Having enjoyed the Christmas episode of Top Gear and after the laughter had finished I was struck by the incredible reality of the danger presented to the cast and crew during their trip to Bolivia. The programme has fantastic script writers and i think sub consciously they brought about a fantastic piece of reality to the programme whilst it may have been unintentional. It just goes to prove that its very easy to take for granted the fact that travel in the UK is realatively easy, many of the Bolivians risk their lives everyday just making a journey that is required for them just to survive.
By @JezZBean
Background
‘Road of Death’ or ‘Death Road’ as it’s called, the Yungas Road, in the Yungas region of Bolivia has one of the toughest terrains in the world. Reports estimate ‘killer-road’ takes 200-300 lives each year. Due to the dangers associated with the road, the Inter-American Development Bank christened it the “world’s most dangerous road” in 1995. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen.
The North Yungas Road (alternatively known as Grove’s Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, El Camino de la Muerte, Road of Death or Death Road) is a 61 or 69-kilometre road[1] leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 kilometres (35 mi) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the “world’s most dangerous road”.[2] One estimate is that 200 to 300 travellers were killed yearly along the road.[2] The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen. Via Wiki
“The Yungas road is not merely a passageway to the thick dense jungles of Bolivia, but is in itself a rite of passage.”
Jonathan Derksen (2002)
Death Road
Yungas road earned its reputation because it has the highest death toll per year than any other road in the world. At least 25 vehicles fall off the road per year and more than 100 people per year lose their lives on the Yungas Road in Bolivia.
The Yungas road was built by prisoners during Bolivia’s 1932-1935 war with Paraguay and continued many years after. It has been the only route linking northern Bolivia and the Yungas Valley to La Paz. The road is carved into the sides of the mountainside and it can have vertical drops of more than 1,500 (457m) feet just off the road and it has no guardrails.
The two-way road often times no wider than a single car, has blind corners and hairpin turns. It has been the only route from the farmlands of the Yungas Valley up to the capital in La Paz. There has been a staggering death toll: in one year 300 people died in cars, bus loads of people and trucks have plunged over the sheer cliff sides. via Travel-bolivia.com Link
Accidents
The North Yungas Road in Bolivia is reported to have a fatal accident every other week, 100-200 people perish there every year. It is said to be the most dangerous road in the world and has earned the nickname “The Winding Road of Death“. In the 1930s the road was built by prisoners of war.
The North Yungas Road leaves the city of La Paz, the world’s highest capital city at 12,000 feet. It leads to Coroico, 56 km (35 miles) northeast of La Paz. In July of 2003, a safer route opened in an attempt to route traffic away from the dangerous road. View slide show of winding road of death. It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rain-forest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Because of the extreme drop-offs, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous. Speaking of accidents, due to the remoteness of the area, if you go over the edge it will be hours before a rescue crew can reach you. The first responders to accidents are usually the fellow motorists. via Prettysleepy |link|
Some incredible pictures of Yungas.
Via Hottnez
As a blog writer i think the world is best described in pictures, this is truly a remarkable place, unique and purposeful but not without the risk and danger. You are clearly taking your life into your own hands in order to complete a remarkable journey only matched by that of everest. My last pictures are dedicated to all of those individuals , groups and families who have embarked on the incredible journey and taken on the incredible challenge of the “Death Road” Bolivia.
So, we have the stories and the pictures and i would like to conclude the article with a video dedicated to Top Gear and the Yungas Death Road, what an incredible programme not only have you brought us laughter but its been a education. Like my page on Yellowstone this will probably end up as one of the most remarkable places in the world that i have never seen although i would never say never !
I hope you have enjoyed the article please leave a comment or tweet it on.
Yungas “Death Road” Top Gear December 2009
references:
Whitaker, Mark (2006-11-11). “The world’s most dangerous road” (Podcast). BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6136268.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
Mostrous, Alexi (2008-04-25). “British cyclist Tom Austin killed on Bolivian ‘Highway of Death'”. The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3814406.ece. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
Why video only part 5? Wheres the death road all parts!!!!?
What are some of the most interesting roads in the world to travel on?
Yungas Road in the La Paz Department of Bolivia. Yungas Road (nicknamed “The Death Road” for obvious reasons…) connects Bolivia’s capital La Paz to the town of Coroico near Bolivia’s northern Amazon rainforest. There are no guard rails. The avera…
You’re so interesting! I don’t believe I’ve read anything
like this before. So wonderful to discover someone with a few genuine thoughts on
this topic. Really.. thanks for starting this up.
