Original subtitles

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] A revolutionary craft

that sent shockwaves across America.

It absolutely terrified

the Defense Department, the CIA,

all of which could not believe this.

[narrator] An Argentinian experiment

built on a great promise.

Maybe trusting the old Nazi

was not such a good idea.

[narrator] And an institutional ruin

that offered hope to its occupants.

that offered hope to its occupants.

[Dr. Alicia] It was regarded as a success.

The true story is much darker.

[narrator] Decaying relics.

Ruins of lost worlds.

Sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting to be revealed.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In the Russian republic of Dagestan,

at the edge of the Caspian Sea,

lie the remains of a secret Soviet project.

Washed up on the beach

is this amazing, strange structure.

It's not a ship, but it's not a plane,

It's not a ship, but it's not a plane,

it's someplace in between.

And if you ramble around inside,

it's got seats for the pilot, the copilot,

and separate compartments for radar operators,

and for probably weapons operators.

[narrator] A mile and a half from the beach Leviathan

is another structure,

its connection and purpose not immediately clear.

It seems to be in the middle of nowhere,

and how better to keep a secret

than to have it far away from prying eyes.

than to have it far away from prying eyes.

At first glance, it almost looks like

a vintage airport terminal.

It even has its power, but it's out in the water

with no obvious or easy way to reach it.

And when we penetrate into the interior,

it looks like a tumbledown factory

or some kind of industrial installation.

[narrator] What links these two hulking beasts,

and why did this strange machine strike fear

and why did this strange machine strike fear

into the hearts of Western governments?

Even the CIA was a little freaked out

by this Soviet invention.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] This decaying structure

was once at the forefront

of Soviet Cold War military research.

Former pilot Aligadzhi Abdulgalimov

spent many years at the controls

spent many years at the controls

of the extraordinary machine.

[Aligadzhi] I think I made about 70 or 80 flights

on this one.

I was never frightened.

I was curious.

I was fascinated to conduct

all the tests and experiments.

What results we would get.

All of us did our best to succeed.

[narrator] But this is no normal aircraft.

The revolutionary design

was intended to give the Soviet military

superiority over their American rivals.

The key to it all is a scientific principle

called ground effect.

When a plane flies very close to the ground,

or say to a flat surface, like the ocean,

a cushion of air builds up between that surface

a cushion of air builds up between that surface

and the wing.

And that gives the plane

a little bit of extra lift.

Which means you can float very close to the ground,

and at very high speeds, and never touch it.

And that's going to make it much easier

to go faster and further and more efficiently

than ever before.

All the militaries of the world were looking at this,

but it was the Soviets that really, you know,

worked on it intensively from the 1950s on. Why?

Because the US Navy ruled the world

Because the US Navy ruled the world

and none of the Communist navies

had the resources to go toe to toe

with American carriers.

[narrator] The clandestine project was the brainchild

of distinguished Russian engineer,

Rostislav Alexeyev.

Testing of the part plane, part ship prototype,

called an Ekranoplan

began in 1966

on the Caspian Sea.

[Aligadzhi] The KM, was the first Ekranoplan

[Aligadzhi] The KM, was the first Ekranoplan

that was designed and built.

It was like a flying laboratory,

an embodiment of multiple ideas.

Many experiments were performed on it.

And lots of data collected.

[narrator] What the Soviets didn't know

was that American spy satellites

were closely monitoring the secret tests.

When the Americans got a look at this amazing craft

zooming across the Caspian Sea,

they were really pretty blown away.

It absolutely terrified

the Defense Department, the CIA,

all of which could not believe this.

[narrator] The colossal craft

soon earned an ominous nickname.

The Western military forces called it

the Caspian Sea monster.

Because they thought it was a beast.

Because they thought it was a beast.

A monster they had never seen before.

But it was beautiful.

During the flight, it was really beautiful.

[Jim] But the Soviets wanted something

that could go faster than the Caspian Sea monster.

And they replaced it with a craft

they called The Lun, which was this behemoth

we see on the beach of the Caspian Sea.

[narrator] In 1987,

The Lun was first put through its paces.

The Lun was first put through its paces.

At 240 ft long,

it was almost as big as a jumbo jet,

and could travel at speeds of over 310 mph.

