Original subtitles

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: Our journey begins in Argentina.

We are looking for the loneliest man in the world

and already the way to him is very lonely.

In order to find him we have to organise an ancient road map.

On newer maps or in the Satnav his town doesn't even exist.

As soon as we've crossed the hill the landscape changes drastically.

Where tarmacked roads were a second ago

muddy trails form the path to a big lake.

And there is supposed to be a city here?

The closer we get to the town the odder the landscape becomes.

Thousands of dead trees are stood alongside the road.

What happened here?

What dark secret is behind the town with only one inhabitant?

And who lives here in the middle of nowhere in Argentina

out of their own free will?

The drive takes over 20 minutes through this barren landscape

without us meeting a single person.

Until suddenly out of nowhere a modern gate appears.

Villa Epecuen.

The mysterious town 600 kilometres south of the capital Buenos Aires.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: A town where only a single person is living.

But it quickly becomes clear the modern gate is deceptive.

Not much of Epecuen is left.

- (chirruping)

NARRATOR: Many thousands of people

must have once lived in Villa Epecuen.

Today few buildings still have all four walls.

Most of the city is destroyed.

As if a gigantic explosion has torn everything apart

within a fraction of a second.

It seems more like a warzone than a town.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: On our search for the loneliest man in the world

we are venturing deeper and deeper into the naked ruins of this place.

- (vehicle engine rumbling)

NARRATOR: And then we hear him from afar...

It is an odd feeling to see someone approaching you

after hours of being alone here.

May we introduce...the probably most lonely man in the world.

Driving the possibly coolest car on the planet.

- (they speak Spanish)

NARRATOR: What an entrance. What a guy!

Thousands of questions that we want to ask the 85-year-old

shoot through our brains.

But mainly one specific one: What happened here?

- (speaks Spanish)

- (engine starts)

NARRATOR: Where Pablo lives now the water was ten metres high

just a few years ago

and where we are driving along here in the buggy

used to be the bottom of a lake.

Pablo takes us on a sightseeing tour through the town

and tells us about its history.

A story that is inseparably connected with the lake.

The Lago Epecuen has a similar salt content to the Dead Sea

and had been attracting tourists from all over the world

since the 1920s.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: The ruins of the pool are silent witnesses

to Epecuen's better days.

Week-long exceptionally heavy rain

made the water levels rise dramatically in 1985.

The dam breaks and the water floods the city in only a few hours.

For 25 years to come Epecuen would vanish in the lake

until in 2009, due to a long drought,

the water begins to retreat and the remains of the town

are exposed again.

- It looks like this city experienced a war.

Aren't you sad when you see it right now?

NARRATOR: While driving through the ruins with Pablo

we feel as if they are still alive for the 85-year-old.

On the left a cafe, on the right an ice-cream parlour -

a journey into the past for us.

And never-faded memories for Pablo.

- (gentle string music)

NARRATOR: We notice how much the loneliest man in the world

is enjoying telling someone about his city.

And suddenly we are stood in front of Pablo's favourite place.

For him it is the same place as back then.

A pile of rubble consisting of washed stones and dead poplar trees.

- (sombre music)

NARRATOR: Not even one hour after the dam broke

the water inside the hotel had reached the ceiling.

Hurriedly, Pablo left the house, then not knowing

that he would only get to see this place again 25 years later.

Anything that doesn't swim very well

is still at the same place as it used to be.

But how can Pablo live here in the ruins of his town?

He doesn't live in these, his buildings anymore.

Down by the shore all the structures are destroyed.

A bit further up the road many houses survived

the years underwater better.

We want to find out how Pablo fends for himself and most importantly:

how he deals with the loneliness.

If you don't count the three dogs... and the approximately 150 chickens.

- (door squeaks and thuds)

- (chirping)

NARRATOR: About five years ago the then-80-year-old

swapped his TV and shower for this life here.

