IRT Deadliest Roads (2010) s01e05 Episode Script

In the world's highest mountains are roads only the best can survive - You see this BLEEP you send us to? Where the road averages a death every 4 1/2 minutes I'm scared out of my mind.
And three truckers are risking everything - You got no protection whatsoever.
In trucks built on wood frames.
- Hopefully it ain't the wooden casket.
These cliffside roads have just claimed another seven lives.
He's dead? Now Dave continues to struggle with the Ledge This BLEEP's fixing to fall.
Whoa! While Rick and Lisa haul precious cargo deeper into the Himalayas on crumbling mountainsides.
- Look at this.
Look at this.
Oh, look.
Look.
Look.
Look.
- Tashi, it's coming down right now.
Oh, gosh.
Three truckers Did you say a prayer? Yeah, yeah, I said it.
You got God on speed dial? Two months Tashi, get back in here! A race at the top of the world.
Today's toughest drivers take on history's deadliest roads.
I'm just in a whole dilemma right now.
My daughter, her name's Alyssa.
She's got a terminal disease called cystic fibrosis, and I'd kick myself in the ass pretty hard if she passed away on me while we were here.
She's 21.
She hasn't even lived her life yet.
I do these things to make good money to provide for my family, but to come here and lose my family while I'm over here? I don't think that's an acceptable trade for me.
Back home, Rick's daughter is in the emergency room.
- Alyssa's road is far more dangerous than the one I'm driving.
This is a road that she's battled her whole life, and she's gonna battle it till it takes her.
If it does, I want to be there, not here.
I'm absolutely helpless.
It's the wife.
Hey, honey, how's Alyssa doing? I got to do this one on my own here.
70 miles to the northeast is Alabama trucker Dave Redmon.
Finally, we made it.
We're gonna pick up some steel box and head down to the Karcham Dam.
Come back truck? And like every trucker in India, he's got a spotter riding shotgun.
So back in.
I go check.
- All right.
You're gonna go check? I guess I'll wait here while he checks.
There he is, leaving that door open again.
Yeah, that door is pissing me off, 'cause if I got to move, I can't see.
Back okay.
Just like that.
Pretty raggedy-looking cables they're using.
If you look where the eye is, where they got it hooked on the hook, it's all frayed.
In the United States, they'd throw that stuff in the garbage.
Sanjeev, you don't want to be under that crane when he swings that over.
If that cable snaps, you're gonna be a black spot on the pavement.
Thank you.
Are we ready to go? Yeah, well Paperwork? And no, are fitting.
Okay.
I just manage.
Paperwork? No, no.
- Talking to Sanjeev has just really been a challenge.
The language barrier is just brutal.
- Signature.
- Signature? With an oversized four-ton steel duct sticking out of the top of his truck, Dave's now descending a narrow side road called the Ledge, heading for the Jaypee Corporation Karcham Dam.
- Yeah, it's been new roads every day so far, but, you know, we've been on this road for about 15 or 20 feet, and This one looks by far to be the worst.
- I talked to Jackie on the phone, and she said yeah, and the doctor's confident that she's gonna be fine.
I'm here.
I'm gonna ride it out.
I'll stay in contact with home.
I'm not a religious guy, but you can thank God anyways, 'cause she's gonna be okay.
Do you know the big Tata trucks? Tata trucks? Yeah, you know those? - Yes.
- I drive one here.
Just seeing what loads you got for us today.
Okay.
- Hello, sir.
- I'm Urtesh.
Hi.
This is the most important consignment you will ever have.
Now, do you know about Kali? No, I don't.
Kali is a warrior goddess that appeared in Hinduism over 1,400 years ago.
Legend holds that during battle, Kali became drunk on the blood of her victims, and her destructive frenzy was only calmed when she stepped on her husband, Lord Shiva.
- She is a very furious and angry goddess.
If it breaks, if it have even a single crack, this will not be worshipped.
You have to go very slow, and as a sacred path, you have to - That's a very hard thing for me to go is slow, but I'll do it.
Exactly.
- Thank you.
- All right.
- Get this thing loaded up and hope for the best.
- This goddess is a goddess of, like, killing and eating people's heads and killing people.
I hope she doesn't get any ideas while she's riding along with me.
- Tell them, careful, careful.
Tell them, careful.
- Slow, slow.
- Yes, easy.
Gabba, gabba, gabba.
- I'm not feeling very good about it at all.
It's just I think it's a it's a cursed like, it's a cursed run right from the start.
Here.
