Wicked Routes in Pakistan, Romania, Ethiopia and Germany. Yes, Germany.
"Last road to see before you die" for mad motorists and visual candy for location-starved Hollywood producers: depending on your driving experience (not on your "Need for Speed" scores) and your outlook on life, these roads can be either the ultimate, or scariest travel destination. (this page is a part of our bigger series, read it all here)
Want to feel happy and safe? Then gaze on this picture for a while, because the rest of this page is only going to unnerve and distress you.
1. Pakistan: The Way to Fairy Meadows (is steep and narrow indeed)
There is no free lunch. If "Fairy Meadows" sounds like a heavenly destination, the way to reach them can be expected to look like a road to hell. Sure enough, it's a 10-km single lane road leading to one of the highest peaks in the world, Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. From Raikot Bridge (over the Indus River) to Tato village, the view gets better and the road gets dizzier:
Admittedly, the road has been built by local residents of Tato and the Pakistani Government had no part in it - which means you can't sue anybody if the worst happens. However, once you get to the Fairy Meadows, the scenery is heavenly enough:
Another great road-challenged destination in Pakistan is Deosai National Park. Deosai means Land of Giants, and it is one of the highest plateaus in the world. Here is a nerve-wracking way to cross the bridge, demonstrated by fearless local drivers:
Aptly named Bridge of Big Water (Bara Pani), this suspension bridge is pretty adequate for Deosai, which is snowbound most of the year with Himalayan brown bears being the only population for many months.
Africa is a continent with so many roads in dangerous condition that it requires its own page. Who has ever heard of Weldiya, Lalibela Road in Ethiopia? At 12,000 ft, be glad nobody asks you to drive an overloaded truck there:
2. Romania: You can consider yourself safe, once you cross the Fagaras Massive
The second highest road in Europe (highest point: 2040 m. elevation) features ex-vampire and ex-communist castles placed among the "highest, largest, widest, rockiest and most impressive mountain range" in East Europe - try this route for automotive excitement:
However, one road - Transfagarasanul Road through the Carpathian Mountains - stands out from the rest.
The Fagaras mountain range features the Fagaras Castle, a Medieval stronghold of Transylvanian Princes, used in the 1950s as a prison for opponents and dissidents of the Communist State of Romania. There are also ruins of Poienari Castle, Vlad the Impaler's real castle, lurking on this route, to get your blood flowing. As you can see, some Van Helsing action can be almost guaranteed... in the ever-present mist:
"From 500 to over 1700m high, mostly not paved, with creeks running on the road - all with standard Ford Focus and a whole family inside!"
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3. Germany: Want even more excitement? How about driving on a racetrack that is open to the paying public?
I am talking about Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany - the greatest & most challenging race circuit in the world.
Ever since Germans started building the autobahns (as part of the Nazi's plan to revive economy), we've come to think of driving in Germany as fast, exciting and safe experience:
But for those who are willing to up the stakes and risk their life, there is an option to book a few laps at Nürburgring Nordschleife - also called "The Green Hell" - a foggy and ridiculously twisty forest route. It is said that there is one fatality per week (so take out an insurance policy before tackling it).
One reader tells us: "There is a scary story of a biker that had an accident throwing him and his machine into the woods. Although not killed in the crash, he died there because nobody noticed the accident."
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You think Gary, Indiana, has potholes?
Think again:
(image credit: Reuters)
Maybe not so dangerous looking, the following road has deadly statistics: the Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Philippines, in terms of deaths and accidents is far more dangerous than even the Halsema Highway (which we featured in Part 3). It's known as "killer highway" to the locals: most deaths are blamed on too much traffic congestion and chaos.
