Deadliest Journeys - Borneo: The Jungle Convoy

for 140 million years this emerald haven has been concealing hordes of hidden treasures it swallowed up many adventurers in its time [Music] the borneo forest appears entirely impassable but there's nothing it can do to stop the most ferocious of its predators man and machine the forest slows their progress as best it can yusuf's mission is to set up a lumber camp before nightfall but his battle with the forest has only just started [Music] weekend behind yourself two other tracks have come to a standstill the bulldozer attempts to reduce the danger by scraping off the layer of earth covering the road [Music] foreign [Music] borneo is shared between three countries indonesia occupies over two-thirds of the island resources are abundant diamonds gold iron petrol coal all these resources are exclusively exploited [Music] borneo is slowly dying its forest is stripped of its rare wood such as teak or ebony the procession of trucks never ends [Music] foreign [Music] when it comes to ferrying loads seven days a week towards ports and big cities anything goes each route brings its own danger but borneo has even more havens with well hidden secrets [Music] having been at the wheel for more than 15 years ekko is somewhat of a veteran it's undoubtedly his legendary cautiousness which has allowed him to stay alive today none of the traders disturbed the convoy's progress but just past this turn a much feared obstacle stands in the way this unstable bridge must be crossed very slowly echo presses the brake pedal to the floor hello [Music] the brakes seem to be struggling to support the load they're steaming hot [Music] echo is forced to stop before his truck catches fire the other tracks are in a similar state one hour later the convoy sets back off the drivers are on edge but they're rewarded for their ordeal with a salary of 500 euros three times higher than the country's average [Music] foreign with another child on the way echo chooses not to take the most dangerous routes [Music] unlike yusuf he's now been carrying his house on the back of his truck for seven hours he's tired but remains focused [Music] it's on arrival at the delivery point there remains a delicate maneuver with no crane to help them the forest workers must rely on their own resourcefulness this embankment under the bulldozer acts as an unloading dock [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] the houses haven't yet finished their journey they're headed for the riverbank [Music] the men will live in the depths of the jungle for 11 months their food will be basic but they'll still be able to have fresh eggs [Music] there remains one thing to be done and it's rather important the inhabitants of borneo believe that each tree is home to a spirit before cutting them down they ask for the spirit's permission for fear of incurring their wrath the chief of the neighbouring tribe is in charge of the offerings [Music] [Music] amongst the gifts is this pig he's not too happy he sacrificed straight away [Music] his head is given to the gods and the rest of the men [Music] the men need not wait for a response from above by the looks of it it's a categorical no the torrential rain pounds down on the camp and it doesn't come without consequence on their days off the men only earn half of their usual salary but none of them would risk working with a chainsaw or driving on earth that's been turned into mud they're left to their own devices and there's little to do but talk [Applause] and hope that the wrath of the gods doesn't last for too long three days and several sacrifices later the rain has given way to bright sunshine [Music] this seemingly quiet village hides a terrible past keeping your head on your shoulders was not easy here the diac tribe used to have a tradition of cutting off the heads of their enemies the tradition was long lasting the last decapitation took place in the 60s nowadays the only heads the diax cut off are pigheads [Music] evangelized by american pastors the tribe has now become a peaceful one the indonesian government donated these little houses in order to keep them under control [Music] these nomadic warriors have been transformed into peaceful hunters ali catches live birds and resells them at markets in indonesia owning birds is a sign of good fortune it's a verdun blue bearded bird the trap works if the bird sings if it doesn't ali simulates a mating ritual with the help of a birdsong recording bird catcher now has his nephew on board with his work nothing beats a bit of work experience to learn the tricks of the trade it's been a few years since ali started catching birds in his garden but deforestation means that birds are now rare ali is forced to venture further and further in the forest [Music] his old moped is struggling [Music] hunting is becoming more and more costly for him [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] two hours of walking later ali and his nephew finally find a nice clearing the blue bearded bird is on top form and starts to sing its love song [Music] tonight [Music] [Music] [Music] the wait continues there's not a single bird in sight and even ali's bird has stopped singing time for a bit of help [Music] my the bird eats but still refuses to sing a single note so ali resorts to his speakers but the sound is far from natural it's not looking hopeful especially seeing as not too far away a chainsaw is hard at work making its own music [Music] its racket resonates through the jungle as does the thud of the trees falling borneo is living through an ecological disaster in just 20 years the island has lost 85 percent of its primal forest the equivalent of two-thirds of france live in harmony with nature but in just a few years all the natural habitats will have disappeared [Music] after three days of torrential rain the woodcutters have eagerly taken up work once more each of them makes sure to speed up the cutting and transporting of the wood the forest workers want to make up the wages they've lost [Music] this giant grows one centimeter every year it's taken thousands of years to grow to this size its wood is the hardest and densest in the world giving it the name ironwood [Music] even once on the ground it's still managing to make the woodcutters lives difficult sheer weight of the tree is dragging the bulldozer towards the [Music] ravine [Music] [Music] even in their steel cages drivers aren't fully protected [Music] me [Music] it's proving impossible to extricate the wood especially as the bulldozer is now stuck [Music] to free it the forest