Attraction
The danger of the road ironically made it a popular tourist destination starting in the 1990s, drawing some 25,000 thrillseekers. Mountain biking enthusiasts in particular have made it a favourite destination for downhill biking since there is a 64-kilometre (40 mi) stretch of continuous downhill riding with only one short uphill section. There are now many tour operators catering to this activity, providing information, guides, transport, and equipment.
Nevertheless, the Yungas Road remains dangerous. At least 18 cyclists have died on the ride since 1998.
It is featured on the BBC show, Top Gear: Bolivia Special (Episode 6 of Top Gear series 14) where the hosts travelled 1,610 kilometres (1,000 mi) from the Bolivian rainforest to the Pacific Ocean. The danger of the road was readily apparent when the road began to crumble under the wheels of Jeremy Clarkson's Range Rover, as he was forced to the edge while passing another vehicle.
A Mitsubishi Outlander TV commercial was the first ever filmed on the road.
The second season of IRT: Deadliest Roads, a spin-off of the History Channel series Ice Road Truckers, follows six North American drivers as they haul cargo along the road.
Read more about this topic: Yungas Road
Famous quotes containing the word attraction:
“All seemingly profound thinking which passes for realism, because it conveniently does away with all troublesome principles, has a great attraction for the adolescent mind.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“The wretchedness of failure is the great attraction of success.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)