Haiti | They Call It the “Road from Hell” | Deadliest Journeys

Five years after the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s roads remain treacherous dirt paths. Crossing the country from Gonaïves to Môle Saint Nicolas can take over ten hours, if you’re lucky. Only one bus dares to make the journey, facing constant breakdowns and deadly accidents. Along the way, passengers turn to voodoo spirits for protection on what they call “the road from hell.”

Directed by Alexandre Spalaïkovitch.

Before they take to the road, Haitians have a little saying. Courage. Courage, that is, to get into the
ancient minibuses or converted pickups. Their worn out suspensions
mean the conditions on the roads are fully
felt by the passengers. For longer journeys, they
are allegedly luxury buses. Don’t forget to fix the radiator, so
the engine gets more ventilation. And after, grease the wheels and
make sure the nuts are tightened. Okay? Okay. Brunel barks out his orders in Creole,
a mix of African dialects and French, inherited after 2
centuries of colonization. The country has virtually
no public transport service, so most are private, and even they
function with minimum resources. This company buys old American
school buses and transforms them. Oh, it’s a luxury service. We want our passengers
to travel in comfort. It’s a bus, not a truck. It’s why we don’t carry coal or goats
and other animals. We only take luggage. Because, you know, goats pee everywhere, even all over the passengers,
and we can’t have that happening. Most of the buses have long since
clocked over a million kilometers. Brunel, though, aims to get
another million or so out of them. They are due to depart
at dawn the next day. Haiti used to be known as
the Pearl of the Caribbean. But dictatorships, hurricanes and
earthquakes, in particular the one in 2010, in which over 1 million
people lost their homes, have earned it another name. Haiti the Damned. The nation is still struggling to recover. Its economy is virtually at a standstill. Of the 4,000 kilometers of roads in Haiti, 90% are in very poor condition. My family always worries when
I travel through the mountains. Oh my God, I feel so sick and I’m tired. Those with little means
travel on the dump bed. Oh, it’s too hot, I’ll faint. Haitians are born fighters.
In 1804, their country was the first to throw off
the shackles of slavery. Sometimes gold is the incentive, whether it’s yellow or white. But transport remains a problem. A lot of drivers won’t
take my salt. They say it’s too heavy and
will ruin the engine. Along with its fighting spirit,
Haiti also depends on its people’s remarkable love of life and its
voodoo gods to get back on its feet. Given the conditions on the
road, it’s probably best to be seated. Before departure, it’s a free-for-all. The unlucky ones will spend
close to 8 hours standing. Assuming all goes well. Brunel, the chief mechanic,
is the bus’s guardian angel. In Haiti, the most vital
instrument on board, is the horn. There are no road signs or directions
on the roads, and the horn is the only way to avoid accidents on a road that,
once you head out into the countryside, rapidly deteriorates. The first 150 kilometers as far
as Gonaives are well asphalted. The last 80 are a mixture of dirt, pebbles and sand. The road is really no good, but we’ll try
to avoid accidents and make it on time. The thing is not to have any breakdowns. Clonel has been using this attractive
yet occasionally deadly road for 4 years. This is the hard part. I’ve already got some problems. Each time the truck risks breaking down. And once again, the road wins. What’s happening? Why are you stopping? The old engine has lost power, and Clonel has stalled. Close the door, keep everyone inside. You need to know the engine
very well to get it running again. Put a stone under this wheel. go ahead, try to start. Okay. There is no railway to
the north of the island, and bus fares have
been going up for years. 15 euros. The trip costs 15 euros. Yes, it’s expensive. Plus, there’s nothing to eat or drink. We don’t have a choice. Daylight robbery. You could take the plane, but that’ll cost
you 90 euros, and that’s a rip-off too. 15 euros each way, an
average weekly salary in Haiti. And the journey is
uncomfortable. It’s really bumpy. It’s too hot. It’s horrible. Riding on the roof costs half as
much but is half as comfortable. Not that it’s particularly
restful down below By the time you arrive, some
part of your body is always aching. You’re tired and it takes
2 or 3 days to recover. It’s because of the poor roads. The shaking doesn’t just rattle the humans,
it also does the engine little good. Look, there’s a broken down truck. It’s usually the engine that has problems,
but the tires often burst as well. Are there any garages on the way? No, they’re a long way away. Yeah, that one stopped as well. And another one. It’s a motorcycle taxi, one of the
cheapest ways of getting around. But with 3 people on
top of 2 wheels, the tires don’t hold up well on
these kind of roads. How long have you been pumping for? About 20 minutes. I ran over a stone and got a flat. Yeah, that should do it. In Haiti, to get by is to survive. In this makeshift garage run by
an orphan of the 2010 earthquake, the youngster has his own
ingenious system to fix inner tubes. I scratch the rubber. You scratch it ? I scratch it to give it a better grip, or when I glue another
piece onto it to block the hole. It’s for my bicycle. I got a flat tire. I began 7 years ago and
I’ve been doing it ever since. The boy’s talent lies in
