Deadliest Journeys - Bolivia: The Road Of Death

[Music] [Music] [Music] oh so but that's not true it may look like it but it's not [Music] on our ropes we're like birds [Music] the youngest region in bolivia jungle and steep cliffs where people don't walk they fly [Music] okay [Music] [Music] these birdmen are known as cocaleros coker harvesters they use ropes to swing across the narrow valleys suspended from ancient rusting pulleys [Music] just 30 seconds from one side to the other by foot it would have taken more than an hour this must be about six or seven years old before that used to be quite a hike uh we'll get home much more quickly this way [Music] this is not a horizontal country the youngest valleys are like a sudden staircase between the towering calderas of the andes more than four thousand meters high and the green amazon basin here in the dramatic vertical landscape the inhabitants have fashioned this unusual way to move around more quickly simple thin metal wires normally used for fencing stretching as far across as 400 meters [Music] it's almost a form of public transport there are about 20 of these cables strung across the valley all day long people and goods fly across the river 200 meters below at each end homemade tethers that in theory provide stability and safety some of the wires have been in use for 20 years and have slackened dramatically the cochlear is have never bothered replacing them oh it doesn't break a break it's made of galvanized steel to prevent the pulleys from becoming unfastened the cochlearos used string at each end as a kind of peg it is the string helps keep it in place otherwise it might all collapse simply attach themselves with bits of fabric and cloth does it take a minute see this is how we do it is that enough to keep you from falling off enough oh of course it is [Music] like [Music] even at age 72 don ignacio continues to fly across the valley every day to tend to his coca plantation on the other side of the mountains since the price of coffee collapsed coca has taken over as the main crop for the youngest it's been cultivated since the time of the incas a form of narcotic chewed by the locals to overcome tiredness it's harvested three times a year and is worth approximately 30 percent more than coffee nowadays don ignacio was one of the first to settle in the valley and it was his idea to install the cable skyway i first came here in 1955. i was the one who founded the community and everything that you see here there's nothing before there's i bought steel wires and i managed to stretch them across the valley using some rope don ignacio can neither read nor write and testing his wire cables was a hit-and-miss affair everything was guesswork [Music] if it made it across then we knew we could do [Music] brought about a dramatic change in the lives of the cochlear send heavy loads across the valley even today though there are those who don't trust the flimsy wires that crisscross the valley maria's husband was killed in an accident on the wires and she now refuses to use them well they'd already been an accident three people have fallen to their deaths in the past 20 years mostly as a result of negligence like maria most of the women prefer to cross on foot the bridge is it's quite nice because we often stop to bathe all the way from up there down to the river his body was shattered his guts were splattered everywhere it was horrible forget me first despite the physical exertion maria still prefers walking to taking the sky cables it must be half an hour that we've been here see this version no see this is without any effort it's part of our way of life now we always use in the valley the work days are long and arduous the hardest is the harvesting of mandarins which grow in abundance but they have to be picked within two days of ripening otherwise they rot maria and her new partner alex can obviously only sell the fresh mandarins in market so timing is crucial and that's when you might have an accident from having to hurry so much you might get careless and fall that's why the cables aren't as reliable as they say it's like russian roulette [Music] i don't want to be widowed twice it's scary starting [Music] in the valley danger is never far away when the baskets full of mandarins don't quite reach their destination for example oh damn it that's swinging back the other way now the only choice is to go and fetch them a high-risk operation the baskets weigh as much as 50 kilos alex is barely fastened properly to the pulley at 200 meters any mistake could be fatal you should film this buggering [Music] just for a basket of fruit [Music] a one hour walk away on the other side of the mountain severo has just returned from picking coker the leaves are put out to dry one month's work of harvesting see no secret when there's no sun they say the mirror attracts the sun the sun sees the mirror and it pops out for the coca-leiros such as severo has become a little easier since the election of evo morales in the presidential elections of 2005. eva was the first native indian head of state in south america and an outspoken advocate of the coca farmers under his rule the laws that previously imposed some restrictions on coker growing were relaxed ever the other but it's not true coco is not cocaine you need to add a lot of chemicals to make cocaine from coca leaves servera says he's never seen cocaine as far as he's concerned his coca is a powerful therapy against fatigue pain and altitude sickness but because of the fight against drugs he also has to travel to the officially sanctioned market in la paz in bolivia's capital it's me cuarto this is my room this is where i sleep and i keep all my clothes here and my coca leaves i'll buy some supplies [Music] um [Music] has finished harvesting his coca he'll soon be heading off to market in la paz and get a chance to see his family again in the past month he's amassed 50 kilos of coca leaves which he needs to get to the other side of the valley to the nearest road is also bringing a large basket of mandarins for his wife and daughters [Music] [Music] why did you heal out like that after the thrill of the crossing it takes sivero a backbreaking 10 minutes to drag each of his three 25 kilo packs up the mountain to the roadside i'm wiped out this is killing