The World´s Most Dangerous Road

---

Since I first heard about it, I have wanted to cycle down "The World´s Most Dangerous Road". Also known as "The Death Road", it is a 40km downhill mountain road connecting La Paz with the lowlands. Between 200 and 300 people are estimated to die on this road each year. So why is it so dangerous? Basically it is a winding gravel road which has blind bends and crumbling edges, and it only 3 metres wide in some places (which is barely wide enough for one vehicle). One side of the road is the mountain wall, and the other side is a sheer drop of up to 1000m. And there was plenty of traffic on this road, because it was the ONLY road from La Paz to the lowlands! So there were plenty of cars, buses and commercial trucks all using this road. People in Bolivia normally drive on the right hand side of the road, but on The Death Road, they swap sides. Why? So the driver can look out of his window at the ground, to see how close his wheels are to the edge. When vehicles are passing each other, you might need to drive mere INCHES from the edge. Sometimes the driver misjudges, or the road crumbles, and his lorry slowly tips over the edge and plummets into the ravine below. Ben, one of the guys I travelled with in Peru, has a sister who was in a bus that toppelled off Death Road. Luckily the bus only fell partway down and was pinned by a tree. If the tree hadn´t been there, it would have been a drop to her doom. The worst incident was in 1983, when a bus went off the edge carrying 100 passengers. There were no survivors.

So, this was the road that I would be cycling down! However, the danger element is almost gone now. I would now call it "The Road of Occasional Doom". Or maybe "The Road of Intermittent Disaster". Because the Bolivian government have spent the past 34 years building another road, and this road was opened six months ago. 34 years to build a road! Some cars and trucks still use the old road, but most traffic takes the new route. The company I used for the journey was called "Downhill Madness", and they had magnificent state-of-the-art bikes costing $3,000 apiece. Cycling over small bumps was like riding over silk, that´s how smooth the suspension was.

The ride down was nothing less than magnificent! We started off on a section of proper paved road, which was referred to on our map as "Super Fast Asphalt". Even this road is somewhat dangerous, since it it at high altitude, and is subject to fog, ice and has several very sharp bends. A cheerful sign informed us that there had been 43 deaths on this road so far this year. It was a fabulous downhill stretch, and I don´t know how fast we were going, but I would estimate a good 40 mph. After about 20km we turned off onto "THE DEATH ROAD"!!! This ride was nothing less than magnificent. It was mostly downhill, and again we picked up a fair speed, although slowing down for sections such as "Dead Man´s Curve". On the way down I spotted at least 30 graves at the side of the road, of people who had plummeted to their doom. At one point there was the rusted remains of a car by the side of the road. This was a taxi driver who had a reputation for drink driving, and once night succumbed to the inevitable. The Bolivian government brought the wreck back up from the bottom of the valley, as an example and reminder to other motorists. I also heard a tale of a Japanese girl who took a bend too fast on her bike and went off the edge. She is now forever known as "E.T.", because she carried on pedalling as she went over.... Another tale from the past is that there used to be dogs every few hundred metres, watching the cars like silent sentinels. Drivers used to stop and feed these dogs, believing they were achachilas, the spirits of their anscestors. By feeding them they were hoping to be looked after on the journey.

Anyway, I survived "The Road of Moderate Peril" without even a scratch. Although I have included a couple of photos here of what it USED to be like!

---

Photos

ready to ride!
Steve and I are all geared up, and looking like council binmen

The Death Road
well, some of it anyway

don´t look down!
glad we slowed down for the bend

public information announcement
"this road has killed 43 people so far this year"

grave danger
there are four "graves" on this stretch of road

whoops!
that sneaky overtake didn´t quite work
(photo courtesy of www.gravitybolivia.com)

Hmmmm
do I have enough room to pass him?

Comments

[Dave]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck...
...in'ell....

[mark glamfrocker]

Easier to absail down..
Yo Pete, Interesting that your blog is sponsored by Am Ex Travel Insurance!