Amazing Quest: Stories from Peru | Somewhere on Earth: Peru | Free Documentary

foreign [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] Peru its tale has been told and retold by scores of explorers and adventurers yet the country remains shrouded in mystery for mere words cannot capture all the magic working here the pre-hispanic civilizations have vanished taking with their many of their secrets the whispering of the last Incas harks back to that bygone era modern day Peru is heir to the human Ingenuity that was so closely in touch with the upheavals of the Earth [Music] [Music] [Music] the story of Latin America is also that of the quechua language [Music] for the arrival of the Spanish and their all-powerful alphabet culture here was an Unwritten oral Tale [Music] is one of those voices that is keeping alive the old world of the Andes steeped in spirituality today Jaime is on his way to miss minai a little village 50 kilometers from Cusco [Music] foreign is a mediator for the Andean communities and has spent an entire year listening to the inhabitants access to clean water discrimination rural Exodus they've had more than their share of problems but thanks to Jaime the village is coming back to life the Farms are once again up and running using the ancestral methods Jaime always encourages the villages to conserve their traditional know-how my job is to support and accompany the indigenous communities and Farmers to listen to analyze and to act as an intermediary a spokesman to give a voice to these communities this is one of my roles [Music] drinking water is freely available but they don't have running water in their houses yet so mornings and Miss minai are marked by the constant comings and goings around the fountain [Music] s [Laughter] for more than 20 years Jaime has been painting a detailed inventory of all the living cultural Treasures specific to eachandian Village [Music] the traditional Andean weaves represent our way of life there are testimony our original writing they tell our story right up to the present day all the people of the Andes have suffered discrimination an account of the clothing the color of skin because of illiteracy so we have suffered for all these reasons and it's still going on it's not something in the past to avoid this discrimination we've abandoned our own clothing and adopted other styles but doing that is even worse we disappear we end up being nothing [Applause] we have chicken wings grass drumsticks carcasses next we have it all dear customers here you are my little lady business [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] I have to visit all the communities that need me I Get Around by car on foot on Horseback by motorcycle if one's available whatever comes along okay buses like this one are my home away from home [Music] we need to share our teachings with the world we have to communicate with Mother Nature to renew our contact with her and look at nature differently not as just a resource to destroy but as a large house where we can live well [Music] thank you [Music] the mountains of Peru are full of treasures for thousands of years the locals in mahas have been working the salt pans carved out by their ancestors [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign something is salt that we're harvesting here is the purest we use it for human consumption it's called Florida then we have another darker layer of salt that we scrape up last we use it for fertilizer for the plants and also as medicine it has good medicinal qualities the 520 families of the community work together as a cooperative they share the land and the work respecting the quechua system of mutual Aid called aini strength in solidarity Jaime is a politically committed artist he was first the school teacher before becoming professor of Art he paints to share his knowledge a true Craftsman of the collective memory his works are not for sale they're intended for those who can't read he makes ritual agricultural calendars veritable encyclopedias specific to each Village it takes between one and two years of observation and meticulous work to produce one of these paintings Jaime has done more than 20. [Music] thank you foreign [Music] each Village has its own notion of Time Each Community has its cycles and way of living their way of making clothes of building their houses their own customs and traditions so each Village has its own calendar it gives an overall view of our Cosmo Vision Indian and Amazonian [Music] thank you [Music] the Andean Cosmo vision is a way of interpreting our world and our culture [Music] to get a clear picture of our Cosmo vision I think of a well when you drop a pebble then it makes waves that always go from the center outward once they reach the wall the waves come back we do the same thing when we deepen our knowledge once we reach a certain advanced level of understanding we must return to the essentials the basics to be able to pass this knowledge on otherwise we would never be able to teach the site of morai symbolizes the Andean Cosmo vision this was a research laboratory where the Incas created new species that could resist the cold and the altitude they were able to recreate different microclimates thanks to this configuration of concentric Terraces [Music] if we were to use this site as it were used back then we produced better seeds for the whole world we could once again start to learn from this site it's as if we were in the womb here yes it's returning to our mother's belly and being reborn [Music] foreign [Music] is setting out for an encounter with a remote Community the keros their Village of kikos 4 200 meters up has just recently been made accessible with a dirt road before they were isolated from the rest of the world the Catos are considered the last representatives of the Inca civilization foreign [Music] how often do you vaccinate them every