Οι πιο επικίνδυνοι δρόμοι στο κόσμο

[dk]

1. Bolivia's "Road of Death"

North Yungas Road is hands-down the most dangerous in the world for motorists. If other roads could be considered impassable, this one clearly endangers your life. It runs in the Bolivian Andes, 70 km from La Paz to Coroico, and plunges down almost 3,600 meters in an orgy of extremely narrow hairpin curves and 800-meter abyss near-misses. A fatal accident happens there every couple of weeks, 100-200 people perish there every year. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named the La Paz-to-Coroico route "the world's most dangerous road."

Among the route there are many visible reminders of accidents, wreckages of lorries and trucks lie scattered around at the bottom... (read BBC article)








The buses and heavy trucks navigate this road, as this is the only route available in the area. Buses crowded with locals go in any weather, and try to beat the incoming traffic to the curves. It does not help that the fog and vapors rise up from the heavily vegetated valley below, resulting in almost constant fogs and limited visibility. Plus the tropical downpours cause parts of the road to slide down the mountain.







Apparently some companies make business on the road's dubious fame by selling the extreme bike tours down that road. "Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking" is one of them. (you can read one such biker's account here.) If you are nuts enough to consider it, please be advised that you will be only adding to the road hazards, as it's hard to spot a cyclist on the road's hairpin curves, and your shrieks (as you fall down the abyss) will disturb the peace and quiet of the villagers nearby.










(photossource)


2. Russian Siberian Road to Yakutsk
(click to enlarge any image)

This is the official federal-government highway to Yakutsk, and it is also the only one to get there. As there are no other roads, the intrepid motorists are doomed to wallow in this dirt, or wait in week-long 100 km car line-ups (they say women even gave birth there while waiting). This can turn into a major humanitarian disaster during rainy spells, when the usual clay covering of the road turns into impassable mud blanket, swallowing trucks and tractors alike. In the meantime the city has to partly airlift food products.














Source: Weblinks
from Pasik's Journal

Here is an aerial shot of this road in winter:


There are also rumors of a quite normal 30 km stretch of Russian country road, which gets an unexplained amount of car accidents; the locals suspect underground gas seepage which causes motorists to fall asleep... This creepy tale is supported by the evidence of car crash statistics and the tales of survivors, who do not remember anything prior to the crash and act strangely "drugged" afterwards. Hopefully this will be properly investigated before the road claims more victims.


3. Russian-Georgian "Military" Mountain Roads



Sukhumi "Military" road in the former Soviet Georgia, in Caucasus mountains, which truckers and wine-drunk crazy "Lada" drivers navigate with the utter abandon, typical of the local mountain people... but we could not locate any photos of it. Only this old postcard... If you have any more pics, send them in.

First sent in pic: (photo by V. Krasnogolovy)


4. Nepal, Tibet & Bangladesh Roads



A road in Nepal, leading from From Katmandu to Everest Base Camp.



A typical India-Nepal Road. There is also a "death road" in Bangladesh, but we don't have enough information.

5. Most Dangerous Tourist Hiking Trail (China)

Not a car road, but the most hair-raising experience you can have on your own two legs. This is a heavy-tourist traffic area in Xian (Mt.Huashan); this link explains more about the area.








Source: Weblinks

And when you're finally through with all this excitement, here is an outhouse for you (but do not make any false moves):




πηγη www.darkroastedblend.com

 

[dk]

1. Magnificient Guoliang Tunnel Road in China
- Road that does not tolerate any mistakes

In our popular post about "Top 5 Most Dangerous Roads in the World" we mentioned a few roads that imperil the lives of motorists, or just make it really miserable. The following roads did not quite make the list, but continued to pop up in conversations around the world. They may not be "deadly" as such, but certainly require a keen concentration on driving, as the rock walls in many of them are not known to be a forgiving substance.







The road shown here is the Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang mountains (China). It has been built by villagers themselves, which is an inspiring story in itself:

"Before 1972, the path chiseled into the rock used to be the only access linking
the village with the outside world. Then the villagers decided to dig a tunnel through the rocky cliff. Led by Shen Mingxin, head of the village, they sold goats and herbs to buy hammers and steel tools. Thirteen strong villagers began the project. It took them five years to finish the 1,200-metre-long tunnel which is about 5 meters high and 4 meters wide. Some of the villagers even gave their lives to it. On May 1, 1977, the tunnel was opened to traffic."









The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 "windows" of
different sizes and shapes. Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of metres long to standard-window-size. It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks hanging form the sheer cliff above and a seemingly bottomless pit lying below. A village, opposite the tunnel, appears to hang on the precipice.







