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Published: April 18th 2009
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The Death Road / North Yungas - Bolivia.
Andean mountains, rain, mud, a bicycle and a great big smile: An adventure to remind me how much fun it is to be alive. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank stated that the North Yungas Road, a few hours from Bolivia’s capital La Paz, is ‘the most dangerous road in the world’, and they would not be providing funds to have upgrades or repairs made. A new route has recently been constructed, while the ‘Road of Death’ remains open for cyclists and tourists with a desire for a thrill and some wicked photo opportunities of the rain forest.
It is completely unbelievable that buses would use this goat track perched on the side of massive cliff drops; it is however believable that many vehicles have fallen off and taken many lives. Most sections are not wide enough to accommodate two bikes let alone a car or lord forbid a bus. Why anyone would risk such an endeavour is quite beyond my comprehension. Scary fact: Since 1998 13 cyclists have died on this track.
So why am I doing this again?
After some persuasion I agreed that,
‘yes’, it would be one of those, ‘once in a life time opportunities’ and I should stop being a chicken.
‘Where do I sign?’
This adventure required that we take a guided tour. So unlike our Cholita wrestling experience we knew our wallets were going to take a hit from the start. There are a lot of agencies offering this trip and like the Southern circuit it is hard to know who to choose. The easy option for us was to use the office at the hostel we were staying at: Solario. The day starts out at 6am with a good breakfast followed by a two hour drive to La Cumbre.
We were lucky that when we arrived at the ‘take off point’ we were the only group there. So the fear of being one of a hundred sheep being shepherded down the slopes was avoided. We are at 4700 metres above sea level and will descend to 1100 metres. With a 64 km stretch of pure ‘downhill’. Once we had adjusted our seats and fitted our helmets we were off - the agency also provided waterproof pants and jackets, which were very helpful albeit saturated by
the end of the day.
The road is gravel, although smooth enough to allow a bit of speed. I am not a huge mountain biker so the massive amount of vibration that tried to force my hands from the handlebars was quite a shock. I had a few problems with my bike but a whole new world opened up when I swapped bikes with one of the guides. Feeling safe enough to go a little faster I realised that using my brakes less was actually more fun. Look out here comes mad laughing Tina!
The landscape is what I expected the Andes to look like: Images of Machu Pichu are conjured up in my mind and ancient times when life was hard but simple. Riding at this level takes a lot of concentration and I divide my time between racing like a bat out of hell and taking it slow: breathing in the wet lush green landscape with it's clean earth smell and fresh air that rejunvinates your lungs, is reason enough to be here. The serene silence of the forest is a welcome break from the chaos of La Paz and a chance to refresh the soul.
Then things took a slight change. The sunglasses came off and the looming darkness turned into jungle rains. Pretty gentle rain really, until you are flying through them on a mountain bike. Mountain biking lesson one: Always leave your glasses on. It didn’t take me long to get a lump of mud in my eye. I blinked and hoped that it would just leave. And it did. But not before I hit a rock I couldn’t see and flew over the handlebars, arse in air styles. As I hit the ground and felt the pain I was about to start crying like a two year old, but then realised there was a bunch of people behind me and I still had a fair ways to go. Moka was right by my side while I regained my composure. I sucked it up and trucked on. Only a few grazes and a massive bruise to remind me of my days lesson..... It could have been a lot worse.
After a few hours of intensely fun downhill cycling, the whole group is soaked through to the bone. We take a break next to a massive waterfall that goes over, well mostly
over, a section of the road. I stand looking up it completely mesmerised and as I am doing so a small tree decides to dislodge itself and fall from what looks like the clouds. It is an odd sight and the sound it makes everyone jump and wonder where the cannon is. Back on our bikes, and praying that no more hunks of mountain decide to fall on our path we cruise along admiring the Andean mountains and the steep drops that have given this road its title of most dangerous in the world.
The end of the ride concludes with a divine hot shower - who knew mud could work its way into every crevice so easily - a towel and soap is also provided and followed by a buffet lunch. Talk about luxury!
If you have the opportunity to ride the North Yungas Road, take it!
Just recalling the day makes me smile.
There is nothing like a bit of adrenalin to remind you that you are alive. And man...being alive is bloody good fun! (Thanks for persuading me to go Angel.)
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jnibbi
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wow
wow my house is just 0.3 miles from amazon entrance