Advertisement
Published: April 7th 2007
La Paz....a massive city..bigger than I thought, I didnt expect a lot to be here. From what I have read I thought it would be an old run down city, with no business district and drunkards everywhere, instead its a really bustling city, the most polluted I have found so far with sooo many cars and minivans acting as taxis for all the locals!!
We quickly settled into our Loki hostel and the city was pretty easy to navigate around, not alot to do....just anothr big city with bars, restaurants and markets!! but a great base for the surrounding mountains...I think most people end up staying here atleast a week if not two!!
OUr main reason for being here was...The Death Road and a mountain trek....
First THE DEATH ROAD EXPERIENCE
we were slightly scared abut this one since someone died 4 weeks ago....and once we booked it we realise dthat th eperson that died had gone with our company La Solaria...but it was his own fault, he had been racing his mate, one bumped in to the other...one hit the deck and the other fell down the sheer 150m drop....hmmmm. Anyway, we headed out to
do it one cold and dreaery morning, probably the worst weather for it across the whole year but hey ho...no guarantees on the weather!! Everyone was rather nervous at the top of the mountain at 4600m in the mist and rain but above all I was excited!! I was proud of Sal for agreeing to come along and she really enjoyed it!!
As soon as we were set free down the mountain on the asphalt road I couldnt help but whizz down and loved every minute of it apart from the cold and rain!! I dont think I have ever been so wet!! my trainers were full of water!!!
It was two and a half hours down on the main asphalt road and then two and a half down on the actual Death Road...the latter half ws sooooo mcuh better and as soon as I hit this bit, I forgot all about being wet and cold!!! It was brilliant, the road was pretty slim for being used by vehicles and it was no wonder that thousands of people have died passing on this road...which is mainly where it got its name from...not so many cyclists have dies...maybe 9
in 6 years...
The scenery is just amazing, jugle terrain with waterfalls falling on to the road and trees over hanging everywhere, just breath taking!! You pass a fair few crosses at the side of the road and there are even car wrecks at the bottom of cliffs if you dare to or have time to look over the edge!! For me I enjoyed speeding down the hills and under the waterfalls, it was brilliant, not quite as scary as I anticipated but brilliant and it was so good to see everyone enjoying themselves!! Keely took the bus some of the way but for me that would be scarier...more people have died that way!!
The last 40mins was nice and hot and we started to dry out!! We were then taken to a beautiful hotel at the top of the mountain above Coroico which overlooked some of where we had been - WOW. the most tiring part for ne was the 4 hour drive home, but all worth it for the biking, t shirt and dvd hee!!!!
follow this link for more on this ride....
http://www.thedeathroad.com/english/home.html
Advertisement
Tot: 0.119s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0893s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
