Original subtitles

(tense music)

In the Philippine jungle,

the so-called roads are mostly just sort of tracks.

(tense music)

(indistinct chatter)

Serious accidents happen all the time.

(tense music)

But for the farmers of the fertile high plateau,

the Hansima Highway is the only possible route

to deliver their goods in the Valley.

(tense music)

Whoever drives here must forget about fear.

(tense music)

The Hansima Highway is situated in the Northern Philippines,

on the main Island Lutson.

The road is 166 kilometers long,

and runs through the high mountains

up to an altitude of 3000 meters.

(tense music)

Elbert Kelly earns his living by driving a jeepney.

(car hooting)

He calls his passengers into his taxi by beeping the horn.

Twice a day, Albert has a fixed tour

from Sagada, high up in the mountains, down to the Valley,

it takes just short of an hour.

Every tour is an adventure.

Up here in the high mountains,

there is frequent fog and heavy rainfall.

We are used to these weather conditions,

but it's very difficult for visitors to drive here.

There's a lot of heavy rainfall

and the fog is especially treacherous.

(speaking in foreign language)

(tense music)

Albert's jeepney is 20 years old

and compared to local standards, relatively new.

The vehicle is a replica of an American military truck.

You'll find these jeepneys all across the Philippines,

they are the main means of local transport.

It's tiring if you have to drive every day.

If you're lucky, you have a fast driver,

but some of them drive so slowly, it's a time killer.

(speaking in foreign language)

The locals expect the to drive fast,

safety comes second.

(tense music)

And then you hear of,

it's quite crazy, you know? (chuckles)

but it was fun, we were safe, so.

(tense music)

You shouldn't be afraid

to get on these old vehicles.

The locals earn very little money,

and so the ride to the next town

shouldn't cost more than a few cents.

Albert's jeepney will be used until it falls apart.

(tense music)

the bad weather disappears just as suddenly as it arrived.

Compared to Philippine standards,

the climate in the mountains is extraordinarily chilly.

Temperatures only very seldom rise above 25 degrees.

Whoever wants to escape from the heat

spends his holidays in Sagada, where it's cooler.

(tense music)

Dennis being ill, lives on the outskirts of Sagada.

He's a bus driver.

Before the journey begins, we have to check the tires,

the screws and the air pressure.

You can tell by the sound whether they hold enough pressure,

If you don't have a puncture,

you're all set for the trip on the Hansima highway.

(speaking in foreign language)

Dennis is responsible for 50 passengers.

Before each trip, he services the bus,

which includes checking the brake fluid,

as the Hansima highway is steep.

You may run into an obstacle behind every curve.

Dennis can tell just by hearing its sound

whether the engine is running well.

As long as the engine is looked after well enough,

and the tires are new,

even an old car will manage the trip.

The older your vehicle is,

the more you need to look after it

in order to safely make the journey on the highway.

(speaking in foreign language)

(tense music)

On this morning, jeepney driver Albert

is bringing a few tourists up the mountains.

(tense music)

Albert loves these extra tours,

they are the icing on the cake for him.

(tense music)

(speaking in foreign language)

when I'm driving,

I get to know different people and make new friends.

I like that, it makes driving so much fun.

And sometimes I'm lucky

when someone hires me for a longer trip.

(speaking in foreign language)

(tense music)

The art student, Rocky and his friends

have taken their seats on the roof.

They are heading for Kalunga,

where a legendary tattoo artist lives.

(tense music)

It's very painful,

and afterwards your skin is very sensitive.

You have to be very careful with your arm for a few months.

Look, that's a unique design for this region.

And what about you? Are you getting a tattoo?

(tense music)

Kalinga is an isolated

and remote village in the mountains.

To get there, you must travel a track

that branches off Hansima highway for the last kilometers.

Albert picks up a couple of students on his way,

they are happy to get a ride.

A few bends further up, Albert's jeepney comes to a halt.

This is where the road ends.

Bye bye.

Rocky and his friends

have to walk up the mountain the last few kilometers.

Kalinga is a retreat

for some of the Philippine Aboriginal natives.

Their culture always has been rather warlike,

the tattoos were supposed to deter enemies.

Fang Od is 96 years old, her legendary reputation

as the oldest living tattoo artist

reaches far beyond her home village.

