The Road of Death

Posted on 26. Nov, 2008 by Kerry Banks in International

There are many roads in the world that qualify as death traps, such as Kenya’s Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret Highway on which more than 300 people perish annually in crashes caused by speeding, improper passing and drunken driving, or Egypt’s Luxor-al-Ghurdaqah road where the vast majority of drivers never turn on their headlights after sundown, ensuring a high fatality rate. Ironically, the only thing more dangerous than driving on the road at night with your headlights off is driving at night with them on. If the bandits don’t get you, the terrorists probably will. But neither of these routes poses the risks of Bolivia’s North Yungas Road. Widely acknowledged as the most dangerous road on the planet, the North Yungas is 70 kilometres of white-knuckle terror–one unpaved lane hacked out of the mountainside, bordered one one side by 985-metre high cliffs, and a 600-metre plunge down to the rainforest below on the other. Locals call it El Camino de la Muerte, “the Road of Death.” And this is no exaggeration. In 1994, 26 vehicles went over the edge–an average of one every two weeks. Each year, between 100 and 200 people die trying to navigate its slippery, hairpin turns.

Connecting La Paz, the nation’s capital, at 3,800 metres above sea level, and the town of Corocio in the Amazon basin, at 330 metres, the North Yungas was built by prisoners during Bolivia’s war with Paraguay from 1932 to 1935. As the only route linking northern Bolivia to the capital it has always been heavily traversed by buses, minivans, trucks, tankers, taxis and private vehicles. It is not unusual to see bus and truck drivers stop before entering the most treacherous stretches and make offerings at the roadside, burning objects and tipping beer onto the ground, beseeching the goddess Pachamama for safe passage. Then, chewing coca leaves to keep themselves awake, they are off at breakneck speeds in vehicles which should not be on any road, let alone this one.

Making conditions even more hazardous is the fog that rises up from the valley below, resulting in almost constant limited visibility. During the rainy season tropical downpours often cause parts of the road to slide down the mountain. Overhangs present the added danger of falling rock, while In several sections, waterfalls crash directly onto the road, and it can be muddy throughout.

The most treacherous section of the road consists of a series of sharp, blind curves around the mountain. A cautionary honk is usually all the warning one gets from the many trucks carrying bananas and other tropical products uphill. Because so many people have met their maker along here, volunteers known as “human traffic lights,” sometimes station themselves at the most dangerous curves and signal to the drivers if it is safe to continue around the bend. In return, they often are tipped by the drivers. As one might guess, passing often poses a serious problem. When two vehicles meet, descending drivers normally have to back up until there is enough space for ascending drivers to pass. With horrifying frequency, they back entirely off the cliff. On July 24, 1983, Carlos Pizarroso Inde drove his bus over the edge, killing more than 100 passengers in Bolivia’s worst road accident.

Although guard rails are non-existent, there are few unwritten local traffic rules to help reduce the carnage. One holds that the descending driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road–this forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be done more safely. Also, vehicles must drive on the left, as opposed to the right, as is the case in the rest of Bolivia. The reason vehicles drive on the left side is because they have their steering wheels on the left-hand side. The road is so narrow that the driver has to be able to stick his head out the window to make sure his wheels are on the road.

Ironically, the road’s notoreity has made it a tourist destination for adventure-seeking foreigners eager to add “drove the world’s most dangerous road” to their list of accomplishments. In recent years, the North Yungas has also become a major attraction for extreme mountain bikers. Today, two dozen companies in La Paz that cater specifically to this cult market of adrenaline junkies. The seven-hour bike ride starts out even higher than La Paz, at 4,876 metres, and sends riders rocketing down the slope at blistering speeds on a descent to the subtropical jungle. On the way they pass rows of shrines and crosses and faded flowers marking the spots of fatal accidents. The reward for completing the terrifying trek is a T-shirt that says: “I Rode the World’s Most Dangerous Road.” The companies offering these services claim that the two-wheeled method of navigation is safer than using a vehicle. Even so, at least 13 of these daredevil cyclists have been killed on the route since 1998.

After years of empty promises, the Bolivian government is now finally finishing a new road that circumvents the worst sections of the North Yungas, but hundreds of vehicles continue to use the old dirt track as a short cut. And people continue to tumble to their deaths.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you are complaining about your daily commute.

Photo Credits:

#1,4: ssqq.com

#2,3: darkroastedblend.com

Tags: Bolivia, Roads, Travel Trivia