Source: Link
(this blog possibly first solved the mystery on the location of some popular photos). Also more photos are here

Taroko Gorge Road in Taiwan (Chungheng)

Another one of quite unforgiving roads, consisting of tunnels carved in the mountain rock. More pictures here







Pasubio (Vicenza), Northern Italy

This is an ancient road, converted to a hiking trail. Mountain bikers love it for the spectacular views, cool tunnels and hair-raising precipices... Some cars (presumably small italian kind) climb the hairpins to service the guesthouse built there.

 

[dk]

1. Road from Tibet to Nepal: sheer drops

We finally have some photos documenting hair-raising twists and drops of the road from Tibet, China (Lhasa) to Nepal (Kathmandu) - courtesy of Tatiana, whose father took these pictures in October 2006 (He was also a witness to the crash right in front of him) - The 1000 km long Friendship Highway includes seven 3500 meters passes, with one pass as high as 5000 meters. Most of the road is pretty manageable driving, although is has some rather fascinating parts:





















See more pictures of the road from Lhasa here (thanks, Cee!)

"There are some crazy "roads" in Nepal as well. The road to Besisahar is a
road in name only, and it's the only route to the most popular trekking path (the Annapurna Loop) in Nepal".


2."The Halsema Highway" in the Philippines.

Greg Brennan sent us some interesting pictures of this route, and it seems to fit the bill as one of the most precarious and shudder-inducing roads out there.



Greg writes: "The Halsema Highway, also known as the Baguio-Bontoc Road, runs through the Central Cordillera Valley on the island of Luzon in The Philippines. The beginning of the highway starts off slightly paved and quickly turns to dirt. It is approximately 150 miles long and takes about 10 hours to get from Baguio city to Sagada on a nice day. It is known for rock slides, mud slides and buses driving dangerously fast on its narrow passage. It also goes through some of the more remote provinces in The Philippines. There are many accidents and overturned buses on a yearly basis. Often there are sheer drop offs of over 1000 feet without a guard rail. During the rainy season it is nearly impassable."


















UPDATE for the Bolivian Road of Death:

Bolivian Buses

These buses travel the Road of Death, and in themselves evoke solemn speculations about reasonable risks, life/death and possible breakdowns in impossible locations:



They are definitely not an air-conditioned coaches, and their technical condition often is a matter of prayer, not engineering.

Here is a rare look inside such bus...


...as it negotiates a road ahead:


Rob has a wonderful account of traveling on buses in Bolivia, and helping to clear a few rock slides along the way...





Send us more pictures of buses in Bolivia;
their drivers especially deserve utmost respect.

Until next installment in a series, I leave you with this mystery photo:
Is it Photoshoped? If not, this Jeep is certainly not going anywhere...

 

[dk]

1. Stelvio Pass Road - redefining switchbacks

Height - 2757 meters

Location - in the Italian Alps, near Bormio and Sulden, 75 km from Bolzano, close to Swiss border. (The road connects the Valtellina with the upper Adige valley and Merano)

Claim to fame - "the highest paved mountain pass in the Eastern Alps, and the second highest in the Alps, after the Col de l'Iseran (2770 m)"


(image credit: climbbybike.com)



This road might not be as risky as the deadly routes in Bolivia, but it is certainly breathtaking. The tour books advise that the toughest and most spectacular climbing is from the Prato side, Bormio side approach is more tame. With 48 hairpins, this road is regarded as one of the finest continuous hairpin routes in the Alps.


(image credit: Emiliano De Angeli)

The road itself is a marvel of engineering skill; the exhilarating serpentine sections ask to be driven by experienced motorists for their own sakes. All in all, this could be the most magnificent road pass in Europe.

"On the southern side the road worms its way up the immensely deep Braulio ravine, clinging from side to side and tunneling frequently, between towering rock walls, to the more open basin at the 4th Cantoniera, where the Umbrail Pass comes in from the left. From the junction to the summit is little more than a mile, the road winding more gently up 900 ft. of shaly slope, but still relatively viewless.

From the summit, where the famous Ortler view is suddenly revealed, the Trafoi windings lead down in face of superb views of peaks and glaciers to Trafoi, just below the tree line. The rest of the road, falling along the Trafoibach to the Adige levels in the main valley, is a pleasant descent with fine views ahead of the Zillertal (Austrian) peaks in the main Alpine chain."
-- Hugh Merrick, "The Great Motor Highways of the Alps", 1958


(image credit: Michiel)

-------------------

There are other spectacular hairpin-climb passes in the Alps. Brian Wilson has some good bike touring shots:

This one is Grimsel Pass near Gletsch, Switzerland. Furka pass is also visible in the upper left of the picture.