The Lun is the most potent of the ekranoplans.

And of course, it's... It was impossible

for radar at the time

to detect The Lun because, again,

it's flying so close to the surface,

and you've got the use of advanced missiles.

When NATO commanders got wind

of this craft's development,

they all knew exactly what it was designed for.

To put it bluntly, the idea was to destroy

aircraft carriers. That was it.

[narrator] To conduct lightning-fast,

seaborne attacks,

the crew of the ekranoplan needed somewhere

to test its deadly weapons.

Aligadzhi first came here

Aligadzhi first came here

back in the early '80s.

The workshop was in a relatively good condition.

It had an oak parquet on the floor,

and machinery was intact.

The roof was still in place,

and the building still had windows.

[narrator] It was called the Dagdizel Plant.

When operational, it also had a military purpose.

In the 1930s, the Soviets needed a place

to test torpedoes and the Caspian Sea

was the perfect place to do this.

But this test facility had actually been abandoned

by the time the ekranoplan bomb was being tested.

So it becomes a target for your ekranoplans

to practice their missile skills

against potential adversaries.

[narrator] The Lun was declared a huge success.

And the Soviet military had big plans

And the Soviet military had big plans

for their devastating new weapon of war.

In the West, the USSR's Cold War enemies

lived in fear.

It was an aircraft carrier killer.

That's what they saw it as and they were right.

This was a real threat.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Off the coast of Dagestan

is a revolutionary war machine.

Part boat, part plane,

it had Western powers running scared

during the Cold War.

This thing was absolutely enormous

and a single missile or two could take out

a modern aircraft carrier.

It was a formidable weapon.

It was a formidable weapon.

[narrator] But the ekranoplan

would never be called into action.

The winds of change were beginning to blow

and soon the Iron Curtain would come crashing down.

By the 1980s, the Soviet Union was on its last legs.

It was spending every dime it had

trying to keep up with the US

in an arms race,

its economy was falling farther and farther behind.

[Prof. Wawro] When the Soviet Union fell

in 1989-90,

Gorbachev basically cut funding

for the ekranoplans.

And the few that had been assembled,

were just sort of left behind his white elephants,

one of them here in the Caspian Sea.

So it's sort of a heartbreak in a way

that this experimental,

ambitious, beautiful...

Strangely beautiful craft was just left

to kind of rot and fall apart.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] The abandoned Cold War relic

is soon set to have a new home

at a military theme park.

Until construction of the site is finished,

the craft remains stranded

in its coastal grave.

The Ministry of Defense decided that The Lun

shouldn't be destroyed,

shouldn't be destroyed,

but kept for future generations

to see what talented designers and workers

Soviet Union had at the time.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In Western Argentina,

on the chilly waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi,

is an island of secrets and lies.

[Dr. Nusbacher] As you approach this island,

[Dr. Nusbacher] As you approach this island,

it's big.

It's got a lot of tree cover.

And it's right in the middle of the lake,

so it is comparatively isolated.

But as you get onto the island,

you can see that there's a number of different buildings.

[narrator] There are collapsed structures,

warehouse-like ruins, and industrial remains.

Any hint of their original purpose

long since vanished.

You've got fairly bare constructs,

You've got fairly bare constructs,

but things like bolts in the ground,

there was something in place there,

but is no longer there now.

[narrator] This was once the site

of a bold experiment,

one led by a man that claimed his work

could transform the fortunes of an entire country.

And there is every indication

that this might be one of the big brains,

who is going to make Argentina

even more powerful in the future.

even more powerful in the future.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Fabian Kandel is a local guide.

He's been bringing visitors to this mysterious island

for the last 10 years.

When construction first started in 1949,

outsiders were strictly forbidden.

As it is an island.

Obviously, we can only reach it by boats.

Obviously, we can only reach it by boats.

Because of this, it was the perfect place

to construct buildings away from people

who are not welcome.

[narrator] In the late 1940s,

Argentina was a largely agricultural nation.

President Juan Peron

wanted the country to industrialize.

At the end of the Second World War,

he sensed an opportunity

to exploit the fallen Third Reich.

to exploit the fallen Third Reich.

Juan Peron tries to get

as many Nazi scientists,

Nazi engineers, Nazi builders,

to come to Argentina

and help make Argentina more technologically advanced.

