Most Dangerous Roads | National Geographic

the youngest road runs 40 miles from the
lowlands of the Amazon jungle to the
Bolivian capital of La Paz and an
elevation of about 12,000 feet this
route is cut into the eastern side of
the second-highest mountain range on
earth the Andes
this crucial lifeline from the Amazon
jungle brings goods like tropical fruits
coffee and cocoa leaves to markets and a
capital of La Paz the youngest Road is a
rollercoaster of twisting dirt rock and
mud turning every trip into an
adrenaline pumping adventure
this road is considered the most
dangerous in the world in terms of
deaths or my claiming up to 200 lives
per year for all travelers the Yungas
Road is a path into the unknown marked
by danger and every blind curve
travelers driving this road face a
danger equation created by the
confluence of three factors sheer
topography extreme climate unstable
geology when these combined the result
is the most dangerous road on the planet
but drivers who survive are treated to
one of the most breathtaking drives in
the world Canadian Jonathan Dirksen
knows the youngest roads deadly Beauty
firsthand well I’ve been on the unit
road above maybe 50 60 times since I
first came to Bolivia you never know
what’s gonna happen
February 1983 as a teenager living in La
Paz dirkson and some friends travel the
youngest road from La Paz down to a
jungle retreat in the small town of
chulumani
a group of friends and I we rented a bus
and we headed down into the youngest we
were laughing singing and having a great
time
not even paying attention to the cliffs
that were on either a right or a left as
the driver navigates the youngest roads
hairpin turns the bus comes within
inches of driving off the road this is
the most obvious peril facing every
driver on the road the first factor in
the danger equation the topography of a
sheer cliff face
on one side live fast rocks ranging from
20 feet to 3,000
on the other is a cliff wall reaching as
high as the eye can see