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"QUANTUM SHOT" #146
Link - by Avi Abrams



Also Previous Part 1 and Part 2

Since our last installment in this highly popular series (Magnificient Tunnel Road, November 2006) we have received many tips and pictures of the roads that are no less intimidating, and in some cases just as dangerous. The world is obviously full of little known roads, encompassing a fascinating geography, waiting to be found by adventurous types. In this post, we will cover a few more, but these articles seem to be developing into a separate series, and may even become our monthly feature.

1. Road from Tibet to Nepal: sheer drops

We finally have some photos documenting hair-raising twists and drops of the road from Tibet, China (Lhasa) to Nepal (Kathmandu) - courtesy of Tatiana, whose father took these pictures in October 2006 (He was also a witness to the crash right in front of him) - The 1000 km long Friendship Highway includes seven 3500 meters passes, with one pass as high as 5000 meters. Most of the road is pretty manageable driving, although is has some rather fascinating parts:








(images via)

See more pictures of the road from Lhasa here (thanks, Cee!)


"There are some crazy "roads" in Nepal as well. The road to Besisahar is a
road in name only, and it's the only route to the most popular trekking path (the Annapurna Loop) in Nepal".



2."The Halsema Highway" in the Philippines.

Greg Brennan sent us some interesting pictures of this route, and it seems to fit the bill as one of the most precarious and shudder-inducing roads out there.




Greg writes: "The Halsema Highway, also known as the Baguio-Bontoc Road, runs through the Central Cordillera Valley on the island of Luzon in The Philippines. The beginning of the highway starts off slightly paved and quickly turns to dirt. It is approximately 150 miles long and takes about 10 hours to get from Baguio city to Sagada on a nice day. It is known for rock slides, mud slides and buses driving dangerously fast on its narrow passage. It also goes through some of the more remote provinces in The Philippines. There are many accidents and overturned buses on a yearly basis. Often there are sheer drop offs of over 1000 feet without a guard rail. During the rainy season it is nearly impassable."








(images credit: Greg Brennan)


UPDATE for the Bolivian Road of Death:

Bolivian Buses

These buses travel the Road of Death, and in themselves evoke solemn speculations about reasonable risks, life/death and possible breakdowns in impossible locations:




They are definitely not an air-conditioned coaches, and their technical condition often is a matter of prayer, not engineering.

Here is a rare look inside such bus...




...as it negotiates a road ahead:




Rob has a wonderful account of traveling on buses in Bolivia, and helping to clear a few rock slides along the way...



(images credit Rob)


Send us more pictures of buses in Bolivia;
their drivers especially deserve utmost respect.

Until next installment in a series, I leave you with this mystery photo: is it Photoshoped? If not, this Jeep is certainly not going anywhere...


(original unknown)

UPDATE: this picture is apparently an attempt to negotiate the Black Bear Pass in Colorado (source here)


CONTINUE TO PART FOUR! ->


Click to read the whole series ->





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YOUR COMMENTS::

19 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The last picture of the Jeep on the ledge has been around since at least the early 80's. It was a Warn winch poster / advertisement. Photoshop didn't exist then. Don't know how they did it though.

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Blogger Unknown said...

indeed, the last pic is of a jeep on black bear pass in telluride, co. supposedly, the road used to be that narrow, however, it has since been widened.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great coverage.
I will take some pictures when I go back home.

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Blogger zedek said...

you missed : el espinazo del diablo(devil`s back) in sierra madre occidental mexico...

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

For sheer terror, the Bolivian road still wins, but 10 hours of hellish driving (Halsema Hwy) makes one wonder if there are really places roads just aren't meant to be...

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Blogger nightskyspy said...

Irish roads are far from perfect and they are less picturesque too but I am not gonna complain now.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

They had something on discovery not too long ago about the Bolivian highways it was really eye-opening.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The road from Tirana to Elbasan in Albania is very hairy even though the mountain top views are pretty stunning.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

List is great! Bolivian road is mad!! But there are 2 roads that can compete- Sani Pass, South Africa/Lesotho, and the the roads in Northern Pakistan in the Pashtun region (Afganistan/Pakistan).
While in Lesthoto for only 1 day, 2 cars went off, 4 peeps died. CRAZY SH$%!!!!!!! There was no help!

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

that's a shit! I'm having butterflies in my stomach seeing pictures like that


&&
for the last picture I think that's impossible

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Blogger meier wolf said...

Wow -- great collection. Here's another: a double spiral loop bridge in Japan. Check it out at techtonic.org

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Blogger Wolfie said...

I did the Neal to Tibet trek you mention on foot back in 1996, its quite safe (if quite gruelling) but some of the bridges are quite dilapidated and freaky to cross. Mind you not everyone makes it, some villages showed me the corpse of a trekker they found which had been up there for months like "one of your friends, yes?". Well I took his passport with me to leave at the German embassy so they could tell his parents. Great experience and lovely people there but things might be different now, I hear Lhasa is ruined.

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Blogger Avi Abrams said...

Wolfie - fantastic... "One of your friends, eh?" Tell us more - will go into next articles - and perhaps you got pictures?

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember going through that Halsema Highway in the Philippines two years ago when I went on holiday.
It's not that bad but it got a bit intense sometimes because some drivers would overtake each other and what made me kinda concerned was the signs that read "Caution: falling rocks" haha

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Traveled the Tibet-Nepal route with an REI Adventures Tour in July 2007. "Exhilarating", to say the least. And to add to the experience, the highway authority was doing maintenance on large portions of the road in anticipation of the increase in tourists expected from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Fortunately, the Land Cruiser drivers were exceptionally competent.

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Blogger Melissa St. Hilaire said...

Someone should try looking up the license plate number in the mystery photo to determine if it's real.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The final photo of the Jeep is as another had described; a vintage Warn Winch ad. It is said to have been taken along Black Bear Pass. This is an old miners road located in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado traveling from Silverton to the town of Telluride. It is improved from the picture but is still a very dangerous road.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The final photo of the Jeep is as another had described; a vintage Warn Winch ad. It is said to have been taken along Black Bear Pass. This is an old miners road located in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado traveling from Silverton to the town of Telluride. It is improved from the picture but is still a very dangerous road.

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Anonymous ColoradoRockScars said...

The final photo of the Jeep is as othres described; a vintage Warn Winch ad. It was taken along Black Bear Pass. This is an old miners road located in the San Juan Mountains in SW Colorado traveling from Silverton to the town of Telluride. It is improved from the picture but is still a very dangerous road with 3-4 point switchbacks.

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