how he repairs the tires. Glue can be too
expensive or of poor quality, so he’s made his own
machine as a substitute. The heat makes the pieces
of rubber fuse together. Why don’t you just use glue? We have some but it’s not
much use. If you use glue, the owner will soon be
back with the same problem. Who thought up this method? I did. I used my brains and
then I gave everyone the idea. The money we make is for
uniforms and supplies for school. 4 in 10 children in the
country live in abject poverty. Hunger forces many to take risks. They run and try to grab the truck
so I slow down to avoid accidents. I tell them not to reach
out, that it’s dangerous. Sometimes the kids get run over. There are not many
jobs for their parents, just finding something
to eat is a challenge. Children are forced to beg
to the trucks that pass by. “Please give me something”, they say. They have parents, but very few have jobs. There’s no water, no culture, nothing. They’re forced to beg. They have to. 3 quarters of Haitians have to live
on the equivalent of just 2 euros a day. On an island where 200 years
ago, high principles brought an end to slavery. Today’s situation forces
people to work their entire lives. It’s wood. I make charcoal from it. The wood is cut up and it’s piled
up and then covered with some earth, and then we put straw
on top and set fire to it. Charcoal is sold in Port-au-Prince or in
Saint-Martin. I sell it for about 10 euros. I think soon there won’t be enough trees
left, I don’t know what else I would do. Joseph is 65 years old,
and for 40 years has been chopping wood like most
of the population of Haiti. Charcoal is the only
source of fuel for cooking. Without any other source of power, some
98% of Haiti’s forests have disappeared. I’m disappointed. There’s
not much charcoal this time. I’ll have to sell it for just 5 euros. Okay, let’s go. 20 kilograms of charcoal that
after 5 kilometers on foot under a boiling sun will soon seem three
times as heavy for the elderly man. Like most of the locals here,
Joseph will sell the charcoal to a wholesaler who visits
the village twice a week. Wet the bags in properly so they
don’t shake about on the journey. Makele, the coal merchant,
cannot afford his own truck, so he rents one and needs to make a profit. He needs to squash them down so
we can put on as many as we can. It’s quite normal to do this. It also means the truck
will be more stable. That’s why I ask him to jump on
them, to pack them down, see? I can get 300 bags on, but I think I’ll have just 250. There just isn’t enough
of the good quality stuff. In addition to the charcoal, we
sometimes take food and passengers. When the buses are full,
it’s the only way to get about. So we’re the only
alternative for many people. 90 % of the island is christian. But time hasn’t erased the ancient gods. Before each journey i call on
the voodoo spirits, for the road. It’s because, whatever you need to do, You need to do it in
the light, not in the dark. I’m the mystic, and i need god
to be with me on the journey. That way, everything will go well. On his altar, a cocktail of
Catholicism and the voodoo beliefs that arrived with the African
slaves, a mixture of faith and magic. I perfume you, the spirits. Travel with me on my journey. If I return, I’ll cover you with more nice smells. And here is something to drink as well. What’s in it ? Cherry, pineapple, cinnamon and rum. The Table is for good, not for evil. Michaelie takes 4 passengers
as well as the charcoal. Go at the back, on top of
the charcoal, I’ll go in front. Climb on ! Their destination is Gonaives. 80 kilometers of poor roads lie ahead. It can sometimes take 2 days. Look! There’s an animal on the road! It’s dangerous. Like when the animal’s owner
isn’t there to keep it off the roads. Then the driver has
little chance of avoiding it. It’s dangerous. Go on, go! Look, its owner isn’t here. You have to slow down. And if the brakes aren’t
good, you can’t stop. So an accident is inevitable. The dangers seem to increase
with each passing kilometer. Earth and sand finally give way to
a stony track filled with sharp rocks. Because of the rocks, I try and stick to this side of the trail. And the stones also
get stuck in the wheels. The rocks could cost Michele
the equivalent of 4 months’ salary. A new tyre costs about 600 euros, and given the state of the roads, any poor driving and “bang”, the tyre might burst and your money’s gone. At the other end of the track, the bus
passengers and Brunel the mechanic. know all about it. You have to advance. Go forward. Forward. Get the spare wheel down. That’ll do it. We’re
lifting the truck, you see. Brunel uses a normal
car jack, as the one that came with the truck
vanished a long time ago. Will it withstand the weight, though? That’s physical work. Spare tyre is up on the roof. We’ll put the new one on
after we remove the flat. Despite all the bumps, the heat and the endless
stops, no one is complaining. Although there’s some resentment
brewing amongst the passengers. I’m a saleswoman. I make this trip often. There and back. I do this 4 or 5 times a month. Once it took 2 days to get there. How can we work in such conditions? I’m 36 and I’ve been travelling this
road for 10 years and it’s always been bad. OK, we can go now. They left Port-au-Prince 5 hours
ago, and the trip is far from over. Along the track, traffic is
moving at a snail’s pace. I’m always in first or second gear. At least it stops you speeding. You can’t drive normally. At this rate, I feel everyone’s asleep. You can’t hurry on this rate. Haiti means “the lands of high mountains.” Even if the highest is just 2,600 meters. The ravines, however, are deep enough
