World's Most Extreme Road Trips
Whether you are desperately revving your car's engine to clear a
narrow pass or grinding through an endless expanse of sand in
a 4X4, these five roads have gained a reputation for being
among the most brutal in the world.
Karakoram Highway, Pakistan and China
A centuries-old trading trail that once formed part of the famed
Silk Road, the Karakoram Highway is the world's highest altitude
paved international road. Its 1,200 km slice through the mighty
Karakoram Range, from Abbottabad in Pakistan to Kashgar in China ,
passing through some of the world's most remarkable mountain
scenery and providing access to top-notch trekking and mountaineering.
Canning Stock Route, Australia
Crossing the historic Canning Stock Route through Western
Australia's rugged red sand wilderness is a modern-day explorer's
dream. One of the world's most remote tracks, running 1,820 km
between the towns of Wiluna and Hall's Creek, the dust-tinged,
take-no-prisoners toughness of this old drover's trail is tempered
by the opportunity to meet the traditional owners of this isolated
land and visit rock art sites that date back tens of thousands of
Death Road , Bolivia
This road is not nicknamed Camino de La Muerte (Death Road) for
nothing. Bolivia 's infamous 80 km route from La Paz down into the
rainforest-clad Yungas region is a dizzying descent of terrifyingly
tight turns flanked by sheer cliffs on one side and dramatic drop-offs
on the other. Notorious for traffic accidents, the Bolivian government
completed a series of road modernizations in 2007, building an
entirely new branch which bypasses much of the original tract.
Despite -- or perhaps, because of -- the road's infamy, the old route
has become a tourist attraction in its own right.
Manali-Leh Highway, India
Flanked alternately by vistas of staggering snow-capped mountains
and arid high-altitude plains, this winding route, which runs 490 km
between the regions of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, is one of
India's most beautiful. Traffic along the Manali-Leh Highway
ascends and descends through nail-biting mountain passes,
fording across streams and glacial melts, which results in some
hair-raising moments and some of the most incredible photographic opportunities the subcontinent can offer.
Trans-Sahara Highway, Algeria , Niger and Nigeria
This highway is the ultimate desert adventure. Running for a mammoth
4,500 km through three countries, driving the Trans-Sahara Highway is
a test of mettle and guts that attracts the brave, the foolhardy and the
crazy. Although plagued by security risks along some sections, the
bigger danger is in going head-to-head with one of the world's most
intense environments. Adventure seekers may covet traveling this
route for the kudos involved, but its real attraction is the opportunity
it affords to savour the Sahara desert at its most spellbinding.
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