The World's Most Dangerous Roads

The Old North Yungas Road (Road of Death), Bolivia

The North Yungas Road (Death Road) is a 61-kilometre (38 mi) or 69-kilometre (43 mi) road (Length varies, depending on source) leading from Bolivia's main city, La Paz, to a region known as the Yungas. Most of the road no wider than 3.2 meters (10 ft) and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain, fog and dust can reduce visibility. In many places the road surface is muddy, and can loosen rocks from the road. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank named it as the "world's most dangerous road". Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on the road, in one year alone, 25 vehicles plunged off the road and into the gorge (BBC News). The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. 

The La Paz-Coroico highroad was modernized during a 20 year period ending in 2006. The modernization included widening the carriageway from one to two lanes, constructing asphalt pavement, and building a new section between Chusquipata and Yolosa, bypassing to the north one of the most dangerous sections of the old 'Death Road'.

Choking, blinding clouds obscure the way ahead. (BBC News)

credit: johnalbert1975

This new route features modern construction (bridges, drainage, etc.), multiple lanes, pavement, guardrails, and many other elements that make it considerably safer than the original route. The original North Yungas Road is currently much less used by traffic, although an increasing number of adventure travelers bike it for the thrills.

Roads of Northern Pakistan

The Northern Areas of Pakistan is a home to the four highest Mountain Ranges of the world:  Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Pamir, Due to this topography the area contain many dangerous Roads of the world. Some of them are:

i) Road from Chitral to Parsan  

The road to Parsan a small village 30 kilometer from Chitral is a nightmare for travelers; from outside of Chitral very few peoples have traveled this road.

credit: imranthetrekker 

credit: evilati

ii) Raikot Bridge to Tato village

Fairy Meadows has been a source of fascination since long for travelers, photographers & painters besides nature lovers. The site overlooks the Raikot Glacier and provides a majestic view of the North Face of Nanga Parbat, the 9th highest mountain of the world. Getting to Fairy Meadows, however, is not an easy task. Part of the trip involves surviving a 15 Kilometer (9 mile), long drive to Tato village (Jail) before hiking another 4 km to Fairy Meadows. It’s an unstable, narrow, unpaved, steep pebble  road carved out of the barren hills  and of course there aren’t any guardrails to prevent your Jeep from rolling down into the ravine. It is a private road built by Brigadier Muhammad Aslam owner of Shangrila hotels. 

credit: Waqas Usman

credit: Waqas Usman

credit: tafleinad

Reward after passing the horrible road (credit: tanveersattar)

iii) Karakoram Highway (KKH)

A 1300 km long highway, originates from Havelian, about 100 kilometers from Islamabad (Capital of Pakistan), connecting Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan to Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of China. It is also one of the most dangerous highways of the world. You can read more about KKH as a separate post here...

Guoliang Tunnel in Taihang Mountains (China)

The Guoliang Tunnel is carved along the side of and through a mountain in China. The tunnel is located in the Taihang Mountains which are situated in the Henan Province of China. Before the tunnel was constructed, access to the nearby Guoliang village was limited to a difficult path carved into the mountainside. The village is way up on a mountain.  The only way to reach it was to travel through valley surrounded by towering mountains, and then climb the Sky Ladder. In 1972 a group of villagers led by Shen Mingxin decided to carve a road into the side of the mountain. They raised money to purchase hammers and steel tools. Thirteen villagers began the project. The tunnel is 1.2 kilometers (0.75 mi) long, 5 meters (16 ft) tall and 4 meters (13 ft) wide. Some of the villagers died in accidents during construction. On 1 May 1977 the tunnel was opened to traffic.

A video by David Goorney about Guoliang Tunnel 

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups. Several walls have been built since the 5th century BC that are referred to collectively as the Great Wall, which has been rebuilt and maintained from the 5th century BC through the 16th century. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains; the majority of the existing wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from rammed earth, stones, and wood. During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone.

It has become a space-based myth. The Great Wall of China frequently billed as the only man-made object visible from space. It certainly isn't visible from the Moon.

Largest Flowers in the World

Credit: verigi

Rafflesia arnoldii is noted for producing the largest individual flower on earth. This rare flower is found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It can grow to be 1 meter (3 feet) across and weigh up to 7 kg (15 pounds) it is a parasitic plant, with no visible leaves, roots, or stem. It attaches itself to a host plant to obtain water and nutrients. When in bloom, the Rafflesia emits a repulsive odor, similar to that of rotting meat. This odor attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

Amorphophallus titanum in “Wilhelma Botanical

and Zoological Gardens” Stuttgart, Germany taken by Lothar Grünz.

Another enormous flower found in Indonesia is the Amorphophallus titanum, or Titan arum. It is also known as the "corpse flower" for its unpleasant odor. Like the Rafflesia, the Titan emits the smell of rotting flesh to attract pollinators. Technically, the Titan arum is not a single flower. It is a cluster of many tiny flowers, called an inflorescence. The Titan arum has the largest unbranched inflorescence of all flowering plants. The plant can reach heights of 2 to 4 meter (7 to 12 feet) and grows from the underground corm. The corm is the largest known, weighing around 50 kilograms (110 lb). In 2005, the tallest bloom in cultivation, some 2.74 m (8 ft. 11 in.) high, was achieved at the Botanical Garden of the University of Bonn in Germany in 2003. The event was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records.

On 20 October 2005, this record was broken at the botanical and zoological garden Wilhelma in Stuttgart, Germany. The bloom reached a height of 2.94 m (9 ft. 6 in.).