Landslides - "premature road seizures" - can render a road obsolete in a few seconds:
Such ruined roads, however, might be happily used by the 4x4 enthusiasts: these guys are constantly on the lookout for epic locations. But if they get stuck, they get stuck on an epic scale, too:
(original unknown)
There are plenty of hair-raising mountain roads in U.S (see our extreme off-roading article): some of the great routes include Gold Camp Road (from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek), the road up to Yankee Boy Basin, or the highway from Ouray to Silverton (all in Colorado)
Idaho Springs, Colorado, also sports a nice drive called the Oh My God Road. In the same state, there are roads up to the summits of Mt. Evans, Pike's Peak, Black Bear Pass, Mosquito Pass... the list goes on. Canada beckons north of the border with some wicked 4x4 roads, too.
Hazards of mountain road construction also cry out for their own page. Check out this one-man bulldozer which digs off the higher side of the slope and fills in the lower side (more info)
Spectacular routes, but don't take your eyes off the road!
It's frustrating when you can only afford fleeting glances around you, trying to keep the car on the road - and some of the best scenery on Earth passes you by. Check out, for example, this twisty road in Morocco's Atlas mountains, offering an awesome view on the Dades Gorge:
Hike the Deepest Canyon in the World! No, it's not the Grand Canyon, it's the Colca Canyon in Peru, which for hundreds kilometers maintains depth of 3400 meters (around 2 miles). That's more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon!
Try some trails in Himalays, China - just be sure not to lean too much to the left: (trail to Kangtega peak, close to Periche village, in the Khumbu valley)
"It is said that there is one fatality per week" - Someone who actually did research (asking the local police station) found rather lower numbers, even if 3-12 per year is still a lot. http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/warning.html
I was there few years ago on that road in Transylvania. My second scariest ride ever (number one was also in Romania). I was there on biztrip and had to go across Romania from one corner to another. I decided to make it a little more enjoyable and visited Dracula's castle/ruins (Poienari). After that i stayed on that road in the mountains. On map it look like a nice ride across mountains. In reality I was scared to death.
I had some help for that feeling: heavy rain started, which started some mud avalanches (don't know the right English word for it) and flooding the road. As i got higher in the hill, cellphone lost signal, because there is no network... And as an added bonus - my fuel gauge was right at the bottom. On the way up i passed some locals riding horses and a few ghost(ish) villages. At one point there were PET bottles blocking the way, but i got through. Soon after that i understand that warning. After one sharp turn the road just ended. It was all covered in snow. Absolutely no chance to keep going, even on foot. To make it even more unpleasant, right there was an abandoned truck, partially covered in snow. Apparently some time ago he was stopped by the same snow, and could not go back, because the road was too narrow for a truck to turn over.
At that point i was really really scared. No phone, almost no fuel, raining as hell... I turned back and driving crazy fast (just to get to the point where there is phone signal) headed back down. My luck - it was all the way down, which helped saving fuel. I managed to get back down to the city and went straight to the nearest petrol station.
This probably doesn't sound very scary, but then and there it really was :)
Here are some pics from that trip: http://picasaweb.google.lv/jybook/Hungarija#
Don't fall for the Nazi Autobahn propaganda myth. In fact, the democratic Reich had already built Autobahns and put them into operation before the Nazis gained power. Their propaganda effectively made people believe that the Fuehrer's order to build Autobahns created lots of jobs and helped struggling Germany to overcome unemployment, which is not true. First, the democratic Reich had already put up significant amounts of capital for exactly that purpose, second, the number of people working to build Autobahns was negleglible small number compared to the 6 million jobless Germans.
@jealousy : If you had looked for information before going on your, i quote, "second scariest ride ever" you would have known that part of that road is closed every year by the authorities until june or sometimes even july exactly because of the heavy snowing that is normal in wintertime there. For someone who gets scared of PET bottles and forgets to check the fuel before going on a trip, i can understand how that was scary, bu-hu-hu :)
I drove the road trough the transilvanian alps too ... It's not a bad road actually, it's especially spectacular. The road has quite some holes in them but nothing really crazy. We, too, got blocked eventually by the snow - but If you're ever driving by car from Bucharest to Sibiu, somewhere after may - really, take this road, it'll be the most beautiful you ever took
When I was a kid, the road to my paternal grandparents' home in Harlan County, Kentucky passed under a rock cut similar to the one in the second image. My sister and I always made sure to duck. :-)
I've been to Tajikistan, and the highway connecting the two major cities of that country (Dushanbe and Khudjand) is almost as scaring as the first road in this series. The road from Dushanbe to Khorog (a town in eastern Tajikistan) is even more scaring. Both roads are unpaved, and they go through mountain passes over 3,300 meters high. They are really spectacular! Please check these ones for your next series!