[narrator] In 1948,

Nazi physicist Dr. Ronald Richter

arrived in the country,

allegedly using a fake passport

supplied by the Argentine government.

The President invited Dr. Richter to Argentina

to potentially talk about powering planes

with nuclear power

but Dr. Richter wanted to talk

about something else.

[narrator] What Richter had in mind

would transform Argentina into a major superpower.

Everything about it

was really a closely guarded secret.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] On an island in Argentina

is a ruin that promised great power.

The man behind it was ex-Nazi Scientist,

Dr. Ronald Richter.

Argentinian dictator Juan Peron

originally invited him to the country

to build nuclear powered aircraft.

What Richter was pitching is far bigger

than a nuclear powered aircraft.

than a nuclear powered aircraft.

What Richter was pitching

is the power of the sun and stars

at the service of the Argentine government,

hydrogen fusion.

Now nuclear fusion's the Holy Grail, if you will,

because in principle,

it can generate huge, vast amounts of power,

and also, the byproducts of it

are not very radioactive.

[narrator] Nuclear fusion is the opposite

of nuclear fission,

of nuclear fission,

the destructive power

that fuels the atomic bomb.

Instead of splitting an atom to create energy,

atoms are smashed together.

The reaction produces a self-sustaining

limitless source of power

no other country had yet come close to achieving.

The problem with nuclear fusion,

in a nutshell,

it's really, really hard to do.

Richter was trying essentially

Richter was trying essentially

to bottle the sun.

[narrator] For Peron, the risk is worth the reward.

If Richter can produce hydrogen fusion for Argentina,

then Argentina becomes

the energy capital of the world

and the industrial capital of the world.

[narrator] This is Huemul Island,

the sight of a top secret nuclear fusion lab

with the potential to alter the course of history.

with the potential to alter the course of history.

[Dr. Nusbacher] Peron offers Richter

a billion Argentine pesos.

And that was a lot of money.

He's effectively allowing Richter

to spend anything,

unlimited budget virtually.

And it's an interesting fact

that in order to get nuclear fusion,

you actually need a lot of energy and a lot of power.

So Richter himself would need to have a big power station,

So Richter himself would need to have a big power station,

he would need to be able to generate

large amounts of power

in order to try and get the reaction to happen.

[Fabian] We are now in the place

where energy was produced

for the whole island.

We can still see on the ground

the remains of where engines, power units,

and reactors once were.

[narrator] Estimates suggest Richter used

up to 40,000 freight car loads of bricks,

up to 40,000 freight car loads of bricks,

stones, and concrete.

In fact, in Buenos Aires,

they were saying that the shortage of bricks

had to do with everything being built here.

[narrator] In two years,

Richter's project racks up a bill

of almost $300 million.

Peron needs to keep the news of his investment

in hydrogen fusion under his hat

in hydrogen fusion under his hat

because the last thing Peron wants

is Uncle Sam coming down into South America

and stopping him.

This is the building

where the nuclear reactor was installed,

where a success of the proposal made to Peron

was allegedly going to happen.

So Richter had built this reactor,

but for him, he said the key part of it

but for him, he said the key part of it

was this thing called the Thermotron,

which was the thing that generated

the vast amounts of energy to cause nuclear fusion.

But Dr. Richter kept the design of his thermotron

a closely guarded secret.

[narrator] In February 1951,

Richter told Peron his revolutionary machine

had successfully demonstrated fusion.

On the 24th of March, 1951,

just two years after the project started,

just two years after the project started,

President Peron announced to the world's media

that Argentina had managed to achieve nuclear fusion.

[narrator] But not everyone was convinced

by Peron's bold declaration.

The international scientific community

is skeptical.

One guy can't do this.

A little economy can't do this.

A little economy can't do this.

[narrator] On a remote island in Argentina,

Austrian Scientist, Ronald Richter,

claimed to be the first person

to achieve nuclear fusion.

President Peron proudly announced

the great feat to the world's press.

So after the announcement,

clearly reporters and scientists

really wanted to get on the island to find out.

But even after a year,

they weren't allowed access.

And Richter had not provided any evidence

And Richter had not provided any evidence

for what he'd claimed he'd done.

And Peron has got to find out what's going on.

