Like many-a-redblooded American male I'm into the show Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel (although not into Deadliest Catch - go figure). But this past Sunday night caught IRT - Deadliest Roads. The truckers from Alaska were doing their thing in the Himalayas. And, holy shit!
Combine trucking, which is inheritantly dangerous with Third World roads and absolutley insane drivers and, well, you have a good watch! Insane, I tell you! Some of the drop-offs on the other side of little, or no, guardrails looked to be thousands of feet. And the bridges? Puh-lease! Not every bolt needs to be tightened, does it?
I related to it, however. On my honeymoon, exactly 14 years ago, in Jamaica we stared death square in the eyes and snickered. Our resort was 90 minutes or so from the airport and they were nice enough to shuttle us in but they didn't exactly have terrible respect for human safety down there. Their idea of caution was to use the horn as they pass, uphill, at a high rate of speed around a steep bend. Good thing I bought those Red Stripes from a kid at the airport selling them out of a duffel bag.
During the trip we also encountered Carribean Department of Transportation's way of warning of impending doom. It seems the sea had washed out 1/2 the two-lane road. The D.O.T. was thoughtful enough to put up a sawhorse with a faded blinking yellow light as warning. That's it. On a road where speeds regularly exceeded 60 m.p.h. we had a sawhorse as a safety net.
Ice Road Truckers, I can relate! Sort of.
And although we may complain about our infrastructure around these parts, thank God its what it is!
Combine trucking, which is inheritantly dangerous with Third World roads and absolutley insane drivers and, well, you have a good watch! Insane, I tell you! Some of the drop-offs on the other side of little, or no, guardrails looked to be thousands of feet. And the bridges? Puh-lease! Not every bolt needs to be tightened, does it?
I related to it, however. On my honeymoon, exactly 14 years ago, in Jamaica we stared death square in the eyes and snickered. Our resort was 90 minutes or so from the airport and they were nice enough to shuttle us in but they didn't exactly have terrible respect for human safety down there. Their idea of caution was to use the horn as they pass, uphill, at a high rate of speed around a steep bend. Good thing I bought those Red Stripes from a kid at the airport selling them out of a duffel bag.
During the trip we also encountered Carribean Department of Transportation's way of warning of impending doom. It seems the sea had washed out 1/2 the two-lane road. The D.O.T. was thoughtful enough to put up a sawhorse with a faded blinking yellow light as warning. That's it. On a road where speeds regularly exceeded 60 m.p.h. we had a sawhorse as a safety net.
Ice Road Truckers, I can relate! Sort of.
And although we may complain about our infrastructure around these parts, thank God its what it is!
2 kind commenters:
I can't even watch the show. When the previews were on I sat there all tense and jumpy. I love ice road truckers, but as much as I want to watch this one too, I just can't.
I can totally relate to your jamaica story. Our experience was about the same.
Yeah, they're definitely nuts down there!
btw - I missd it again this week! Thank God for the internet.
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