ArtRojasDesign

Great Wall of China

For the first part of the episode Josh heads off to China to investigate sprits that seem to haunt the Great Wall and have been attributed to several recent deaths. Countless lives have been lost building and defending the Great Wall, and many locals feel it is the spirit of these lost soldiers and workers who haunt the ruins. The Chinese people and the government take their ghosts very seriously and have closed down parts of the Wall to visitors. Josh and his team are the first investigative group to be allowed to make an overnight investigation of the site.

Since Josh is in China, the chances of getting a broken down car are pretty slim so he decides to risk his life another way and indulges in the local cuisine. Finding a local food market, he takes in the local color and finds plenty of food "on a stick". Taking to heart the old adage of "when in Rome", Josh chomps down on a big black scorpion that’s still moving. At least it looks like a scorpion, who knows what the devil it was. But make no mistake, it was moving! And it was on a stick!

With a belly full of bugs they called it a night and returned to the hotel. In the morning, they pressed on, and made the drive to the section of the Great Wall were several people have been killed recently. You can only go so far by 4×4, so Josh uses motorcycles to make it the rest of the way. And not just any bikes, but bikes with sidecars. And Josh in WWII vintage goggles and speaking in a crazy accent should solidify the idea that he does indeed march to a different drummer. Let’s also not forget Evan showing off his KungFu moves. And Josh giving tours of the city…

You only have to look at the narrow walkway and icy conditions to realize that just being on the Great Wall in this spot is treacherous.

And repelling down it? Well that’s another matter entirely as we see from Ryder and her minor plunge. It’s only a short slip, but I’m sure it got her heart racing. Remember kids, safety first! Josh may be crazy, but he does seem to know how to tie a knot.

The team finally sets up base camp and heads out into the night to see what they can pick up. There is lots of wind, lots of noises from animals and a couple of thermal hits which are probably nothing more than animals scurrying in the scrub. But as Josh sits doing an EVP session he thinks someone is touching and pushing the buttons on his backpack. It’s even thought that one of the buttons has been shut off.

They hear plenty of noises and feel like something is out there, but with the sun coming up, it’s time to head out and see what the evidence says.

Strangely, Josh meets up with Jason and Grant again for them to go over what he’s found. It does seem like Josh has an EVP of someone saying, "Let me be normal". What this is in reference to is anyone’s guess. Is this an injured soldier talking about his wounds? Or is it one of the crew trying to sneak in a call for help?

It’s hard to say the voices and previous activity are the work of spirits, but no doubt many of the Chinese believe in it.

Israeli Mermaid

Normally you write stories about the mermaid, not offer up $1 million for it’s capture. But that’s what the Israeli government is doing and Josh was quick to take a stab at the bounty. Local citizens have been reporting a slew of recent sightings and many people believe something mysterious is lurking in the waters.

But before the investigation begins, Josh, being the good ambassador that he is, pitches in to help erect a new mermaid statue. With massive drill in hand he does his best to help perpetuate the legend of the mermaid.

First Josh and team head out into the open water with the help of Kayaks. Apparently they forgot to read the manual where it states that when it comes to large open waves versus Kayaks, open waves usually win. After multiple false starts and being dumped out into the water, the team triumphs and heads out to the caves where the mermaid has been sighted. The waters are no calmer and after making a quick investigation the team decides to head out before they’re crushed upon the rocks.

Next, it’s off to another inlet where the mermaid has been seen for some underwater investigation. The water is so murky and dirty they basically can’t see anything. Of course, these are the exact conditions you would expect right before the mermaid makes and appearance. And then Josh sees something. Something big and black in the water. As always it could be anything, but Josh swears something went right past him.

Josh also sends out his team to scout in different locations. Team members take up residence in a lighthouse, along the shore and in another boat to see if anything happens. They do get some odd "figure" that shows up on the thermal imager and send Josh after it. As you might expect, it disappears before he can get to it. Dolphin? Lost swimmer? A log churning in the water? Hard to say, but there’s a blob on the screen.

Did Josh come away with the money? Sadly no. He doesn’t really capture any real evidence to support the claim of the mermaid, but the check is still sitting there, waiting for someone to claim it. He did however come across some nice underwater Roman ruins which are certainly worth investigating.