Two rooms: kitchen, bathroom - completely without any electricity.

But with a gas cooker and...he shows it with pride.

- (rooster crows)

NARRATOR: Pablo doesn't need anything more.

And if something should be required, like a new bottle of gas,

his children and 14 grandchildren help him.

One of them even only lives half an hour away by car

and comes by every week.

All the rest is done by Pablo himself.

And that is exactly how he wants it.

He is especially proud of something that he built himself in the garden.

- (rustling)

- Why did you choose to live right here in this house?

NARRATOR: Pablo receives a small state pension

that he can survive on easily.

One of his grandsons brings him fresh fruit

and vegetables from the supermarket every week.

And just as you would expect from a real Argentinian...

also lots of wine and meat...

so Pablo rarely leaves his town.

- (fire crackles)

NARRATOR: And we too realise that for this evening

we don't need anything else.

This is all very well, but only one question is still on our minds.

- Don't you feel sometimes alone out here?

- (chuckles)

NARRATOR: When we set out on our search

for the loneliest man in the world

we had expected to meet a bitter human being.

But here in the Argentinian Atlantis we found quite the opposite.

An 85-year-old who is hospitable and full of joie de vivre.

And who also, just on the side, makes an incredible Asado.

In the end we are sure: Pablo isn't lonely at all. He is happy.

- (engine idling)

- (speaks to Pablo in Spanish)

What do you wish for the future of Villa Epecuen?

- OK. Muchas gracias, Pablo.

NARRATOR: At the moment there are no plans of rebuilding

the ruins of Villa Epecuen.

But as long as Pablo is living here he will keep his city alive.

# LEONARD COHEN: My Oh My

# Wasn't hard to love you

# Didn't have to try #

NARRATOR: Wenling in China.

Here there is supposed to be a strange house.

We ask for directions.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: We are driving into said direction.

The area looks like a warzone.

Everywhere there are half-destroyed houses. Something is going on here.

Nobody seems to live here anymore.

We stop by the side of the road and ask the workers

who are in the middle of tearing down a building

what the strange house is all about.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

- (drilling)

NARRATOR: And the workers are still busy tearing everything down.

More and more houses are vanishing. But what happened to the residents?

We continue our drive.

And after the next bend there is really a house

right in the middle of the road!

Is this the house that we are looking for?

There is not much traffic here yet,

so we park up right next to the building.

Are we in the correct place?

From the balcony of a neighbouring house we see that it is.

It looks pretty run-down.

On the sides you can see where the other buildings around it

were torn down.

And the higher levels look as if they are uninhabitable.

Does somebody really live there? In a ruin? In the middle of a road?

Let's see if someone will open up.

- (they speak Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: Luo Baogen is 67 years old and has been living

right in the centre of the road for over a year with his wife.

The road is completely new and was constructed around his house.

The tarmac leads to the also newly erected train station of Wenling.

A short while ago the city of over one million inhabitants

was connected to the high-speed train network.

The residents had to move away

and the municipal government compensated them

with about 27,000 dollars

so they could buy a new property somewhere else.

400 families had to move because of the mammoth project.

But one person refused. Lou Baogen.

He feels that the compensation is not enough.

He wants more money from the government.

NARRATOR: So together with his wife he is holding his ground.

The government have increased their offer to 32,000 dollars -

but the couple are still refusing.

NARRATOR: Over time Lou Baogen's face

keeps getting more and more well known.

At first blogs and social media report about him.

Then national television.

- (overlapping news reports)

NARRATOR: By now Luo Baogen is famous all over the world.

Rehousing of people due to building projects often occurs in China.

As well as property owners that refuse to leave.

The Chinese call these people and their houses

"nails" and "nail houses".

But no one has ever held out as long as Luo Baogen.

Therefore the internet community calls him:

"the hardest nail of all time."

20 years ago he already lived here.

Luo Baogen is a duck farmer.

He raises his ducks at a little pond just across the road.