must once again pay a heavy price [Music] the woodcutters cut down a tree and slide the logs under its tracks [Music] the battle between wood and steel lasts more than an hour [Music] [Music] the tree will end up being turned into plywood boards joseph is leaving to load up 10 tons of ironwood but the rain has transformed the tracks into muddy trenches [Music] [Music] the driver stays calm he knows that getting worked up won't help especially as today he'll be tackling completely unexplored tracks the ogres of the forest devour everything in their path bulldozers extend the path for the workers as they go along foreign each new track brings its own unknown dangers according to the drivers there's never been any deaths only injuries each of them accepts the risks for one very important reason the drivers earn a fixed salary with added bonuses if they manage to transport more wood than expected it's not looking promising for today's bonus the bulldozer brings back bad news the road is impossible unless the drivers use this technique nicknamed the conga [Music] [Music] his return journey promises to be eventful he'll take on the same route from the opposite direction fully loaded out of 260 million inhabitants in indonesia 39 million don't have access to drinkable water but the country's development is improving exponentially thanks to the excessive exploitation of its natural reserves the east coast of borneo is no exception it too has seen the extents to which humans will go in order to exploit its resources its seabeds are filled with black gold the future oil wells are 150 kilometers away from the archipelago of darawan [Music] and the island of maratua the inhabitants of this coral reef are hoping that oil extraction won't pollute their unharmed lands ralph is a fisherman like ali the bird catcher he's made his own equipment with whatever he could put together foreign rauf dives into the coral reef a whole hour away from the shore by canoe lima [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] the fisherman doesn't always succeed [Music] this marine turtle would be a fine catch but ralph doesn't shoot it the villagers are all in agreement that they should protect the symbol of the island ralph tries another reef [Music] it's another hour away in his canoe with the rain and the strong currents fatigue is setting in fast but returning empty-handed isn't an option but fortune favors the brave sometimes five hours of fishing for only four fish [Music] [Music] foreign rauf is one of a group of sea nomads named the biol in the past they navigated from ireland to ireland on their floating houses letting the winds and currents decide their path then just like the diax the government made them settle on this otherwise deserted archipelago without realizing that this would provide them with a certain treasure trove unlike any other in the world [Music] hidden right at the end of this lake when sea levels sank 10 000 years ago part of the sea's water became trapped here forming this saltwater lake many plant and animal species are trapped here like these jellyfish of which there are millions in the lake [Music] any diver would be forgiven for not wanting to go near them but rauf doesn't hesitate to pick them up the jellyfish don't have any predators in the lake over the centuries their defense system has disappeared as it's no longer useful to them [Music] in order to protect them the bios have enforced strict rules [Music] [Music] only borneo's neighboring country malaysia has a similar lake with the development of tourism this unique ecosystem is at risk of disappearing just like borneos forest [Music] yourself is loading up his 10 tons of wood with such a heavy load he's dreading travelling back on the route marked out the same morning by the bulldozers [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] turned to his family who were waiting for him five thousand kilometers away [Music] [Music] foreign foreign just one short month it's rarely long enough for him to get over his [Music] exhaustion [Music] so tomorrow the logs will take a completely different route to reach the sea and the shipping ports at the heart of this green hell temperatures can easily reach 36 degrees and humidity levels verge on 100 after 10 hours of driving the men are exhausted they spend 11 months on average in these simple huts sometimes some of them break down and want to give it all up it's at this point that these slaves of the forest pull together foreign [Music] foreign [Applause] all these tree trunks put together weigh thousands of tons to transport them the trucks use gigantic quantities of petrol quickest and most cost-effective way of getting them to the port is by water this job falls to the diac tribe ropes holding the raft together can easily trap their hands and feet [Music] [Music] the journey down to the port should be nothing more than a simple formality but in certain places the river twists and turns and the current changes direction the small engine is struggling [Music] having put up a good fight it eventually gives up [Music] [Music] foreign me [Music] [Music] my [Music] foreign [Music] on this day almost 30 rafts headed down the river [Music] in this ecological massacre it's the forestry companies who are the real winners once the forest has been stripped of all it has to offer it's replaced by oil palm plantations or even entire towns sometimes very rarely mother nature gets her own back on the intruders [Music] it's hard to imagine that only 20 years ago a housing development with around 100 houses was built here it was completely swept away in 2001 by a hurricane and the huge waves that came with it [Music] for argus bay the property developer the dramatic event stirred his conscience instead of rebuilding the houses the builder decided to start gardening after having removed the rubble argus bay replanted hundreds of thousands of trees they now form a green barrier which prevents the erosion of the coastline foreign argus built his housing development within a few months it took him 20 years to replant 100 hectares of mangrove [Music] today these large proboscis monkeys with their rather peculiar noses are once again repopulating the area indonesia [Music] you

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 788,357

Rating: 4.7411599 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, bornéo, roads, truck, waterways, free documentary, deadliest roads, National Geographic, borneo, travel, danger

Id: tc_BcGTRqL8

Length: 48min 15sec (2895 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 07 2020