six months um we must not count the animals because it's a secret if we count them they'll stop reproducing so we mustn't count them if we want to have a lot of them we just say we have a herd of animals but we don't know how many things in the course of a year Jaime would spend one week every month in this Village he will eat and sleep with each of the families he will listen to what they have to say but he will also warn them of certain dangers mining perspection Evangelistic missions the shrinking of the glaciers there's no shortage of worries so my brother tell me about your life we will speak and open our hearts to one another there are new things that have come to our village electricity they have opened our eyes things are better than before yeah we want to stay here those who live they leave to find work foreign [Music] a very important site a sacred cave known to only those initiated they're going to perform a ceremony there to help Jaime in his work [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] take me approach spirits come take care of our little brother that he always be welcome everywhere even in the big city that he be blessed with gold and silver in the name of all the spirits [Music] they are the guardians of the teachings and acknowledge it as The Heirs of the last Inca communities that age-old culture they had the power to communicate with the mountains at all times it's a fundamental way of life an ongoing conversation with Mother Earth the Mountain Gods and other Guardian spirits the dialogue with them is absolutely essential crucial absolutely important if we don't express our spirituality we cease to be ourselves we lose our culture which gives birth to our music our clothes seeds it gives us everything we share what we experience day after day on our land the land of the Cairo so we don't use any chemical substances our potatoes and other produce are natural this is why we perform ceremonies with offerings to the Earth it's to thank her to perform them as they were done in the time of the Incas we treat the Earth with respect and we do it in secret we don't reveal everything to the public to the city dwellers dominga is the chosen one of the spirits she has a special role in the community it's her duty to summon the apples the Mountain Gods [Music] we wouldn't Harvest anything [Music] the danger for all communities with a cultural heritage is alienation acculturation assimilation into the dominant culture it's a danger for all of us what we possess is unique if we lose it it would be impossible to get it back or in any case very difficult we could always do it as a hobby a bit of folklore for special occasions but to live it would be nearly impossible it's a challenge I assume that [Music] to speak to the mountains and listen to the Earth [Music] in Peru the ground trembles and the mountains Rumble in tune with the Pacific Ring of Fire [Music] in his own way Jose del Carpio also has the power to interpret the seismic music of the Earth thank you [Music] guys over 4 300 meters up spits Jets of steam heated in the bowels of the earth to over 85 degrees Celsius our planet is very much alive we take measurements we take its temperature to see if it's sick or healthy in fact the activity generated in this zone is caused either by the volcanoes or by the Earth's internal Dynamics foreign [Music] like these guys are here I think if it is a window to the inside of the Earth and I'd like to go through it and see what's there deeper down and it fascinates me as a scientist and that's why I love my job [Music] Jose is a volcanologist at the igp The Institute of geophysics of Peru in charge of monitoring the seismic and volcanic activity in the southern part of the country the region of arequipa is home to all of Peru's active volcanoes Jose assisted by Omar is going to monitor the sabankaya volcano its name means tongue of Fire this seismological device here records the pulse of the Earth it's like a doctor's stethoscope when you check your heartbeat this instrument works the same way for the Earth the best method we've come up with so far and at the observatory we're collecting a lot of data the device is buried solar panel supplies it with energy Jose will come back in two months to collect the precious data [Music] foreign is the second deepest in the world 3 200 meters from Cliff Edge to River Twice the depth of the Grand Canyon [Music] the considerable seismic activity has given birth to a huge fault 100 kilometers long inexorably carved out by the river [Music] this geologist's paradise has also attracted condors there are more than 40 nesting here their three and a half meter wingspan allows them to soar effortlessly [Music] foreign [Music] that means it's a sacred site where we worship a divinity the Condor was very important for the people here and still is even today because it represents the world above or the soul of a person after death in the Andean beliefs in the mountains where do condors live in the mountains the Condors were here before the Incas in Peru the sight of nature driven by mysterious forces has always fascinated people it fires the imagination and rekindles their beliefs gurus Los Angeles the England's always considered mountains and volcanoes as sacred sites during our Expeditions we've come upon mummies in fetal position at the bottom of Ravines and inside craters because they believed that volcanoes as well as mountains with the bowels of the earth placing their dead in these sacred sites but it's their way of sending them off to another life travida [Music] tutu Paka yukamani Misty Pichu Picchu chachani rubinas Haina putina this is not an incantation but the melodious names of the volcanoes all very much alive their breath tints the sky their Rumblings make the altiplano tremble they all Inspire the fear of a massive explosion a few like ubinas are monitored very closely in 