Okay, I can see a nice place
to put us down.

[ Dramatic music plays ]

GATES: I'm on my way
to find a lost Cambodian city

that's rumored to hold
a mystical and powerful artifact

that has the power
to turn men into gods.

The pilot descends onto a
clearing in a mountain village.

John has given me
the coordinates

to find the lost city

and has dropped me as close
as possible to the dig site.

I've finally reached the
holy mountain of the god-king.

Granted, it wasn't
my most subtle entrance.

Sues-day.

Sues-day, sues-day.

Whole village turned out.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Now it gets really hard.

This is the village
of Preah Ang Thom.

It's the absolute
end of the line for most

since it's impossible
to drive a 4x4

any deeper into the interior.

It's also home
to a mystical temple

where visitors come to stock up
on spiritual protection

for the journey ahead.

[ Gong crashes ]

Whew!

It's hot,
and that's a lot of stairs.

Okay.

[ Mystical music plays,
monks chanting in Cambodian ]

Amidst the smoke, the monks,

and their religious relics
is this...

[ Chanting
in Cambodian ]

...a stone
linga-and-yoni pedestal,

and they're still being used
in sacred rituals.

This is essentially
a modern version

of what has evolved
from the original ceremony

that Jayavarman II did
in 802 A.D.

[ Birds chirping ]

A Hindu priest
blesses supplicants with water,

which is made holy
by flowing around the linga...

[ Thunder rumbling ]

...and through the yoni.

And while I'm not sure
this particular rock

is going to
turn me into a god-king,

considering I'm about to go into
a deadly jungle,

I'll take all the help
I can get.

At a bare minimum,

it's the first shower I've had
in three days.

[ Both speaking Cambodian ]

I head back into the village

for the most challenging part
of my trip.

To reach the archaeologists
at the dig site,

I'll have to navigate through
a heavily land-mined jungle.

To do that, I need some wheels.

I need a bike.
I need a motorcycle for rent.

Okay, you can...

I can rent? Yeah?

This one comes with
half a bottle of water,

which is good,
and this one has a sweet basket.

This guy looks pretty beat up.
I don't want this.

What about that bike?

And then I saw her,

the marginally least-crappy bike
in the fleet.

This -- You're hiding
the good bike.

This is the good one,
yeah?

This is number one.

Right. Number one.

Okay,
I'll take this one.

A momentary pit stop

in the rural Cambodian version
of a gas station

for a quick fill-up.

Give me the high-octane.
Give me the Fanta.

That's the high-test stuff,
right?

Cambodian gas station fuel
is in an old soda bottle.

Feels like there's
a little bit of potential

for some dangerous confusion
there, but, hey, it works.

And then it's time
to head into the unknown.

[ Engine revving ]

My goal is close at hand,

to be one of the first outsiders
to document the lost city

and look for evidence

that the story
of Jayavarman's ceremony

is more than just a myth.

Lost city, here I come.

On either side
of these narrow trails,

the mountain is littered
with deadly explosives,

and staying upright
is something of a challenge.

This is some [bleep] road.

Whoa!
I almost went down there.

Ohh!

Can somebody get a machete
back here, please?

After a punishing ride,

I spot a clearing
and pull the bike over.

What I see next
takes my breath away.

Look at this!

I have finally reached the edge

of the lost city
of Mahendraparvata.

No tourists, no people.

If you want to talk about
real discovery, real adventure,

this is it.

There's nobody up here.
Nobody comes up here.

These stone temples
are a thousand years old

and were first spotted
by French archaeologists

in the 1930s.

Amazing.

However, the full extent
of the ruins remained elusive

until just recently.

Unbelievable.
Look at that.

So cool.

Nearby, there's more evidence

that I'm headed toward
the heart of the lost city.

So, at one time, this was a road

that would've gone all the way
down to the valley below,

down to where Angkor Wat
is today.

And people would've made
a pilgrimage up here

to the holy mountain.

And they've carved

these incredible stone animals
up here.

Over the hill, I discover
something else -- people.

Here, far from
the outside world,

an army of excavators
is living and working

deep in the jungle to reveal
a city buried for centuries.