- (quacking)

NARRATOR: But unfortunately he doesn't make

a lot of money from this.

So he grows his vegetables and rice himself.

In order to buy his house he had to borrow the money.

He is also fighting so fiercely for a better offer because of the debt.

It is not really "living" in the house anymore.

The upper floors are empty.

Formerly Luo Baogen's daughter used to stay here with his grandchildren

but they moved out a long time ago.

The house attracts many curious onlookers.

Every couple of minutes somebody stops to take a picture.

And many encourage Luo Baogen.

- (speaks Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: Many are surprised as to how long

the protest has been tolerated.

NARRATOR: In order to chase nail house inhabitants away

the government have been known to turn off

the electricity and the water.

At Luo Baogen's house everything is still working.

- (conversation in Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: But it seems as if the authorities

are slowly getting fed up with us being here

and the subsequent attention.

This black pickup truck keeps driving past the house.

Luo Baogen is very nervous now.

NARRATOR: After a longer phone conversation

he doesn't want to speak to us anymore.

Not even inside the house.

Again and again he suddenly stops the interviews.

NARRATOR: He takes us to the door.

Luo Baogen is hoping for the issue to be settled soon

and he doesn't want to ruin the chance of this happening

through the interviews.

Of course we respect this.

He is afraid that in our radio microphone

there is a hidden government transmitter and gives it back to us.

NARRATOR: We don't want to agitate Luo Baogen even more

and drive back to our hotel.

The next morning we want to speak to him again.

But a police car is on patrol outside the house and prevents us

from parking in front of it.

The police tell us that we may not film here anymore.

Apparently everyone, including passers-by and onlookers

are being sent away.

From now on we are under surveillance.

We have to go back to the hotel.

There a government official is already waiting for us.

But she doesn't want to say anything on camera.

She informs us that the police is supposed to keep the peace

at the house so the negotiations with Luo Baogen can continue.

Meanwhile, we want to know:

How do the people that already moved away live now?

Ying You Shun and his wife Ying Feng Ling were rehoused two years ago.

With the compensation money they built a house on this new property.

On the bottom floor they have opened a supermarket.

The lady from the government follows each of our steps.

Of course, now the couple's answers are anything but critical.

- (speaks Wu Chinese)

NARRATOR: That Lou Baogen could get more money than them in the end

due to his protest, doesn't bother them.

- (drum music)

NARRATOR: And really... Shortly after we had to leave the area

the house is torn down.

A Chinese colleague was able to film with a small camera.

What happened? Did Lou Baogen give up?

He is nowhere to be seen.

We try to reach him via telephone. His wife picks up.

NARRATOR: The couple have accepted the government's offer

of 32,000 dollars.

Also, they are going to be given a plot of land in another area.

It seems as if they didn't get into trouble.

NARRATOR: Why exactly they gave up now...we will never find out.

It also remains unclear why we weren't allowed to film

the all in all positive outcome of the story.

And finally now Chinese television is extensively reporting

the tearing down of "the hardest nail house" in history.

We are leaving China and are moving on to Wieliczka in Poland.

The Cathedral of Wieliczka.

Underground and made entirely out of salt.

Through an unassuming door we enter.

For over 900 years salt has been dug up here.

Commercial mining was only stopped 20 years ago.

First we have to walk down some steps...

To be more specific: 380 of them.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: We are now 64 metres underground

and begin our tour in a chapel

that is normally closed to visitors of the mine.

It is the oldest chapel, dedicated to St Anthony

and was built in the 17th century.

But sadly it is in very bad condition.

We almost can't recognise any of the old statues.

For a long time warmth and damp air entered the chapel

and due to the high amounts of condensation

the statues were destroyed.

Over time the rocks oxidised and patinated,

like silver covered with dust.

But everything is pure salt here.

Here in Wieliczka the salt isn't in the ground in layers,

but in big lumps.

