00:00:13lowlands of the Amazon jungle to the
00:00:15Bolivian capital of La Paz and an
00:00:18elevation of about 12,000 feet this
00:00:21route is cut into the eastern side of
00:00:23the second-highest mountain range on
00:00:25earth the Andes
00:00:29this crucial lifeline from the Amazon
00:00:32jungle brings goods like tropical fruits
00:00:35coffee and cocoa leaves to markets and a
00:00:37capital of La Paz the youngest Road is a
00:00:44rollercoaster of twisting dirt rock and
00:00:47mud turning every trip into an
00:00:49adrenaline pumping adventure
00:00:57this road is considered the most
00:01:00dangerous in the world in terms of
00:01:02deaths or my claiming up to 200 lives
00:01:05per year for all travelers the Yungas
00:01:09Road is a path into the unknown marked
00:01:12by danger and every blind curve
00:01:15travelers driving this road face a
00:01:17danger equation created by the
00:01:19confluence of three factors sheer
00:01:22topography extreme climate unstable
00:01:26geology when these combined the result
00:01:29is the most dangerous road on the planet
00:01:33but drivers who survive are treated to
00:01:36one of the most breathtaking drives in
00:01:39the world Canadian Jonathan Dirksen
00:01:42knows the youngest roads deadly Beauty
00:01:45firsthand well I’ve been on the unit
00:01:47road above maybe 50 60 times since I
00:01:51first came to Bolivia you never know
00:01:54what’s gonna happen
00:01:56February 1983 as a teenager living in La
00:02:01Paz dirkson and some friends travel the
00:02:04youngest road from La Paz down to a
00:02:06jungle retreat in the small town of
00:02:09chulumani
00:02:11a group of friends and I we rented a bus
00:02:13and we headed down into the youngest we
00:02:18were laughing singing and having a great
00:02:19time
00:02:23not even paying attention to the cliffs
00:02:25that were on either a right or a left as
00:02:27the driver navigates the youngest roads
00:02:30hairpin turns the bus comes within
00:02:33inches of driving off the road this is
00:02:37the most obvious peril facing every
00:02:39driver on the road the first factor in
00:02:43the danger equation the topography of a
00:02:45sheer cliff face
00:02:48on one side live fast rocks ranging from
00:02:5120 feet to 3,000
00:02:55on the other is a cliff wall reaching as
00:02:59high as the eye can see
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