Death Road, a photo from La Paz, North

Photographer's Note

In one side, a wall; in the other, a precipice that can reach 600 meters high. The width of the road varies from 3 to 5 meters, but there is traffic in both directions. Asphalt? Only if it's being carried by a truck that takes the risk of crossing it! The road is made of dirt (frequently mud) and gravel, with some waterfalls falling over it, making it crumble down little by little.

It was considered the world's most dangerous road, attracting tourism. Tourists from all over the world do the route daily by bike. There are 64km, but it's hardly necessary to ride, because the road starts at 5000 meters over sea level and ends at 1400. For safety reasons, it was not possible to stop to take pictures of the most dangerous parts of the road!

All Rights Reserved: Alexandre Baptista Copyright. Use in any form is forbidden without the written permission of the photographer.

Direitos Autorais Reservados: A presente fotografia é obra intelectual protegida pela Lei 9.610/1998, sendo proibida a reprodução por qualquer meio sem a prévia autorização por escrito do autor. Favor contatar Alexandre Baptista.

paura, konok, Dyerco, riclopes, zeca, Docarmo, dip, saxo042, emka, Isabelle, lucasgalodoido, Paul57, Amaz, fabianoleite, fritzi007, tyro, pierrefonds, ikeharel, MiffyO heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

batalay (41261) 2007-10-18 1:40

Hello Alexander,

I've heard about "Death Highway," and your shot puts it in good perspective. I want to share with you this remarkable Powerpoint presentation, the Highway. Your note is highly informative, and resonating with deadly humor. Let's see if you can open the link. I'm afraid it did not work. If you want to drop a note to my email address, [email protected], I'll send it to you.

Warm regards,

Bulent

cfreire (11741) 2007-10-18 5:45

Olá, Alexandre,
Que visão impressionante desta estrada! Deu até frio na barriga ..rs. Ótima captura e excelentes contrastes entre as montanhas, e uma vegetação exuberante. Bom trabalho. Um abraço, Consuelo

paura (25802) 2007-10-18 6:18

Alexandre,
Bela foto desse incrível lugar. Fico pensando que deve ter um alto índice de acidentes, né? Leglar por nos mostrar.

Abraço

Paulo

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2007-10-20 10:33

Essa ficou boa mesmo, interessante essa estrada, deve ser um passeio bom, num caminhão cegonha melhor ainda!

konok (2068) 2007-10-20 10:43

Stunning! I hope I can drive along one day! Good composition, clear details.
TFS
Janos

riclopes (35577) 2007-10-23 4:11

Ola Alexandre, que paisagem espectacular com uma visao impressionante da estrada a cortar a montanha na beira do precipicio. Da-me vontade de ir ai tambem. Grande foto.
Um abraco do Laos,
ricardo

bucanas (2218) 2007-10-24 19:03

Ola Alexadre,
Lugar fantastico,otimo angulo da estrada e a montanha.Parabens.
Abracos,
Ralf

zeca (19762) 2007-10-24 19:26

Olá Alexandre!
A serra lembra muito a nossa Serra do Mar, aqui no Paraná. Temos um trecho muito parecido com este. Entretanto, percebo a estrada bem mais acanhada e estreita, em certos momentos perigosa, com certeza. Muito boa a tomada!
Abraço,
Zeca

[2]

Docarmo (9767) 2007-10-24 21:42

Oi Alexandre,
Esta tomada tá de dar arrepios na gente. Não só pela beleza, mas também pelo perigo da estrada.
DOF excelente!
Ainda bem que há corajosos como você, senão eu nunca veria esta linda paisagem... ;-)
Abraço,
Maria do Carmo

toto (0) 2007-10-25 1:21

Belle photo de cette montagne au flan de laquelle serpente un petit chemin sur lequel il n' est pas temps d' avoir un verre dans le nez sinon la chute sera dure.Bien fait les branches a l' avant, cela donne de la profondeur car la brume me semble la racoursir.
Amitiés Thomas
Je reviens

Tort (2266) 2007-10-26 11:29

Olá Alexandre
Fantástica foto, gostei da prespectiva. Êta estradinha para grandes emoções! Ótimas cores e nitidez.
Abraços
Juan Tort

dip (21408) 2007-10-27 13:06

Hello Alexandre,
beautiful photo amazing view and great POV,but also a very interesting theme,
very well done,
Dimitris.

Fon (2302) 2007-10-28 14:36

Oi Alexandre,
Esta me deu agua na boca gostaria de estar em seu lugar deve ser pura adrenalina.Otimo POV, este lugar e realmente fantastico. Grande trabalho.
Abraço
Sergio

aloyho (6798) 2007-10-29 5:05

Hi Alekxandre,
You have chosen a good vantage point to show this unique and dangerous road. The space is nicely divided by the slants of the mountain sides and the tones emphasized depth. Thanks for the note. Well done!!

