ROADS

ROADS

The highways in Guatemala (as well as in Honduras) are, for the most part, very good. Often one lane in each direction, with passing lanes from time to time, and "run away" lanes in crucial areas, now that the main railway is virtually defunct, these highways are the arteries of commerce for the nation.

But the side roads, the roads leading to villages and the interior, often are dirt and rock. Many of them are extremely steep.

Side road enters botton left side of picture
[0] 051_01roadlwrleft.jpg is (172)KB		Side road flows like a white streak downn the center from upper left to lower right
[1] 051_02roadcntr.jpg is (201)KB		Side road enters highway on left. This one has a paved approach, but over the knoll it is rock and mud. Note the very sharp turn to the left on the knoll.
[2] 051_03roadleft.jpg is (141)KB		That greyish streak in the center of the picture is a road leaving to another village.
[3] 051_04roadleft.jpg is (162)KB		Mountain road from a distance.
[4] 051_05roaddistant.jpg is (120)KB
Same mountain road from a distance
[5] 051_06roaddistant.jpg is (129)KB		Again, that mountain road from a distance.
[6] 051_07roaddistant.jpg is (128)KB		Notice how steep is the entry to the highway.
[7] 051_08road.jpg is (179)KB

The fifth, sixth, and seventh pictures show a typical mountain side road. It appears to be a white gash diagonally across the face of the mountain, and is very steep. The steepness is indicated by the pictures of various side roads where they enter into the highway. They are usually somewhat "leveled off" where they enter the highway to reduce accidents and for ease of entry onto the side road, and from the side road to the highway.

Often a village of 20,000 inhabitants is located fifteen or twenty miles down (up) these roads. There are also large processing plants and warehouses, especially for coffee, located on some of these roads. It is a wonder that the large trucks which travel to and from these plants and warehouses, do not break the control of their drivers and crash down the mountains.

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Revised 29 November 2006 A. D.