(speaking in foreign language)

Yes, I'm in my nineties,

I still tattooed because we need the money.

Otherwise we wouldn't have enough to eat.

We don't have any paddy fields, I have no choice.

If no one supports me, I'll have to keep on tattooing.

Fang Od just needs a bamboo cane,

a needle, and some coal.

Back in the old days,

we used to get a tattoo like this if you went to war.

You'd get one if you killed someone too,

that's how our ancestors did it.

Tattoos were mainly connected to warfare.

For Rocky, this is both a test of courage

and a desire to closely experience the traditions.

(tense music)

As long as there is no road leading up to Kalinga,

this place will remain remote.

So for another while, the traditions will be preserved.

(tense music)

Back in Sagada, Dennis and his cross-country bus

is already waiting for passengers.

Every hour, the buses drive from Sagada

all the way along the Hansima highway

to the city of Baguio, almost 150 kilometers away,

it takes them seven to eight hours.

Bus driver Dennis drives along

the Hansima highway every day.

(speaking in foreign language)

You know what, I like the Hansima, it's my home.

For the inhabitants of the mountains,

the bus is the cheapest way to cover greater distances.

No matter whether they need to get to the nearest city

or even to Manila.

(bus engine revving)

Dennis has been working as a bus driver for 25 years,

he never takes a break.

Only if the bus breaks down, would he take a day off.

He only gets paid if he drives.

(tense music)

The route lease from Sagada,

down to the river Valley of the Chico river.

From there, it leads on

through the craggy mountains to Buguias.

(playful music)

In the meantime, the Hansima highway

has been asphalted in most parts,

but up here coming down from Sagada,

the road still looks the same as decades ago,

narrow bumpy and dusty.

(soft music)

There used to be hardly any hard shoulders.

A trip to Baguio would often take more than 10 hours.

Sandy is 21 and works as a bus conductor,

he sells the tickets on the bus.

A ride to Baguio costs 220 pesos,

which is not even four Euros.

For most of the locals, it's half a day's wage.

(tense music)

The bus slowly struggles down the road.

There are an endless amount

of roadworks on the way downhill.

The construction workers need to watch out

for the many buses and trucks,

they are a permanent threat.

There are hardly any machines in use at the roadworks.

Whatever the mixer spits out,

will be spread out on the road surface

by the worker's shovels, hard physical labor.

(speaking in foreign language)

If we get tired, we slow down,

but if we have good food, it means we're stronger.

If we have proper food, for example, beef

we're happy and strong enough to even carry bigger stones

and build walls.

Whoever works here has to learn to make the most of it.

Sometimes there'll be no cement for a whole day

which means sitting around all day and waiting.

But as they say, somehow, it always works out.

(car engine revving)

The mini road works on the Hansima highway

have been obstructing the traffic for many years now,

the drivers have learned to be patient.

They hope that one day there will be a paved road

leading down the mountain.

(tense music)

Untiringly, Dennis battles his way

down the road every day a new.

(tense music)

back when the whole highway was like this,

you used to have only one lane and it was damn slippery.

Just one false move, one, breaking error,

if you were at a dangerous spot,

you'd fall down the canyon.

(speaking in foreign language)

(tense music)

During the rainy season, typhoons and huge masses of water

often lead to landslides and block the road.

At the dangerous spots,

the workers build supporting walls into the mountain,

to stop the slopes from sliding.

(tense music)

In some places, the street is a construction site,

a road and the children's way to school

all at the same time.

(tense music)

When Dennis has finally passed

the last major roadworks with his bus,

he arrives at a well-paid section of the Hansima Highway.

(soft music)

Down in the Valley,

the road follows the course of the Chico river

for a few kilometers.

During the rainy season, it rises and turns into a torrent.

(tense music)

It takes courage and intuition

to master the bridge across the Chico.

For years, it's been a patchwork bridge

made of old logs and planks.

(tense music)

The same morning, Albert is driving his taxi

along the Chico river too.

(tense music)

He is driving a very special tour,

young musicians and dancers.

Albert is taking them from their high school

to a performance at the district town of Bon tuck.

(students singing)

If the jeepney is full,

the remaining passengers have to sit on the roof.

(students singing)

(tense music)

Bontauk lies at only 800 meters altitude.

The temperatures down here are much higher

and are favorable for the traditional cultivation of rice.

