Hostal Estrella Andina La Paz

... as I explained in the previous posting. The plan is a 19een seater plane and the airport over there is a grass field. More news there.<br><br>Journée avion - Santa Cruz -- La Paz -- Rurrenrabaque.<br><br>C´est parti pour attérir a l´aéroport international le plus haut du monde. Un peu angoissée au décollage. Faut dire l´aéroport de Santa Cruz ne paie pas de mine, pas de vérification de passeport, ni ...

... section. <br><br>Down the tarmac section we were reaching speeds of over 60km per hour and overtaking lorries and other cars as we started to get our confidence up. <br><br>The guides were really good and stopped often to let the group catch up. One was always at the back and one at the front with the support vehicle some where behind us. They were<br>all in radio contact with each other etc.. <br><br>The tunnel marked the end of the tarmac and time to test the bikes out on ...

... and with Laurie in tow, we snaked up the narrow alleys filled with street vendors, on the lookout for anything special, and nothing in particular. What we did find - loads of knock-off shoes and clothing, pirated software and DVDs, local herbs and baked goods, and I swear a boiled cow´s head that was being carved off for street side sandwiches. (I tiik a pass on this one....)<br><br>After about an hour of discovering the ...

... soon become apparent, btu failed. Nothing can compete with that 7% Bock. But still, I managed to haul myself out of bed the next morning for my day's activity.... cycling down the World's Most Dangerous Road!!! My dearest pal Eleanor first told me of this when she did the same thing about 4 years ago and I decided I should do it too! <br><br>Now, I should explain a little. The "Road" is not that dangerous. Well, potentially, it's very dangerous but not as bad as it was 2-3+ years ...

... starting with a regional bear munching away on what looked like a pineapple with salsa on it. <br><br>I think the saddest thing I saw was the lack of information given to the visitor on the animals.  The reptile house being the worst, a row of concrete squares and some venemous reptiles staring at you and you had no idea whether they would crush, bite or run away from you if they managed to escape from their weak boxes.  <br><br>None of the ...

... poor people live up the steep sides towards to the rim. This is quite the opposite of other cities where the rich live on the higher ground away from the city melee.<br><br>This fact is just one of many oddities about this place. The city is similar to other South American cities that we have visited, lots of people buzzing around, buses belching out fumes, commercial centres, markets, a Plaza de Armas, Plaza de San Francisco and its church (St Francisco is ...

... before the bus tonight... hahaha.<br><br>Well, there you have it, Im sat in an internet cafe in downtown La Paz as its raining cats and dogs outside now and I forgot my Llama fur to keep me dry. We spent the morning people watching around the town hall square which was full of a strange conglomeration of Latin Americans and riot police with tear gas belts around their wasts. I sat and watched a young guy who cant of been much older than 25 transformed from a lifeless soul ...

... claggy mud. The road wound itself through the lush vegtation of the temperate Yungas jungle, passing under numerous waterfalls and over narrow streams.<br><br>As we dropped down out of the mountains and the sun came up, it became progressively warmer. One by one we peeled our layers off but the 53 year old German lady in the group clearly didn't know when to stop - stripping off to the tightest black, shiny, lycra cycling shorts imaginable. Given she was about 4 stone ...

... it was positively baltic. Advanced Camp sounds very grand but this place was about as basic as it gets. It literally consisted of a large metal tin with a couple of bunk beds, perched on the edge of the mountain. The loo was an even smaller metal shed which solely stopped the wind and snow from hitting your bare backside and therefore allowing you to perch over a large hole in the ground. Given it's always below zero up here, there's not much decomposition going on in the pit below ...

... info and pictures on his computer and said that out of the three companies that he uses, he would recommend them above the rest. Luckily Nicki had spoken to a guy in our hostel who not only had highly recommended Free Bikes but had paid only 250 bolivianos, so the bloke called them up and we managed to agree this price... bonus. Originally we had been thinking of going with Gravity Assisted, who are the most expensive and the most advertised, apparently the best company out there ...