Death Road And Monkey Bites!

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Hola Blog Readers!

We´ve just come back from three spectacular days in Bolivia. We set off from Puno just after breakfast on Thursday morning for a coach ride to Copacobana. It only cost 10 Soles for the 3 hour trip. Once there we booked a boat ride across to the small island called Isla Del Sol where we would be spending the night. We had a look at few of the shops and bought some horrible food before getting on the 1.5 hour boat ride. It was quite choppy at the start but the views of the islands were amazing, the water was clear and because Lake Titicaca is so big it felt like we were sailing out to sea! It was, however, the first time we´d seen any clouds since Lima!

Once at the Isla Del Sol, we hiked up the Inca Stairway to find our hostel with a friend (Rebecca) we made in Inka´s Rest and some American who wanted to find a cheaper place to have the full traveller experience of living off no money whatsoever. We managed to get a magnificent view across the lake and the snowcapped Andean mountains in the background. The whole island has no running water or electricity so that was quite an experience in itself! We caught up with Rebecca and we all watched the sun set behind the hills and then went for a candlelit dinner at a restaurant near the hostel which was one of the best meals so far. The three of us were the only ones staying at the hostel so we got our candles and went to bed.

We set the alarm early to watch the sun rise over the mountains from our room but then went back to sleep before having some breakfast cooked by the women running the hostel. We then got the boat back to Copacabana and chatted to two guys from Luton who had been in Boliva for 3 months and were just going to Peru. We exchanged stories and tips on where to go and they told us that if we´ve only got one full day in La Paz then there is only one thing to do...

We got to Copacabana and we all had lunch together before attempting to find our respective buses to La Paz. It seemed that a number of the companies clubbed together to get just one bus across so we ended up being on the same one as Rebecca even though we had bought tickets for two different bus companies! The 4 hour trip went quickly and included a trip across the lake (including the coach) so that we didn´t have to cross the border twice. We arrived in La Paz in the evening and hurriedly managed to book a place for tomorrows excursions and then we ate some Mexican food at the hostel which was really good value for money - not to mention that our hostel was called The Adventure Brew because it has its own micro-brewery on site so we got a free beer/coke just for being there! Laura says the beer was really good!

The road between La Paz and Yungas has been christened as the world´s most dangerous road. It claims between 250-300 lives a year but this year, only 43 have died (including one two weeks ago) so there was plenty of catching up to do. The road is precariously thin, gravelly, windey and one side of it is a sheer face cliff drop 400m at it´s worst point. Basically this was Laura´s worst nightmare (and probably our parents!). Some New Zealand guys thought this was a good business opportunity to send completely inexperienced mountain bikers down the world´s most dangerous road on bikes costing over $2500. Could we survive the world´s most dangerous road? Well it was worth a go...

So we got up early and met at the cafe where all the other bikers were. We drove for 45 mins before getting to the highest point on the ride at 4650m. We put our gear on, got on the bikes and went down the first hours worth of tarmac reaching speeds of over 70kph! We then had to bike uphill for an hour. Some people bailed on this part. Laura and I saw it as a good opportunity to get some altitude training for the half marathon. We got to the first section fine and Laura even got a round of applause as she made it. We stopped for a snack before attempting to tackle the Death Road.

The Death Road was split into 4 sections. Each of which involved going ridiculously fast down the road. They insist that you must be on the left hand side of the road (the one closest to the cliff face) and the hairpin corners came thick and fast. The only person to fall off their bike the entire day was of course me. I zoomed round this corner catching up with the experienced guide and then noticed a huge boulder had come off the cliff and was in the middle of the road. I slammed my disk brakes on and managed to go over the top of my bike and the boulder landing on my feet (I have no idea how this happened) and picked up my bike to try and catch him up again. The guides said that all the accidents have occured from testosterone exceeding ability.

Once we survived the Death Road 40km later we went to a really cool Animal Sanctury where we got a free beer/coke, a buffet and we went round to look at the animals. This included a monkey biting Laura´s face and trying to grab her earring which I captured perfectly on camera. For me, however, the monkeys played on my head and one got me by the hand, dragged me a few metres to show me how big it´s mouth was. I was enthralled. We then had to get back on the bus and go back up the Death Road for the next 3 hours. It even started raining and the encrouching cloud meant that visibility at the top was only a few metres. Panic stations all round really.

We got back to La Paz pretty late and didn´t have time for any dinner which was annoying. We went to sleep very quickly and got up in time for some pancakes to have before our coach back to Puno this morning. The 7 hour ride was boring and too hot. Luckily we only have one more coach ride to go. So we´re back in Puno and we´re about to go for some food. Tomorrow is present buying and going to the Floating Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca!

Love Tink and Laura xxxx

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Comments

[Pete]

Hope you didn't ruin your brown knickers
I was very disappointed not to have another update of your bowel movements during your ride on the death road. Luckily mum was sitting down when she read this entry but came over all queer when she read you'd fallen off!! I hope Laura's monkey bite don't become infected, although the resulting scar would be an awesome ice-breaker at parties!! Stay safe chops!!

[Rox]

mum is NOT happy
but I am! that sounds fun! xxx

[Tink's mum]

Relieived to hear you're OK
The only thing that kept me going on reading this scary account was the fact that I knew you must have survived to be writing it! I must say, though it gives me extra kudos at work where other mums are worrying about their children going off to uni for the first time - I just say, "If I don't hear from my son in the next few days I have to assume he's been kidnapped in Bolivia!" Keep enjoying yourselves! (And try and look after Laura!)

[Clare]

"testosterone exceeding ability" - I never thought I'd see a day when Tink was described as this! Haha. Glad you survived death road x