It is a scientific fact that everyone in the world either has a shitty commute now, had one in the past or is going to get one in the immediate future. But no matter how crappy your journey to your job is or how many hobos you have to fight on the subway, there's always someone out there who has it even worse. These are those people.
After all, they must survive ...
#6.Hussaini Bridge
No, that's not a screen capture from the "none shall pass" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- it's an actual photo of a bridge located in the Hussaini village at Gilgit-Baltistan, which is a region of either northern Pakistan or Kashmir, depending on who you ask (apparently both sides are really keen on taking credit for this impressive work of architecture). But the point is, the village itself is located on both banks of the Hunza River: On one side are the actual houses, on the other is the farmland where the villagers work, and in the middle is this bullshit series of wooden planks held together by a combination of twine and hope.
#5.Yungas Road (aka Death Road)
Yungas Road connects the trucking routes among the cities of La Paz, Coroico and Chulumani in Bolivia, so you've got trucks from three different places converging in that extremely limited space you see up there. The locals call it El Camino de la Muerte or, "Death Road," which sounds like something Dolph Lundgren might have starred in during the 90s. It's estimated that the road takes between 200 and 300 lives every year (also like Dolph Lundgren), which is why in 1995 it was
declared the most dangerous in the world."
#4.The Lineman's Crawl
Yep, part of these guys' daily routine involves crawling between one power post and the next, 100 feet above the ground, performing maintenance on the wires while thousands of volts run over their bodies (more on that in a moment). And how do they get up there? Sitting on the side of a helicopter, because that's literally the only method of transportation sufficiently badass for them.
To survive the insane amounts of electricity, linemen have to wear flexible metal mesh suits that divert the volts around their bodies. But that's not all: Remember at the beginning of the video, when the lineman touches the wires using a metal rod? He's not doing that to pretend he's Harry Potter (at least not exclusively), but rather because he needs to "charge" himself with the same potential as the wire before mounting it. If the helicopter overshoots even a little during that process, it could come into contact with the wrong wire and turn both the lineman and the pilot into a pile of ashes. Making sure this doesn't happen involves an amazing amount of coordination between pilot and lineman, like some sort of extreme high-voltage ballet.
#3.Tokyo Trains
See those guys pushing people into a crowded train with impunity, while everyone else stands and watches? Well, they're doing that because it's their job: They're called oshiya, which literally translates as "train pushers." Yes, in Japan, there is a word for "person who stuffs trains with human bodies." Train pushers are usually strong and intimidating and they take their job description pretty seriously:)
The fact that the Japanese government deems it necessary to pay workers to cram more people into trains is the result of a complex set of socioeconomic factors. Houses in Tokyo are really, really expensive -- like $45,000 per square meter expensive, on average. So while there are "only" about 13 million people living in Tokyo proper, there are tens of millions more living on the outskirts who have to commute to the city every single day.
#2.Tower Climbing
Tower climbers are exactly what they sound like: Dudes who get on top of very tall towers to fix stuff, because someone has to. So how do they get to work? By climbing a tower.
Actually, they ride most of the way up in an elevator and only have to climb about 200 feet by themselves. Unfortunately, those 200 feet happen to be positioned at the very top of these extremely tall broadcasting towers -- like those on the (former) Sears Tower, whose tallest spot is located more than 1,700 feet above the ground (not a good place to be in a city known for being windy). Add to this the fact that tower climbers have to carry bags filled with assloads of tools (weighing around 30 pounds), because if it turns out they need a wrench or something, it's a pain in the ass to have to go all the way down to fetch it.
But it gets worse: As if the job wasn't scary and dangerous enough by itself, tower climbers apparently feel the same way we do about their commutes -- the faster they can get them over with, the better. For you, this means running a few yellow lights; for tower climbers, getting to work faster involves ditching some essential precautions and "free climbing" massive sections of the tower without any protection.
#1.Zip-Lining to School
This one beats all the other commutes on this list simply because it isn't done just by adults -- in fact, it's mostly done by children. Impossibly badass little children who zip-line across mountains to get to school.These kids live in Colombia, in a remote outpost called Los Pinos (pronounced "Lost Penis" - funny but sad )
The Colombian government hasn't built a bridge across the ravine separating the village from the nearby town (where the only school is located) because they literally cannot be arsed to -- since they say
not enough people live there. Well, maybe that has to do with the fact that
there's a huge freaking ravine right in front of them. If they want to get anywhere, the inhabitants have only two options: a two-hour hike across rocky terrain or a one-minute zip-line ride. Sure, the zip-line is much faster, but would you be willing to take that risk, especially if there were children involved? Think about it.
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The last two, are trully terrifying. And that Death Road as well, but seeing those kids going to school in the way they do...it makes me sad. How come no one gets involved and do something about it. I see, nothing happened ( yet, and hope it wont happen anything as well in the future ). How come no billionaire doesnt try and make them happy, help them, at least build them a school closer:) ). It would be a good advertise for "him" as well. I know it aint cheap, but damn...seeing those young ones smiling and zipping across those mountains that way...it aint right, it aint fair:)...
We live in a sad, sad world:(
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