But Bontok is mainly a business and administration city

and so most of Albert's tours on the Hansima go there.

(soft music)

The rest of the passengers had to get off

at the outskirts of Bontok.

In the city, passengers are not allowed on the roof,

but making music is always allowed.

(students singing)

The traditional culture and the tribal rituals

are still very much alive here.

Every school often has various groups

who perform dances on the city squares.

(students singing and playing)

(speaking in foreign language)

The elders, which are called warriors,

are our ancestors and models.

(speaking in foreign language)

Back then everyone went out hunting

for boars, deer or water buffaloes.

(speaking in foreign language)

They were warriors and we went out hunting in the mountains.

(speaking in foreign language)

(soft traditional music)

After the tour is before the tour.

Eldred has four kids, his wife earns some extra money

by running a little shop,

but that is just about enough to sustain the family.

(speaking in foreign language)

I need to always be ready to drive.

when I've reached my destination,

I go looking for customers here in the city.

I take a look around, talk to people,

that's the best I can do.

Maybe I find a few tourists that makes an extra money.

I only have to be prepared, then it'll work.

And so Albert has to try his luck

on the Hansima Highway every day anew.

(tense music)

The highway is named after its constructor,

the American engineer Eusebius Hansima.

It was first designed as a footpath

in the twenties of the last century.

For the people living here,

the Hansima is a blessing and a curse at the same time.

It helps develop the region, but also claims many lives

(tense music)

Up until today, it is considered to be

one of the most dangerous roads in the world,

due to its bad condition.

For Dennis and his passengers,

the Hansima is a true challenge every single time.

I think by now

I know every single turn on the Hansima.

with the amount of time I spent driving it,

the street has engraved itself into my memory.

I know the slippery parts, the tricky slopes

and the sections where the rocks come down.

Many horrible accidents have claimed lives here

and cars have fallen into the abyss.

This section might be the worst.

If you applied the brakes carelessly,

you start skidding immediately.

The passengers are aware of the dangers too.

(speaking in foreign language)

This section of the street

has so many bends, horrible.

It's so high up it scares me.

I'm already exhausted

and it's better if I just keep my mouth shut.

Everyone here

has heard stories of horrible accidents.

(speaking in foreign language)

There are many reasons

why so many accidents happen.

Most of them happened

because of technical problems with the old cars,

but the weather also plays a role.

There's dense, fog, rain and worst of all,

typhoons and landslides.

That's the way things happen here on the Hansima.

This road has claimed many lives.

But the Hansima also offers economical opportunities.

A dozen small dealers make money in this village

with the passing traffic.

More than 50 buses stop here every day.

So here we have nuts

with the popular adobo flavor.

We buy it per kilo in the city,

and then put it in small bags.

This has garlic flavored and this is sweet peanut.

Business goes especially well

on the public holidays.

That's when everyone working in the big cities

drives back to their families in the mountains.

After taking a short break,

Dennis continues to force his bus along the winding road.

(tense music)

The Hansima Highway also attracts tourists.

Bikers from the capital city

appreciate the winding ride on the legendary highway.

(tense music)

For a week, this group is traveling the mountains

with their historic British military motorcycles.

(tense music)

Last night was a trial of courage

for the motorcycle club from Manila.

They had to ensure continuous rainfall

with poor visibility for several hundred kilometers.

(indistinct chatter)

This road is not a joke.

Actually, it is my first time here.

And I am lucky enough to have this guys with me.

The ride last night was fun.

Adrenaline thrills, you cannot even see the road

because of the fogs and it's raining

and very very cold, and it's nice, landslide.

(indistinct) it's dangerous, actually.

We're not saying it's a good thing to do.

(tense music)

After last night's wild ride,

the bikers are taking it easy today on their winding tour,

leading ever deeper

into the remote mountains of the high plateau.

(tense music)

in the meantime,

Dennis has already covered half the distance

of the Hansima highway.

(tense music)

He has arrived at the Philippine salad bowl.

This is where all the vegetables for the region

and the capital city Manila, are grown.

The Hansima provides the farmers

with everything they need for agriculture.

(tense music)

Off the highway, there are still

almost only wild tracks though.

Romeo Kaga Young is a farmer.

In order to reach his field, which is three kilometers away,

He must endure a good shaking.

