World's Most Dangerous Roads - Haiti: Down to Hell

[Applause] [Music] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] before they take to the road haitians have a little saying courage courage that is to get into the ancient minibuses or converted pickups their worn out suspensions mean the conditions on the roads are fully felt by the passengers [Music] for longer journeys they are allegedly luxury buses forget to fix the radiator so the engine gets more ventilation and after grease the wheels and make sure the nuts are tightened okay okay brunel barks out his orders in creole a mix of african dialects and french inherited after two centuries of colonization [Music] the country has virtually no public transport service so most are private and even they function with minimum resources [Music] this company buys old american school buses and transforms them [Music] it's why we don't carry coal or goats and other animals we only take luggage because you know goats pee everywhere even all over the passengers and we can't have that happening [Music] most of the buses have long since clocked over a million kilometers brunel though aims to get another million or so out of them [Music] they are due to depart at dawn the next day [Music] haiti used to be known as the pearl of the caribbean but dictatorships hurricanes and earthquakes in particular the one in 2010 in which over one million people lost their homes have earned it another name haiti the damned the nation is still struggling to recover its economy is virtually at a [Music] standstill of the 4 000 kilometers of roads in haiti 90 percent are in very poor condition my family always worries when i travel through the mountains oh my god i feel so sick and i'm tired those with little means travel on the dump bed oh it's too hot i'll faint haitians are born fighters in 1804 their country was the first to throw off the shackles of slavery sometimes gold is the incentive whether it's yellow or white the transport remains a problem along with its fighting spirit haiti also depends on its people's remarkable love of life and its voodoo gods to get back on its feet given the conditions on the road it's probably best to be seated before departure it's a free-for-all [Applause] [Music] the unlucky ones will spend close to eight hours standing assuming all goes well brunel the chief mechanic is the boss's guardian angel in haiti the most vital instrument on board [Music] is the horn there are no road signs or directions on the roads and the horn is the only way to avoid accidents on a road that once you head out into the countryside rapidly deteriorates the first 150 kilometers as far as gonaives are well as felted the last 80 are a mixture of dirt pebbles and sand [Music] the road is really no good but uh we'll try and avoid accidents and make it on the time is not to have any breakdowns clonel has been using this attractive yet occasionally deadly road for four [Music] years this is a hard part i've already got some problems each time the truck risks breaking down and once again the road wins now what's happening why are you stopping the old engine has lost power and clonell has stalled close the door keep everyone inside you need to know the engine very well to get it running again put a stone under this wheel okay go ahead try and start ali okay [Applause] come on there is no railway to the north of the island and bus fares have been going up for years 15 euros the trip costs 15 euros yes it's expensive plus there's nothing to eat or drink i have a choice daylight robbery you could take the plane but that'll cost you 90 euros and that's a rip-off too [Music] 15 euros each way an average weekly salary in haiti and the journey's uncomfortable it's really bumpy it's too hot it's horrible riding on the roof costs half as much but is half as comfortable not that it's particularly restful down below by the time you arrive some part of your body is always aching you're tired and it takes two or three days to recover it's because of the poor roads the shaking doesn't just rattle the humans it also does the engine little good there's a broken down truck it's usually the engine that has problems but the tyres often burst as well yeah that one stops as well [Music] and another one it's a motorcycle taxi one of the cheapest ways of getting around but with three people on top of two wheels the tyres don't hold up well on these kind of roads how long have you been pumping for about 20 minutes i ran over a stone and got a flat [Music] that should do it [Music] in haiti to get by is to survive [Music] in this makeshift garage run by an orphan of the 2010 earthquake the youngster has his own ingenious system to fix inner tubes i scratch the rubber you scratch it scratch it to give it a better grip when i glue another piece onto it to block the hole it's for my bicycle i got a flat tire i began seven years ago and i've been doing it ever since the boy's talent lies in how he repairs the tyres glue can be too expensive or of poor quality so he's made his own machine as a substitute the heat makes the pieces of rubber fuse together why don't you just use glue we have some but it's not much use if you use glue the owner will soon be back with the same problem you thought up this method i did i used my brains and i gave everyone the idea four in ten children in the country live in abject poverty [Applause] hunger forces many to take risks [Music] [Music] they run and try and grab the truck so i slow down to avoid accidents i tell them not to reach out that it's dangerous they're not many jobs for their parents just finding something to eat is a challenge the children are forced to beg to the trucks that pass by please give me something they say they have parents but very few have jobs there's no water no culture nothing they're forced to beg they have to three-quarters of haitians have to live on the equivalent of just two euros a day [Music] on an island where 200 years ago high principles brought an end to slavery today's situation forces people to work their entire lives [Music] it's wood i make charcoal from it the wood is cut up and it's piled up and then covered with some earth and then we put straw on top and set fire to it charcoal is sold in port-au-prince or in saint mark i sell it for about 10 euros i think soon there won't be enough trees left i don't know what else i would do joseph is 65 years old and for 40 years has been chopping wood like most of the population