Deadliest Roads | Bolivia: Yungas Clouds | Free Documentary

foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] the city clings to the mountains each year it grows bigger it won't be long until it completely covers the summits in La Paz the highest capital city in the world 1 000 meters of altitude separates the wealthy and the poor the poorer neighborhoods are located at the peak four thousand meters high where the air is thin [Music] on average it takes a day for people to acclimatize to this lack of oxygen except of course for experienced Mountain women like Maria Don Carlos foreign Fortnight Maria comes to La Paz to stock up on goods for her grocery store up in the mountains division foreign grocer loads two tons worth of goods into the truck on her own [Applause] uh foreign sticks out like a sore thumb in Bolivia she is one of the few women to drive in the mountains and some men make her feel like she doesn't belong here [Music] foreign [Music] and yet this grocer could teach these men a thing or two about driving foreign Bolivia is a rapidly developing country which continues to grow thanks to economic reforms the government has never been so rich however many roads are still in Dire Straits part of the blame lies with the various dictatorships from over the years which have delayed the country's growth it takes courage to travel Bolivia is home to some of the most dangerous roads on the planet [Music] as well as earning a living Maria provides assistance to isolated villages this poverty is widespread in the mountains Lourdes is also fighting it she looks after gold miners but going to the mines is a gamble in itself [Music] Lourdes alerts women to the dangers of pollution linked to the mining of precious metals foreign due to these mines and loggers the environment is suffering this ecological Onslaught is partly responsible for the disasters that are ravaging the country in the Andes life is a constant struggle that the bolivians face every day [Music] [Music] [Applause] Maria is returning to her Village the back of her pickup truck is loaded with Goods as she gradually scales the Andes Mountains the road disappears into the clouds [Music] [Applause] all right it's a good time to bring out the rum and make an offering it's the best way to win the good favor of the altiplano Gods [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] on the side of the roads the headstones of Travelers who were too hasty remind us that it's better to be safe than sorry [Music] this accident has just taken place the fall was dizzying [Music] [Applause] [Music] back [Applause] here is Camino De La Muerte there are several deadly roads in Bolivia before embarking on hers Maria is taking some precautions [Music] when the brake pads overheat the braking distance gets considerably longer best to let them cool down and take the opportunity to tighten the nuts and bolts in order not to lose a wheel on the bumpy roads Maria has learned to fend for herself [Applause] Maria is now leaving the asphalt to take on the dirt roads that lead to her Village 62 miles across a sharp Cliff Edge [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign foreign [Music] Maria is leaving the Andes and it's relatively cool and dry for the Bolivian youngers where the weather is completely different a gateway to the Amazon the youngers is a suffocating cocktail of heat and humidity and it rains nearly all year round [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] very much because they are smooth foreign all this water does not only damage the roads it also weakens the mountainsides [Applause] [Applause] [Music] between November and March the clouds of the Andes collide with hot air from the Amazon this leads to torrential downpours and wreaks Havoc across the youngers it has caused hundreds of landslides foreign [Music] this is one of the deadliest a witness caught the disaster on film [Music] in March 2019 the first Landslide on this road made the whole track disappear as the survivors crossed on foot the Earth begins to move again [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] the lives of 70 people that day [Applause] Travelers are not the only victims the inhabitants of the youngers also live in fear of their homes being Swept Away foreign those who can afford it abandon the region the others watch our whole life's work gradually disappear because the mountain doesn't always collapse at once each wet season venez sees his field of fruit trees grow by several dozen meters at this rate the Earth will have surely swallowed up his house by next year [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] the Bolivian State maintains the roads as much as they can however it is impossible to strengthen the several hundred miles of rock walls that Tower above the tracks [Music] [Applause] okay [Music] Lourdes takes this route on a regular basis a few days ago the road was cut off by floods higher in the mountains temperatures have risen the snow has melted and streams have become Rivers foreign foreign [Music] is traveling to the tipuani gold mines 162 miles across the Yonkers [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] man's desire for riches is proving to be catastrophic for the environment all over the world forests and rivers are being destroyed in order to extract precious metal from them foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] ER Gold Miner she has set up an organization that supports women who work in the mines he tries to convince them to give up this profession that will never make them rich and more importantly we'll leave them in a very precarious situation [Music] foreign is forced to change taxis [Applause] [Applause] yourself [Music] on this part of the route only four by fours have a chance of making it through safely [Music] [Music] while it seems the clouds have decided to spare them today the road has got a nasty surprise in store for them dozens of cars have been blocked by this truck a driver is taking the risk of Towing it it's a dangerous operation the truck is stuck right in the middle of an uphill turn there is a danger of it falling into the ditch thank you The Travelers wait patiently no one dares complain the drivers know to stay humble they could well be the next to get stuck [Music] [Applause] after three long hours of waiting Lourdes is on the road again not realizing that the weather won't be so mild in tipuani in recent years severe climate change has made traveling in Bolivia problematic the country is a hotbed for extreme weather events in 2015 the second largest lake in the country disappeared dried up forever while other regions experienced devastating floods global warming is partly to blame but it is exacerbated by the deforestation of the Amazon the great rainforest covers some 40 percent of Bolivia [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you these loggers work legally but they are doing a lot of damage to the forest in order to reach the finest trees they wipe out everything in their path within just two hours they formed a trail that's half a mile long [Applause] okay Luis is an indigenous man from the turkana tribe wood is an essential source of income for his community every day he sees the results of this Reckless Forest looting the girth of this tree is bigger than Lewis capable fortunately for him the tree he plans