(tense music)

A stream for man and material.

(speaking in foreign language)

When we arrived home after this stretch,

we can still feel the road.

Your hips are hurting, your body's tired.

This path really wears you down.

You should have your wife giving you a massage afterwards.

Today, Romeo and his helpers

are harvesting radish and cabbage.

Afterwards, he has to drive the harvest

directly to the central market at the end of the highway.

Prices are higher if he sells fresh from the field.

His helpers have already started working.

There are no reapers, everything is done by hand.

(tense music)

The radish is washed and packaged already on the field.

The wholesalers expect it that way.

Romeo's job as a farmer has changed considerably

over the past years.

The highway has become much more important for him.

I used to only be a farmer, and I bought a truck.

I suddenly had two professions, farmer and driver.

Because I delivered vegetables for everyone.

I have employees that do the planting for me

because I'm mostly driving now.

(tense music)

Julius Curiab is a sales representative for a seed company.

There is strong competition,

and so he visits the farmers in the fields

to find out what they need.

On these narrow paths,

it's much quicker to take the motorbike.

This way, he can visit up to half a dozen clients a day.

Hey.

How are you?

Hi, I'm Julius from seed works.

Since you're growing carrots,

I brought some seeds for you to try out.

This way, Romeo is able to order his seeds

right in the middle of his field.

Its good for business to come here by motorcycle

and we're used to these kinds of roads.

It's normal for us, even if it's just a bumpy track,

we've learned to live with it.

Romeo and his men must hurry.

If they want the goods to be on the market today,

they have only a few hours left.

(tense music)

If Romeo arrives too late,

he has to wait until the next day,

a great financial loss

because the price will have gone down.

(tense music)

Meanwhile, Dennis is still driving his bus

through the salad bowl.

He and his passengers have already made it halfway,

time for lunch break.

The passengers leave the bus somewhat stiff legged

after the long winding journey.

They have 20 minutes to move around

and quickly take a bite of something.

Dennis has been loyal

to the morning star restaurant for 25 years now.

Ever since he started driving the Hansima.

(soft music)

the lunch costs a hundred pesos, almost two Euros.

For most people, it's a lot of money

and not everyone can afford it.

Dennis and his conductor, Sandy enjoy free catering.

After all, their buses bring customers.

We always eat here,

we eat quickly so we can move on quickly and get home early.

Eat quickly, move on quickly and drive quickly.

They haven't yet made half the journey

and there are still many bends to come.

(soft music)

A few kilometers further on.

(indistinct chatter)

Again and again, severe accidents occur on the highway.

Last year, a school bus with 15 students crashed

and fell a hundred meters into the Canyon.

12 students died, the authors were badly injured.

We have two patients.

Okay, go ahead.

This exercise is supposed to prepare paramedics

for the many accidents.

(indistinct chatter)

All of us are paramedics from the region,

we practice for emergencies as realistically as possible.

These horrible things happen here,

so we practice a lot to learn new techniques

and get a feel for the situation

and how serious the injuries are.

Farmer Romeo's house is in Bugulias,

situated directly at the highway.

From here, it's not far to the fields

and he can head off straight to the central market.

As always, his wife tells him to drive carefully

too much has happened.

And she knows that Romeo is in a hurry

to be at the market on time.

(lorry engine revving)

From Bugulias, which is halfway down the highway,

it takes three to four hours to reach the city of Baguio,

with just 500,000 inhabitants.

(soft music)

Romeo has been driving the highway for more than 20 years,

rain or shine.

Even a bad typhoon couldn't stop him a couple of years ago.

Once, he had a brake failure

and he just about managed to save his truck

by driving into a wall.

Romeo knows the old cars are always good for a surprise.

What happened?

Is it broken?

No, the filter was filled with dirt

so I must have to repair.

This is a, we'll fix it there up.

Romeo is not only a farmer and a driver,

but also a car mechanic by now.

He owns several old trucks

and one of them could always break down.

(speaking in foreign language)

What can you do?

You have to watch out for yourself.

Even in the middle of the night,

do not rely on others

when it comes to fixing your own truck.

Not such a big deal,

the air filter is dirty and Romeo can clean it himself.

It doesn't even take half an hour to repair the damage.

(speaking in foreign language)

Things like these happen often here,

we're prepared.

but only if you fix it immediately, you can save your goods.

