bolivia
April 25, 2024
Minutes To Read: 1

The Highway of Death in Bolivia

It is in Bolivia and is one of the most dangerous traffic routes on planet Earth. This is demonstrated by the incredible and fatal number of Deadly accidents that have occurred over the last few years on this road and that, unfortunately, continue to occur (yes, in fewer numbers).

It is the highway that connects the capital of Bolivia, Peace, with the region of the Yungas, in the northeast of the country. 80 kilometers of extreme risk that have been awarded the name, more than adequate, of the Highway of Death.

For risky drivers

It is one of the most dangerous roads in the world, and very famous, unfortunately, due to the number of accidents that, until recently, occurred on it every year (more than 200 accidents a year with almost a hundred deaths from half). It is one of the few roads, although it would be more accurate to speak of a road that connects La Paz with the Amazon jungle of northern Bolivia. It was built in the 1930s and today it continues the same as then (well, more deteriorated, of course), with a single lane that in many places does not exceed three meters in width and without barriers of any kind that protect vehicles from falling down the towering precipices that line the route.

As if all this were not enough, the usual thing in the area is that it rains and there is fog and bad weather, whereby traveling on this road becomes almost a suicide, since the visibility conditions are almost nil. The Death Highway starts from La Paz and ascends to a place called “La Cumbre” (at 4,650 meters above sea level, and then begins to drop no less than 3,600 meters in about 64 km. steep slope, and the abyss that borders it (a free fall of no less than 800 meters at many points along the way), make the trip extremely dangerous.

Since 2006 there has been a much less dangerous alternative highway, which is why today, most of those who travel the Death Highway are attracted by its macabre history and its dangerousness. There are several companies that organize cycling routes risky riders down the mountain bike.