Drive Cleverly on these Dangerous Roads

Photos of Guoliang tunnel road of China are oftentimes mistaken for North Yungas road of Bolivia.

For most of us, traveling on roads or rather city roads is more of a pet peeve - be it for long traffic snarl-ups or basically traffic. We curse, cry, and crib all the time about how difficult it is to brook up with the daily grind along with daily traffic.

But this commonplace opinion of yours about roads is going to take a swift 180-degree turn as we bring to you some of the world's most dangerous roads.

Perfidious cliffs, vast stretches of life-less roads, landslides, avalanches, capricious terrains, hair-raising hairpin turns, et al. are some of the fatal features of these roads. We are sure after reading this, you will have established a renewed take on life as well as appreciate its brevity and frailty.

Have a look at the dangerous roads in the world-

This road has been conferred an apt sobriquet - 'Road of Death'. Let us tell you what gains this road such a perilous name - for starters, it begins from La paz, which happens to be the world's highest national capital and slopes upward at around 4,650 meters at La Cumbre Pass.

It then makes an ominously precipitous descent to the town of Coroico to 1,200 meters. If you make for a swashbuckler who wants to experience extreme opposites on one road, then this one is the best one, guaranteed.

But, if you are far from being the aforementioned, then the very thought of traversing on a road whose width is nearly that of a single track road, with no guard lanes, and threatening cliffs of up to 2,000 feet, this will make you blanch with extreme fright.

While you will not be exactly greeted by hooded black figures dancing creepily as you drive on this 240-mile expanse of road, there are however, chances of you becoming one white wizard, if you were to ever get lost or stranded on it.

This is because the vast stretch of road does not offer any basic services. INCLUDING A GAS STATION OR A LITTLE EATERY OR A HOTEL OR EVEN A HUMAN! If this wasn't enough to quake you in your boots, then you have a bitingly cold climate and rugged terrain that is sure to quake all parts of your body.

Your eyes will want to devour this scenic beauty ravenously but your eyes don't only make your body and you might want to take care of your head, since at any point of time a recalcitrant rock may just decide to detach and drop on it.

Also known as the 'The Troll Ladder' in English, Trollstigen has achieved infamy for its threatening hairpin bends and bad weather, which goes without saying, adds more drama in the death plot.

Located in the Italian Alps at an elevation of 2757 meters above sea level, Stelvio Pass is a 15-mile sinuous expanse of road that boasts of 48 hairpin bends, some of which further boasts of 180-degree corners, this is making us reel already.

You must have seen a sculptor whittle away a piece of rock to create a masterpiece but a few locals from nearby villages whittled a tunnel through and along the sides of a mountain to create a monster; a beautiful one though.

Sitting ominously high in the Taihang Mountains of the Henan Province, China, Guoliang Tunnel is almost 15 feet high and 13 feet wide with 30 windows of varied sizes and shapes that offer a spectacular view of the tricky terrain that's always ready to swallow you.

If you are someone who secretly nurtures a dream of pulling a whizz-bang stunt Fast and Furious style, amidst treacherous roads, laxative speed (yes the feeling can be likened to it) with death popping out from any bend to say 'boo' then this is the place to make that dream come true. AND ALSO IF YOU ARE FEELING KAMIKAZE.

This evil narrow expanse is located almost 1/2 hour away from the north of Queenstown is so precarious that your rental car insurance will not be deemed valid if you drive on it! This insidious road which is almost 22 kilometers in length teems with twists and turns, and has the world's richest gold-bearing river (Shotover River) flowing placidly below it.

You will definitely be cat-walking into your own doom, if you are not driving with utmost attention on this road. Located between the towns of Patiopoulo and Perdikaki in the Agrafa region of Greece, this 23,5 km road is notorious for sheer drops on both sides, it is as if nature has specially designed it for mortal doom.

Forget that, this road is also riddled with potholes and always astir with pedestrians, livestock, and vehicles and the only grip that your wheels are provided with is loose gravel, tada! And yes, there are no guardrails or any kind of barriers to stop it from gulping feeble earthlings.

Located between Chengdu and Tibet, this deathly tour is a 2,142 km stretch of highway where rock avalanches, landslides, and mudslides are just like quotidian chores! This precarious highway, however provides some of the most prepossessing views as it passes over 14 mountains, several rivers, and a primitive forest.

Given the location of this highway, this will not come as a surprise to you. While death looms large in the form of human element, the weather element is also not very encouraging.

And as if local militia (self-proclaimed traffic police who plunder and murder on their volition), roadside bombings, kidnapping, ambush attacks, and Taliban insurgents were not convincing enough to dissuade you, you are also faced with the threat of bumping into rash Afghan drivers. We are so not going there.

Also known as "Rodovia Presidente Dutra", which can be roughly translated to Highway of Death, BR-116 is a federal highway that runs from Fortaleza in Ceará State to Jaguarão near the Uruguay border. The journey becomes treacherous as some sections of the road run extremely close to the edges of a steep mountain.

Bustling with big rigs and long haul trucks, this highway is notorious for its sex trade activities that continue to thrive because of the truck drivers.