me the next morning savera will take the first bus heading to la paz hey the road that snakes its way through the valley of cables is the main artery that links the mountain ranges with the planes 4 000 meters below hard to believe but this narrow dirt road is as busy as any modern highway on the way down our manufactured goods from la paz on the way up rice fruit and cattle from the fertile amazonian pastures two-way traffic causes vehicles to teeter on the edges of precipices crosses in memory of victims of accidents are everywhere the bolivians call this road el camino de la muerte the road of death the road starts 4 000 metres up in la paz the economic capital of bolivia marco age 23 is a vachero a trucker specialized in the transport of cattle his job is to drive down the road of death as far as amazonia and load up cattle we're getting ready for the trip the truck comes from europe like all the others it's second hand but it's been patched ready with 600 000 kilometers already on the clock it's the first time marco is taking it out his own truck has long since driven more than one million kilometers marco is always accompanied on his trips by his cousin wilson traveling alone is far too dangerous on the road of death i have marco never leaves without first kissing his children goodbye [Music] what would you like me to bring back for you well what is there in san bernardino all sorts of fruits have bananas yeah do you like some yeah i'll bring some but only if you've been good okay yeah yeah okay marco doesn't go inside as he's going through a divorce with a kid's mother his wife could no longer stand the strain of waiting for her husband to return safely from the road of death i always pray to the lord we need to get there and come back all right i do it all the time sometimes when it has some problems i tell it why are you behaving like this i've given you everything you need oil petrol does it understand i think it does actually yeah okay let's go it's the start of a trip that will take 24 hours marco travels the road of death once or twice a week a 900 kilometer round trip on one of the world's most dangerous highways his wages of fear 140 euros a month i'm going to stop at the highest point on the road to say a mess la cumbre at an altitude of 4700 meters it's the highest point on the journey and marks the start of the road of death below the cross that overlooks the descent yatiris or indian shaman priests have gathered for a few pennies the truckers invoke their help to pay their respects to pachamama the goddess of the earth did you bring any coco wilson where's the coca here it is what's your name my name is esteban yeah listen mr marco we'll hold a ceremony for you a little ceremony where are you headed to san borgia where we'll call up the spirits of nature and the devils what kind of truck do you have it's a volvo which model an f-07 all the spirits are here they call them indians does well your truck the volvo fl7 number plate 956. let everyone be blessed the truck the volvo yeah everyone on board [Music] [Music] good health now we can travel more at ease we know now that the spirits will be protecting us from danger good luck have a great trip may you be granted money and health the lord of cumbria bless you from here the road of death drops dramatically down towards the valley the trucks hurtle down an uneven 3000 meter descent in less than 50 kilometers to the youngest valley [Music] at this point the road is still surfaced but the greatest danger is the constant fog caused by warm air from amazonia meeting cold air from the andes [Music] it's always drizzling around here but it's okay usually that's why so many buses and trucks have fallen into the ravine most of the accidents here are caused by fog especially at nighttime but at least we can see where we're going today 2 000 meters lower down the fog begins to dissipate but this is where the greatest danger begins when i reach this point i stop to pray and i ask for the lord for if you have to help up to let another vehicle through for example the problem here is the two-way traffic this stretch of road is now unsurfaced all the way to amazonia all traffic has to be on the left-hand side of the road now you see since the driver is sitting on the left by the precipice it's easier to see where you're going you can put your head out of the window and see how close your tires are to the edge if we were on the right we wouldn't see anything if we had to reverse and the trucks often do have to reverse because this road is simply not wide enough [Music] on the road of death the rule is that the vehicle that's descending has to back up to the nearest wider stretch of road the wheels just centimeters from the edge [Music] this is often when accidents happen [Music] and if a truck or a bus is full of passengers the cost in human lives can be terrible marco himself has had several close shaves and tried to get back on the i felt like never driving again marco however has become an expert and today he knows all about the dangers he may come across at every turn lurks potential danger here you must not break this truck was lucky it skidded into the side and got stuck in the undergrowth we have to get all the mud off here there's no way to move it and for the driver and his wife the only thing to do was to dig it out i've been trying to dig here for an hour did you do it can you manage yeah i think so but there's one stretch of road that's even narrower and more dangerous an alternative route has been dug out of the mountainside but until last year more than 200 trucks a day had to negotiate this road from hell the surface is less than three meters wide and there's a 500 meter drop into the ravine these days only tourists on bicycles and thrill seekers use this stretch of highway crosses litter the side of the road and the horror stories make up the trade in stock of eduardo the tourist guide to the road of death over the past 50 years about 1200 people have been killed here and last year was the worst 180 people died in just one year even tourists are not safe eight cyclists have fallen to the bottom of the ravine providing yet more stories for eduardo and fell 120 meters i was telling you about it happened two months ago and two years ago you see they are the other team