lauraj

Cycling The Death Road

Posted by lauraj | 30th August 2009

Bolivia's Yungas Road is officially the most hazardous on earth. Local people pray before using it and the nearest hospital is a two-hour drive away. In it's worst year someone died on average every two weeks. Now the main road goes a different route but some drivers still opt for the short cut. Daft tourists hurtle over its bumps and skid around it's terrifying hairpin bends on push bikes at speeds approaching 40mph.

With the dubious label of 'The most dangerous road in the world', this spectacular 38-mile ride drops more than 11,800ft from the cold, dry oxygen starved Andean mountains into the hot and steamy Amazonian jungle. The first part of the four hour ride is paved road. Flying down, crouched over my handle bars, squinting out of teary eyes I was enjoying the staggering views and getting used to being in the saddle (it had been a few years to say the least!) then the road split, we headed down a steep gravelly track and the proper ride began. The trail, in places no more tha

Continued | laura wanders

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