Coming down from Furka Pass:



Old road over Saint Gothard Pass, Switzerland - still open to the public.


(images credit: Brian Wilson)

Some will say that the hairpin road passes of Europe are quite safe to drive on. That may be so, but we think that the altitude, rockfall, snow and other unexpected road hazards (like inexperienced tourist drivers) make these routes "a little bit" more dangerous than your typical trip for groceries.

-------------------

Italian Alps are rife with exhilarating switchback roads. Here is one at Fraele, near Isolaccia in Lombardy.


(images credit: Emiliano De Angeli)

The Italian side of the Splugen Pass, with breathtaking vertical grades at every turn.


(image credit: Brian Wilson)

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Slovenian Mountain Roads are even narrower, and less maintained, but no less spectacular. Witness Mangrt Mountain Road, with Brian Wilson's friend trying to navigate through snow. The road is a dead end, but traveled for the sheer scenery:






(image credit: Brian Wilson)

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2. Fascinating Fjord Roads in Norway.

We all know that the steep walls of fjords command an awesome view, like the one below. But when living in small towns and villages in the fjord country, you will need to use a car to get some groceries. This would mean driving on vertigo-inducing roads, honing your driving skills to perfection.



Trollstigen - the Troll Ladder

Trolls did not have cars, so they built a ladder to climb this mountain... Hordes of tourists, however, brave the 9 percent incline in their family sedans - to see a beautiful waterfall and an awesome view from the top. This being Norway, the safety record is pretty good, so book your flight and visit this incredible place.





The intense set of hairpin turns featured here belongs to the ancient Trollstigen road in the heart of Romsdal County of Norway, in the Rauma region. The road is very narrow with very few possibilities for cars to pass each other. There are frequent rockfalls in the area, so there have been some upgrades made to the road in 2005.




(image credit: Andreas Misera)


(image credit: Ingrid)


(image credit: Lucio José Martínez González)

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Another Fjord Jewel - Lysebotn Road

This is probably the most fun you can have on four wheels, and then on your two legs checking out various hiking trails leading from the area. In fact, this just might be the most breathtaking place in Europe (on par with Swiss Interlaken area). It all starts with the narrow road up the fjord's steep walls:


(image credit: Stefan Jonsson)

This is the Lysebotn Road in Lysefjord, Norway - complete with 27 switchbacks and a 1.1 kilometer long tunnel at the bottom, also with three switchbacks inside. Let one driver tell the story (courtesy Stefan Jonsson):

"The first half of this road was nothing too special, but then... then came the fun part! The last 30 km (18 miles) to Lysebotn were the most fun I have ever driven! This part of the road was a true roller-coaster! It was narrow but with a perfect surface, and you just sat there on the bike with a big smile on your face as you pushed on for some really active driving. Not a straight part of the road as far as you could see. It was up and down and left and right all the time! The road ends with a 27 hairpin serpentine road taking you from 1000 meters (3280 ft) above sea level down to Lysebotn and the Lysefjord. At the end of the serpentine road you go through a tunnel that screws itself 340 degrees through the mountain and as you come out of it (slightly dizzy) you have Lysebotn in front of you. If you ride a motorcycle in Norway, then this road is something you simply can not afford to miss!"

Amen to that, brother. This is the view 900 meters down, once you get on top:


(image credit: Malte)

So it only make sense to continue further - and hike to the most spectacular piece of rock in the Universe - Prekestolen, or the Pulpit Rock.

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The Pulpit Rock Hike - if you fall, it's 1000 meters down

This place is indeed so spectacular, that we are going to write a special post about it. For now, just to give you a taste of some scenery - a few shots of people definitely having fun (not forgetting thousand-meter drops at every turn)


(image credit: Globosapiens)


(image credit: Susi Varming)

After a steep hike up (300 meters elevation gain), which should take about 2 hours for an inexperienced hiker, you get to stand on the "world class" photography attraction, the pedestal of truly spiritual proportions.




(image credit: Gard Karlsen)

This stupendous trail will exceed your expectations for truly great hiking, if you don't slip on any boulders in some foolish jump for a picture. The fall is exactly one kilometer, almost enough time to grow wings.

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We finish with the two scenarios which might not have a happy ending. At least I'd be surprised if they do.