they follow down one truck the truck have more or less 22 persons all that all the the trucks fly in the ceiling to the airplane was down eduardo arrived on the scene just after the accident and took part in the rescue operation but just as we were about to get there she died and that was the worst part of it for me if you spend time searching through the ravine you'd find the skeletons of many people that couldn't be saved 400 kilometers further down marco has finally arrived in amazonia it's taken him 20 hours of non-stop driving without any sleep this is the bolivian far west plains as far as the eye can see millions of head of cattle scattered across a territory as large as texas [Music] the song talks of the unlucky driver who drives recklessly and faces certain death i'm happy when you're coming down the mountainside with all the turns and bends your adrenaline keeps you awake but here the road is so straight and you're so tired you can just not off like that with 20 000 inhabitants is little more than a large dusty village but it's the capital of bolivia's cattle industry this is where marco and his assistant wilson will wait for a dealer to give them cattle to transport in some borscht everyone knows don berto as trademark leather hat screwed to his head he scours the ranchers to select the cattle that he will resell in la paz [Music] the rich own up to 50 000 ahead of cattle even the smallest rancher has at least 500. and then after that oh it's 1 000.000 these cows will be transported all the way to la paz where they will be slaughtered in a country where refrigerator trucks are rare it's the best way to guarantee the quality of the meat he's interested in only the best for him small about 250 to transport his cattle but the journey is undertaken entirely at the truck driver's own risk and it's marco that's responsible for the cattle arriving safely in la paz if the cows get hurt on the way or if one of them dies i'm the one that will have to pay each cow is worth as much as 1900 or 2 000 bolivians which is what i get paid for the entire trip wilson has to take care of the cattle on the return journey i have to make sure the animals don't fall over or step on each other otherwise they might die no they've had a good rest but you better make sure they all arrive in good condition okay all right don't worry there's not a minute to waste to avoid any suffering to the animals marco will head back as fast as possible if all goes well they'll be in la paz within 24 hours there is only one way to keep going all the night [Music] worth i don't think i could keep going through the night it helps you stay awake and makes you less scared i'm scared of what for example because there's so many stories about it for example they say that on this stretch there's a woman who walks along the side of the road when you get closer she always disappears for marco and wilson it will be a long night they will pause only briefly to get their breath back and the value of the cables severo is getting ready to leave for la paz to sell his 50 kilos of coca leaves in the market it's a five-hour bus journey along the road of death is accompanied by edwin the son of old ignacio the man who invented the cable skyway dad i'll be back saturday okay fearless on their cables the flying men of jungas are far less at ease when they have to go on the road of death trust in the grace of god when we travel foreign but for severo the dangers of the road mean nothing he hasn't seen his family in more than a month i worry about them the whole time of course i wonder if they're okay doing well the villa fatima market in la paz it's the only place in the country where the coca-layers are allowed to sell their crop [Music] even so it's estimated that as much as a third of all the coca leaves that are sold here end up in the laboratories of cocaine traffickers in the market the cholitas the native indian women ruled the roost they are the ones who buy and sell the coker [Music] to get the best prices it's a discrete game between seller and buyers how much did you give me last time because i want more this time the woman decides not to buy but savera soon finds someone else i'm selling i'm selling everything but we'll need to get a good who are you price with well this woman over here for how much 700 700 bolivianos for each of the 25 kilo bags savera makes about 180 for one month's work [Music] he lives in a poor district of la paz high up in the city this is my house see [Music] is [Music] my wife looks after the [Music] where my wife cooks this is where the three of them i want my daughters to have a better life than i've had without the same hardships i want them to study and find a job in the city as secretaries or in an office or whatever they like as long as they have a choice [Music] [Music] for marco and wilson and their 15 cows the return journey is far from over the hardest part it still lies ahead the steep climb up into the andes in the rear the cattle are starting to feel the strain of the trip but there's nowhere to stop the road is far too narrow but the cattle are exhausted and wilson has to stop them from lying down it's okay they're fine they're all well in just four hours the truck will climb 3000 meters it's the final blow for the animals well they're sort of wiped out but it won't be too long now it's the altitude that's getting to them you see and the weather the [Music] when you look at me i'm only 23 but i look older because of all the sleepless nights and trips that i've made behind the wheel eventually the truck staggers across the peak of cumbre 4700 metres up la paz is now very close i'll carry on doing this until i've paid for my truck and that way i can work for myself most drivers start off like me and then end up owning their trucks i want my own truck so i'll need to keep working like a dog after 25 hours on the road marco completes his side of the deal all 15 cattle have survived the journey only to have been dropped off at the municipal slaughterhouse where they'll be killed overnight

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 420,180

Keywords: travel, National Geographic, waterways, free documentary, roads, documentary

Id: vxh4QSnRORg

Length: 50min 59sec (3059 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 19 2021