Flyover

Charmaine FERNANDO

Death Road Bolivia	Guoliang Tunnel Road (China)

You would agree that life is one amazing magic carpet ride where you are driven round the bend with a hard-to-cope speed without control. Somewhat like a wild rollercoaster ride, where you may not have time for a breather as you are dragged along with the momentum.

Nevertheless you are disorientated. You have absolutely no way of knowing where you are heading until you trip off the edge into dreamy oblivion, as often happens in real life on these roads we are flying over today.

Sri Lankans plying on wide clear and safer roads today would be astonished to realise the dangers, people of our global village face, on their routine travels on land. We, who are well on the road to development and heading for prosperity, need to observe these to appreciate our new highways. Many of them appear to be coming up seemingly overnight ensuring safety, mobility and a new found freedom to go places in double quick time.

Hop aboard the colourful magic carpet with us and fasten your seat belts as we take you on a ride over risky roads of Neverland! You are bound to have the most amazing aerial views of the deadly roadways people around other parts of the world have to negotiate to reach their destinations.

We are now floating over South America, where the Latin music and rousing dance routines fill our senses to the brim.

Yes, we are ready to take off from Santiago, the capital of Chile, spread over a 756, 950 sq. kilometre landmass. It’s the land of beautiful raven haired 17,224,200 Chileans speaking Spanish as their official language, as a result of being a Spanish colony for ages. But more intoxicating than the spirit of its people is its wine history most profoundly influenced by its French counterpart, the Bordeaux wine making industry.

Iquique Road (Chile)

After a refreshing toast to an amazing magic carpet ride we take to the skies fired by the elated spirit of adventure. We are wandering now, over Iquique Road in Chile renowned for being dangerous where one drives past very deep winding ways through hills and dales. Tell-tale vehicle skeletons at the bottom from our bird’s eye view point make us shudder as we swish past. Cars and buses pass by at such perilous speed making us wonder why these travellers tempt fate. Amazing people these Chileans, who may under the influence of excellent wines, display fearlessness beyond reason.

Now we encounter the ghastly sight of a ghostly precipice. Sweat seeps down my spine and as a reflex action I am constrained to look away. I kick the gas. Oooops! I forget we are riding the crest of nature’s marvellous gift, the free-winds. We are drifting up, up and away.

Death Road (Bolivia)

Look! We are now moving up on the map towards Bolivia’s ‘Death Road’ a 61 to 69 km road leading from La Paz to Coroico, Bolivia’s capital. It is legendary for its extreme danger where 200-300 travellers get killed yearly along the road. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where such vehicles have plunged to their doom.

Just imagine the death rate and nobody seemed to care until the end of 2006, when a new road was opened to the public. The original North Yungas Road, ‘The Highway To Hell’ is currently less used by traffic, but an increasing number of adventure travellers bike it for the thrills.

James Dalton Highway (Alaska)

Feeling the icy breeze in your face already? Yes! We are moving up North to Alaska now over the sky-scrapers of stars and stripes country. It’s time to pull over your woollens as we watch the rows of colourful vehicles move through the haze of mist and fog, resembling ants, on James Dalton Highway in Alaska, a 414-mile gravel road. It heads straight north through arctic tundra to the farthest north reaching Alaska.

The 360-mile road, stretches from the Yukon River to Prudhoe Bay to supply oil facilities on the North Slope. The pipeline bridge across the 1,875 mile Yukon River is the only span across that river in Alaska. The scene is stunning from up here a kilometre away on eagle’s wings. Hold on to the magic carpet especially in this mighty Northern blowing.

Now this road is not for the faint hearted, or for those driving in brand-new vehicles. It is still the main supply route for the Prudhoe Bay oilfields, and you will have to share the road with large tractor-trailers. Windshields and headlights are easy targets of flying rocks. Most rental companies will not allow you to drive their cars on the Dalton Highway.

Trucks speeding along the slippery gravel track kick up thick clouds of dust or mud, reducing visibility to absolute zero; potholes take a heavy toll on cars and services, fuel, and repairs are practically nonexistent down this track. Don’t even consider driving the Dalton unless you have a 4-wheel drive, a walkie-talkie, extra fuel, food, tyres, and a trunk filled with supplies warns those who have had their toll of hardships. What a mess! What a track!

Guoliang Tunnel Road (China)

From BRRRR BRR BRR country we crossover to China the land of a straight raven haired, golden people and their Guoliang Tunnel Road nestled in Taihang mountains. It was built by local villagers and it took five years to finish the 1,200 metre long tunnel which is about five metres high and 4 metres wide. Many villagers died in accidents during construction but the work continued. In 1977, the tunnel located in the Taihang Mountains, in the Hunan Province of China opened to traffic.

It’s one awesome sight and as dangerous to behold especially when viewed at an aerial point as we fly by. Thank heavens we are viewing the frightful dusty trails a good fifty metres from the blue skies. It is a shame that in the 21st Century with engineering feats at its miraculous heights, human lives are left to chance on perilous roads that ride the edge.