Talking about found treasures... check out this link about weird Argentinean lack of coins crisis. Looks like a treasure chest with pesos is worth its weight in gold... http://www.slate.com/id/2205635/
"When even the most insignificant purchase requires the same order of planning and precision as a long-range missile strike, you can hardly blame people for keeping a jar of monedas safe at home."
Yes, that creature is a baby two-toed sloth. If you notice the sign on the container, it says "Freckle y Velcro" "Y" is "and" in Spanish so I imagine there are two sloths in there and that's why it appears to have an extra limb. The other one is probably hidden behind it.
Good stuff as always. Extrasolar planets are incredibly fascinating. There is one (name and location escapes me at the moment) that is a "Super Earth" with nothing but water for a surface. But the pressure is such that the water molecules are tightly packed into a solid, similar to the "ice" within the ice giants Neptune and Uranus.
Titan would have been a good Saturn satellite to add to this list; being what Prof. Carolyn Porco calls "an analog of Earth." With its lakes of hydrocarbons and hazy atmosphere, you have rains and large bodies of paint thinner to enjoy on your Titanic vacation!
On propeller bikes, you should definitely watch "Kiki's Delivery Service" by Hayao Miyazaki (1989). Here is a screen-shot of the propeller-powered bicycle.
Fantastic! I like the propeller-driven bicycle that was 'seen on the London streets'! I want one!! I do wonder through what would happen if someone trotted out one of these now. Are the days of inventing wonderfully crazy things like this (almost) over or relegated only to shows and special events?
Oh, and Anonymous 1 . . . it's interesting! That means it fits the bill as far as i am concerned!
I just realized I want a car with a propeller on it. Epiphany. First it was the pro-atheist Catholic priest, now it's the propeller car. Stumble is so much better with like minds.
The elevator "up for going up, down for going down" sign kinda makes sense. I've seen a lot of people pressing the "up" button thinking it means "elevator, come up" (when they are in, e.g., in the 4th floor, the elevator is in the 1st but they want go to 1st.)
About the last one on "Engrish".. .. it is a list which vendors should NOT say to customers. The first three Chinese characters mean "prohibited sentences".
The Russian movie posters. Top left is Freaky Friday w/ Lindsay Lowhan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Bottom right is Shallow Hal w/ Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black.
The Russian poster with the vegetables, actually says that the girl provides HERSELF with vegetables for the entire year. So there's nothing to feel bad about there :)
the miner water ad, that with vegetation growing on the poster, is an advertisment of ACQUA CAPANNELLE, a famous italian mineral water, that poster was in Rome, some years ago! I've seen it live!
The trunk sign is actually labelling the pull-grip of an internal latch release, so that someone who has been locked in the trunk can open the trunk and escape.
I took this picture 2 1/2 years ago (indeed at the Istanbul Int'l Airport) and it's been a mystery to me ever since, UNTIL the photo was posted on this blog!
I've been informed on the photo's page what's really going on:
There isn't anything wrong with the sign. Pressing the button once flushes, pressing again stops the flushing prematurely if less than the maximum amount of water is needed.
Great stuff! That church (god's milk carton) is actually down the street from my house and they are very clever with their sign. I'll have to keep an eye out for some to send you.
Hey cool to see that busted stock reading machine in wellington posted I picked myself a pic of that aswell now any wellington folks seen that "poon fah assn nz" sign?
I saw that last sign in Beijing when I was there. It's not a list of what people might say to the vendors but rather a list of things the vendors should not say to the shoppers.
lamberto has a tracker cookie thing that redirects to gambling websites - just take note of the address search for cookie that has same name and remove cookie from where your cookies are.
