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Published: January 3rd 2008
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The Death Road
Yours truly cycling uphill!! Well gang, hope you all had a peaceful and tranquil christmas day....mine was anything but!!
After I wrote the last travel blog, Ben, Brad, Bill and I decided we were bored and would have a couple of pre group meal "quiet" drinks. Well needless to say it was happy hour 2 for 1 on rum and cokes. We turned up late for the group meal a little worse for wear. When our food arrived i stuffed half of the green beans in my gob turned to Ben and said "do I have something in my teeth?", ala Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura. Well he absolutely pissed himself, then i got the giggles and we couldnt stop'laughing for the whole meal, whilst everyone else just looked at us bewildered. Thats about as far as my memory goes that evening!
So on Xmas eve we crossed the border into Bolivia, South Americas poorest yet probably most undiscovered country. Our first stop en-route was via the ruins at Tiahuanacu. Now to be fair we have seen quite alot of ruins on this trip already, so by the time you enter your fifth museum full of reconstructed ceramic pots, the gloss has kinda
Living on the edge!!
One false move and your a history lesson!! worn off. Not to mention we were all a bit hungover form the previous night and pretty tired from the travelling...oh and our guide was so monotone, imagine Mr Brittas from the Brittas empire if you can remember him!!
So anyhoo, after that we made our way to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia and also the highest capital city in the world! We couldnt actually get our truck near the hotel as being xmas eve, there were hundreds of market stalls lining the streets, hoping to make those last minute xmas sales! Well also being xmas eve and hundreds of miles from "The Snooty Fox" in Crawley, we decided to find an alternative venue to see in xmas day. So several of us wandered about and the only place we could find open was the Hard Rock Cafe La Paz....rocking especially when they started playing Radiohead....how festivally jovial, bugger pass the parcel, pass the knife would have been more appropriate!!
And so onto xmas day, a lie in to nurse me hangover, waking upto cartoons then opening me pressies and stuffing meself on turkey and....oh wait a minute, what am I thinking! It was a 7am start
Mudslide Action!!
1...2...3...PUSH!!!!!! ready to mountain bike down the worlds most dangerous road! What better way to spend xmas day that hurtling 70km from an altitude of 4700m to 1760m on a mountain bike! So we were driven upto the starting point of our ride La Cumbre, where they dished out the safety gear and bikes etc. Oh and there was an early contender for highlight of the day when Brad attempted a jump in front of everybody only to go over his handlebars...much to everybody elses amusement! A hearty chorus of "wanker" filled the air. Fortunately only his pride was hurt! So we went flying down the first part of the road which is asphalt so you can get upto 30mph, which sounds slow but on a mountain bike it certainly doesnt feel it!!
Stage two of the ride sees us having to actually peddle as this part of the road goes up, and its bloody hard work as visibility is poor and its raining too...how fun! Still pretty soon we are descending again, however this time its a gravel path. This is where the ride gets interesting and concentration is needed, there are stones all over the road and you
Cleaning up afterwards!
Very thankful for the handily placed waterfall! can still get some serious speed up. As we start to come down throught the rainforest you realise you are cycling round a valley with a river at the bottom....of course you realise this mainly because you are cyling on a 4 metre wide road with a sheer drop to the left! We even pass some crosses stuck in the ground en-route! Hence the "Death Road". The views are spectacular though and you get to cycle under some waterfalls, which is really cool.
Well just as we are tearing round the corner the guide suddenly grinds us to a halt. Upon closer inspection we realise up ahead on the track, there is a minibus blocking the road. There was a mudslide earlier in the day and he has attempted to drive through it and got stuck. Our guide tells us that they have been stuck there for 2 hours...no surprise really considering that there is literally just one old fella with a spade trying to clear the mud from the wheels. This guy is fighting a losing battle as they mud is still sliding down the hill!! So Team Gringo springs into action! (incase you are wondering gringo is
Sitting On Top Of The World!
Looking down on the worlds highest capital city...La Paz! what they lovingly refer to us foreigners as in S.America) Several of us lads get behind the van and start pushing, its bloody hard because we are up to our knees in manky wet mud and its difficult to get any grip with your legs, still we manage to get the old fella going and allow ourselves a cheer of victory! That is of course until we realise that there is a large coach and our 2 minibuses still to get across! Well we lay down a makeshift path from some stones and the coach blasts across, however our first minibus tries the same and misses the path of stones...doh!! Take 2 on the van pushing! Once they are all across we all set about washing ourselves in the handily located waterfall just after the mudslide! Good thing too really as you cant see any colours on anybodys footwear they are literally just mud coloured. It dawns on me whilst im washing that pissing in the small stream at the top of the hill was probably upon reflection not my greatest plan.
Ok so we crack on with the cycling and a couple of times I hit stones and
Bolivian Sunset
Sunset over the altiplano almost crash into the wall! Phew fortunately managed to stay on the bike and avoid any pain and embarrassment! Til the 3rd time that is, when I lose control the bike wraps itself round my body and I go over the handlebars! Ouch!! Good job im double hard, a lesser man might have been seriously affected by a blow to the noggin! Now where was I? Oh yeah, Good job im double hard, a lesser man might have been seriously affected by a blow to the nogg......wait a minute???!!!!
Still we all made it down in one piece and it was the most awesome xmas day ever, the van pushing just added to the experience! Funnily enough though in our van on the way back we did see another van on its side perched precariously on the edge, with the emergency crews attending to it! Guess the Death Road isnt just a clever marketing name after all!!
Xmas dinner that night was a rather naff burger, so it wasnt all good!
Next stop the Salt Flats of Uyuni!!
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