Peron has trusted Richter implicitly,

and maybe trusting the old Nazi

was not such a good idea.

A commission formed the five scientists

and some Argentinian lawmakers

started to investigate the Huemul Project,

and they realized that there was nothing,

that everything was a fraud.

[narrator] The failed project was immediately cancelled,

and the island abandoned.

Richter goes from being the leading man

in Argentine science to nobody.

And he was forced to retire and live the rest of his life

out in Buenos Aires in disgrace.

Really, his name was in tatters.

[narrator] Richter's fraud was a national embarrassment,

and one of the most costly

and one of the most costly

scientific deceptions in history.

Despite the failure and the fraud

of the Huemul Project,

it wasn't completely worthless.

Straight after the project ended,

all the machinery,

all the cutting edge equipment,

was moved to what is now

the Bariloche Atomic Centre,

which is a 66-hectare site

with 225 laboratories,

which is today a center of excellence in Argentina.

[narrator] In the 1970s,

Huemul Island was used by the Argentinian military

for bombing and target practice.

That is why we see bullets.

We also see collapsed buildings

because explosives were used for their training.

[narrator] Today, it faces a brighter future.

The island started to be visited by tourists

and became an attraction.

and became an attraction.

In fact, in 1998,

it was declared a heritage site

of the city of San Carlos de Bariloche

under protected area.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] In Atlanta, Georgia,

hidden from view

are a series of rundown structures.

You're in a pretty built up area.

But then there's this one spot

But then there's this one spot

that is wooded, overgrown,

kudzu is covering everything.

And in the middle of it, there's this compound,

ruins really.

[Dr. Alicia] You can no longer tell

what this was.

But you can clearly see that it's been empty

for a long period of time.

[narrator] Other structures have better survived

the ravages of time.

Inside, they offer a glimpse

of what this place once was.

of what this place once was.

The buildings that are intact are creepy.

You've got these long corridors.

They're very, very dark.

There's a lot of metal.

You see some doors with bars,

you see something that suggests

an institutional nature.

[narrator] In the beginning, this site stood

as a beacon of hope

for the people that came here.

The authorities were more than happy

to push this narrative

but the reality was far different.

but the reality was far different.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Scott Petersen lives nearby

and has been coming to this location for years.

He became interested in its history

from a very young age.

This place is surprisingly well-known

because of its nefarious past.

So many of us have colorful uncles

So many of us have colorful uncles

and colorful grandfathers,

and colorful great, great grandfathers

who shared stories of what happened here.

[narrator] Its story begins in 1918,

when Atlanta's Bureau of Prisons

bought the land.

At one end, they built a conventional penitentiary.

At this site, they created a different kind

of correctional facility.

Over many, many years,

Over many, many years,

this overgrown path was the final walk

many men walked into this prison.

And they would come slowly in chains up this walkway.

[narrator] The convicts soon discovered

this was no ordinary prison.

Noticed in this great distance,

there's no fences,

there's no walls,

there's no guard towers.

[narrator] A prison without walls

sounds like a recipe for disaster.

But this was a unique experiment

based on liberal ideals.

This prison was also a working farm.

Prisoners were expected to tends pigs

and the chickens, and the dairy cattle,

and to work in the fields raising crops.

[narrator] The people in charge of the prisoners

were not normal prison guards.

They were agricultural experts

They were agricultural experts

armed with farm tools, not guns.

So there's not only the hope to rehabilitate prisoners

to help them learn to trade,

there's also the sense of having them not holed up

in dark cells,

that might lessen the possibility

of becoming institutionalized.

[narrator] This is the old Atlanta Prison Farm.

When it first opened,

it also went by a different name,

it also went by a different name,

one that reflected the principles

on which it was founded.

[Jim] This prison was known as an Honor Farm.

It was intended for convicts

who were convicted of relatively minor crimes.

And the idea was

that this was an honor for them

to be able to serve their time

in a place where they had relative freedom

and not be under the thumb of guards

and very, very heavy security.

[narrator] Even the dormitories were clean

and far from overcrowded.

The idea was they could reward positive behavior

on the part of the inmates

through these good conditions.

And the inmates knew that if they screwed up,

they might get sent somewhere else

and endure much harsher treatment.

