World Tourism / The Most Dangerous Roads in the World / The Old Yungas Road
The Old Yungas Road
Many consider it the most dangerous in the world and call it “the road of death”. It has the length of about 70 kilometers and connects La Paz and Coroico. More than 25 vehicles crash and 100-200 people die annually on this road. According to one source, the road was built in the 1930s by the Paraguayan prisoners. Others say that American Construction Company worked here in the 70s of the last century.
The road descends from a height of 3600 meters to 330 meters above the sea level. It is very steep, with a slippery and muddy surface. It is impossible to disperse two cars in some places on this twisty and very narrow "road" - you need to stop, go forward, understand the situation and negotiate.
One of the local rules of the road requires the driver of the going down car to keep the outer edge of the road. The climbing uphill transport has always the priority right of the way. Even one truck by a miracle fits the road, despite the fact that trucks and buses are the main transportation on “the Road of Death”.
During a trip on this "Highway" drivers have to deal with the most unfavorable weather conditions: the cool highlands of the Andes with a monthly average temperatures ranging from 6 to 11 degrees Celsius followed by wet jungles of the Amazon. The road is not only narrow but also very sly. The asphalt covers only the first 20 kilometers of the track, the rest is mud and clay. It is important to mention that the cars in Bolivia are very old and worn-out with worn tires. Often, the road is visible for only a few meters ahead because of the thick fog. That’s why you have to move very attentive and slowly. There are often avalanches here because of the tropical storms, and the road can simply be washed off. This is the recipe for a fatal dread.
The road was named December 1999, when the vehicle with eight Israeli tourists fell into the gap. But it is not the loudest accident at this road. A bus fell down in the canyon on July 24, 1983. There were more than one hundred passengers in the bus. It is the worst crash in the history of Bolivia. The locals pray to get alive, if they have to go across “the road of death”. However, the North Yungas Road is one of the few roads connecting the north with the capital of Bolivia. The fatal danger of the route made it a popular tourist attraction since the early 1990's. Many people come here to raise their adrenaline going down on it by sport utility vehicle or mountain bike, having the speed of 80 km / h on its individual sections. Those, who manage to pass through it and remain alive, compare this road with the conquest of Everest. The ordinary people of Bolivia continue to "conquer" this road every day.
Meanwhile, according to the rumors, the enormous 70 kilometers in the Yungas is only the second the most dangerous road in the world. There is its own “road of death” in Bangladesh. If indeed there is something worse than Bolivia's "highway", then call it a way is meaningless.
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