Les Routes de l'impossible

Ecuador, fear on the rails

A railway lost in the middle of the jungle, rails eaten away by humidity, and bridges creaking over the void... Using makeshift trains, Juce and his gang penetrate the Alto Tambo Valley every day to earn a living. The mountain may collapse, and derailments may multiply, but nothing can stop them. In a country in crisis, resourcefulness and courage are their only resources. At the foot of the Andes, on tracks clinging to the peaks, "rancheras" circulate: makeshift trucks that resemble buses and transport men, animals, and crops to market. In the east of the country, indigenous communities, like the Cofan, tirelessly roam rivers and forests to push gold prospectors and oil companies out of their territory. But the strategic location between Colombia and Peru has also attracted drug cartels, who are gradually imposing their rule.