I'm not sure, so don't hold me to this, but I think the weird family tree thing is all the Royal Families of Europe, I see Queen Beatrix and Elizabeth II on there, but if I'm wrong, then please, somebody correct me.
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"It is said that there is one fatality per week" - Someone who actually did research (asking the local police station) found rather lower numbers, even if 3-12 per year is still a lot. http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/warning.html
I was there few years ago on that road in Transylvania. My second scariest ride ever (number one was also in Romania). I was there on biztrip and had to go across Romania from one corner to another. I decided to make it a little more enjoyable and visited Dracula's castle/ruins (Poienari). After that i stayed on that road in the mountains. On map it look like a nice ride across mountains. In reality I was scared to death.
I had some help for that feeling: heavy rain started, which started some mud avalanches (don't know the right English word for it) and flooding the road. As i got higher in the hill, cellphone lost signal, because there is no network... And as an added bonus - my fuel gauge was right at the bottom.
On the way up i passed some locals riding horses and a few ghost(ish) villages. At one point there were PET bottles blocking the way, but i got through. Soon after that i understand that warning. After one sharp turn the road just ended. It was all covered in snow. Absolutely no chance to keep going, even on foot. To make it even more unpleasant, right there was an abandoned truck, partially covered in snow. Apparently some time ago he was stopped by the same snow, and could not go back, because the road was too narrow for a truck to turn over.
At that point i was really really scared. No phone, almost no fuel, raining as hell... I turned back and driving crazy fast (just to get to the point where there is phone signal) headed back down. My luck - it was all the way down, which helped saving fuel. I managed to get back down to the city and went straight to the nearest petrol station.
This probably doesn't sound very scary, but then and there it really was :)
Here are some pics from that trip: http://picasaweb.google.lv/jybook/Hungarija#
The road from Quito, Ecuador to the Amazon is pretty treacherous, especially since the bus drivers drive like they are at the wheel of Ferraris!
Don't fall for the Nazi Autobahn propaganda myth. In fact, the democratic Reich had already built Autobahns and put them into operation before the Nazis gained power. Their propaganda effectively made people believe that the Fuehrer's order to build Autobahns created lots of jobs and helped struggling Germany to overcome unemployment, which is not true. First, the democratic Reich had already put up significant amounts of capital for exactly that purpose, second, the number of people working to build Autobahns was negleglible small number compared to the 6 million jobless Germans.
Sebastian
King Canyon in California's Sierra Nevada is about 10,000 feet (approx. 3 km) deep.
@jealousy :
If you had looked for information before going on your, i quote, "second scariest ride ever" you would have known that part of that road is closed every year by the authorities until june or sometimes even july exactly because of the heavy snowing that is normal in wintertime there.
For someone who gets scared of PET bottles and forgets to check the fuel before going on a trip, i can understand how that was scary, bu-hu-hu :)
I drove the road trough the transilvanian alps too ... It's not a bad road actually, it's especially spectacular. The road has quite some holes in them but nothing really crazy. We, too, got blocked eventually by the snow - but If you're ever driving by car from Bucharest to Sibiu, somewhere after may - really, take this road, it'll be the most beautiful you ever took
I'd give Bolivia the honors for this one. They have a road that is the die for.
When I was a kid, the road to my paternal grandparents' home in Harlan County, Kentucky passed under a rock cut similar to the one in the second image. My sister and I always made sure to duck. :-)
That pothole picture, is in Medan. It's the capital of North Sumatra province of Indonesia.
There are more gnarly dangerous potholes here in Jakarta, Indonesia. Those potholes literally kill people.
I've been to Tajikistan, and the highway connecting the two major cities of that country (Dushanbe and Khudjand) is almost as scaring as the first road in this series. The road from Dushanbe to Khorog (a town in eastern Tajikistan) is even more scaring.
Both roads are unpaved, and they go through mountain passes over 3,300 meters high. They are really spectacular! Please check these ones for your next series!
Thank you for all the tips and suggestions - we'll use them for next parts...
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