With the threat of looters,

few outsiders are allowed
to see the site,

and I'm lucky
that John called ahead

and secured permission.

Hey.

You Chen?

Welcome.

You must be Josh.

GATES: Nice to meet you.

Yes, nice to meet you.

That is
my good friend Darif.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Let's start with this.

Why did you choose
to hone in on this area?

So you think that this area
we're in now

was part of Jayavarman II's
royal enclosure.

SIAN: To the best
of our knowledge,

to the best of our information
that we have today,

we believe
that this is the site.

Tell me a little bit about
what the lidar showed up here.

Oh, okay.

Right.

Lidar works by firing
bursts of lasers from above.

The beams allow archaeologists

to virtually strip back
the jungle canopy

and see not only ruins,
but objects hidden underground.

In this case,

the lidar revealed the lost city
of Mahendraparvata --

a huge network of roads,
structures, and habitations.

All of this was jungle
over here,

and it just stripped away,

and you can just see
a perfect outline of the site.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

What would you like to find
up here?

Isn't it?

Perhaps you find
Jayavarman II's linga.

That'd be great.

Just up the trail was
Jean-Baptiste Chevance,

the leading archaeologist
at the lost city...

Are you J.B.?

...who showed me
another major find.

So, you see
this block here?

Yes.

It's a laterad block.

Uh-huh.

This is typical
of archaeological features.

So you started
with just this?

Yeah.

Yeah, show me.

Before the lidar,
J.B. spent years up here

excavating individual pieces
of the city.

This one stone was a clue
that something was nearby.

But it took the lidar to reveal
that this may have been

the edge of a massive monastery.

These stone walls
and delicate roof tiles

haven't been seen by anyone
for a millennium.

And it turns because
it continues on this way?

Well, that's just the west --
the east --

Whoa! Scorpion!

[ Scorpion hissing ]

GATES: My long journey to find
the lost city of the god-king

has brought me deep
into the jungles of Cambodia.

I found spectacular ruins
of the city,

as well as the archaeologists

who are revealing it
brick by brick.

I'm also learning that this is
a place brimming with danger.

Whoa! Scorpion!

Back up! Back up, back up,
back up, back up!

[ Scorpion hissing ]

J.B., I just
saved your life.

Thanks. Thanks, man.

[ Chuckles ]

You get
a lot of these here?

Yeah, yeah.

He looks pissed off, too.

And then how do you
get them out of there?

You're Pich?

Yeah.

He just said
that you were crazy.

Half crazy?

CHEVANCE:
Completely crazy.

What's up?

[Bleep]

No, I don't want it.

[ Scorpion hissing ]

Pich!

You are legitimately
an insane person.

You need to be evaluated
professionally.

You really do have
a crazy assistant.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The trenches that I'd seen
were amazing,

but neither seem to be
the right fit

for Jayavarman's ceremony site.

To connect with the gods,

he probably used
the top of the mountain.

So that's where
I needed to get to.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

With night falling
and a storm on the horizon,

I was about to pack it in

when I received
a surprising offer.

Like a secret place?

A new place?

This is what I came for.

Pich has agreed to take me
to a location

that archaeologists are only
just beginning to explore.

And we can get there
in the dark?

Very bad?

Let's go for it.
Come on.

Let's go. Lead the way.

All right.

I'm behind you.

[ Thunder crashes ]

With night upon us and
a thunderstorm on the horizon,

this could be a huge mistake.

But Pich drives on,

leading me to an area that is
seldom seen by outsiders.

Here?

We're here.

[ Engines shuts off ]

We're near the top
of the mountain.

This is ground zero
for the legend of Jayavarman.

Could this be the spot where he
conducted his mystical ceremony?

[ Thunder crashes ]

With a storm fast approaching,

we immediately begin
to search for evidence.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Back up, back up.

back up, back up.

Snake, snake,
snake, snake, snake.

[ Snake hissing ]

Green snake?

It's poisonous, yeah?

Deadly poisonous?

Yeah, deadly poison.

That bites us,
what happens?

You may be crazy,
but you got a good eye.