Therefore, unique halls and chambers come to exist when it is extracted.

For the caves not to collapse,

they had to be supported by elaborate wooden constructions.

The bigger the block of salt, the bigger the halls

whose wooden frames are pieces of art in themselves.

Like this 35-metre-high cave from the 17th century.

The pillars were built in 1905.

200 years ago this chamber was practically empty.

The stairs were somewhere on the side

and everything was dark in here.

The salt was chiselled from the rock by hand and shaped into cylinders

so that it could be rolled more easily.

Salt is heavy. It weighs twice as much as water.

A cylinder like this weighs 1.5 tons.

In order to take it up to the surface there were different aids,

such as pulleys or horse mills.

The horses too were lowered down into the mine

in special slings this way.

In 2002 the last horse was hoisted up to the surface and retired.

We carry on deeper into the mountain:

to the second tier in over 90 meters depth.

Here the chapel of "St Kinga" is located.

This is the real attraction of the former mine.

The miners used to extract two different kinds of salt here.

Apart from only digging up salt,

the miners also utilised their artistic skills

and used the created cavities in order to produce amazing places

for the generations to come.

Everything here is made out of salt.

Only three miners created this incredible cathedral

within about 70 years of building time.

From the floor to the statues to the chandelier...

everything is made of salt.

Every week, mass is held here.

The grotto is a consecrated church 100 metres below the ground.

For over 700 years tourists have been led through the piece of art

made from salt.

Copernicus, Goethe and Jim Carrey have already been here.

For the miners the chapels had a great significance.

The work was dangerous and every day they prayed

that they would come back to see daylight again.

Equipped like real miners we go down into a shaft from the 15th century.

- (chatter)

NARRATOR: Without any lighting and decorations

the salt chambers are less inviting.

What isn't looked after regularly falls victim to decay.

Small chapels and prayer alcoves can also be found everywhere here.

The oldest is from the 17th century.

An amazing labyrinth of corridors and chambers.

For us novices... completely unfathomable.

Totally as a surprise 100 metres below the ground,

suddenly a cave with a huge obelisk dedicated to the Emperor of Austria

as a memoir to his visit some time during the 19th century.

And we carry on even deeper down.

Our destination is the hall of Maria Theresa.

Also from the time of "the Kaiser".

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: The salt mine of Wieliczka is absolutely unique:

huge halls, a gigantic cathedral, frescoes and statues -

everything made of salt and deep below the ground.

- (dramatic music continues)

NARRATOR: We leave this fascinating place

and travel on to Hong Kong.

A ship in the middle of the city.

From above it's an incredible sight.

Surrounded by skyscrapers and rush-hour traffic.

A stranded passenger liner?

How in the world did it get here?

We head for the district of Hung Hom.

That's where it's supposed to be - the City Ship.

Huge, high-rise buildings all around,

and right in the middle we find it.

A real ship - completely seaworthy.

110 metres long, 20 metres high,

and 14 metres wide.

Right in the middle of the street.

The only water in sight is a little puddle.

So we'd like to know what the ship is doing here.

- (speaks Chinese language)

NARRATOR: So nobody here is surprised by a huge passenger ship

in the middle of the city.

We want to know a bit more about all this,

so we take a look inside the vessel.

- (jaunty music)

NARRATOR: In an area over 130,000 square metres in size

there are 300 shops, cinemas, game halls,

and even a bowling alley.

We are in the shopping mall and there's even a gourmet restaurant.

Inside, you don't notice you're in an unusual structure.

We still don't really know the story behind the stranded ship,

so we've come to see Agnes, PR spokeswoman for the mall.

Apparently, the building has cult status.

- (speaks Chinese language)

NARRATOR: The shopping mall was only constructed

in the ship quite recently.

Before that it was empty for a few years.

Agnes shows us the deck.

From the railing to the radio mast,

everything is in perfect working order.

This ship really could sail away.

NARRATOR: And there she lies in a sea of skyscrapers.

