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| From: Arkey SeanBaby Lubber 2006-10-23 11:57:28  Location: |
Subject: RATED AS THE WORLD's MOST DANGEROUS ROAD - [Edit Post] Dad just forwarded this e-mail to me: (I wondered if it is the road featured in the old French movie, WAGES OF FEAR - about driving a truck load of explosives over one of the most dangerous roads in the world. From the abstracts of the reviews I posted at the end of this, it appears that it was not, but since the director had spent time in South America, it was, perhaps his inspiration. I strongly recommend "THE WAGES OF FEAR" to anyone who wants to watch a great 1950's suspense movie in B&W, with Yves Montant). Surprisingly this is not the Himalayas. For all my travel buddies who have survived Himalayan bus trips, here is a bird's eye view of the horror. The road is located in the South American country of Bolivia. It consists of 43 miles (70 km) of dirt and rock heading north from La Paz, the world's highest capitol (altitude 12,000 feet or 3,660 ?m), to Coroico, a beautiful cloud forest town at the rim of the Amazon basin. Its catchy nickname is due to the 26 vehicles that fall off the road per year. About 200 people annually lose their lives here. 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. The only road that exists to get to the Amazon from La Paz, it is carved into the sides of a canyon. It can have vertical drops for 1,600 feet and has no guardrails. Consequently, most Bolivians take the time to pray before their descent. After all, it could be their last.             |