[ Laughs ]

Holy [bleep]

Look at this.

Big overhang, yeah?

[ Rain pattering ]

Oh, my God.

Look at this.

Oh, my God.

These carvings look to be
about 1,200 years old

and are beautifully preserved.

This is an incredible find and
has been seen by few outsiders.

And the inscriptions indicate

that this site
was likely used for rituals.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

Look at this.

Pich.

This is
the world's worst bridge.

It looks very safe.

Pich, I've seen
a lot of bad bridges before.

This may be the worst.

The worst one ever.

[ Bridge creaks ]

Pich, I've seen
a lot of bad bridges before.

This may be the worst.

The worst one ever.

[ Bridge creaks ]

Oh, my God.

Okay, I'm across.

Are you coming over?

I weigh
twice as much as you.

If it didn't collapse for me,
you should be fine.

[ Thunder rumbles ]

Oh, look at this!

Huge yoni.

GATES: Pich has led us to a
perfectly preserved stone yoni.

Look at the size
of this thing.

Yeah.

It's just like the one I saw
at the temple in Preah Ang Thom

except 1,200 years old.

This ancient sandstone vessel
once held a linga.

Though the relic is missing,

the yoni is further evidence
that this mountain

was once the site
of mystical ceremonies

and could even have been
the location

where Jayavarman became
a living god.

I've seen more than enough
to convince me

that Jayavarman's ceremony
actually took place,

though his magic is
still a mystery.

We decide to push on,

and ominously,
the weather pushes back.

Even I'm starting
to get wrapped up

in the legend of the god-king.

Locals think this whole mountain
is basically haunted.

They say that the spirit
of Jayavarman is up here.

I have to say, with the rain and
the thunder and the lightning,

it's -- It is
a very freaky place.

[ Thunder crashes ]

It looks like
old footholds?

Old steps.

Yeah.

[ Rain pattering ]

[ Thunder crashes ]

That was the craziest bolt
of lightning I have ever seen.

That was like
some power of God [bleep]

[ Thunder crashes ]

Finally the lightning strikes
and thunderclaps

feel like
they're right on top of us.

[ Thunder crashes ]

We quickly head back
to the bikes

to end our investigation
and escape the storm.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Come on.

Come on.

Unfortunately, the rain
has turned the trails to mud,

and it is now dangerous going
on the mountain.

We make it down
as far as the village,

but with the rain
coming down in sheets,

we take shelter
in Pich's jungle home.

So, we're about halfway down
the mountain.

Yes.

Now what?

Beer time. Yeah.

Okay,
let's take a load off.

I can reassess my life decisions
at this point.

Though my drinking companions

are mostly
former Khmer Rouge soldiers

and one crazy local guide,

I am happy to have
a roof over my head

and a bit of light
in an otherwise imposing jungle.

Pich, is this light
on a generator?

Is all the power
on a generator?

What time does it go off?

[ Thunder crashes ]

[ Birds chirping ]

By the light of a new day,

I head down the mountain
and back towards civilization.

There's obviously
more to be found here,

but it will take years
to fully excavate the city.

I got to get some coffee.

History tells us that
the quest for absolute power

is a dangerous desire.

For the god-kings
of the Khmer empire,

the power of the linga,

or at least the perception
of that power,

allowed them to build artistic
achievements without equal.

For the Khmer Rouge,
absolute power gave rise

to the very darkest and most
deadly aspects of human nature.

In truth, this country
has always been a puzzle to me,

not because of the history,

but because of the people
who keep picking themselves up

and dusting themselves off.

They have adapted.

They have endured.

And they are,
despite everything,

filled with hope for the future.

The story of Cambodia
is still being written

from both ends of the book.

At this very moment, on
a heavily land-mined mountain,

daring archaeologists
are discovering

the very first chapter.

We now know that the story of
Jayavarman is more than a myth.

His city has been revealed
by 21st century technology,

and the jungle is giving up
his long-held secrets.

Having found a ceremonial yoni,

there may well be
a linga here, too.

But does it wield
the fearsome power of the gods?

As archaeologists continue
to shift this ancient soil,

new discoveries will be made,