to swallow any vehicle and its driver. There’s a curve called “the Corn Bend”. There was this fellow who
was driving along this road for the first time, and
he was transporting corn. He was meant to take it to Bombardopolis. And he’d taken his son with
him to show him the town. In the curve there was this
accident, and his child was killed. That’s why it’s known as the corn bend. And there’s still many trucks
that have accidents here. This is the corn bend. It’s a hairpin turn. Coming out of the corn bend, there’s something
McKaylee had been afraid of. We’re loaded up and we’re going downhill, so we can’t go backwards. He can. He has to let us through. The passengers are far more
concerned about the heat than the ravines. With temperatures of 45 degrees centigrade, they are slowly being roasted. I’m hot. I’ll faint and then just
rot away in the sun. It’s the only way I can
make this trip, though. Well, why don’t you take the bus? I don’t have enough money to do that. What do you pay for this? 8 euros. The dreadful roads not
only tire the passengers but also paralyze the
nation economically. In the Salt marshes, the
women faced yet more hardships. Harvesting salt brings in little money. Work is so exhausting that it’s
mainly the men who carry it out. Inexplicably, the truck
drivers refused to go to them. A lot of drivers who won’t take my salt. It’s heavy and they’re afraid
it might damage their vehicles. And then, there are no
real roads in this region, which makes it even
harder to sell our salt. The only way they can trade their produce
is to take it to town using pack animals. It’s a 2-day forced march. These women earn just
enough to feed their families. One ton of salt brings in barely 24 euros. From their marsh, they can see the
buses and trucks passing in the distance, almost taunting them. In the mountains, Michele
and his charcoal truck cross paths with Brunel
and his 60 passengers. Up in the mountains it’s scary. There
are ravines on both sides, left and right. Obviously it’s scary. My family always worries about me
when I’m going through the mountains. Oh, the roads are bad. I think about accidents
and then not arriving on time. The condition of the
roads is no coincidence. Haiti easily tops the list of the most
corrupt countries in the Americas. God, it hurts. I’m
exhausted. Oh, it’s awful. The road is no good here. The
politicians just pull their usual scams. They take money for themselves
and their families, but do nothing for us. The ancient suspension has got the
better of the passengers and their luggage.  Driver stop, stop, something’s happening ! What’s happening up there ? Oh no look, something’s fallen. Be careful with the luggage. Be careful. Yeah, look, something’s fallen off. Brunel is crossed with
the passengers on top. They’re only paying half fare. And they could at least be more careful. Doesn’t happen often. We can soon start that again. I think it’s the vibrations that caused it. Barely one hour later and it’s the
engine’s turn to show signs of fatigue. It’s overheating and inside the
temperature begins to rise too. Without air conditioning, crammed in together, the heat soon reaches 40 degrees. A final bump, and the tension erupts. Those in the back take it out
on brunel, and his ancient bus. Why are you throwing the
bottle of water like that ? You’re rude ! I don’t know who threw that bottle,
but it’s a really bad thing to do ! You should go back to school. I’m shocked. You’re a disgrace. You can’t throw things
in a truck full of people. Whoever did that is a real hooligan. And I won’t have it. I won’t have it. Driver, come on, let’s go again. To cool things down,
Brunel decides to pull up at one of the rare service
stops on the journey. Who would like something to eat? 20 centimes. Only 20 centimes. We always try and sell
something every time the bus stops. What are you selling there? Fried fish and bananas. There’s just about time to
swallow a few mouthfuls. and Brunel calls everyone back on board. And once again, peace has returned. Luckily, we’re still all
in one piece, thank God. In fact, the journey was
completed in just 12 hours. Quite an achievement
by Brunel and his driver. After 48 hours, they will head back to Port-au-Prince. The beach at Môle-Saint-Nicolas,
is where Christopher Columbus and the
Spanish first landed in 1492. Haiti was soon settled and
stripped of its natural resources In the northwest of the island
are the Lakwev gold mines. Lakwev may look like an ordinary village. But below ground it is
riddled with holes and tunnels. Go on, faster, come on ! At all times of the day,
the search is on for gold. 20 meters down on homemade ladders. Flexibility is a plus as most of the
galleries are barely 1 meter high. You have to get down on
all 4’s to get through these. It’s very narrow. Oh, this is good. I’m pleased. This looks promising. Yeah give me a bag ! Every swing of the
pickaxe could bring riches. But also death. The galleries are not shored up
and could collapse at any moment. Underground, it’s 40
degrees, and the miners have to come up for
air at least every 2 hours. Here’s the earth, that’s where the gold is. Jean-Francois is the owner of this mine. Work starts at 5 a.m., and we finish at about 8 p.m., or 9 or even 10 at night, even midnight sometimes. No, we’re not tired. When we’re hungry,
we come up to eat, then we go back down ! What does gold mean to you ? It means, we can pay
for the school, for the house, buy food.