- How about we put that under her arms? Tashi.
- Yeah? - I suggest something, but nobody bothers to listen.
- These are pretty primitive tie-down techniques that they use here.
- I didn't get where I'm at by just sitting back and letting other people do the work.
If I got to fight to get this done, I'm gonna do it.
- Maybe I'll stop in the hardware store on the way and get a bunch of BLEEP tubes of Krazy Glue, 'cause that's the only way it's gonna look good when it gets there.
- Watch out, buddy.
Watch out, buddy.
Now Rick and Lisa are trucking deeper into the Himalayas than ever before, past the Freefall Freeway, the Cutouts, and the Ledge, to the high mountain village of Kulpa, where locals believe Goddess Kali resides.
- We got to turn around, don't we? S - No, stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
Idiot.
You know what would be a good advertisement on the back of them buses? Funeral services.
This is gonna be a long drive.
62 miles to the northeast is Dave Redmon.
- You know, I got sheer rock wall on one side, and on the left Don't look left.
You know, if you scoot over a foot too far one way, it's all over but the crashing.
The risks on the Ledge can turn tragic Oh, damn.
A truck is down there in the trees.
As seven local truckers recently experienced.
That's BLEEP awful.
- Aw, BLEEP, we got trucks coming already.
I mean, you really got to depend on the other guy coming at you to not be a BLEEP idiot.
Go.
Go.
- Damn, they're just getting skinny.
Move.
Move.
Go.
Yes, yes.
- Close? - Go.
Go.
I'm working, though.
Okay.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Man, that's tight.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Okay.
And car in tight.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
- I'll do five miles an hour if I need to.
You know, you got these boulders jutting out over here that could really rip open the side of this truck.
Look at this rock.
This is rough.
- This BLEEP's fixing to fall.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- See it's BLEEP broke all the way up? No problem? Okay.
You know, if this part isn't bad In the Himalayan mountains Man, that's tight.
Alabama trucker Dave Redmon's negotiating a narrow side road called the Ledge, hauling an oversized steel duct.
Look at this rock.
This is rough.
This BLEEP's fixing to fall.
You know, if this part isn't bad Oh, BLEEP! I didn't even see that bunch.
Eh? We nicked the corner.
Yeah.
- These rocks sticking out like points? It just nicked the corner of the trailer sticking up, and it made one hell of a racket.
You know, you could have either been shoved off the road or panicked and, you know, yanked it to the left and drove off the road.
You could put some more paint on this truck, but you won't be able to put me back together.
- Well, I'm trying I have no idea.
I come, you come.
- You need to work on your communication skills.
40 miles to the southwest - So bumpy, I bet her arms already snapped off.
Is Lisa Kelly.
And she's hauling a statue of the Hindu goddess Kali to a remote mountain village.
- If it have even a single crack, this will not be worshipped.
Oh, don't break.
She's not gonna make it.
Whew! That was close.
I have plenty of fear.
Plenty of it.
Well, not, like Oh, my God.
- This guy needs to get out of the way.
And just ahead of Lisa is Rick Yemm - Someone's gonna put a voodoo hex on me.
Carefully inching forward with the same Hindu idol.
- I got no faith in the truck I'm driving, never mind their loading techniques.
There's nothing else we can do with it, though, so Once it breaks, then I don't got to worry about it anymore.
Whatever that was.
- Wow, she's just wiggling everywhere.
Man, she mine's probably doing the same thing as his.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Did I break her yet? No, it's moving pretty good.
No, I know they're not secured properly, but we got no other way to do it.
I'm watching her Kali statue look like it's in a mosh pit.
That means mine's doing the same thing.
So I can pray for a head-on collision with a bus, and that'll be the blame for the statue BLEEP up.
I'm driving slow, but I know it's not helping.
The road's still rough.
It's still wobbling around back there.
Well, this is the beginning of the BLEEP that's gonna destroy that statue.
Idiot on a scooter.
You know, got quite the parade of kids here.
It must be time to go to school or something.
They're all strolling down the road.
I remember when Alyssa was that size.
Oh, yeah, good time to pass.
Run over some kids on the way through.
You're gonna lose it.
Let me by you.
BLEEP smash his BLEEP skull in.
You can honk all the BLEEP you want.
Pass now and go head-on with a bus.
BLEEP wait.
There's kids all over the place.
I know, little girl.
You're only eight years old.
You haven't lived much, but you're standing between me and getting in front of that truck.
Makes no BLEEP sense whatsoever.