All the best.

leo61 (0) 2007-10-29 12:28

Hi Alexandre!
I remeber this road very well.I`ve a problem with height and I did not feel goo driving there.On my way back I wanted to take the new and more safe road but there is no public transport because nobody wants to pay pay the toll.a few Euro cents.....
Thanks for this great shot I was not able to manage.
Regards,Leo

saxo042 (38078) 2007-10-29 16:24

Hi Alexandre,
This picture tells a story! The story about building a road in these mountains. It gives me the thrill just to look at this photo. Such a beautiful and dangerous place!
Regards
Gunnar

colinb (1592) 2007-10-29 16:53

Wow, that road is insane. The only thing that could make this shot better is if some cars/trucks were captured on the road to help with the pesrpective. Well done, nonetheless. Thanks for sharing this interesting scene.

emka (158058) 2007-10-31 11:56

Hello Alexander,

Very good picture of this famous road. It is not for me, I would be scared too much. I read once that now the trafic is only in one direction - some days up and some down. But i do not know if it is true.

Thanks

Malgorzata

jmdias (115072) 2007-11-10 15:09

alexandre

linda imagem. Não pude conhecer esta estrada quando estive em LP, quem sabe um dia. A sua foto tem boa luz e mesmo a névoa dá um tom de distância e acentua a aura de mistério e dá uma idéia dos abismos ao redor da estrada.

abraços

jorge

PaulVDV (62846) 2008-03-16 12:27

Hi Alexandre,
I heard a lot of this road to Coroica but haven't seen pictures so far.
Because of the abundant vegetation I guess this is already a 'lower' part of that road.
Too bad it's impossible to take pictures on the most dangerous but probably most beautiful parts of it.
Anyway, I like this picture very much.
Good composition and nice layers of mountains.
Greetings, Paul

Paul57 (2223) 2009-10-09 18:40

Hi Alexandre,
WOW! The road that I wanted to take when I went to Bolivia but finally I didn't have enough courage to do so.
Great POV and fantastic landscape. Thanks for sharing.
Paul

Amaz (11475) 2009-12-21 1:14

Impressionante captura, amigo Alexandre!!
Majestisa perspectiva e ótimas cores!!

Belo travalho!!!

Parabéns mil,

Abração!!!

Bluejeans (64251) 2010-01-13 5:44

Oi Alexandre,
Bem perigosa esta estrada junto desta ravina pintada de verde , lindos detalhes de natureza , tem que se ter muita coragem para andar de carros em lugares destes :), parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

fabianoleite (13575) 2010-01-23 3:32

Essa aí é de morrer. Creio que o objetivo da foto - mostrar como é medonha e estreita essa estrada - foi alcançado. Os vários planos das montanhas ficaram muito bons, e as plantas no primeiro plano enriqueceram a composição. Para melhorar poderia haver um caminhão passando ali na hora, mas não sei se o tráfego é muito intenso. De qualquer forma, belo trabalho!

fritzi007 (14698) 2015-09-06 13:50

Hi Alexandre,
interesting photo and comment, well done!

Many greetings
Wolfgang

tyro (30513) 2016-06-28 0:08

Hello Alexandre,

I have seen pictures (as well as videos on YouTube) of this amazingly dangerous road but it is nice to see a more pleasing and picturesque view of it such as this. I congratulate you at having travelled this road and admire you for your courage. And it's perfectly understandable that there must be very many places where it would indeed be very dangerous to stop to take photographs! Did you drive or cycle this road yourself or did you travel with others?

A truly spectacular landscape in which the meandering narrow road snakes its way along the side of the precipitous mountainside. But the light, the distant mist and the rich colours of the dense vegetation are truly amazing.

A fine composition with glorious light and colours, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness.

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

mkamionka (74329) 2017-12-02 7:55

Hi Alexandre,
great view of this dangerous road. The vegetation around it looks so lush and green.
I like also the multiple layers of the mountains with decreased intensity in the background.
Great work,
M

pierrefonds (114371) 2018-03-16 12:57

Hi Alexandre,

The roas leads my eyes toward the mountain in the background which is creating depth. The point of view is showing the details of the trees and of the mountains. A good management of the strong light which does not hurt the ouput of the colors. Have a nice dya.

Pierre

ikeharel (113273) 2018-04-26 21:39

Yes, heard about this place which cost dearly in life for several times, Alexandre.
Yet, the sight is majestic and even mesmerizing, no wonder it draws tourists for a ride.
Bom novo dia,
Ike