00:00 There are two worlds in Bolivia. That of the Altiplano, the highlands, perched over 4000 meters above sea level. And that of the Amazon basin, which peaks at a few hundred meters above sea level. Between the two, there is a transition region, made up of vertiginous precipices and paths that descend the Andean Cordillera in a few tens of kilometers . This is the Yungas region, a country where the horizontal does not exist.
00:55 In the Yungas region, people prefer flying to walking
03:27 This region is shared between the Andes mountain range and the plains of Amazonia
06:31 Coca is the most popular plant among Bolivian workers who want to fight fatigue
10:38 Collecting tangerines is particularly difficult in the valley
12:45 It is thanks to President Evo Morales that coca growers have been able to improve their situations
18:00 Marco faces the dangers of the road every day to give the best to his children
23:30 At the beginning of the deathpath, the drivers always make offerings for the spirits
26:30 Marco begins a vertiginous dive towards the Yungas Valleys
31:20 Many tourists take this deadly path on bicycles
34:31 Cattle are king of the Amazon plains
45:10 Before going back up the mountain, he will find his family
46:53 For men and cattle the journey is particularly hard
50:18 Life in Bolivia is very difficult for the inhabitants of the La Paz region
A road meanders through these valleys, the only means of communication between La Paz, the administrative capital of the country, perched on the Altiplano, and the riches of the Amazon basin. The Bolivians nicknamed it “el camino de la muerte”, the path of death. Highest point: the La Cumbre pass, 4700 meters, at the exit of La Paz. 78 kilometers further, we are barely 900 meters away. Along this road of the impossible, we follow the story of a community of cocaleros, coca growers clinging to the mountain slopes. To carry their loads to the road, they stretched makeshift cables made of simple iron wires across the valley. A hellish zip line, almost 400 meters long, 200 meters above the ground. We also share the daily life of a vachero, a truck driver who transports cows from the Amazon basin to La Paz, the highest metropolis in the world. 25 hours of journey on the road of death, made without stopping. Because you have to go very quickly: if a cow dies, the driver pays.
Producer: Tony Comiti, France5
Author: Stephane Rodriguez