The Road of Death, the road from La Paz to Coroico (Yungas), was officially recognized as “The World’s Most Dangerous Road,” with an average of 26 buses and cars falling into the abyss each year, killing dozens of people.
In 1983, the worst incident happened. Residents of La Paz were rushing home after a long holiday weekend in warm Coroico. There were so many people who needed to get to La Paz that the driver boarded twice as many passengers as the bus could hold. On a narrow curve, the bus tilted and went off a cliff. More than 100 people died that time on the Road of Death.
At each turn of the road there are crosses to commemorate the dead. The Bolivians jokingly call these crosses “signs that warn of danger.”
In 2007, a modern, safe highway, an alternative route from La Paz to Coroico, was opened. Since then, cars hardly ever use the old road, and it has become a tourist attraction. Dozens of tourists get their adrenaline flowing every day by biking down Death Road.
The bike tours begin in the mountains at La Cumbre, 4,700 meters above sea level. Minibuses with tourists and equipment for the descent reach here from La Paz in about an hour. Tourists don protective suits and helmets, get their bikes and begin the frantic descent down the mountain. The road goes downhill the whole time: from 4,700 meters at the start point to 1,200 meters at the end of the trail.
The landscape and climate change dramatically during the descent: in the beginning it is the tops of the glaciers and scarce mountain vegetation, cold and dry. And after a few hours tourists find themselves in a warm, humid jungle, among tropical flowers and pools with thermal water.
The whole way is 64 kilometers, of which 9 km tourists travel by minibus. The first part of the descent is 20 kilometers of paved highway with quite active traffic. The second part is a 35 km section of the Road of Death.
Death Road is narrow and rocky. Its width averages 3.2 meters. On one side is a rock and on the other side is an abyss. The road is dangerous not only for cars, but also for overly careless cyclists. You can not be distracted for a second, all attention should be focused on the road. Over the years of tours have killed 15 tourists – the Road of Death does not like daredevils.
Cycling down the Road of Death with a well-trained, reliable guide will be an unforgettable experience!
Depending on the size of the group, there will always be two or more guides accompanying the group. One guide always closes the traffic and controls the situation. No matter how slowly you descend, no one will get lost or lag behind.