Impossible Roads

At -35°C and without shelter several dozen kilometers around, Mongolian drivers must face any challenge. Bataar'aa, whose 4x4 is falling apart, lights a fire under the engine to prevent it from freezing. In the absence of a road, he travels on icy rivers to supply the workers of the steppe. In the Gobi Desert, the tracks stretch for hundreds of kilometers. The country's economic "miracle" lies at the end of these: there lie the largest coal reserves in the world. For the drivers responsible for transporting “black gold”, the journey is endless. Baktu fights against the cold and the dust. His fear is to break down in the middle of the desert.

In Albania, men challenge precipices every day. Luan's truck no longer has brakes and cans filled with gasoline that clutter the passenger compartment are connected to the engine by a garden hose. System D is the rule in these mountains because the country is still struggling to recover from its past. Albania lived for 45 years under one of the harshest communist regimes in the world and Albanians were only allowed to own a private car from 1991. Many villages are only accessible by road. The other valleys are not better off. From the spectacular Koman Lake to the turquoise waters of the Kir River, the trails are still a challenge and the ghosts of "Kanun", a customary law, which authorizes blood vengeance, have not completely dissipated.

In Thailand, the Karen people are isolated in the mountains and make a modest living from growing rice and corn. Anuwat, one of them, has to travel to his field along mountain roads that have been ravaged by storms. In his 4x4, he has to take all the risks but can count on the solidarity of the locals. In Laos, Ham, like all the other farmers, has been badly affected by the ban on poppy cultivation. His old military truck could implode at any moment under the weight of the goods and passengers in its trailer.

In Alaska, the cold turns the water into an ice highway, a vital route for the inhabitants but very dangerous for those who venture where the ice is not thick enough. The oil truckers face another danger, avalanches. The roads are sometimes impassable, the pilots earn their living with short flights, but the cold can easily damage their machines. The gold prospectors are ready to brave the cold water and the blizzard to try their luck in this lucrative business. As global warming hits the region very hard, new dangers appear.

Zanskar is a region of India located in the highest populated valley of the Himalayas, at more than 4,000 meters above sea level. To reach the small village of Ralakum, Nima and her son begin a long journey with their 4x4. Once the long car journey is over, the worst begins as there are two days of walking in the cold and ice. Tashi and Thinle also take risks to reach isolated villages in order to sell their fruits and vegetables. Cars sinking into ice and lack of oxygen seem almost insignificant compared to the recent floods which have devastated certain areas.