City of Gold

**City of Gold** is the 5th episode in Season 1 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates travels through Peru in search for the Incan lost city of Paititi. His journey takes him from the Cusco to the heights of Machu Picchu, and finally into the Amazon's jungles.

## Historical Context

"The year is 1532, Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro begin the wholesale destruction of the entire Incan empire. Meanwhile, the Spanish are plundering vast quantities of gold and silver. News of Pizarro reaches the Incan capital of Cusco, high in the Andes. According to legend, the Incans retreat to a mountain city so secret, so remote, that the Spanish are never able to discover it. The promise of golden riches has motivated explorers throughout history, and no treasure has proved more irresistible or more deadly than the legendary lost city of gold. In Peru, it is known as Paititi and it continues to attract modern explorers - and with good reason. New evidence from the vaults of the Vatican in Rome and from high in the mountains in Peru suggest the city might actually be real."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh starts his journey in Lima, Peru and goes to visit the Museo Larco. There he meets with a history professor named Carlos Semantra. Carlos has a document from the Vatican that shows a Jesuit missionary who has seen Paititi. From Lima, Josh heads to Cusco where he meets Greg Deyermenjian, an explorer, who is mounting an expedition in search of Paititi. They look at a topographical map and find some areas that don't even have an overlay because of insufficient data. Before heading on their expedition, Josh goes on a PeruRail Train to Machu Picchu.

Back in Cusco, Greg and Josh go to the San Pedro Market to go shopping for their expedition. They meet Paulino Mamani, Greg's expedition partner and Fernando Neuenschwander, whose grandfather Carlos Neuenschwander was a famous Peruvian explorer who wrote a book about Paititi. They get coca leaves at the market which battle altitude sickness and from there, head on their expedition into the Andes.

For the beginning part of the journey, they drive on dirt roads that follow along old Incan Trails. They are near the town of Amparaes when it starts to get stormy and they turn around to stay there for the night. In Amparaes, they stay behind a local church. The woman and her granddaughter who run the place are Quechua, the descendants of the Incans. The next day they are back on the road and after a couple of hours, they reach the end of the dirt roads and continue on foot to reach Lake Pumacocha. The legend is that pumas attacked the Incan's llamas during the night causing the Incans to need to lighten their supplies so they could carry them. They threw all their potatoes into the lake and Paulino and Josh find a couple still preserved in the lake.

As they continue on, they find the ruins of Tambocancha, which was a resting place for the Incans. They explore the ruins but it starts to storm again and they have to walk several hours to find a suitable base camp for the night. The following morning they pay homage to the Apus, lords of the mountains, and Pachamama, the earth mother. They continue the journey on foot and make their way down to the Urubamba River where they find ancient Incan symbols painted onto a rock wall. Somebody in the group accidentally steps on a hornets' nest causing a bunch of group members to get stung. They still manage to cross the river though Josh slips and falls during his crossing but still, manages to continue across safely.

Once the whole group has made it to the other side, they continue on game trails back into the mountains. There they find a manmade Incan complex that is partially buried. They follow along a wall to find a piece of royal Incan pottery. They decided that it's most likely a part of a largely undocumented Incan city called Unchayoc. They have to turn around because they have low supplies and head back to Cusco.

## Final Words

"The lost city is a siren and the road of stone is like her gentle hand, pulling explorers deeper into the jungles, only to swallow them alive. Why do we still want to find Paititi? Is it to celebrate the Inca or, like Pizzaro, is it for our own glory? For me, if I'm being honest, it's maybe a bit of both. But I'm humbled by the spirit of the Inca, which is alive and well in the highlands of Peru. And we have seen clues that seem to validate the truth behind the legend, as well as seldom-seen remote ruins. In the end, there's one inescapable fact - the Incan road system is not fully mapped, and, like all roads, it leads somewhere."

## Notes & Trivia

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*

## Quotes

* "You know in the fifth grade I had to take care of a hamster for a week for my class. I'm sorry, Mr Bubbles"
* "The group is starting to feel like something out a Michael Crichton novel."
* "Pressurised and explosive propane tank - sure, why not?"
* "It wouldn't take much to kick off a rockslide and stop the search for Paititi and start the search for Josh Gates."
* "If you own a guardrail company there may be some money for you in Peru."
* "There's a little bit of irony here, seeking a lost Incan city and being given refuge for the night by the Catholics. Funny world."
* "These Incas didn't foresee the problems that coca leaves would create for 21st-century law enforcement."
* "This is the first time I've ever waded into a lake looking for an ancient potato."
* "Current score - mountain one, Josh Gates zero."
* "Full service guinea pig stand."

## Gallery

Photos shown in the slideshow are from Travel Channel's City of Gold slideshow. If you hover over the images, their exact image address will appear.

* Josh is ready to head into the Peruvian JungleGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-005-incan-ruin-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070047.jpeg
* A group prayer to the Apus and PachamamaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-002-incan-prayer-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070011.jpeg
* Lake PumacochaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-003-lake-pumacocha.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070023.jpeg
* A piece of royal Incan pottery the group findsGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-004-incan-artifact-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070031.jpeg
* Greg and Josh examine an Incan Road Network mapGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-006-incan-road-stone.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070053.jpeg
* Machu PicchuGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-007-machu-picchu-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070059.jpeg
* The group examines rock art along the Urubamba RiverGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-008-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581070076.jpeg
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## References

1. ↑ https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2015/01/23/expedition-unknown-105-city-of-gold/expedition-unknown-josh-gates-city-gold-001-cathedral-lima-peru.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.725.suffix/1491581069997.jpeg