Everything we need really. Jean-François pays his miners by the bag
and depending on how hard they’ve worked. Elliot, 6 bags for you right ? 3 for you and 3 for you as well. Everyone’s here as a miner. When you dig, you can
easily fill up at least one bag. But then if there’s no gold, you’ve wasted the whole day. You’ve worked for nothing. But you’ve got to be really
unlucky to find nothing at all. As in the salt marshes, the most
thankless tasks are left to the women, who work just as much as the men. Chema arrives with what
her husband has excavated. Oh, my back. Bending over and getting
up again has ruined my back. Making enough to live on is hard. There’s a lot of poverty
here for us and our children. You see, we sift it once and
then do it again just to make sure. And we keep looking and looking. Later in the day, the
youngsters come to lend a hand. How old are you? Me? I’m 17. And you? How old are you? I’m 10. Me, I’m 14. You do this every day? When there’s no school,
we come here to work. It’s not that we like what we’re
doing, but there isn’t much choice. Their dream is to find a nugget. But mostly what they find is this. It’s gold! Gold? Look! It’s rarely more than just a flake or two. It’s not easy to find
these, it’s difficult. But how does it feel to
have found some gold? Well, I feel happy when it happens. Jayma is in a good mood for
once as she’s off to sell her gold. Once a week, a merchant buys
the gold the miners have found. Jayma hopes to get a good price
and buy some animals at the market. Hello, how are you? Good, yeah, I’m new. I’ve got some gold for you. Can you tell me how much it’s worth? 4 days hard work in this tissue. Problem is, it’s still a bit wet. You should let it dry first. There’s quite a lot of dust. All the impurities have
to be removed first. 0.2 grams. It’s not worth much. I can buy it if you want. How much? 3 euros? No, that’s not enough. Oh, you’re not happy, eh? Well, we’ll keep at it. We’ll keep
digging. So we’ll have a lot to sell later. 0.2 grams of gold every 4
days is about average for Jayma. And at that rate, it will take her
14 years, to find a kilo of gold. It’s not very clean the water. Even the mine owners like
Jean-François earn barely enough to get by. The water hole is the communal bath. Everyone washes here.
We come here even if we finish at midnight. 1
in the morning, 2 even. Jean-François’s only luxury is the kitchen. Dinner is almost ready. Even if it’s been
hastily thrown together with odds and ends,
it’s still an extra room. His wife cooks the same meal every day. Split pea soup and rice. I’m afraid for him sometimes,
down in the mine, but I’m resigned. It’s the way
he has to make his living. I would like him to do something else. I’ve never found any other work. If there was easier work, I’d do it. Jean-Francois has 7
children and hopes at least 1 will not be doomed
to work down the mines. The rainy season has come late this year, but for weeks the weather
has never been as threatening. Michele and his charcoal have
been on the road for over 6 hours. There’s another 20 kilometers to go, and it’s probably the hardest stretch. When it rains, it becomes very
difficult to drive on these dirt tracks. The trucks can easily slide
or even get stuck in the mud. Up on the roof, the
passengers are trying to keep dry under an old
tarpaulin full of holes. Yeah, that’ll do. Oh, we can put up with this. Because we’re brave ! How long has it been since it rained ? Oh, long time ! But how long ? 9 months ? Yeah, it’s 9 months. Well look, you know
whether you’re underneath a tarpaulin or not we just we
all get soaked just the same. In all of the Americas,
Haiti is one of the islands most affected
by natural catastrophes. Each year, about 12 tropical
storms leave a trail of destruction. And then there are the
hurricanes and cyclones. Now look, there are some
cars that are stopped up in front. The cars can’t get through,
they’re not powerful enough. When it rains like this, the floods can sweep people away. And motorcycles and even small cars. Go on, go ahead. Michele’s voodoo prayers
seem to have worked, and he arrives in Gonaise
without further trouble. We left at midday and we arrived at 7 p.m. So it took 7 hours. I’m tired, of course. But the good Lord kept me
safe and sound, so I’m happy. Even if the locals call
it Haiti the damned, they retain their incredible will to live.