The worlds most dangerous road

The chemin de la meurte (death rode) is 64km long winding down the side of a verticle mountain. since is opened in thew 1930s it is estiminated more that 80,000 people have died along it....whole buses would fall of the side in the fog. between 1993 and 2003 (when cars and buses and drivers are supposedly more competent) 4,000 people died. In 2003 a new wider road was constructed which is what the traffic uses now (still many deaths) but the original death rode is open to cyclists. 26 tourists and 1 guide have died along the path. The most recent a British guy in June (5 months ago). We found this all out afterwards when we had the courage to ask, and also the day before our tour (tuesday) a british tourist with the expensive recommended tour company (60 pounds) fell off the edge and broke his arm and leg.

ANYWAY... we began on the new paved road, not forgetting that this is some of the most spectacular scenery in the world and is the main draw for tourists in bolivia, at 4,800m. We had good bikes with hydraulic brakes (essential) and on the paved road it was amazing...probably hitting 40 miles per hour. it just reminded me of skiing....the scenery is similar. We stopped every 5 minutes or so for pictures and to make sure everyone was happy and ok. the guides were great ...Marcelo (23), Edwin (24) and Wanker (21)...sorry but that is what the other guides called him..it was pretty funny...and it was his birthday the day we were cycling so everyone was in great form.

The second part of the trail...the original death road is unpaved and probably about 2 metres wide in most places (remember that this was a two way road and buses would have to reverse to let others pass)...no barriers up at all just a shear drop of 1km or more. but when you are cycling you are so concerned with the road in front of you which is covered in rocks that you dont notice the drop until you stop to take pictures. Also the path is very wet and slippy in places as you pass under waterfalls. It is very beautiful..there is nothing but green mountains and waterfalls for miles. The path is constantly downhill but not very steep, like skiing, t is best to keep a bit of speed up to keep from stumbling on the loose stones.

Half way throuhg my arms were aching from gripping the handle bars so hard....and by the end i was struggling to keep grip. saying that i am proud to announce that dave and i were by far the best in our group, we were down 1st and 2nd ahead of all the other guys. Edwin said i was "excellent for a lady". during the cycle we had descended more that 3km and it was noticable in the weather. very cold at the start and over 30 degrees at the finish. The took us to a hotel with a swimming pool for lunch with was well needed before we headed back to la paz.

As it was wankers birthday we all had some drinks on the 3 hour drive back to la paz and when we arrived back dave and i continued having some drinks with the bolivians in their office. the big boss (who must have been more that 50) and the secretary also joined in and between their english and our spanish we had a great time. We had to go back and meet joost and all at the hostel before they headed off to jungle and the bolivians wanted to come to the bar in our hostel but they were afraid because locals arent allowed into the hostels and they always wanted to see the bar where all the "gringos" had parties. So we invited the 4 of them to come with us.

The 6 OF US GOT IN ONE TAXI...... 3 men in the front (including the driver) 3 men and me in the back. it is by far the funniest taxi i have ever been in. We got them into the hostel all right because edwin knew the guy on the door. the secretary had tried to get in 3 years earlier but was turned away when he went with some german tourists so they were all so excited to get in. We had some beers and played pool with them. it was great fun.

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