Inca Road: From Goldmines to Landmines

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Karin's journey starts with a bang - literally. A Brazilian military helicopters crashes a hundred meters from her on the Inca Road. Her first night is spent sharing food and her tent with the soldiers. Once they are safely away she continues down the trail through Ecuador, drinking saliva-fermented beer with locals and sleeping in the ancient Inca way stations until she reaches the spectacular ruins of Ingapirca. A nationwide strike breaks out just as she arrives in Quito, pitting Indians armed with stones against the military with armored vehicles and tear gas. Karin hitchhikes across the lines and stumbles upon a happier event - an Ecuadorian festival where full-sized pigs are roasted and carried through the streets for days - and then eaten. From there Karin heads east into the remote gold mining towns of the Oriente, where poor miners blast rock deep in the bowels of the mountain and use mercury to leach out the gold. And finally, she trains with the Ecuadorian military in order to be allowed to accompany them on a de-mining patrol on the border of Peru - from where she hopes to continue her journey south…. along the Inca road. Part 1 of 3