Allie s Adventures! in Bolivia

Are you a thrill-seeker? Have a lot of courage? Do you find yourself drawn to traveling adventures that will get your heart racing, and do you never feel more alive than in the midst of an adrenaline-pumping, death-defying feat? Perhaps the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” is for you! Dubbed with this dubious distinction in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Yungas Road in Bolivia connects La Paz to Coroico, boasting stunning scenery along with more than its share of treacherous attributes: a narrow and bumpy, single-lane, partially-unpaved surface; dizzying drop-offs of nearly 3,600 meters; sharp turns and obscured visibility; no guardrails; and a climate with a propensity for fog and rain. An estimated 200-300 people die on this road per year.

Still reading? A favorite for thrill-seeking mountain bikers, this legendary road has become surprisingly popular. Built in the 1930s, the Yungas Road is one of the few routes that connects Bolivia’s capital city to the Amazon Rainforest. For all its peril, this track is a spectacular sight, lush in all its sub-tropical glory and snaking above waterfalls and gorgeous cliffs.

Allie s Adventures, a Realtraveler from Toronto, lived to tell the tale, and she paints a vivid picture of it of her adventure in her blog Indiana Allie Does South America:

“The road winds its way through vertical cliff drops, stunning scenery (snow capped mountains wrapped in mist, verdant waterfalls, green green green…..) It also boasts sheer vertical cliffs of rock that with one wrong move you´re dead. The road is littered with crosses marking the areas unfortunate riders or drivers met their untimely end. Stopping for some water I peered over a cliff and saw the remains of a truck in a gorge 100 meters below me! It´s a strange living graveyard, this road.”

She took to the challenge like a trooper:

“The first part of the road is the newer, paved version. While still death-defyingly scary it really didn´t compare to the downward gravel road that was part 2. By the time we got to that part of the group I elected to go in the fast group with all the boys. Feminist liberation and all that. At first it was fine, I was RIGHT behind the guide and none of the guys could catch me (well there were a few scary wobbles!) and for 3 solid hours and 42 km it was constant adrenaline. ” (more…)

If you’re inspired by Allie’s story, you might want to live also vicariously through blogs from other brave Realtravelers including Aaron Abel Chen and Sonic Pod who also cycled this challenging spot in recent months.

To learn more about this famous road or plan your own trip to Bolivia, visit:

Bolivia Travel Guide
La Paz Travel Guide
Bolivia Travel Blogs
World’s Most Dangerous Road