Though Spaghetti Junction was bad? Pah, it only clocks in at No.8 in this list of difficult and death-defying global highways.
From the hairpin turns in the Italian mountains, to the almost impassible Lena Highway in the wilds of Eastern Russia, these are some serious roads.
I remember going along the Leh – Manali road back in 1989 during a torrential downpour and we very nearly came off a couple of times.
Our driver thought he was the Indian equivalent of Lewis Hamilton and raced along in a beaten-up jeep at breakneck speeds. I recall sitting on the left-hand side of the vehicle, giving me a perfect view of the sheer drop many times – a frightening few hours.
Having got so far, we ended up having to turn back and hole up in Leh overnight, after a landslide caused the road became impassible.
Such was the squeeze for rooms in the town, 10 of us ended up sleeping on the floor of a hotel manager’s office – not the most comfortable of nights ever.
The next day, the Indian Army did indeed get called out to unblock the road and the jam eased and we arrived at Manali a day late, but fortunately still alive.
The motto – if you can get away with driving yourself, do. Indian drivers are utter lunatics.
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