PHOTO FRIDAY: WALL OF DEATH

Two riders brave the infamous "Wall of Death" at a fair in India.

If you ever get the chance to visit one of India's countless circuses or fairs, your first stop has to be a show at the Wall of Death, aka "Motordome." Just follow the smell of exhaust fumes and the sounds of screaming crowds intermingled with twin-cylinder engines revved to their breaking points. 

The shows are so popular, the fair we went to--the Sonepur Mela--featured two of the high-walled, rickety cylinders. Both had been built from rusted metal supports and wooden planks more at place in a garbage dump than as an elevated road meant to hold up hundreds of spectators and a fleet of speeding cars and motorcycles. 

Once we finally overcame the fear factor, we sat with the masses, amazed by what has to be one of the craziest shows on earth.

Workers chat while a car, driven by a maniac, speeds overhead. A stunned crowd watches form above. The photo was taken through one of the many broken wooden planks on which the cars and bikes depend to hold them up.