DEATH ROAD -
A
n 11,000-foot descent, sheer drops and
200 plus deaths a year: Welcome to Bolivia’s Road
of Death, the terrifying route tourists love to two
wheel down. Its official name is Camino a las
Yungas but it’s best known as La Carretera de la
Muerte, the Road of Death. It’s not just a name
either: the gorgeously lush, winding 64-kilometre
route that links La Paz with the town of Coroico was
and is still considered one of the deadliest roads in
the world. Just one of many in Bolivia.
The North Yungas journey is renowned to be
overwhelming, as much for the staggering scenery
as for the dangerous gravel route. Part of the
transition zone where the Andes fall away into the
Amazon Basin. For the locals, the ‘Death Road’ was
an important transport route, which they braved
in cars and trucks, teetering on the edge and
risking their lives with every trip. The mortality
rate is not surprising considering that: safety
barriers are few and far between, vehicles meet
head on along a miniscule dirt track – at peak
altitudes of more than 4,500 metres – and with a
vicious drop off on one side of up to 800 metres.
No wonder it was deemed ‘The world’s most
dangerous road’ by an Inter-American
Development Bank report in 1995. On the up side
there’s now a much improved, replacement route,
which since 2007 tends to all the heavies and
commuter traffic with far less incident than
before. Still, leaving an old road not to be reckoned
with.
Although still in use by the odd local car, tourist
minibus and support vehicle, it’s the over-zealous
cyclists that come a cropper, more than passing
motorised traffic. This is because of kamikaze,
freewheeling cycle guides racing down at full tilt
for the sheer thrill, substandard mountain bikes
on hire to one and all, or a blind unawareness if not
overconfidence to any oncoming, upward traffic.