THE SECOND IN MY SERIES OF FIVE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS ROADS IN THE WORLD, IS FOUND IN BOLIVIA.
LIVING UP TO THE REPUTATION, AS THE MOST DEADLY HIGHWAY IN ALL OF THIS WORLD.. NOT JUST IN THIS COUNTRY .. BUT THE ENTIRE PLANET!
IT HAS TO BE THE MOST NECESSARY ROAD IN THE WORLD ALSO.. PEOPLE WOULD NOT RISK IT OTHERWISE..
MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH WE GRIPE ABOUT THE TAXES WE PAY FOR ROAD MAINTENANCE.. AND DECIDE TO JUST HUSH UP ABOUT IT HUH? HEHEHE
“Road of Deathâ€
North Yungas Road is hands-down the most dangerous in the world for motorists. This one clearly endangers your life. It runs in the Bolivian Andes, 70 km from La Paz to Coroico, and plunges down almost 3,600 meters in an orgy of extremely narrow hairpin curves and 800-meter abyss near-misses. A fatal accident happens there every couple of weeks, 100-200 people perish there every year. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named the La Paz-to-Coroico route “the world’s most dangerous road.â€
Among the route there are many visible reminders of accidents, wreckages of lorries and trucks lie scattered around at the bottom... (read BBC article)
The buses and heavy trucks navigate this road, as this is the only route available in the area. Buses crowded with locals go in any weather, and try to beat the incoming traffic to the curves. It does not help that the fog and vapors rise up from the heavily vegetated valley below, resulting in almost constant fogs and limited visibility. Plus the tropical downpours cause parts of the road to slide down the mountain.
Apparently some companies make business on the road's dubious fame by selling the extreme bike tours down that road. "Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking" is one of them. (you can read one such biker's account here.) If you are nuts enough to consider it, please be advised that you will be only adding to the road hazards, as it's hard to spot a cyclist on the road's hairpin curves, and your shrieks (as you fall down the abyss) will disturb the peace and quiet of the villagers nearby.
lockerridge