Even though Josh didn’t come away with much, this episode was hysterical! It has a little bit of everything; action, adventure, mystery, suspense and of course, some nasty, still crawling food. This one ranks right up there as one of my favorites.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Expedition Unknown – The Great Bell of Dhammazedi – S01E12
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
• Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
• Destination Truth – Siberian Snowman – s04e05
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Haboro/Mngwa – S04E03
• Destination Truth – Sandstorm Spirits Cerro Azul – S04E11
• Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13
• Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
• Expedition Unknown – Secrets of the Nazca – S01E10
• Destination Truth – Return to the Haunted Forest and Belize Goblin (Tata Duende)- S05E02

Hunting for Leprechauns? On St. Patrick’s Day? In Ireland? Surely you jest! Laugh as you will, Josh and team head to Ireland to search for the wee little people. But first they head to Israel to search for the Ghosts of the Masada.

Right off the bat we see Josh has his usual luck with vehicles wherein his Jeep is dumped on the curb at the airport and then proceeds to breakdown shortly after he starts driving.

After a quick vehicle change, Josh and team are off to the Dead Sea for a little playtime on the beach. Like kids stuck in the car for too many hours, Ryder, Mike and the other beg and plead to get out and play in the water. Apparently playing in the Dead Sea isn’t dangerous enough for Josh and he hangs back by the car watching over his flock.

But then it’s on to Masada, which is the site of a mass suicide where thousands of citizens decided to end their own lives rather than submit to the Romans. People claim to hear voices and see figures roaming around.

At the synagogue, Josh, Ryder and Mike capture what looks to be a figure on the thermal imager. Now, it could just be someone else walking around up there, but it was pretty neat.

While walking around in the same area they test what the echo would be like and it’s very easy to hear low voices bounce off the terrain. In theory people talking off the distance could comes across as disembodied voices. Those spiritual voices could easily be carried by the wind.

With the evidence collected, it’s time for someone in the states to review it. I think it’s funny Josh gets Jason and Grant to check it out. Considering they don’t analyze the evidence on their own show, why are they doing it for Josh?

They agree the apparition on the thermal is pretty neat and they sort of debunk the voices and the echoes.

For the second part of the trek it’s off to Ireland in search of Leprechauns. Strangely Josh finds a group of Leprechauns right there in the airport and they have grand plans to head to London to get drunk. So, if you’re looking for Leprechauns, just hang out in the airport, sooner or later, they’ll turn up.

And speaking of, Josh and team hit the Irish Pub to learn of the Irish culture. First lesson, how to drink Guinness. Clearly this is what you need to do in order to see Leprechauns, people in town told him so. I guess it doesn’t hurt that the bar owner has a Leprechaun skeleton on the premises.

Josh doesn’t spend all his time in the pub, he does actually make it out in to the protected woods to see if there is any truth to the Leprechaun legend. They do get a few things moving around with the thermal imager and he does find some weird glowing soil; glowing as in warm, not glowing as in radioactive – that’s in Chernobyl. While on the hunt, a group of cows is discovered but alas, they are no help in finding Leprechauns.

But wait, just when you thought nothing was going to happen, they cued the dramatic music as a discovery of bones was made.

After the analysis, they were found to be sheep bones, and based on the photos Josh took, the Leprechaun bones in the bar most likely chicken bones, probably from the Buffalo Wings. While Josh did find a rainbow on his travels there was no pot of gold and no Leprechauns. Curse the bad luck.

But as always it was very amusing and Josh got plenty of shopping done.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13
• Destination Truth – Live from Ireland – S04E09
• Destination Truth – Jersey Devil/The Yeren S03E12
• Destination Truth – Season 1 and Season 4
• Destination Truth – Live 4 Hour Investigation in Ireland
• Josh Gates and Erin Ryder on the Radio
• Destination Truth – Jungle Temple Ghosts & Namibian Night Stalker – S04E12
• Destination Truth – Sandstorm Spirits Cerro Azul – S04E11
• Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
• Destination Truth – Vampire Monster and Island of the Damned – S05E06