38. Trampolin de la Muerte

Well, our Frenchman friend took off from Ipiales to San Miguel (the other border crossing, 10 hours away) a day before us. Based on his feedback, we decided to leave Ipiales and follow in his footsteps. (Another long day in the car – sigh.)

The road to San Miguel is known as “Trampolin de la Muerte”. Can you translate? Dangerousroads.org labels this road as one of the most dangerous roads in the world. Its also known as “Adios mi Vida”, or “Trampolin del Diablo”. Really? Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but, in the spirit of “adventure travel”, I’m in. Vamanos!

I’m posting some pics/videos that I’m not sure do real justice to how scary the road feels. The road is just a narrow lane of rocky, rutted dirt and dust, except for the waterfalls that came across the road to find their next path down the mountain. There were times where, with no shoulder and a guard rail that was washed away in the rushing waters of a previous storm, I looked down over a precipice to a several hundred foot straight drop. That’s my fate I thought, should Craig have a leg cramp or something.

I’m also copying and pasting Dangerousroads.org’s description of the road, below.

P.S. We made it to San Miguel in one piece. Well done Grego!

Dangerousroads.org:
It’s not suitable for public transport or heavy, and was built in 1930 to transport soldiers during the war between Colombia and Peru, and so far has been directly responsible for ending hundreds of lives. Different sources record more than 500 people dead in 2011 and in 1989 about 300 people died in a terrible collapse.

This track can get very muddy and slippery after rain making it challenging to get through. During and after a storm the road may be impassable, even with a four-wheel-drive vehicle. It’s 70 kms of pure wilderness, challenging road and very light traffic. A no man’s land, a place to connect with nature where you can find solitude and enjoy some of the best landscapes of an already very beautiful country.

This 70-odd km of narrow gravel road with steep precipices is a real challenging road and a true test of your vehicle and your stamina because the road abounds in twists and turns with wheels sometimes hanging above the precipice. The road includes cliffs, precipices and more than 100 hairpins. The road was built in 1930 and zigzags the Andean mountain range.Read more