2006 the population living on its slopes went through living hell a huge cloud of hot ash engulfed the village of kerapi [Music] therapy is four kilometers from the crater and the quantity of Ash that rained down on the village was very harmful for the villagers 2006. it was a scene of total confusion no one was prepared for a volcanic eruption So eventually the authorities evacuated The Village the village of ubinas a mere two kilometers from kerati suffered similar torments but is still inhabited in the background the summit of the volcano veiling The Horizon remains an ominous threat to the villagers Jose visits once a month to discuss the risks of an eruption with the local authorities [Music] lubinus is in the orange alert Zone on this risk chart we're going to downgrade it to Yellow alert and we'll put the villagers more at ease right yeah the people here are well aware of the danger they respect your recommendations Jose can always count on Meadows one of the villagers to lend a helping hand he's been climbing the volcano since he was seven I'm always curious to climb up and see what's down in the bottom of the crater I've always liked that I go up there a few times a week I've gone up three or four times this month all on my own nobody asked me to do it but I wanted to see the Crater Lake it's beautiful it's one more experience and I'll never forget it what day did you go up when did you see the lake April 3rd OS natural Ramos [Music] [Music] the most amazing thing about these Expeditions up the volcanoes is working at high altitudes the volcanoes we monitor here in Peru are around 6 000 meters above sea level it's exhausting but it lifts our spirits to know that we're working for the common goods climbing ubinas is a breathtaking Adventure in every sense of the word at more than 5 600 meters the air is very thin today the volcano seems to be dozing peacefully in its bed of snow a deceptive column for This Crew has first-hand knowledge of the volcano's other facet on August 6 2015 they had front row seats when the volcano offered them a stunning spectacle is [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] once we were working in the volcano and they warned us on the radio that the activity had jumped and we were right there in the Caldera [Music] he died we were pretty quick to react he told us to evacuate and when we were halfway out of the volcano there was an explosion foreign it was incredible we realized that the work we were doing in the observatory was beginning to produce results so the risk that we a handful of scientists are taking help us on other volcanoes like El Misti which has a huge population nearby means the gentleman one million people live at its foot it awoke in January 2016 emitting very noxious gases a huge risk for the population of arequipa which is growing constantly and keeps settling closer to the Colossus [Music] in a long past geological era an unimaginably powerful eruption provoked a huge wave of molten ash a flow 18 kilometers long that is now quarried for stone foreign was used in the construction of atikipa and gave it its nickname the White City foreign nature gives us these incredible volcanic explosions but at the same time she leaves behind the material we need to rebuild over the decades with all the seismic activity that has occurred in arequipa the cathedral was destroyed and rebuilt countless times so these are the two things that life offers gives and then it takes away yes and that's the essence of our existence [Music] in Peru nature is intimidating but doesn't frighten the more adventurous in this country there are some men who dare take on the harsh elements foreign growing up in the Andes gives one a vertical vision of the world I've always liked challenges it's guided my life it's what makes me an adventurer I love engineering I love technology being in a place that's hard to get to where you won't find many people there are so many things that inspire me every day everyday life inspires me welcome to the everyday world of REO Ferry a man held Aloft by his soaring imagination entrance transport Coppola to get the view of the alien taitambo Valley here you have the wooden floor this capsule will be the dining room the elliptical part here will be transparent again for the view on the valley and from here to here in the back you'll have the raw rock this will be fastened to The Cliff face here you have grottos plants hanging orchids when it rains the water will run off underneath and the other door leads to the bathroom which will also have a transparent floor foreign artist Craftsman and self-taught architect Ariel has never abandoned his childhood dreams of fortresses and tree houses yep bring the door over we'll see if it fits inspired by Tales of Adventure and space exploration fascinated by his Knights spent hanging from a cliff Arya brought all his passions together to invent a system of inhabitable pods futuristic shelters clinging to the Mountainside feed him up yeah see yes it stays perfect [Music] it's on a lush green slope of the Sacred Valley of the Incas that Ariel decided to hang his dream a dream built on an unavoidable fact of life absolutely everything has to be backpacked up to the site no roads no trails to reach the pods nearly 400 meters up a Folly earned by sweat and toil it's a farahonic project which began with installing the Via ferrata 900 metal bars fixed the Cliff face to facilitate the ascent it takes an hour and a half to reach the site Ariel can always count on his good friend Americo a mountain guide like himself the story of this via farata began when I first came to the valley I was staggered by the beauty of the mountains here there wasn't many mountain activities and it seemed to me that the time was ripe to launch an original venture I wanted to spend as much time as possible in the mountains but with trips of several days I