Just ahead of Rick What was that? Tashi, get back in here! Oh, my gosh.
- And now I got to worry about Tashi and the statue.
Get in here! Yikes! Tashi! Oh, gosh.
No, ah, ah, ah! What was that? Tashi, get back in here! Tashi! Get in here! Oh, gosh.
Ah, ah, ah! BLEEP this.
I don't want to go anywhere with Tashi on the roof.
I just about dumped him off, hitting brakes hard and stuff.
This is stupid.
Get in! - Sorry.
I about dumped you off.
It's, like, shaking, like - Yeah, I don't know how we're gonna tie her, though.
So what are we gonna do? A few miles behind Lisa - Wait.
There's kids all over the place.
Rick's slowing down a reckless driver on a road crowded with schoolchildren.
- What the BLEEP are you doing? Eeh, eeh! "Oh, I got to get by.
I got to get by.
He's going so slow".
Careful, careful! Oh, hey! BLEEP! Oh, yeah, run over some kids on the way through.
Impatient BLEEP.
It's just ridiculous, how people drive here.
42 miles to the north is Dave Redmon.
- Karcham Dam, five kilometers.
- Yup.
Five clicks.
- Yeah.
He's hauling an oversized four-ton steel duct down a narrow side road called the Ledge.
This road is real unnerving.
Oh, BLEEP! We nicked the corner.
I am, your prayer.
Yeah, I begin.
Did you say a prayer? Yeah, yeah, I said that.
You got God on speed dial? Anybody coming? Oh! I appreciate you catching that one.
You know, just 'cause you're going slow don't mean you can't die.
Go.
Go.
Go.
It really makes you Come.
Come.
Come.
What are we gonna do here? He's gonna have to back up.
We got us a clusterBLEEP is what we got here now.
Now, why'd Sanjeev get out? Go! Go! Go! Back, back.
- And Sanjeev again didn't close that door.
- Back, back.
Go! Go! Go! BLEEP damn, Sanjeev.
I wasn't looking forward to backing up this BLEEP road at all.
- Go.
Go.
Go.
Back, back.
- BLEEP edge of the road over there.
Go! Go! Go! Go! - All right, I see you back there, Sanjeev.
- I don't really want to trust them hand signals.
- Yes, okay.
- Wow.
How nerve-racking is this? - He's got a whole family in that thing.
Let's go.
- Wipe my sweaty BLEEP palms off.
- Good? - You're good, okay.
That's real nerve-racking, having to back all the way to hell.
Ten miles down the road are Lisa Kelly and Rick Yemm.
- Another day on the Freefall Freeway.
We're just hitting the old spooky bridge part.
- Ready, Tash? - Okay.
Here I come.
Ready? Don't fall out, puppers.
- It's a long way to plummet to your BLEEP death.
Better late than never.
Okay, go.
Keep going.
- But I'm going slow for the bumps.
Definitely making better time before coming up to the traffic jam central of this road, the Cutout.
Ooh, look at that.
That's looks like a road washed out there.
Yes, yes.
Hello, Lisa.
- Slow down.
Slow down.
Slow down.
- What are you telling me to do, dude? Okay, go.
Keep going.
Whoa.
I can't see how close I am to the edge.
Holy crap.
- Lisa still doesn't understand the width of her truck.
She's a little nervous about how wide the truck is.
She's thinking about that and not doing her job, so she's slowing the traffic down by not just passing.
- Yeah, I'm gonna stop here to give her a once-over and make sure she's still in one piece.
- Are you going through there? - Yup.
Going back to Kali, man.
To Kali, to Kali.
Oh, this thing better still be in one piece.
- If it have even a single crack, this will not be worshipped.
- Well, it looks like it hasn't even moved a bit.
That's actually quite amazing, to tell you the honest truth.
Like I said, I'm not religious.
But I am superstitious.
- She's in good shape, but I bet as soon as we take away all the straw and the sand, she'll just crumble like sand.
Karcham Dam is usually where Rick and Lisa drop their load and turn around, but now they're headed beyond the dams and higher into the mountains to the village of Kulpa, believed by locals to be Goddess Kali's home and where the roads are narrower and less maintained.
- Let's see if we can make it ten more kilometers.
- Oh, I'll make it, I'm pretty sure.
I don't know if she'll make it, though.
Let's go.
Just knock on wooden truck that everything goes good this time.
Hopefully it ain't the wooden casket.
Why? What's the hurry? - If you're not careful, this is when it's gonna break.
Old Kali's fragile.