UPDATE:
The last picture is NOT Photoshop! This is a real drop, performed by the Russian dirt biker Ben de Roni (read more here) as part of the "Achtung 3" extreme biking video. Respect.

Here is another drop:

 

[dk]

Νομιζω οτι οι φωτογραφιες παρουσιαζουν μεγαλο ενδιαφερον,μακαρι να μπορουσα να σας μεταφρασω και τα κειμενα αλλα τα αγγλικα μου ειναι περιορισμενα.Γι αυτο λοιπον απλα θαυμαστε και νιωστε τον κινδυνο!!!

 

[Defkalion]

Δημήτρη οι φωτογραφίες που έχεις βάλει είναι πάρα πολλές, η σελίδα είναι πολύ δυσανάγνωστη, κόψε τίποτα γιατί... έχει πάρει διαστάσεις... σεντονιού.

 

[vagantos]

εκπληκτικό θέμα και θέαμα.
Ευχαριστώ Δημήτρη, χαλάλι το σεντόνι.
Πέρασα μια ώρα περίπου βλέποντας τις φωτό και ανασύροντας μνήμες απ τα δικά μου ταξίδια.
Τελικά έχω - εστω και μικρή σχέση - με 3 απ τις 5 πιο επικίνδυνες διαδρομές.
Νο 1. Για τον Βολιβιανό "δρομο του θανάτου " ακούσαμε πολλά απο τοπικό ξεναγό που μας ειπε οτι εχει τουριστικό ενδιαφέρον, ότι κατα περιόδους μονοδρομείται κλπ. ¨
Νο 5. Στο Ξιαν ειδα απλά και βιντεοσκόπησα τα τελεφερικ που ανεβοκατέβαιναν ( λογω ελλειψης χρόνου δεν ανέβηκα)
Νο 4. Τον δρόμο όμως απ το Κατμαντου για το Everest base camp τον κάναμε πέρσι(μέχρι τα 2800μ. περίπου)
Ηταν πραγματικά πολυ στενός. Ειχαμε πέσει και σε τοπική γιορτή και οι Νεπαλέζοι ειχαν πάει στο Camp για κάτι σαν πικ νικ ή τάμα, δεν ειμαι σίγουρος.
Οταν εμεις πηγαιναμε αυτοι επέστρεφαν με λεωφορεια και φορτηγά,
Κάθε φορά που διασταυρωνόμαστε γίνονταν απίστευτες μανούβρες.
Τα λεωφορεια ειχαν απαραιτητα συνοδηγό που κατέβαινε και με χτυπήματα στη λαμαρινα του αυτοκινήτου καθοδηγούσε τον οδηγό. Δεν ηταν και πολύ επικίνδυνο, γιατί δεν ειχε μεγάλος γκρεμούς ( πιο πολύ γέλιο ειχε)
Οταν ανεβάσω τις φωτό θα δειτε μια δυο και από κεί.

 

[mike]

Τρομερες φωτογραφιες βεβαια αν ημουν εγω σε κανεναν απο αυτους και ειδικα στους δρομους που ηταν σε γκρεμους θα ειχα χεστ...... πανω μου.

Παντως πιστευω πως οι δρομοι της Αθηνας ειναι πιο επικινδυνοι αν δει κανεις ποσο θυματα εχουμε καθε μερα.

 

[davidcas]

Η πλάκα θα ναι να χουν και διόδια

 

[billy]

εγω τα εχω κανει πανω μου παντος....! αλλα ο 2ος ειναι κορυφαιος χαχααχαχχα

 

[lefteris]

Παντως πιστευω πως οι δρομοι της Αθηνας ειναι πιο επικινδυνοι αν δει κανεις ποσο θυματα εχουμε καθε μερα.

θα διαφωνησω. οταν ο δρομος ειναι για να πηγαινεις με 40-60 και πηγαινεις με 100 δε σου φταιει ο δρομος... για να μην αρχισω να αναφερομαι σε επικινδυνους ελιγμους μεθυσμενους οδηγους κτλ. για μενα ο δρομος ειναι το τελευταιο. εδω καταφερνουμε και σκοτωνομαστε στην Αττικη Οδο η οποια ειναι αυτοκινητοδρομος πολυ καλης ποιοτητας

 

[Defkalion]

θα διαφωνησω. οταν ο δρομος ειναι για να πηγαινεις με 40-60 και πηγαινεις με 100 δε σου φταιει ο δρομος... για να μην αρχισω να αναφερομαι σε επικινδυνους ελιγμους μεθυσμενους οδηγους κτλ.

Πέστα ρε Λευτέρη!!!