I need to be at the central market on time

or else my vegetables will go bad.

So now Romeo will drive even faster

in order to not have to queue up until the next morning

and not to have to sleep over at the central market.

Everywhere along the highway,

the farmers and their families have settled

between the Canyon and the road.

Most of them own only small fields

which are in fact illegal, but the authorities let them be.

(tense music)

Three years ago, a typhoon

dragged a few houses down into the Canyon,

in the meantime, the inhabitants have rebuilt them.

They want to stay on in spite of the danger,

since they have no alternative.

Vilma and Caprio Ki's men are harvesting.

They have grown their coyote fruits

directly into the steep slope.

The selling of the fruits is their sole income.

We've decided to live right at the house

because it's more practical.

That way we can harvest the fruits

and bring them straight to the market.

They have to carry their meager harvest

up the mountain on foot.

During the rainy season, they can hardly set foot

on their field without risking falling down the wet slope.

A sack of these pumpkin like fruits brings them 300 pesetas,

a bit more than five euros.

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

I wish there was somebody there to help us,

then we would immediately leave this place.

Because it's really very, very dangerous.

But this is how we make a living.

(speaking in foreign language)

We worry a lot about the cars.

We try to bring and pick up our children from school,

the traffic is scary.

The street is really dangerous and there are many accidents,

I'm very worried.

(soft music)

Even if he's in a great hurry,

Romeo stops the truck to visit them.

(speaking in foreign language)

Hi, how are you?

Sorry for being so late, but I had a breakdown

and had to clean the filter.

Let's carry your fruit onto the truck.

(speaking in foreign language)

Romeo knows how hard it is for the family

and tries to help them by taking their fruit to the market.

It always tends to get foggy in the afternoon.

During the day, the tropical sun

warms the humid air, it rises.

In the afternoon, it condenses to fog in the mountains

and it starts to rain.

Within a short period of time,

the highway then turns into a dangerously slippery track.

Sometimes there is a change in the weather

from one mountain to the next.

Dennis ended up right in the middle of this dense fog.

(speaking in foreign language)

We know our Hansima, it gets foggy every afternoon,

sometimes it's so bad that you can't see the road anymore.

You have to be very careful to stay on the road.

Farmer Romeo was lucky,

he reached the Valley before fog did.

The Hansima is dangerous,

but at least it doesn't hurt as much.

The bumpy tracks, we usually travel hurt so much,

you can't even sleep at night.

The Hansima has been paved almost everywhere now,

which makes it a bit more comfortable.

In the end, Romeo did make it,

He arrived in the city on time.

And he catches a stand with a cooperative from his village.

It organizes the sale of vegetables for its local farmers.

Romeo is allowed to pass the queue,

but he too has spent whole nights queuing up.

(speaking in foreign language)

I'm very lucky, I didn't have to queue up

and got in straight away.

My cabbage will stay fresh.

The market is run by the state.

Farmers from the whole region

sell their products to the salesmen

coming from the neighboring cities.

(soft music)

Soon, a potential buyer for Romeo's harvest shows up.

You like my vegetables?

Let's see.

How much can you pay?

I'll give you 18 per kilo.

Come on a bit more, I could sell it for more you know?

It doesn't work that way brother.

The customer buys the whole load

for 18 pesos a kilo, 35 cents if converted to euros.

And Romeo has to wrap every single cabbage

into newspaper twice and put them into sacks.

(indistinct chatter)

Great, I quickly sold my cabbage for a good price.

Now he just needs to get rid of his radish

to make this a really good day.

Baguio lies at 1500 meters

and is normally seen as a summer resort,

but it's a fast growing city and so traffic is growing too.

On some days the smog and smut

make it hard for the people to even breathe.

Dennis has been steering his bus along the winding highway

for more than eight hours now.

(speaking in foreign language)

I don't mind the driving,

seven to eight hours are normal for me.

If you give up too easily,

you won't make money and your family stays hungry.

The bus terminal in Baguio.

This is where passengers from all over the country arrive.

Dennis will spend the night here and sleep in his bus,

tomorrow, he'll be back in his living room,

The Hansima highway.

(speaking in foreign language)

Come on Sandy, enough for today.

Let's thank God for driving well and safe

and without an accident.

(tense music)