I'm trying to take some pride in getting this thing there with the least amount of damage as possible.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go fast.
Don't slow.
Fast, fast.
Make fast.
- Yeah, but we can break her with one bump.
Go fast, yes.
- Well, then there's no point in going slow at all if we go fast once.
- Happens lots because they're all over the place.
Look at them.
They're everywhere.
Big, massive rocks.
You look at one of those, that's about six times the size of my truck, and they didn't grow there.
They come from up there.
You don't stand a chance if one of those decides to come tumbling down.
Gonna need to speed up.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
So you have to go, keep fast.
- Quit bossing me around all the damn time.
- What is it you think we have to stop there? Hold the BLEEP on.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Uh-oh.
Oh, look at this.
Look at this.
Oh, look.
Look.
Look.
Look.
Keep your side.
- I'm trying, okay? I'm trying.
Watch the rock.
- I'm running over rocks.
Holy BLEEP.
It's coming down right now.
- Watch out.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
- Shut up! - Wait! I'm not gonna make it.
Go fast.
Go fast.
Tashi, shut the BLEEP up! Uh-oh.
Oh, look at this.
Look at this.
Oh, look.
Look.
Look.
Look.
This whole bank's unstable.
Watch.
Watch.
Watch.
Watch.
Watch the rock.
- I'm running over rocks.
Holy BLEEP.
It's coming down right now.
- Watch out.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
I'm not gonna make it.
Go fast.
Go fast.
Tashi, shut the BLEEP up! Holy BLEEP! - Yeah! Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Go.
Don't try Stop it! Just let me drive! You got to, like, trust me a little here.
She drive.
He's not saying, "Good job".
This is okay.
Am I doing a bad job? Am I doing a bad job? Good job you have, man.
- Then maybe you can let me drive a little bit.
- Now you have done good job, I say.
- Okay, well, just trust me, then.
If I can drive this truck, just let me.
You drive good.
- See, he's not even gonna get it.
You drive good.
Well, then let me.
Ten miles down the road, Dave Redmon's pulling in to the Karcham Dam.
- It's just a big sigh of relief to be finally down here.
It's a skinny bridge.
And we're gonna try to make our delivery here in a few minutes.
We're gonna drop this off and get out of Dodge.
Okay, slow, slow.
Oh, no! - Stop.
- Stop.
- Stop.
- You said, "Slow".
You said, "Slow".
Yeah, slow, stop.
Stop.
Say, "Stop".
- Brake! Left, left, left.
- Left? - Left, yeah.
Take - All right, I got to move over a little bit.
No, no, no, no, no.
What have we got? How close? Check.
Slow.
Oh, slow.
- Still got to work on them hand signals.
There he is, not shutting that door.
I'm getting out and shutting this door again.
I don't know what it is with him and that BLEEP door.
Shut the BLEEP door when you get out of the truck.
Say something? - You need it in here straighter, huh? Straighter? Good? Good? I guess when he walks away and says nothing, that means "good".
Hoy! Left.
BLEEP! - Whoa! No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- He wears on my BLEEP patience.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
See? See, we really need to just let him tell me where he needs me and then just have him stand away, because him back there I don't know what the BLEEP that means.
That must be Hindu for, "You're BLEEP up".
I don't know.
Could I ask a favor? - Yes? - You know what a favor is, right? Yeah, right.
- When you get out of the truck - Yes? - Shut the door.
'Cause when I go to move, the door is over here, open, and I can't see out the mirror.
I got it, though.
Hey, just remember, when you jump out, slam it.
- Okay, sure.
- All right, appreciate it.
That's all we needed.
All right.
- I'm sorry.
- No, no, no, don't apologize.
- Yes.
- Just slam the door.
- Yes.
- Perfect.
- Okay.
- See, one word a day.
All right, we done? - Done, done, done.
- All right, let's go get a hamburger.
I don't think that's happening, is it? 20 miles to the north Fingers crossed that Kali makes the last little bit of the trip.
Is Rick Yemm.
- Had enough things slowing me down, with the traffic jams and BLEEP.
And the road gets pretty sketchy after here.
This here, I'll tell you, it's like another one of these prone landslide areas.
The edges of the road are extremely soft.
Look at all the rocks that are just perched in this dirt here, ready to roll onto you.
They can run you right off the side.
Take you and the truck over.
Get the BLEEP over.
It's one lane.
Well, you better BLEEP hurry, you BLEEPsucker.
Moving along, I'm making great time here.
I feel good about it, but at the same time, I got a pretty eerie feeling about it.
