Roads of Death

[gsdx]

My sister sent me these in an Email and thought I would share them with you. I'm not at all certain I'd be keen to drive these roads in Bolivia. Talk about 'Danger Pay'!

Here's a sample below. The rest can be seen in my gallery:
http://justusboys.com/forum/view.ph...genumber=1&albumid=27297&sortby=0&sortorder=1

(I don't know why the pictures are all jumbled up and out of order, though. The sorting program doesn't seem to handle numbers very well.)

 

[phoenix99]

I watched that show this past weekend - scary shit! I really liked the host, who was he and does he have other shows?

 

[gsdx]

I didn't realize there was a programme about it. Perhaps someone else can shed some light?

 

[190E]

Yeah, there was a program about it, they're apparently building another road to get rid of the whole death thing. It looked fun, I'd love to drive it.

 

[davy]

the pictures are actually kinda beautiful in a haunting sort of way.

.. and considering the risks of those roads and the number of deaths no doubt attributed to them: "haunting" may be accurate in more ways than one.

 

[UrbanBOYS]

That's scary.

 

[Christopher123]

It makes you wonder if anyone has ever gone over the edge.

Morbid thought, but hey, it's a given.

 

[gsdx]

The first road (the 'shear cliff' one) is called Stremnaya Road. I don't know the name of the one with all the trees. Perhaps it's this one:

It was an early morning in July and Alberto Olivera was manoeuvring his minibus along the treacherous mountain road from La Paz to Coroico. Rounding the notorious San Juan section, where the rough surface was still wet from a nearby waterfall, he saw fresh tyre tracks that veered abruptly off the unprotected edge. Alberto knew at once that this marked the scene of yet another tragedy. This time a high tonnage lorry had plummeted over the precipice in broad daylight and its mangled wreckage lay scattered in the steep wooded valley far below. Alberto and his passengers did what they could to help but 22 of the lorry’s 29 passengers lay dead. The shock was that seven survived.

Starting high in the rarefied Bolivian Andes, this steep and bumpy road plunges almost 3,600 metres of vertical in travelling the spectacular 64km to the lush, sub-tropical Yungas region and the sleepy town of Coroico. The narrow – occasionally very narrow – track hugs the sheer valley side as it snakes through dramatic, verdant scenery. Twisting beneath waterfalls and rocky overhangs, an unprotected drop-off to near certain death is a constant travel companion. A fatal accident every fortnight is not uncommon on the Coroico road (the July disaster brought the death toll during the previous eight months to 55) and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank declared this the world’s most dangerous road.

Five weeks after helping to pull bodies from the wrecked lorry, Alberto was once again on his way to Coroico, this time driving the support vehicle for a dozen mountain bikers about to dare Bolivia’s road of death.

Full article: http://www.travelintelligence.net/wsd/articles/art_2115.html

And I just found this: http://www.tomsjokes.com/en/pics/road_of_death_3.html

It seems to be the original website. Apparently, the first road is in China. . . not Bolivia.

 

[Christopher123]

The first road (the 'shear cliff' one) is called Stremnaya Road. I don't know the name of the one with all the trees. Perhaps it's this one:

OMG

I can't even imagine something like that. That's awful.

 

[Nonimus]

My hands and feet tingled with fear and my scrotum has just vanished!

 

[Soilwork]

I mean, I like to ride my motorcycle on highway 1 up the coast... it's perched on a cliff that winds up the side of a mountain for miles and miles.

But some roads are just stupid and should be closed down.

If there's a fatal accident once every two weeks on a little road like that, they really need to make some retro fitting.

 

[RationalLunacy]

My hands and feet just vanished and my scrotum has tingled with fear!

 

[CaptainJohn]

Man, I'm getting vertigo just looking at the pictures!

 

[Franion]

You could always go on the nice footbridge.

 

[slobone]

Reminds me of the Pacific Coast Highway at Big Sur --

 

[buzzj]

OMG!! LOL...Just looking at the roads I feel ill.....

Ditto! I feel a bit queasy myself!!

 

[JSB_01]

I saw that documentary on tv, too. There was a story on it about a bus full of people that went over the edge and they all died! And it also talked about how everyone in a nearby village knew at least one person that died on that road.