Highway driving can be a relaxing …cruising the open road in a convertible, hair blowing in the wind… these images are often evoked at the mention of the “American Dream.” What this motif takes for granted is that the road beneath the tires is safe; free of potholes, sharp curves, slick spots and vertical drops. While you may hate the monotony of your daily commute, exchanging it for a drive on any of the following highways may be ill-advised. The cliffs, crazy traffic and other assorted dangers may be exciting, but taking a joyride there could quickly turn your Dream into a nightmare. Fortunately, none of these highways to hell are stateside.
The Guoliang Tunnel – China
Carved right out of the Taihang Mountains by a group of 13 unskilled farmers, the road is as picturesque as it is dangerous. Short and tight, the tunnel is less than a mile (1,200 meters) long, 15 feet high and 12 feet wide. The most spectacular aspect is the 30 windows where the enclosure opens up, revealing the cliff and valley below. While the windows were engineered in order to discard debris and let light in, they also function as doorways to doom for distracted motorists.
The Grand Trunk Road – From India to Afghanistan
Built by Sher Shah Suri in the 16th century, the Grand Trunk Road presently stretches over 2,500 km from Sonargaon, Bangladesh to Peshawar, Afghanistan. Serving as the principal trade route between the Eastern and Western regions of Northern India, Grand Trunk has maintained a constant stream of animals, pedestrians and carts for over 400 years. The addition of bicycles, motorcycles, cars and buses in recent years has magnified the congestion and made parts of the road nearly impossible to navigate.
Luxor-al-Hurghada Road – Egypt
The Luxor-al-Hurghada is one of the few roads where leaving your lights off at night actually improves your chances for survival. While head-on collisions are a constant threat, the alternative is decidedly worse. The area is overrun by marauding thieves, and local terrorists who target the highway traffic prefer to attack after sundown. The roadside crime was actually much worse prior to 1997, when the murder of 62 German tourists in Luxor prompted an increased police presence, but to this day many drivers feel safer testing their night vision than making their cars moving targets.
The Russian-Georgian Military Mountain Roads
Built as a passage through the Caucasus Mountains for the Russian military, this series of roads is constantly mired in snow in the winter and mud in the summer. While never intended for civilian vehicles, many locals utilize the 220 km stretch on a regular basis. As if the switchbacks, extreme weather and obstructions aren’t enough, ongoing tensions between Russia and Georgia have made the road increasingly dangerous.
The Road of Death – Bolivia
Formally known as the North Yungas Road, this unsealed (no barriers) trail snakes through Bolivia’s Andes Mountains at heights ranging from 15,500 feet at the top to 3,700 feet at its destination in the jungle town of Coroico. The 64km stretch of highway is restricted by a mountain facade on one side and a cliff on the other, and veering just slightly off course will send a vehicle plummeting nearly 1000 meters into the jungle below. To make matters worse, traffic is a constant and the presence of road dust and fog make limit visibility. On average 26 vehicles and 100 lives are lost here annually, but in 1983, the bloodiest year to date, 320 people plunged over the edge.
Written by Ben Leffler, world traveler and automatic-transmission driver extraordinaire, for Ship Happens.
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