SYDNEY - Locals give them names such as the
"Road of Death" and the "Road of Bones" - streets where just one
small miscalculation can lead to disaster.
Travel Web site Travel + Leisure (http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-scariest-roads)
takes a look at 10 of the world's scariest roads.
1. North Yungas Road, Bolivia
Location: Between La Paz and the town of
Coroico In running as the most dangerous road on the planet, the
North Yungas Road - aka the "Road of Death" - stretches some 40
mountain-hugging miles, as narrow as 10 feet in spots and with
1,000-foot drops straight to a rainforest below.
2. Guoliang Tunnel Road, China
Location: China's Taihang Mountains In 1972,
villagers in a remote area of the Taihang Mountains chiseled a
3/4-mile-long tunnel through a mountain for access to the
outside world. Today, the route - 15 feet high and 12 feet wide
- is a tight squeeze for vehicles, twisting past 30 "windows",
which provide views off the precipice.
3. Halsema Highway, Philippines
Location: Island of Luzon
Like many under-maintained mountain roads,
landslides are a hazard on the Halsema Highway, where big stones
and debris tumble from peaks and along with the cloud forests
comes mist that can ruin visibility. Many sections remain
unpaved.
4. Karakoram Highway, Pakistan to China
Location: Karakoram mountain range in
Pakistan
The world's highest paved road, the Karakoram
Highway winds through the mountains at an altitude above 16,000
feet, eventually connecting to China. It's a popular tourist
route, with motorists stopping to view K2. Drivers can easily
suffer altitude sickness.
5. Kolyma Highway, Russia
Location: Russian Far East and Siberia
Actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
crossed this 1,200-mile route, nicknamed the "Road of Bones", on
a round-the-world motorcycle trip in 2004. Built in the Stalin
era, the Road of Bones gets its name from labor camp inmates and
other workers who died during construction. In winter, motorists
drive across frozen rivers instead of ferries.
6. Canning Stock Route, Australia
Location: Through the vast deserts of Western
Australia
Cattlemen 100 years ago pushed this
1,100-mile route through the desert, digging more than 50 wells
along its length. Recreational 4WD convoys can now cross the
desolation with the aid of fuel drops, forging endless sand and
sun-baked earth to traverse one of the least habitable places on
the planet.
7. Graciosa Trail, Brazil
Location: In the mountains above Morretes
This old mule route winds through a
rainforest and crosses moss-covered bridges. Cobblestones pave
parts of its length, it's slippery and dangerous at the sharp
turns, and hydrangea plants push in to line the lush lane with
blue flowers.
8. Trans-Sahara Highway, Africa
Location: Algiers, Algeria to Lagos, Nigeria
From pavement to sand, the 2,800-mile
Trans-Sahara Highway traverses three countries - Algeria, Niger,
and Nigeria - and journeys through the largest sand desert on
earth. Fuel and water are unavailable for much of its
sun-scorched length, and sand storms some years move immense
drifts, blocking the route.
9. The Stilwell Road, India and Myanmar
Location: Jungle route from Ledo, India into
Myanmar
Built during World War Two at the cost of
thousands of lives, the Stilwell Road (aka The Ledo Road) climbs
mountain passes, snakes through the jungle, and crosses more
than 100 rivers and streams in its 1,079-mile length.
Constructed as a supply route by Western Allies, the road today
is returning to jungle, little used and inaccessible for much of
its length in Myanmar.
10. Wilderness Road to Selva Blue Lodge,
Bolivia
Location: Between Santa Ana and Selva Blue
wilderness lodge
The 100-mile jungle labyrinth is a 20-foot-wide gravel track
that shrinks to a grassy two-track and crosses log bridges over
rushing Amazonian tributaries. - Reuters