Travel Picks: World's scariest roads

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Locals give them names such as the "Road of Death" and the "Road of Bones" -- streets where just one small miscalculation can lead to disaster.

Travel Web site Travel + Leisure (here) takes a look at 10 of the world's scariest roads. This list is not endorsed by Reuters. 1. North Yungas Road, Bolivia

Location: Between La Paz and the town of Coroico In running as the most dangerous road on the planet, the North Yungas Road - aka the "Road of Death" - stretches some 40 mountain-hugging miles, as narrow as 10 feet in spots and with 1,000-foot drops straight to a rainforest below.

2. Guoliang Tunnel Road, China

Location: China's Taihang Mountains In 1972, villagers in a remote area of the Taihang Mountains chiseled a 3/4-mile-long tunnel through a mountain for access to the outside world. Today, the route -- 15 feet high and 12 feet wide -- is a tight squeeze for vehicles, twisting past 30 "windows", which provide views off the precipice.

3. Halsema Highway, Philippines

Location: Island of Luzon

Like many under-maintained mountain roads, landslides are a hazard on the Halsema Highway, where big stones and debris tumble from peaks and along with the cloud forests comes mist that can ruin visibility. Many sections remain unpaved.

4. Karakoram Highway, Pakistan to China

Location: Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan

The world's highest paved road, the Karakoram Highway winds through the mountains at an altitude above 16,000 feet, eventually connecting to China. It's a popular tourist route, with motorists stopping to view K2. Drivers can easily suffer altitude sickness.

5. Kolyma Highway, Russia

Location: Russian Far East and Siberia

Actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman crossed this 1,200-mile route, nicknamed the "Road of Bones", on a round-the-world motorcycle trip in 2004. Built in the Stalin era, the Road of Bones gets its name from labor camp inmates and other workers who died during construction. In winter, motorists drive across frozen rivers instead of ferries.

6. Canning Stock Route, Australia

Location: Through the vast deserts of Western Australia