of haiti charcoal is the only source of fuel for cooking [Music] without any other source of power some 98 of haiti's forests have disappeared [Music] i'm disappointed there's not much charcoal this time i'll have to sell it for just five euros [Applause] okay let's go [Applause] 20 kilos of charcoal that after five kilometers on foot under a boiling sun will soon seem three times as heavy for the elderly man like most of the locals here joseph will sell the charcoal to a wholesaler who visits the village twice a week [Music] [Music] wedge the bags in properly so they don't shake about on the journey mackelly the coal merchant cannot afford his own truck so he rents one and needs to make a profit [Music] it also means the truck will be more stable that's why i ask them to jump on them to pack them down see i can get 300 bags on but i think i'll have just 250 there just isn't enough of the good quality stuff when the buses are full it's the only way to get about it so we're the only alternative for many people ninety percent of the island is christian but time hasn't erased the ancient gods before each journey i call on the voodoo spirits [Music] and i need god to be with me on the journey that way everything will go well on his altar a cocktail of catholicism and the voodoo beliefs that arrived with the african slaves a mixture of faith and magic i perfume you the spirits travel with me on my journey if i return i'll cover you with more nice smells [Music] and here is something to drink as well cherry pineapple cinnamon and rum the table is for good not for evil mckelly takes four passengers as well as the charcoal go at the back on top of the charcoal i'll go in front climb on their destination is 80 kilometers of poor roads lie ahead it can sometimes take two days look there's an animal on the road it's dangerous like when the animal's owner isn't there to to keep it off the roads then the driver has little chance of avoiding you have to slow down and if the brakes aren't good you can't stop so an accident is inevitable the dangers seem to increase with each passing kilometer [Applause] earth and sand finally give way to a stoney track filled with sharp rocks because of the rocks i try and stick to this side of the trail was cartoony undone and the stones also get stuck in the wheels the rocks could cost mchaley the equivalent of four months salary the new tire costs about 600 euros and given the state of the roads any poor driving and bang the time might burst and your money's gone [Music] at the other end of the track the bus passengers and brunel the mechanic know all about it you have to advance go forward [Applause] forward [Applause] get the spare wheel down [Music] that'll do it we're lifting the truck you see brunel uses a normal car jack as the one that came with the truck vanished a long time ago will it withstand the weight though spare tire is up on the roof we'll put the new one on after we remove the flat despite all the bumps the heat and the endless stops no one is complaining although there's some resentment brewing amongst the passengers how can we work in such conditions i'm 36 and i've been traveling this road for 10 years and it's always been bad okay we can go now they left port-au-prince five hours ago and the trip is far from over [Applause] along the track traffic is moving at a snail's pace i'm always in first or second gear at least you can't hurry on this road haiti means the lands of high mountains even if the highest is just 2 600 meters the ravines however are deep enough to swallow any vehicle and it's driver there's a curve called the corn bend it was this fellow who was driving along this road for the first time and he was transporting corn he was meant to take it to bombardopolis and he'd taken his son with him to show him the town in the curve there was this accident and his child was killed that's why it's known as the cornbank and there's still many trucks that have accidents here this is the corn bend it's a hairpin turn coming out of the corn bend there's something michaeli had been afraid of we're loaded up and we're going downhill so we can't go backwards he can he has to let us through [Applause] so [Applause] the passengers are far more concerned about the heat than the ravines with temperatures of 45 degrees centigrade they are slowly being roasted i'll faint and then just rot away in the sun it's the only way i can make this trip though well why don't you take the bus well i don't have enough money to do that well what do you pay for this eight euros [Music] the dreadful roads not only tire the passengers but also paralyzed the nation economically [Music] [Applause] foreign in the salt marshes the women faced yet more hardships harvesting salt brings in little money the work is so exhausting that it's mainly the men who carry it out and inexplicably the truck drivers refused to go to them which makes it even harder to sell our salt the only way they can trade their produce is to take it to town using pack animals [Music] it's a two-day forced march [Music] these women earn just enough to feed their families [Music] one ton of salt brings in barely 24 euros [Music] from their marsh they can see the buses and trucks passing in the distance almost taunting them [Music] [Music] in the mountains michaeli and his charcoal truck cross paths with brunel and his 60 passengers [Music] [Music] [Music] up in the mountains it's scary there are ravines on both sides left and right obviously it's scary my family always worries about me when i'm going through the mountains [Music] ah the roads are bad so i think about accidents and then not arriving on time [Music] [Music] the condition of the roads is no coincidence haiti easily tops the list of the most corrupt countries in the americas my god it hurts i'm exhausted oh it's awful the road is no good here the politicians just pull their usual scams they take money for themselves and their families but do nothing for us [Music] the ancient suspension has got the better of the passengers and their luggage [Music] driver stop stop something's happening what's happening up there oh no look something's falling sir be careful with the luggage be careful yeah look something's falling off [Applause] brunel is crossed with the passengers on top they're only paying half fare and they could at least be more careful it doesn't happen often we can soon start again i think it's the vibrations that caused it [Music] barely one hour later