Most Dangerous Roads: Yungas Road (Bolivia’s Road of Death)
By Village Mayor • Jun 15th, 2008 • Category: Architecture, Dangerous, Latest PostThis deadly 35 miles stretch between La Paz and Coroico in Bolivia is estimated to claim the lives of 200-300 travelers every year.
Keeping in mind, that this is just a single road, the death probability on this road is very high. On the other hand, this road has a very beautiful landscape view.
According to wiki, the road was built in 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners.
Because of the extreme dropoffs up to 2,000 feet, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous.
Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above.
More than 100 people were killed when a bus veered of Yungas road into a canyon on July 24, 1983. It is said to be Bolivia’s worst road accident.
One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill 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 negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives the driver in a left-hand-drive vehicle a better view over their outside wheel, making passing safer.
In 1990s mountain biker enthusiasts have made it a favorite destination for downhill biking, since there is a 64 km stretch of continuous downhill riding. At least 13 of these cyclists have been killed on the ride.
Having said all that let’s take a closer look at Bolivia’s Road of Death. Would you have the guts to drive on this road?
Oh yea… Looks pretty scary, ah? I managed to find some videos about Bolivia’s Road of death. It looks even worse on tape… And the fact that locals pray before using this road doesn’t amaze me at all. First one is made by National Geographic.
Some really crazy bikers going downhill…
In the following video the ritual is showed that locals perform to bless the journey. TV reporter gives such description: “He prepared effigies of cars and trucks and a horrific looking desiccated chicken. He asked me to sprinkle coco leaves on this peculiar pile. Then he build a fire and burned the lot. Then he broke out the beer advising me to get drunk before attempting the crossing.”
Finally it’s nice to know that in 2006 after 20 years of construction, a new road from La Paz to Coroico was opened to public. This new route features modern construction and many other elements that make it considerably safer than the original route.
Village Mayor is
Email this author | All posts by Village Mayor
September 24th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I did this in 2007, and while the new road was mostly complete, it didn’t divert *all* the traffic from ‘the old road’ (in the photos above). You stll get several cars an hour ‘passing you’ (if you can call it that – it’s more like dancing on eggshells). Mostly, its just sheer fun and exhilaration, with views that just make you go ‘Wow!’ and ‘OMG’ so much that you nearly sicken yourself with their frequency (the words,not the vistas). Unfortunately, unless you can get some form of mount for a camera that automatically snaps images, you are _definitely_ too busy and moving too fast to stop more than a handful of times over the whole duration to grab some snapshots.
Plus, most of the awe-inspiring pics need a super-wide angle to convey the same sense of scale – it just doesn’t look as impressive in most photos as it does in real life. You have to continually remind yourself to never appreciate the beauty for more than 2 seconds at a time, and then make corrective steering, or you’ll be sure to scoot right off a ledge. It’s freezing at the top, and muggy as can be in the Amazon basin at the bottom, but the good biking agencies follow behind in a bus with your clothing to let you change every hour or so.
Very highly recommended, but do not go with a cheap biking place. The one I used had aftermarket motorcycle brakes fitted on a mid-to-upper range Kona mountain bike, and the tour operators check you brakes, tires and suspension about every hour or so, and they follow behind. I saw ‘discount’ tour outfits that just drop you off at the top and expect you to make it to the bottom without supervision, using beat-up rust-buckets with banana seats and monkey bars and ‘back-pedal’ brakes: talk about penny-wise and pound foolish (surely putting your life at risk to save $40!). Also, if you can, pay the extra bucks for a bike with a soft-tail (rear suspension, not just front suspension): if you don’t, your keester will feel like that of a milquetoast after their first night in a max security prison! It is REALLY, REALLY bumpy!
August 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am
wowwww
May 12th, 2009 at 10:22 am
i mean “sad” not said
May 12th, 2009 at 10:22 am
said how all those people died
May 8th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Been there…done that! It is amazingly frightening but it is also fantastically beautiful! We rode for an entire day on this road from La Paz to the edge of the Madidi rain forest on a mission trip. It was one of the most amazing things I’ve done.
January 31st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
yea… I saw this on TV a few months back..
you couldnt pay me enough to go for a ride on that road..
lol
wow
December 25th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Hats off to the persons who went their to collect these photos!!!