Sheer drops, lorry-flattening landslides, locals on coca-leaves… it could only be the world's most dangerous road - Bolivia's 'Camino de la Muerte'.

It's impossible to see through the wall of water ahead, but the road surely must continue the other side. For a few seconds I'll be driving completely blind, knowing that if I'm just a few feet off course I'll plummet to a certain death in the jungle below. So I breathe in, flick the wiper switch and gently press down on the accelerator, feeling the tyre tracks through the rim of the steering wheel.

The noise is deafening as torrents of water slam into the windscreen and roof. The wipers are on full speed, but still I can't see the road. I tighten my grip on the wheel and emerge, breathing a huge sigh of relief at having survived one of the many hazards of the world's most dangerous road.

It’s known locally as 'El Camino de la Muerte', the Death Road. And for good reason. It drops 3,000 metres in less than 70 kilometres, winding its way down the mountain from La Paz in western Bolivia, through waterfalls, around landslides, past thick rainforest and down to the coca plantations that surround the town of Coroico. In many places the gravel track is only one car wide and the vertigo-inducing drops spell the end for anyone unfortunate enough to get it wrong.

Every year between 200 and 300 people die on the road, most in overloaded ancient vehicles which drop over the edge and disappear into the green abyss of the Yungas jungle.

Danger lurks on every blind bend. It's the only road in South America where you must drive on the left, but many forget this and head-on collisions are common. The gravelled surface is loose and particularly precarious in the rainy season when the numerous waterfalls, which spill down from the hilltops, become even more powerful. Mud and rocks, dislodged by the torrents of water frequently block the way until a bulldozer can be called in to clear it.

And then there are the cyclists. Adrenalin junkies who start at La Paz and freewheel down at breakneck speed. A memorial to a 23-year-old Israeli tourist on one particularly fearsome section is a stark reminder to the two-wheeled tourists of the road’s reputation. Elsewhere countless crosses and flowers mark points where cars, buses and trucks have gone over the edge.

It's the edge that’s the constant. That and the absolute fear that goes with its proximity. At times just centimetres separate a wheel from oblivion. Death beckons at every rut that pitches the car offline, every change in road surface, every oncoming truck with questionable brakes and a driver in a coca-leaf induced world of his own. And that's if you can see what's coming.

At this high altitude great banks of cloud frequently fill the valley reducing visibility to just a few metres. This is a view you’d normally only get from an aeroplane. And when that cloud sweeps in across the road and the drizzle sets in I'd certainly be happier if there was a parachute under my seat.

At several key danger spots some help is at hand. Volunteers act as human traffic lights holding red or green signs up to shepherd the traffic, relying on tips from grateful drivers to survive. I hand over fistfuls of Bolivanios to each and every one of them.

Many drivers simply trust fate to get them through. At the highest point, some 4,700m up, several small fires burn, the remnants of religious rituals held for travellers on the hazardous trip. Here native Aymara Indian sorcerers ply their trade, blessing drivers in elaborate ceremonies involving burning effigies, coca leaves and local lager.

I’m relieved to have got this far on the world’s most dangerous road unscathed but realise that I still have to make a return journey and gladly hand over more Bolivanos to a sorcerer named Esteban for good luck. It seems to do the trick. I survived El Camino de la Muerte. If you ever make the journey yourself, I strongly suggest you do the same.

Watch a National Geographic feature on 'Death Road' on YouTube.


Related links

• The world's most dangerous roads
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• What it feels like to... walk away from the big one
• What it feels like to... ride through suburbia at 185mph

Recommended (and safe!) roadtrips

• Cape Town to Port Elizabeth
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• London to Rome

This article originally appeared in issue seven of V-ZINE, the motoring magazine that is distributed exclusively to the members of the Shell V-Power Club, Shell's premium loyalty scheme dedicated to Shell V-Power customers. Click here to find out more about the club.