Hairy moments and bad haircuts

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Here we are in La Paz waiting for a plane to Rurranabaque which has thus far been cancelled on a number of occasions due to mystery Bolivian reasons. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world and the altitude is getting frankly tiresome as every step is a chore and everyting in this city is bloody uphill. That is, of course, apart from the most dangerous road in the world. Mind you that is obviously uphill in one direction so I ll shut up! One of the fun activities here is to get on a bike and hare down this narrow road and hopefully live to tell the tale.

Wanting to make sure I looked my best when I fell off my bike I was keen to get a haircut so we head to the barber shop quarter, right next door to the witches market. Very handy if you want a trim and to put a hex on a travelling companion in the same outing. ( not Em I hasten to add ). To my utter amazement Em also opted to have a trim in the same place. It s very difficult to shave my head badly so I was on solid ground wheras for a girl it s a whole different kettle of Llama foetuses. She selected her style from a thick book and agreed with the so called stylist. I then watched in horror as the woman did the " hack 2 inches off the end "cut. I could almost hear Em s mortification growing. The whole thing was over before I was even halfway through and cost twice as much curiously. Needless to say Em wasn t too impressed and now can t tie it up properly or something although it looks fine to me.

Thus groomed and ready we take the bus to the top of the Most Dangerous Road in the world. It was cloudy cold and wet day and far from ideal conditions. Unfortunately our guide for the day is a Ladette with a terrible case of penis envy. The sort of chick who over compensates for being a girl by being more aggressive and manly than is needed. The upshot being that by the time she had finished the safety talk everone was petrified and the stupid cow even managed to scare Em back on to the bus. Now this ride is dangerous, very much so as it turned out and the hazards need to be outlined but being told that stupid tourists had perished because they hadn t followed instructions is slight overkill. I also don t think we needed to be told that most drivers would be drunk, and that they almost considered knocking cyclists over the edge a kind of sport. As it went it was an absolute hoot, storming down the narrow road with shear drop offs and because we were forewarned the trucks weren t an issue. Em had a worse trip down in the bus but we have the guide to thank for that. One girl did take a spill finding herself not far from the edge and Em was on hand to look after her but it did highlight that it wouldn t take much for things to go horribly wrong. We did get a hot shower at the bottom in a funky retreat with a cheeky pet monkey who took a liking to me and took joy in climbing on my head. I probably now have rabies but I did survive the bike ride so it s swings and roundabouts!

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Photos

Llama Foetuses
Meant for sacrificing to Pacha Mama but theses are handily pre killed.

Easy Rider
Looking good before the hairy descent.