This web site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with some originality!
http://www.trustreview.tk/
[…] While my fellow Torontonians partake in ribfests and fireworks to pay homage to the birth of our Motherland, I sit here on the couch, sipping some red, as my mind wanders off to another region of the world (sorry, Canada). Los Yungas. The lush, green rainforest that stretches across Peru, Bolivia and Northern Argentina. Teeming with colourful flora and weird and wonderful fauna, it is accessible from the city of La Paz in Bolivia via the deadliest road in the world, “la Camino de la Muerte” (the Death Road). About 50 years ago, a Korean family consisting of nine siblings and the parental heads ventured across the world from their home country to South America. (The tenth sibling would later join them). They landed in the Los Yungas valley. My mom was eight at the time, third youngest of the siblings. Although most of the family later moved to La Paz where they opened a clothing business, my mom stayed in the rainforest for another year with her father. They would frequently make the trip to La Paz and back, and the whole family would sometimes journey to the Yungas for restful getaways. Which meant a lot of Camino de la Muerte for my mom. My mom remembers how unregulated the Death Road was back then, absent of guardrails and vehicles having to play the passing game when the road became too narrow to constitute a two-way. (Don’t think too much has changed there, ma). She also recalls trucks filled to the brim with oranges and people sitting on top of the oranges as they zoomed towards their destination on the winding road. I remember hearing about these stories when I was much younger, but back then I didn’t comprehend the global infamy of the Death Road. After days of travel research, I now find myself in awe that this rugged journey — that thrill-seekers from all over the world pay bike tours to take them on — was just a part of life for my mom. Yes, part of my family history and culture lies in Bolivia. Thus, Bolivia is where I must go. Visiting “the heart of South America” was barely a shade of a dream a couple years ago. I could only hazily envision myself in what I conjured up to be a dusty town where old Bolivian señoras in their bowler hats sold fresh fruits and nuts in open markets. But today, the dream has actualized itself into a plan. It won’t happen tomorrow, but I’ve sketched out a pretty solid draft of my future explorations in what I consider to be the Third Motherland. While I’d love to do the typical tourist traps, like Salar de Uyuni, I also want to be able to travel slow and really immerse myself in Bolivian life and culture. And, of course, I want to visit the Yungas and experience an important part of my mom’s childhood. Now I just need to work up the courage to face the Death Road … … and maybe stop watching stuff like this: If you were to explore your family history and culture, where in the world would your journey take you? – Cafe ❤ ______________________________ Photo Credits: Death Road mountains, Bolivia market, Death Road cars […]
[…] While my fellow Torontonians partake in ribfests and fireworks to pay homage to the birth of our Motherland, I sit here on the couch, sipping some red, as my mind wanders off to another region of the world (sorry, Canada). Los Yungas. The lush, green rainforest that stretches across Peru, Bolivia and Northern Argentina. Teeming with colourful flora and weird and wonderful fauna, it is accessible from the city of La Paz in Bolivia via the deadliest road in the world, “la Camino de la Muerte” (the Death Road). About 50 years ago, a Korean family consisting of nine siblings and the parental heads ventured across the world from their home country to South America. (The tenth sibling would later join them). They landed in the Los Yungas valley. My mom was eight at the time, third youngest of the siblings. Although most of the family later moved to La Paz where they opened a clothing business, my mom stayed in the rainforest for another year with her father. They would frequently make the trip to La Paz and back, and the whole family would sometimes journey to the Yungas for restful getaways. Which meant a lot of Camino de la Muerte for my mom. My mom remembers how unregulated the Death Road was back then, absent of guardrails and vehicles having to play the passing game when the road became too narrow to constitute a two-way. (Don’t think too much has changed there, ma). She also recalls trucks filled to the brim with oranges and people sitting on top of the oranges as they zoomed towards their destination on the winding road. I remember hearing about these stories when I was much younger, but back then I didn’t comprehend the global infamy of the Death Road. After days of travel research, I now find myself in awe that this rugged journey — that thrill-seekers from all over the world pay bike tours to take them on — was just a part of life for my mom. Yes, part of my family history and culture lies in Bolivia. Thus, Bolivia is where I must go. Visiting “the heart of South America” was barely a shade of a dream a couple years ago. I could only hazily envision myself in what I conjured up to be a dusty town where old Bolivian señoras in their bowler hats sold fresh fruits and nuts in open markets. But today, the dream has actualized itself into a plan. It won’t happen tomorrow, but I’ve sketched out a pretty solid draft of my future explorations in what I consider to be the Third Motherland. While I’d love to do the typical tourist traps, like Salar de Uyuni, I also want to be able to travel slow and really immerse myself in Bolivian life and culture. And, of course, I want to visit the Yungas and experience an important part of my mom’s childhood. Now I just need to work up the courage to face the Death Road … … and maybe stop watching stuff like this: If you were to explore your family history and culture, where in the world would your journey take you? – Cafe ❤ ______________________________ Photo Credits: Death Road mountains, Bolivia market, Death Road cars […]