We leave this impressive place

and travel to a place just off the coast of Taiwan.

We are looking for hearts that are supposed to be in the sea.

The island with its 60,000 inhabitants

uses two hearts for its advertising wherever it can.

And not even ten minutes after we have set off we already find them:

the "Twin Hearts".

A stone formation right in the middle of the ocean.

It almost looks as if someone had simply placed

a huge necklace in the see.

- (dramatic music)

NARRATOR: We even find a viewing platform.

But wherever we look: no tourists.

On the information board it says that the "Twin Hearts"

were especially built by the islanders.

But why? The only information board in the area

does not answer this question.

Somebody has to be able to tell us what they are all about!

Are they art or some kind of superstition?

So we drive to the next village.

Maybe somebody here can tell us more.

- (woman speaks Chinese)

- (speaks Chinese)

NARRATOR: The friendly gentleman also has another tip for us.

He says that it only gets really exciting near the hearts

in the afternoon.

And really... on our second visit

the platform is heaving with tourists

with their selfie sticks and happy couples.

As we look more closely we discover why.

The tide is low and the hearts made of stone are clearly visible now.

Then something starts to happen at the shore.

Chin Hao and Chong Wua appear.

Everyone has been waiting for these two men.

So they are not artists.

Just two fishermen that have come to see to their fish trap.

Their grandfathers carefully piled the structure up by hand.

And this is how it works:

the tide drives the fish in the direction of the heart.

Through the small opening they swim into the basins

and due to the currents they can't get back out again.

When the tide is low the water level sinks

and the animals are caught inside the heart.

Probably the easiest way of catching fish ever!

On Magong Island the people have been fishing

like this for centuries.

Chin Hao and Chong Wua only have to drag their nets through the water

for a couple of minutes.

A job that doesn't take any longer than 20 minutes.

But...somehow there aren't really that many fish

in the net in the end.

To be precise, not a single edible one.

Coincidence?

So the islanders really used to fish like this.

Today it is only show.

The fisherman may not make any money from the spectacle

but are happy that visitors come to their island.

We leave the hearts in the sea and travel to our last mysterious place.

To Ha Long in Vietnam.

From here we set out on our journey. Three hours across the open sea.

At the bottom of some sheltering rocks in the middle of the ocean

the floating village of Cua Van is located.

Seven hundred inhabitants live here.

There are neither any streets nor cars

and the people are mainly fishermen.

One of them is Hung.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: Hung and the villagers are so-called water nomads.

They only settled here ten years ago in Cua Van.

Previously nobody lived here.

The houses are attached to the rocks with ropes.

Polystyrene and air-filled spheres keep them afloat.

They make the houses swim.

70 children live in Cua Van and none of them have ever set foot on land.

Early on they learn how to row with their hands and feet.

This keeps the villagers fit.

Linh is seven years old and for a year now

she's been rowing to school every morning.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: The school is probably the only floating school in the world.

The pier in front of the school, at a length of six metres,

is the longest walkway in the village.

- (children speaking Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: Once a week wholesalers from the mainland -

which is three hours away -

sell their wares to the traders in the village.

Quan is the oldest vendor in here.

She would like to leave this place - like almost all the adults here.

NARRATOR: Electricity, a car and a television are Quan's dream.

Meat and vegetables are very sought after in the village

as normally there is only fish.

Fisherman Hung still doesn't want to leave.

NARRATOR: With his income from the fishing

Hung mainly buys rice in order to feed his wife and child.

For six months Hien from Hanoi has been teaching

the three year groups in the village.

Very quickly she realised that teaching here is very different.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

NARRATOR: The legends say that a dragon ploughed through

the land with its tail and this way created

almost 2,000 limestone rocks in the middle of the sea.

Thanks to these rocks the water village even survived the Tsunami.

- (speaks Vietnamese)

- (dramatic music)

Subtitles by Sky Access Services