MotherBLEEP, what was that? What the hell is that? What's whoa! What's that? Oof! That's a little too close for my liking.
It just puts the reminder in your head that I'm gonna die and my spotter's gonna die.
Do you need a hug? Ah, yes.
- If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Just ahead of Rick, Lisa's pulling in to the mountain village of Kulpa.
- We have to go, put back there.
Go straight there.
- Now that I know where I'm going, let me drive.
Okay.
- This is the most important consignment you will ever have.
If it have even a single crack, this will not be worshipped.
I don't know how it goes.
She's doomed.
- Gonna head up to the little village and dump off the old Kali girl here.
Thank God.
- Did you just say, "Thank God"? - Holy BLEEP! He can sing! - Quite the gathering, waiting for this thing to come.
This is a big deal for this village.
Stop car.
- I think they'll be pretty disappointed if it's busted.
I tried to take her easy.
I must go look.
Tell them, very, very careful.
Very careful.
- And he went slow, slow, slow, slow, and no broken.
Yes.
I'm a little bit nervous, 'cause if this load's damaged, it'll be the first one in the whole time I've been trucking.
In the Himalayan village of Kulpa I think her legs are broken.
I'm hoping not.
Rick's checking his sacred cargo after a treacherous journey.
Not broken.
I can't believe that it made it and it's not broken.
- It's beautiful.
- That is awesome.
Delivered! Thank you.
Good.
To them, it's a big deal.
To us, it's a big deal to get it here in one piece.
Yeah.
The Goddess Kali festival is known as the Mother's Day in India Jesus BLEEP.
- Tashi's got a firm grip.
A time when Indian women are presented with new cloth and jewelry and treated with great reverence.
- Do I believe in this stuff? No.
Am I religiously moved? No, but it is kind of a moving thing that this is that important.
They're gonna dress me.
I don't know Hindi.
Oh, that's gonna get hot.
I never thought I'd be wearing Indian traditional clothing.
Ever.
Ooh, right on my bladder.
That's really tight.
I'm in traditional dress now.
We thank both of you.
You're very welcome.
- Now our next program is dance.
- You can dance.
I ain't dancing.
- No, I'm not dancing unless you're dancing.
- I can't dance.
- I don't know how to dance.
I'm sorry.
- It doesn't look hard, but it is.
- He just said Lisa's dancing very well.
Well.
Okay, well, thank you, everybody, for all your hospitality.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
Well, that was a hell of a road.
I didn't I honestly, truly didn't think the statues were gonna survive, and I've never been a truck driver and had this kind of a reception.
You're lucky if that guy buys you a beer.
With their load safely delivered, Rick and Lisa are headed south, back to Shimla.
I have a text message.
My daughter's still pretty sick.
The doctor's confident that she's gonna make it through it, so that's good.
Do you have any children? - Children and 14 and small.
I'm trying.
It's definitely not easy to take on a new country like this, and I've been sick and overheated.
It's hard to keep on smiling through it.
So he's actually been a very good example to me.
Thank you, Tashi.
- I've been serving the whine gods a little too much, and they're Bitch, Moan, and Complain, so I got to abandon that, go back to being tough and friendly and sweet and all those things that I need to be.
What's your wife's name? - Rashmi? - Rashmi.
Oh, no.
And, uh and the - That's very sad.
- It is.
- I wouldn't know what I could would do without my wife.
Yeah, so - It's a rough life here, and then, you to lose your wife is man, that's what you got, your family.
You got your wife and your kids, and if he loses his wife, that's a tough deal, man.
That's a tough deal.
Makes you realize what you have at home real quick.
I'm going home with a whole new attitude with everything, I think.
But before Rick goes home, these three North American truckers will take on the Rohtang Pass.
Rohtang Pass, baby.
At over 13,000 feet, the name of this pass translates to "pile of corpses".
They just found some bodies.
Here, the roads are worse.
- You can't BLEEP bet on this place.
The air is thinner.
I have a horrible headache, and it's making me nauseated and weak.
The storms are more violent.
Look at the clouds moving in.
This is getting uglier by the minute.
- We're gonna get some nasty weather.
Everything out here is extreme.
Tempers flare.
Get the BLEEP out! - Get out! - Step out! - Gonna run him off the BLEEP road.
We're in the rolling casket.
- Out the window is about a 7,000-foot drop-off.
I'm gonna fall off the edge.
- I ended up getting myself into a world of BLEEP.
And every turn could be their last.
- This could be the trip that breaks us.
- Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!