30.10.2007
“Death Road” - The world most dangerous road Most people may have heard of this road which starts in La Paz descending 3.450 meters down into the Yungas, within only 64km. Only until you see it for yourself, does the name “Death Road” sound extreme. It is an unpaved gravel road that was wedged out of the mountain in the 1930s by Paraguayan prisoners of war. Nobody knows how many died during the construction, but statistics for more recent time are available. Every year about 200 - 300 died on this short stretch. In one year about 25 vehicles fell off the road, making it one every two weeks. In 1985 a completely overcrowded bus plunged down killing everybody and making it Bolivia’s single worst traffic accident. The name “Death Road” is not an invention of sensational journalism but was given to the road in 1995 by the Inter American Development Bank. The reasons are many. First of all, at some parts of the, if you want to call it a road, are so narrow that it seems hardly a car can pass, about 3 meters wide. High rock walls go up on one side, whereas on the valley side the cliffs go down hundreds of meters. Irresponsible driving, alcohol and the conditions of the vehicles are others. During the dry season the road is a ribbon of dust with clouds of sand engulfing the vehicles and bringing visibility down to zero. Fog is quite common in this area and during the rainy season cascades of water rush down the mountain turning the surface into a slippery, slimy mass. Now this notorious 64 km road was not a path that connects a couple of villages, but was the main and ONLY link from La Paz to the fertile Yungas region with its coffee and coca plantation, and then further into Bolivia’s Amazon Basin and at last into Brazil. It was heavily frequented by trucks, busses and all kinds of vehicles. Accidents were so common that special driving rules were introduced for this road: vehicles going up had to drive on the mountain side of the road, forcing trucks going downhill to slow down and allowing their drivers to be able see more accurately how far the outer wheels were from the cliff’s edge, especially when passing each other. Hence, this road was the only one in America where people drove on the left. People from La Paz and Coroico told us how horrifying that trip was and that drivers would have all kind of rituals before starting out hoping for a safe trip, like praying or bringing offerings. The side of the road is full of crosses or plagues remembering those travelers whose prayers went unheard. Talks about building a new road started 20 years ago, but only in December 2006 was this one opened. So all this is history now, since most cars take the new road and “Death Road” has been given a new purpose - it has become a Mecca of mountain biking in Bolivia, something we could not miss. |