By the 1930s, this farm was producing

enough milk and vegetables to be self-sustaining.

It was able to provide for itself

and the penitentiary nearby.

[narrator] Escape attempts were rare,

and the innovative program appeared to be working.

[Dr. Alicia] This prison was regarded as a success.

It was seen as a modern

kind of humane way to rehabilitate,

and it was seen as something that was really progressive.

[narrator] But the prison farms days of reform

didn't last.

A change was coming

that would usher in an era of brutality.

that would usher in an era of brutality.

The true story of this prison farm

is much darker.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Narrator] The old Atlanta Prison Farm

was built on the ideals of reform and rehabilitation.

In the mid-1960s,

ownership of the site changed hands.

The federal government sold the Honor Farm,

the city of Atlanta

and other governmental entities

and a different era came in,

an era of chain gang,

an era of chain gang,

an era of brutal retaliation,

corporal punishment, even death by working.

The reality was that most of the inmates here

were black Americans,

and many of them were housed in cell blocks

that were segregated across racial lines.

[narrator] Segregation was officially ended

by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Inside these walls,

Inside these walls,

the inhumane practice continued.

The Honorable experiment was over.

Much of what had been unique about the prison had gone

and people started being treated

more like regular prisoners.

The prisoners come in and they are signed up

and they're brought over to this area here

through this sliding door.

This is one of the first gates of hell

This is one of the first gates of hell

that they would experience.

[foreboding music playing]

They spent hours and hours and hours

in these holding cells.

It's kind of a sad feeling here.

Even though it's been abused and neglected

for many years and lots of graffiti,

you can still feel

the angst of the men that were here.

Not only were a disproportionate

Not only were a disproportionate

number of prisoners by the 1960s black,

not only was their segregation,

but you have such crowding for black inmates

where they might not even be sleeping in bunks,

they might be sleeping on floors.

Some reported sleeping on bits of cloth

that were soaked in urine.

[narrator] In the 1970s and '80s,

there were attempts to address

the shameful conditions,

but its days as a prison farm were numbered.

but its days as a prison farm were numbered.

It seems like this place went through

several different superintendents

who all had positive intentions,

but for one reason or another,

this never really came to fruition.

And ultimately, by 1995,

this place was abandoned

and it's been falling apart ever since.

In some areas you could say they had success,

it was seen as a model at times

for a more enlightened way to run a prison.

for a more enlightened way to run a prison.

Sadly, it also reflected the commonplace treatment

of black prisoners in the south

that was especially oppressive,

especially difficult.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Today, the once fertile land

has become an illegal dumping ground,

brimming with toxic waste.

Scott Petersen is fighting to save it.

Scott Petersen is fighting to save it.

The future of the Atlanta Prison Farm

is still up for debate.

The history points us in the direction

of recycling this beautiful old farm

for maximum benefit to the neighbors

and to the people of Atlanta.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] Concealed in the Cambodian jungle,

light traces of a lost world.

As you move through the thick trees of the jungle,

you suddenly realize that there is something else here.

It's not hidden. It's not camouflage.

It's actually being taken back

over by the jungle.

over by the jungle.

[narrator] Exploring deeper,

there is a distinct feeling

you are being watched.

All you see is these eyes

peering out from behind the leaves.

We know that this place held stores of gold

and silk and precious gems.

And you really feel like you're in an Indiana Jones

or a Tomb Raider movie.

[narrator] The snaking routes and passage of time

[narrator] The snaking routes and passage of time

have brought decay,

but there are indications

that someone else has scoured this site.

Who or what were they searching for?

[intense music playing]

[narrator] Mr. Sokrithy Im is an archaeologist

who has spent decades

uncovering the secrets of this place.

[narrator] This is Ta Prohm.

It was part of the ancient city of Angkor,

the capital of the vast Khmer civilization.

The Khmer Empire was at its height

in Southeast Asia

between the 11th and 13th centuries.

And their kings ruled over much

of what is today Laos, Cambodia,

Thailand, and Vietnam.

[narrator] Ta Prohm was a focal point

for many of this ancient cities people.

It was in effect at the heart of a city block

of the Khmer capital.

We know that over 12,500 people

were living here,

but it also took some 80,000 people

but it also took some 80,000 people

in the neighboring villages and towns

to ensure that the people here

have adequate supplies.

