Blogs from Bolivia, South America - page 20

Na Hánisovu radu jsem jsem se rozhodl sjet si na kole takzvanou Death Road, Cestu smrti. Sešli jsme se v půl osmé ráno 10 chlapů a 4 holky. Já jsem byl asi nejstarší. Náš průvodce byl asi 25letý Američan. Moc milý kluk a očividně blázen do sjezdů na kole. Vykládal něco o sportu zvaný “heliskiing“, kde lidi se nechají vynést vrtulníkem na vysokou horu, kam by se jinak nedostali, a pak ji sjíždí na lyžích. On tvrdil, že je jedním ze zakladatelů sportu „helibiking“, kde lidi dělají to samé, jen na kolech. Prostě magor bez pudu sebezáchovy. Silnice smrti začíná asi ve 1200 metrech nad mořem a v nejvyšším místě kousek před La Pazem překonává sedlo ve výšce asi 4600 metrů nad mořem. Vybudovali ji zajatci z krvavé války mezi Bolívii a Uruguají, bylo jich asi ... read more

The challenges of the mountains in Peru Well, I was looking forward to the next few days as we rode into new territory for us in Peru. We had no problems leaving Lima as we headed down the coast to Pisco before turning east and heading into the high Andes. The ride to Ayacucho was just a bikers dream, except for the snow and 2deg C temperatures as we climbed to over 4,000 meters with stunning views,we finally arrived just on dark as the rain started. The following day was a ride to Urabamba in the Sacred Valley out of Cusco, we knew it was going to be a big day as it was over 500km (turned out to be 604km), well we can do that easy on a good day, but what we didn't realise ... read more

Urubamba to puno We set off just before 8 and road with Jeff and Deane to the Salinas de Maras to check out the inca salt flats. We were pleased we went as they were pretty impressive. I played tour guide and read out information about the history and how they were formed which I'd previously screen shotted. Travelling today it was interesting to note the extreme poverty. It seems a lot of the people spend their days sitting on the side of the road minding their stock. The women carry large loads of wood on their backs, presumably firewood. It certainly is a different world than the one we live in. We then set off for Puno stopping a few times for photos, petrol and snacks. We arrived around 3.30 where we settled for the ... read more

Chaotic La Paz pulses with life at a dizzying, freezing 3650 meters/12,000 ft, its wild traffic dominated by crammed, black-smoke belching, ancient buses and tourist-robbing taxis, its buildings either half-finished brick, or steel and glass high-rises, both climbing steep, lung-busting streets crowded with indigenous women in flouncy skirts and bowler hats selling fresh orange juice and snacks, hand-woven goods and trinkets. I'd been in La Paz a couple of times before, but this time was special, for while there, March-May, 2014, I had adventures with several, fabulous TravelBloggers (TBers), witnessed colorful festivals, including Carnival, Holy Week, and May Day, and lots of protests, as well as experiencing the darker underbelly of the city in this poorest nation in the Americas. As always, I stayed in the heart of the city in a beautifully restored old ... read more

After an unforgettable month in Peru we hopped on a bus and headed for Bolivia. The over night ride wasn't too bad since we slept most of it but when we arrived at the border crossing things got a little more interesting. Our bus driver stopped the bus and made everyone get off and we were told to walk across the border where we could get our visas and the bus would be waiting for us on the other side In Bolivia. Before we got our Bolivian visas we needed to get our exit stamp from Peru and the slip of paper we needed to present at that time with our passports was in our backpacks on the bus so we needed to get out of line, exchange money and buy new ones and fill them ... read more