Bolivia Road Of Death

 Bolivia Road Of Death

 

The North Yungas Road, also known as El Camino de la Muerte (Spanish for "Road of Death"), is a 43 mile road that leads from La Paz to Coroico, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia.

A second Yungas Road, known as Chulumani Road, connects La Paz to Chulumani, 40 miles (64 km) east of La Paz.  It is considered to be nearly as dangerous as the north road.

The Yungas Road is legendary for its extreme danger.   In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the "world's most dangerous road". One estimate is that 200-300 travelers are killed yearly along the road, or one vehicle every two weeks. The road moreover includes Christian crosses marking many of the spots where such vehicles have fallen. Upon leaving La Paz, the road first ascends up to around 5km, before descending to 1079 ft (330 m), transitioning quickly from cool altiplano terrain to rain forest as it winds through very steep hillsides and atop cliffs. The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners.  It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. However, an alternative, much safer, road connecting La Paz to Coroico is nearing completion. Because of the extreme dropoffs, 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.

On July 24, 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what 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. The danger of the road ironically though has made it a popular tourist destination starting in the 1990s.  Mountain biker enthusiasts, in particular, have made it a favorite destination for downhill biking. "Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on a stretch of road less than 50 miles long."