and it's the engine's turn to show signs of fatigue it's overheating and inside the temperature begins to rise too without air conditioning crammed in together the heat soon reaches 40 degrees [Music] a final bump and the tension erupts those in the back take it out on brunel and his ancient bus [Applause] why are you throwing a bottle of water like that you're rude you should go back to school whoever did that is a real hooligans come on let's go again [Applause] [Music] to cool things down brunel decides to pull up at one of the rare service stops on the journey who would like something to eat 20 some teams only 20 song teams we always try and sell something every time the bus stops now what are you selling there fried fish and bananas there's just about time to swallow a few mouthfuls and brunel calls everyone back on board and once again peace has returned [Music] [Music] so luckily we're still all in one piece thank god [Music] in fact the journey was completed in just 12 hours quite an achievement by brunel and his driver after 48 hours they will head back to port-au-prince [Music] the beach at mould saint nicholas is where christopher columbus and the spanish first landed in 1492 haiti was soon settled and stripped of its natural resources [Music] in the northwest of the island are the lakwe gold mines blackway may look like an ordinary village but below ground it is riddled with holes and tunnels [Music] go on faster come on at all times of the day the search is on for gold 20 meters down on homemade ladders [Music] flexibility is a plus as most of the galleries are barely one meter high [Music] you have to get down on all fours to get through these it's very narrow this looks promising give me a bag every swing of the pickaxe could bring riches but also death the galleries are not shored up and could collapse at any moment underground it's 40 degrees and the miners have to come up for air at least every two hours is the owner of this mine work starts at 5am and we finish at about 8 pm or 9 or even 10 at night even midnight sometimes no we're not tired when we're hungry we come up to eat then we go back down what does gold mean to you it means we can pay for the school for the house buy food everything we need really nothing francois pays his miners by the bag depending on how hard they've worked elliot six bags for you right three for you and three for you as well everyone's here is a minor you can easily fill up at least one bag but then if there's no gold you've wasted the whole day you've worked for nothing but you've got to be really unlucky to find nothing at all as in the salt marshes the most thankless tasks are left to the women who work just as much as the men chama arrives with what her husband has excavated there's a lot of poverty here for us and our children you see we sift it once and then do it again just to make sure we keep looking and looking [Music] later in the day the youngsters come to lend a hand [Music] how old are you me i'm 17. and you yeah how old are you i'm 10. i'm 14. you do this every day when there's no school we come here to work not that we like what we're doing but there isn't much choice [Music] their dream is to find a nugget [Music] but mostly what they find is this it's gold gold look it's really more than just a flake or two it's not easy to find these it's difficult how about how does it feel to have found some goal well i feel happy jama is in a good mood for once as she's off to sell her gold once a week a merchant buys the gold the miners have found jama hopes to get a good price and buy some animals at the market can you tell me how much it's worth four days hard work in this tissue the problem is it's uh still a bit wet you should let it dry first there's quite a lot of dust all the impurities have to be removed first 0.2 grams it's not worth much i can buy it if you want well we'll keep at it we'll keep digging so we'll have a lot to sell later 0.2 grams of gold every four days is about average for jama and at that rate it will take her 14 years to find a kilo of gold it's not very clean the water even the mine owners like jean francois earn burly enough to get by the waterhole is the communal bath everyone washes here we come here even if we finish at midnight one in the morning francoise only luxury is the kitchen dinner is almost ready even if it's been hastily thrown together with odds and ends it's still an extra room his wife cooks the same meal every day split pea soup and rice i'm afraid for him sometimes down in the mine but i'm resigned it's where he has to make his living i would like him to do something else has seven children and hopes at least one will not be doomed to work down the mines [Music] the rainy season has come late this year [Music] but for weeks the weather has never been as threatening [Music] michael and his charcoal have been on the road for over six hours there's another 20 kilometers to go and it's probably the hardest stretch when it rains it becomes very difficult to drive on these dirt tracks the trucks can easily slide or even get stuck in the mud up on the roof the passengers are trying to keep dry under an old tarpaulin full of holds yeah that'll do how long has it been since it rained long time but how long nine months yes nine months well look you know whether you're underneath a tarpaulin or not we just we all get soaked just the same in all of the americas haiti is one of the islands most affected by natural catastrophes each year about 12 tropical storms leave a trail of destruction and then there are the hurricanes and [Music] cyclones [Music] look there's some cars that are stopped up in front when it rains like this the floods can sweep people away and motorcycles and even small cars go on go ahead [Music] michael's voodoo prayers seem to have worked and he arrives in gonaives without further trouble we left at midday and we arrived at 7pm so it took seven hours i'm tired of course i'm so bad but the good lord kept me safe and sound so i'm happy even if the locals call it haiti the damned they retain their incredible will to live [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: Show Me the World

Views: 258,348

Keywords: documentary, roads, National Geographic, waterways, travel, Deadliest Journeys, most dangerous roads, free documentary, dicing with death, ADVENTURE, DISCOVERY, Deadliest Roads

Id: xaANDbbtaQs

Length: 50min 11sec (3011 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 30 2021