And we do not make the death toll 44!

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Hey Everbody

So we arrived in Bolivia the other day, very smooth border crossing with no issues whatsoever. We arrived in Copacabanna and as you can imagine we all felt it necessary to sign the song. Not much to do in Copacabana, but it was very pretty with the lake in the background, and the white beaches. Made you almost feel like you were in the tropics....ALMOST.

On Thursday we left Copacabanna and headed towards La Paz. Little did we know we had to cross the lake and our bus had to get on a "ferry" where it rocked precariously back and forth to the point that I thought we would lose it. Passengers were NOT to be riding in the bus, but instead got to take a tiny boat over, with enough lifejackets to replay titanic. Not good. Upon arriving in La Paz, James and I and our tour leader went to the bus depot to try and arrange our bus out of la paz for the salar. No such luck, the lady that sells tickets only works 9 to 6, altho there busses don't run til 9pm go figure. So we left no tickets, and went for dinner and bed, because the next day was the grand adventure of the worlds most dangerous road.

Friday, nice and early morning for this whole day excursion on bikes. The road, WMDR, was named that is the 90s as it has had the most deaths on it than any other road in the world. Why we signed up for mountain biking down, where you drop 3600m in 64km is beyond me, especially because i love bikes soooo much. Upon arriving at the peak, we got geared up in everything and i mean everything because it was raining, cold with 50km winds pushing you. The first bit is on pavement which isn't so bad, just a bit steep. Then there was the option of biking up 8km, but no one wanted anything to do with that except for naturally the crazy men, again James came in first...him and his natural athletism.......After that we started on the gravel downroad. by this point it has rained so much, it has soaked thru waterproof gear, and five layers of clothing. And altho my boots were waterproof it did not stop the rain that went streaming down my leg and then into my shoe, thus creating a lake. Good Times......did I mention I paid for this.....We started down the gravel and it wasn't too bad, altho I will say I was at the back, for my experiences on bikes is nil. But with plenty of stops, and some snacks and lookouts on the way we all made itdown in one piece. There were the occasional back tire slipping out from beneath you but all in all, one piece and i think only 2 ppl fell off the bikes, but not off the road of death. Thank goodness. I will say tho that I am glad we went with the tour company that we did, because the other tours on the road, were well frankly GHETTO and unsafe. No one was obeying the rules of the road, they were all over the place, guides without first aid or walk talkies and then them leaving clients on the road for themselves. Upon reaching the bottom we got our victory beer and t shirts, and then got to have nice hot showers at an animal refuge site. Followed by a big late lunch, we boarded back on the bus where we decided that we should drive up the old road, instead of the nice paved safe one......again we survived to tell the tale, and frankly it was like surviving the road twice. So far the death toll this year is up to 43, and injuries are usually 2 a week where ppl are hospitalized. Of course we got to hear all the stories going down the mountain!

After we got back to the hotel we all headed out for our last dinner as a tour group and celebrated our tour leader. Followed by merry drinking and dancing, James and I made it back to the hotel at 2am.

Today was spent organizing our trip to the salt flats. We leave on Monday night to Uyuni, start the salar on tuesday, and then end in San Pedro atacama, Chile on Thursday. We will probably be heading to argentina after that..............Otherwise all is well. Tomorrow we might go to the Isla of the moon or somethign like that, and maybe do the lonely planet suggested walking route around la paz. Anyways all is well hope everything is great at home. Take care

Erin and James

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