The Most Dangerous Road in the World
Trip Start
Sep 04, 2008
1
13
33
Trip End
Jan 11, 2009
La Paz,
Bolivia
Thursday, October 16, 2008
I stayed at the Loki hostel. It is massive, it is a renovated hotel and has itīs own bar and provides meals if you want - you need never leave the hostel. I was in a shared dorm of 8 beds but because itīs not peak season there were only two other girls in the room. Loki is a bit of a party hostel so I havenīt seen either of them much; they tend to come in a few hours before I get up. I thought La Paz would be a chance to let rip but it hasnīt worked out that way. I have picked up a chesty cough which has sparked off my asthma. Topped off with the unbelievable pollution in this city, I havenīt felt all that great. And I think the altitude sickness stomach cramps is actually just a poorly tummy.
Spent Tuesday doing errands - new batteries for my head torch, repaired my sleeping bag, repaired my rucksack... I still havenīt tackled the latter half of my trip yet though, and I really ought to get on with that. Maybe after this...
After one day in the city I couldnīt hack it (no pun intended) anymore, and booked a day trip - a mountain bike ride along The Most Dangerous Road in the World www.gravitybolivia.com The road is a twisty turny road just outside La Paz along a mountain ridge way. Many people have died on that road, some because they were drink driving (one story of a drunk Bolivian who let his 15 yr old son drive his truck along the road with 22 passengers in the back - yeah, they took a spill over the edge), some died because they were a bit stooopid (getting off the wrong side of the bike, straight off the cliff edge; one Israeli guy accidentally pushed his mate off the edge as one of those "Nearly got you" fake pushes.) The guide also had lots of horror stories of tourist injuries mainly to make sure nobody goofed about. The tour agency film all the accidents, apparently there are some on You Tube. Here is a gentle clip from a Ch4 documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KKaQscc2cE - there are some really nasty ones out there if you want to look for them.
The weather was not brilliant, cold and wet at the start. It was on the paved section of the road but the rain meant I couldnīt see more than about 10 foot in front of me - I just followed the white line like the guide told me! By the time that section was done I was frozen, I couldnīt feel my hands or feet, and I had gone deaf from the wind and my head cold. As I couldnīt hear the instructions the guide preferred that I sat in the bus for the first part of the off-road bit, which was fine with me: I could thaw out. It also meant I got chance to take in the scenery. It really was stunning (photos on www.Flickr.com/photos/bongo76 any day now) After the first section and a quick sandwich I got back on the bike and finished the trip. The off-road part was actually really exhilarating. It was actually more scary on the bus; on the bike you feel like you have more control over where you ride. The road was rough but the wet morning meant there wasnīt any dust and I didnīt get sunburnt.
The ride finished at an animal sanctuary for abuse jungle animals found in markets etc. The aim is to rehabilitate the animals but some of them were pretty easy around humans. We had a shower and the best meal (we had earned it.) Then back on the bus, back along the road to La Paz. Going back on the bus the guide showed us various death sites and truck wrecks at the bottom of the cliff. Apparently there is some debate amongst extreme cyclists as to whether tourist should be allowed to ride the road - most of us had little experience of mountain biking, if any! And I didnīt really like that other peopleīs deaths became our Kodak moments. Iīm glad I didnīt become another story for a tour guide to tell some other wide-eyed tourists to scoff at. All in all though it was an excellent day. I saw again three Irish girls I met in Copacobana, Esme from Spanish School was also there, and I met a really great girl with the best name ever: Marlo Orange. How cool is that name? Marlo is going to be in Rio for December so hopefully will find her again.
So today I have checked out and after this will take a look around the Witches Market and kill time before my bus. Iīve rethought where Iīm going next; I was going to Potosi and squeeze myself down a silver mine, but with this cough I think it might be too much. Iīve heard it is claustrophobic at the best of times. Instead Iīm leaving La Paz earlier than planned and going straight to Uyuni and the Salt Flats, but that bus doesnīt leave until 9pm tonight.
(additional)
The Witches Market was just more tourist tat, not at all what I expected. Then I visited the Coca Museo www.cocamuseum.com/ which was really interesting; The US is only 5% of the Worlds population but consumes 50% of the Worlds cocaine. The US drugs market (legal and illegal) and Coca Cola is the biggest reason that Bolivia is still so poor. Then went to the National Museum of Art. It was mainly religious art but there was an excellent exhibition of sculpture by Marina Nuņez del Prado www.mna.org.bo/exhib-temporales.html
And then, perky that my tummy was a bit better, I went to Burger King.
The tourist bus to Uyuni left at 9pm. Really nice bus, reclining seats, meal provided, but continued the obsession with overly loud TVs - even though this was supposed to be a sleeper bus we had Mel Gibsons Apocolypto, a very shouty film, at top volume. Once the bus got to Oruro around midnight the road turned to gravel and we shook the remaining 9 hours to Uyuni...