to cut down is still standing but not for much longer de la foreign [Music] with their offerings the indigenous people ask pakamama the goddess of the Earth for her blessing to cut the tree around okay necessary foreign I don't know [Music] [Applause] much [Music] [Applause] it takes just 20 short minutes to cut down this tree that took more than a hundred years to grow [Applause] [Applause] [Music] the hundred-year-old tree will be sold for around 500. the main culprits of the Amazon's deforestation are not independent woodcutters like Luis but rather illegal loggers and large landowners who are constantly expanding their Farmland by stripping the forest 865 000 Acres disappear each year that's the equivalent of 53 200 000 soccer pitches foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] the grocer continues her journey with her truck full of goods this is her tenth hour behind the wheel fatigue has set in and the road is not being kind to her [Music] foreign [Music] these dilapidated roads are an ordeal for drivers but others have found a way to make money from them as a means of survival [Music] thank you for families [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the two young girls aged 5 and 13 take to the shovel as soon as they finish school and they are far from being the only ones many tiny hands are at work all along this road their families work a little higher up in the fields fathers mothers and grandparents harvest the majority of their food [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] [Music] that would be like I feel a little scripture [Applause] yes [Music] the families sell any leftover potatoes to Maria after 15 hours and 175 miles on the road the grocer has finally reached the village she's only had a few hours sleep but Maria is already up [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] if it wasn't for Maria's grocery store the 300 inhabitants of the village would be forced to drive for hours just to pick up school books accessories or even a birthday [Music] presents the shop has everything the locals need [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] Indiana [Music] um [Music] [Applause] tequila thanks to the coca leaves trade the couple were able to open their grocery store [Applause] Maria and Juan live far away from everything but they're quite the modern couple in Bolivia women do not really have a say in Family Matters they often remain confined to household chores unlike many men Juan is very proud to see his wife working foreign the couple have not forgotten their years of hardship back when they were farming coca with the Villages of a remote Hamlet up in the mountains a very strong bond unites them this is why they risk the Journey of bringing back groceries [Music] [Applause] [Music] no Road stands in Maria's way but there are still some parts where she prefers to leave the driving to her husband is foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] foreign traffic accidents have taken place on this road none have been fatal but enough to send cars to the scrap Heap reaching this Village is always a risky undertaking for the couple foreign [Music] on major highways is just as risky there are thousands of potholes some the size of swimming pools Journeys are extremely tiring Lourdes knows all about that she is heading to tipuani the city of gold and is having to change taxis for the third time due to a Mudslide that blocked the road when she arrives [Music] here part of the city is underwater it's been raining almost continuously for days [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jesus [Music] Lourdes is in tipuani to meet some gold miners with her organization she tries to persuade them to give up this job that keeps them in poverty because of the floods some families have left the city the retired Miner heads to the banks of the river despite the flood risks she knows there will be women working there it's a matter of survival along the way the sites are appalling the large industrial mines that share the best deposits are taking slices from the hill as if it were a cake [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] there's not much left to exploit on this side of the river the miners are happy to find the smallest Speck of gold Maria is 38 years old and has worked here for five years [Applause] fighting to feed her two children the best these coca leaves help take a mind off the hunger pangs most of these poor miners work on the other side of the riverbank they have more chance of discovering gold there but at a cost it's twice as risky [Music] yesterday the biggest danger is not this rickety cable trolley the bank is situated beneath an industrial mine families rummaged through its waste in the hope that there is still some precious metal [Applause] risking their lives for a speck of gold dust the problem lies in the water release from the mine every day it poisons another Gold Miner and their food Mercury [Applause] plus companies unless kitted out in full protective gear you will be exposed to the poison companies use mercury to separate precious metal from the earth the gold sticks to it and forms an amalgam that is easy to retrieve from the bottom of a tank except the liquid metal is a Scourge on the environment it seeps into everything foreign [Applause] such is the case for these two teenagers [Music] and it was damn family [Music] despite the ever-present fear that dangles over their head families continue digging up the Earth with an unwavering face laughs [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Lourdes and her small Association do not have the power to get these families out of poverty but the former gold miner hopes that one day she will succeed in Banning the use of mercury and gold mines Maria the shopkeeper and her husband do not have an association but their battle is just as commendable they both risk taking a chaotic journey in order to rescue a village from isolation with their Mobile store they spare the residents the ordeal of walking for hours through the mountains except for the couple it's far from a walk in the park [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] and three hours later Maria and her husband can finally start unpacking [Music] no I'm gay um what's up the couple don't do this for money in the mountains there's practically no such thing as making a profit barely any can afford to put food on the table [Music] s foreign today in Bolivia these courageous women like Maria and Lourdes are breaking free from the old patriarchal system deemed Unthinkable up until a few years ago they are becoming more and more involved in politics in society and in the fight for the environment Bolivian women have shown that their place is firmly rooted in society equal to that of men [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 953,347

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, deadliest journeys bolivia, dicing with death bolivia, dangerous bolivia, most dangerous roads bolivia, dangerous roads bolivia, deadliest roads bolivia

Id: NPASvhfnV04

Length: 48min 34sec (2914 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 15 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/boywonder5691]

The scariest bus rides I have ever been on were in Yemen in the early 2000s. My GF and I were convinced that we were going to DIE