was away from my family for too long to share his passion for the void with as many people as possible Ariel forged forward and created the Sky Lodge which has been open for business since July 2013. the Sky Lodge is a guest house you could also call it a refuge a sleeping capsule or a base camp I call it a vertical living pod this one sleeps four persons they can spend the night suspended in the air with an incredible view on the sacred Valley and feel what it's like to sleep on a cliff face and almost what it's like to be a condor [Music] foreign [Music] two of the three pods are for the brave guests the third one is for the logistics a sort of base camp when working on the site now they're ready to add a fourth capsule that will be the dining room please bless what we are making my brother and I offer to you with our hearts watch over us we kindly ask your permission to drill a hole I've got a good hold brace yourself Valley it took Ariel six months of research to find the right Cliff for his project for in the sacred Valley of the Incas every slope every Summit every Crest Harbors relics that are now protected great Mountaineers it was hard to find a cliff face without any ruins I think they must have even come through here the Incas are a constant source of inspiration with their irrigation channels the suspended ruins all without any technology just their intelligence and the relationship with the apus the sacred gods I still think we have that in common even today [Music] the Incas were Master Builders who overcame all the obstacles to living in the high mountains to better rule over the plains foreign the ruins in Peru have hardly been touched by the ravages of time they are a testimony to the Ingenuity of those Visionary architects who like Ariel challenge the limits of the possible and directed Unthinkable structures in the most improbable places [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] I think my passion for construction began with my first Lego set no plus I was living in a place where the only way to have anything was to make it yourself we didn't have any money to buy things and everything had to be brought in from far away there weren't even any stores so I've been doing this all my life I've always built what I needed as I went along wow sure foreign it took me several years to construct the Sky Lodge we had to find the materials which didn't exist in Peru at the time then there was the design and the engineering and at the same time the location spotting testing the sights to see how the rock fractures then moving on to construction finding the right people soldering the aluminum it was a whole process that evolved as it went along [Music] the total time I've spent suspended on The Cliff face is close to a year what days of 12 to 14 hours my relationship with the Cliff face is very intense larga [Music] now we're coming into the home stretch we're installing the safety cables to sleep safe and snug Americo how do you feel feel just fine inside how about you I'm over the moon just another day at the office when he's not hanging out at his office Ariel can enjoy his other passion on the urubamba river a few hundred meters lower down his coat of arms the pure lay and the paddle driven by his lustful life and fueled by adrenaline he still has the taste for risk and exploration acquired in his childhood when he capered about the peaks of the cordiero Blanca a jack of all trades he used to be a white water guide and spent 15 years running Rivers the world over then he came back to drop anchor in Peru speaking of rivers I'm like a fish in water when I used to work on the river I couldn't even last a single day out of water because I felt as if I were drying out I was anxious something was missing I had a kind of craving and it was a craving for water it's thanks to the kayak that I am the person I am today the kayak formed me as it forms awake in the water thank you it's a birthday party here on the banks of Lake puree Ario is 36 years old he's a father of three children and he's celebrating several full lives already in Peru they celebrate special occasions around apachamanca meaning Earth pot stones for five hours then the food is cooked in direct contact with the elements [Music] I no longer feel I have to prove anything to anyone not even to myself I prefer to have some fun with my children than go off and do something really extreme I think that's part of the physical and psychological changes a man undergoes when he becomes a father [Music] this lake is a special place where I come to spend time with my family yeah okay it's an important place for me that largely inspired my next project but I decided to install it up on Lake Titicaca because there's so much more space we have room to move around we can get a good distance away from the shore there's an unobstructed view it's a greater challenge up there yeah Ariel always bubbling over with ideas is fine-tuning his next creation the aqua Lodge a floating transparent capsule like a half bubble meant to drift following his whims on Peru's largest lake another childhood dream that he will soon share with others meanwhile he has to take care of his other children the sleeping pods exposed to the elements at an altitude of more than 3000 meters need a lot of maintenance there's no end of work you're looking okay I don't think I'm crazy what's crazy is wasting your life staring at a computer eight hours a day for me this is just fantastic fantastic Vida this is real living nature this is what keeps Us Alive what gives us energy and the will to go on [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 587,352

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), somewhere on earth, amazing stories, amazing quest, amazing stories from peru, peru

Id: fFve4g0qEQQ

Length: 52min 15sec (3135 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 22 2023