[narrator] And it held a share of the Khmer Empire's

enormous wealth.

It once held over 1,000 lbs of gold plate,

35 diamonds, tens of thousands of pearls,

and a host of other luxurious goods.

[narrator] Ta Prohm was commissioned

[narrator] Ta Prohm was commissioned

by a great king called Jayavarman VII.

Before a single stone could be laid here,

he had to come out of exile

and rid the empire of occupiers

who had deposed his father.

Jayavarman was probably in his 50s

when he assembled an army

and overthrew the invaders.

He found the city in complete disrepair,

but through skill and diligence,

but through skill and diligence,

he became one of the most powerful of the Khmer kings.

[narrator] Completed in 1186 A.D.,

Ta Prohm was part of Jayavarman's new vision

for his subjects,

yet the very thing that drove him

would soon bring great destruction.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Ta Prohm, Cambodia,

once a key part of Angkor,

the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire.

Though, there is something that marks out Ta Prohm

as different.

When you take a look at the carvings

that you can find around this structure,

they represent iconic moments from the Buddhist tradition.

But the vast majority of the buildings

But the vast majority of the buildings

at the Angkor Wat complex

are dedicated to Hindu principles.

So what can account for that discrepancy?

[narrator] Warrior King, Jayavarman VII,

built Ta Prohm after he reclaimed

his father's throne.

During his time in exile,

he not only built an army,

but also strengthened his faith

in Mahayana Buddhism.

in Mahayana Buddhism.

Ta Prohm was the ultimate expression of his faith.

Mahayana Buddhism is one of the two great traditions

in Buddhist thought.

At the core of Mahayana Buddhism

is an ideal

that we should all try to reach

to live a life free of desire,

free of attachment to material things.

Throughout this site, there are over

Throughout this site, there are over

260 statues to gods

where people can leave offerings

of flowers and gifts.

Even the layout of this site is an embodiment

of the beliefs of the Mahayanan Buddhists.

The different enclosures

represent different levels of enlightenment.

[narrator] Yet Ta Prohm was more than just a temple.

[narrator] The King's faith drove him to affect

real change in the lives of his subjects.

His beliefs in Mahayana Buddhism meant

that he was deeply invested

in reducing the suffering of his people.

He felt the pain of his people more deeply.

He felt it on a spiritual level.

[narrator] One structure here shows the lengths he would go

to put his beliefs into practice.

There were places where the travelers could cook,

There were places where the travelers could cook,

shelter, feed their animals,

sleep, pray,

and they were open to everybody.

[narrator] Although many of these structures

have since been lost to time,

Ta Prohm was at the center

of another kind of network.

[Sokrithy Im speaking]

[Sascha] He built over a hundred hospitals

across the breadth of his empire,

and these were fairly complex institutions.

They would have included managers, drug combiners,

drug distributors, water boilers.

It was almost like an early form

of universal health care.

[narrator] But the scarred walls at Ta Prohm

[narrator] But the scarred walls at Ta Prohm

suggest there was a more immediate threat

to his benevolent vision.

You would expect there to be more Buddhists relics

and engravings,

but there are surprisingly few.

It's almost as if

they've been disappeared on purpose.

[Sokrithy Im speaking]

[narrator] Soon after Jayavarman VII's death,

a namesake seized his throne.

Jayavarman VIII was a Hindu

and a fervent anti-Buddhist

so he's going to destroy or alter

so he's going to destroy or alter

a lot of the older carvings.

[narrator] After the death of its Buddhist king,

the Khmer Empire entered a terminal decline.

But the exact reasons

why Angkor and Ta Prohm were abandoned

still remain a mystery.

Some had suggested that it was climate.

Others have thought that it might have been famine

or even pandemic,

but whatever happened, people left

but whatever happened, people left

and the site gradually was reclaimed by the jungle.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Today, Ta Prohm is a popular stop

for millions of tourists

who visit the remains of Angkor each year.

Its fame is thanks to a surprising

turn of events.

This place made be headlines when it was used as a setting

for the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider film,

for the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider film,

but that fame comes at a cost

and as the years go on and more tourists arrive,

it becomes harder and harder to preserve

the delicate beauty of this place.

[suspenseful music playing]