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Published: December 4th 2011
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Yesterday evening I took an overnight bus to La Paz so that I could bike down the world’s most dangerous road the next day. The bus itself was fine, but for some reason there was no heating on the bus and it got really old. The locals knew better and boarded the bus with blankets. The bus made one stop close to midnight for a 15-minute break but it was too cold so I did not get off the bus. A few more stops seemingly in the middle of nowhere with people getting on and off and eventually we made it to the bus terminal in La Paz just after 5AM. The bus terminal was not enclosed and it felt cold. The digital display read “0C”.
I was told that as a gringo I would get ripped off taking a taxi but it only cost me $10 Bs to get to the hotel. I cleaned up and made it to the meeting point with other fellow cyclists who signed up with Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking. It’s probably the most expensive company to go with but they have a good safety record, not something you want to mess with on a
road that has taken many lives.
Our van took us to La Cumbre (4700m) where we got fitted with our biking gear. Each bike has a name, to avoid confusion with other people’s bikes, because the front / rear brakes may be different on the bikes. My bike’s name is Jack. Why wouldn’t they just make everything the same? Anyway, after listening to the safety speech and tested out the bikes, we were almost ready to head out on the road. Out comes the 96% grain alcohol. We were to sprinkle some on the front + rear tires, on the ground for protection by Pachamama and a sip for ourselves.
The road has several names, the North Yungas Road, Coroico Road, El Camino de la Murte (Death Road). It’s approximately 63km with an 8 km uphill section after the narcotics checkpoint. The region produces a large quantity of coca leaves but the police could care less about us because we don’t really have room on our bikes to carry the chemical necessary for cocaine extraction The road ends at Yolosa (elevation 1200m) for a elevation drop of 3500m. The road was (is) dangerous because of sheer drop-offs of
more than 600m, most of the road no wider than 3.2m, and lack of guard rails. It may be less dangerous now (from a mountain biker’s point view) because there is less traffic, as most of the traffic has moved to the new road between Chuspipata and Yolosa, bypassing to the north of the old Death Road. The section between La Cumbre and Chuspipata has two paved lanes and isn’t really that dangerous. The section beyond that isn’t paved and has loose gravel / large rocks, and if you are not focused on the road but watching the spectacular changing scenery from the cool Altiplano terrain to rainforest as it winds through very steep hillside and cliffs you may go over the edge. I lost traction a couple of times and almost thought I was going to wipe out; luckily I survived to write this blog.
One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. The same goes for bikers. On the first section we biked down on the right before the road switched around at some point when we were
riding on the left (cliff) side. The rationale was to give a left hand drive vehicle’s driver a better view over the outside wheel to make passing safer.
Our guide, Phil, is an American from North Carolina. He’s very knowledgeable about the road and not bad at telling jokes. The ride was divided into 17 or so segments so he could give us information relevant to each section; otherwise, it would be too overwhelming. Just after the police checkpoint and before the uphill climb is the town of Pongo where there is a trout hatchery. Someone came along and opened a restaurant with trout as the specialty dish. As Phil explained, in typical Bolivian fashion other people came along and did the exact same thing because it was successful.
The 8-km uphill climb was optional so out of the 14 people in the group, 5 of us did it. It didn’t look that hard but when you factor in the altitude, it was a challenge. On some parts I was gasping for air but I made it without looking like a fool.
There is a section called the Devil’s Tail because of the tight switchbacks. Where the
San Juan waterfall cascades down is the narrowest part of the road. Crosses are seen along the road, as memorial to those who went over the cliff. We were told that there were human traffic lights directing traffic before the new section of the road opened. Traffic was sparse on the old Death Road and I only saw a single vehicle around San Juan Waterfall until we got close to Yolosa. Phil told us to watch out for 3 potential obstacles: children (don’t high five because they have been known to hang on); dogs (just pedal away if you can); and chicken which are completely unpredictable.
Near the end of the road is a large puddle that Phil named the world’s most dangerous puddle because it has run-off from a pig farm upstream. We all got down to Yolosa safe and sound, although dirtier than before we started.
A few of us did the new zip line at Yolosa, Zzip the Flying Fox which only opened in June 2010. Apparently its equipment in terms of safety exceeds international standards. I did the sketchy zip lines in Costa Rica so I figured this one couldn’t be any worse. It
only has 3 lines, the first one is the highest, the second one fastest (85 km/hr) and the third one longest (587m). One of the petite girls didn’t make it all the way on one of the lines and had to reverse and pull herself + getting assistance from one of the guides.
We then went to La Senda Verde in the jungle not too far from Yolosa, a non-profit refuge established in 2003 to provide long-term care for animals rescued from illegal trafficking or former pets that are no longer wanted. There are a number of macaws, parrots, a toucan, a South American coati, boa constrictor, and many monkeys – I saw capuchin and spider monkeys. There are some howler monkeys around too. There is also an Andean fox on the other side of the river which we didn’t see. The animals have gotten used to people and are extremely friendly, with a macaw and the coati snuggling with the staff. The included lunch was tasty (pasta + broccoli/cauliflower/carrots/beans) and there is a nice shower facility.
We left after 5:30pm to go back to La Paz. We were extremely lucky weather-wise and did not get rained on
at all coming down the Death Road. There was only a sprinkle of drizzle on the zip lines but on the way back the weather had changed drastically, with thick fog and rain, making the uphill drive extremely dangerous. It was probably more dangerous driving at that time than the trip down on our bikes earlier that day. I am sure the drivers had driven this road many times and made it look like a breeze. We got back to La Paz around 9:30pm.
Later that night I met up with a friend whom I met on my trip to Mexico/Guatemala over 3 years ago when she was the trainee tour leader. Good times catching up with her and a couple of other fellow Canadians.
Hotel: Cruz de los Andes – very friendly staff, decent breakfast but finicky shower
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