DW Documentaries

From Rio to Lima – Transoceânica, the world's longest bus journey (3/5) (2016x3)

Air date: Feb 17, 2016

From Brazil to Peru via the Andes, the bus crosses its first international border as it continues its trip through the Amazon of South America. This section of the Transoceânica highway is known as the “Gold Road”, where fortune hunters and adventurers illegally pan for gold. A raid on illegal gold prospectors is underway. The Peruvian government estimates that 20,000 people are panning for gold here - illegally. At the end of May 2016, most of the region of Madre de Dios was declared an emergency area after mercury used in gold extraction threatened to poison 50,000 people. Every few months, raids are carried out - but with limited success. The panhandlers return to their sites soon after the police have left. During the raids, the prospectors sometimes block the highway for days. But the Transoceânica bus passes through this region without incident.