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The infamous Road
The Worlds most dangerous road La Paz is situated in the valley of the Choqueyapu River below a plateau with an altitude of 3,600 meters. At this elevation, as a governmental capital, it is the highest capital in the world. This surely make´s exploring the city hard work as our hotel was situated uphill.
However this is not the reason why we are writing about La Paz, indeed not. While we were in La Paz we embarked on a little cycle ride! PURE ADRENALIN RUSH of 64km of downhill mountain biking on what is considered, The Worlds Most Dangerous Road! The distance we cycled was around 69km with only 5km being uphill.
ROAD OF DEATH
Starting high in the rarefied air of the Bolivian Andes, the steep and bumpy La Paz-to-Coroico road plunges down almost 3,600 meters on its spectacular 64-km path to the lush, sub-tropical Yungas and the sleepy town of Coroico.
Because of the extreme dropoffs, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above. On July 24, 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road
and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia's worst road accident. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives the driver in a left-hand-drive vehicle a better view over their outside wheel, making passing safer. In 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank dubbed the La Paz-to-Coroico route "the world's most dangerous road."
Mom(x2), no worries we both have travel insurance, were kitted out in all the gear(Full suspension bikes, helmet, jackets, pants, gloves etc) and completed the cycle with the safest company in Bolivia. They started this mad cycle over 10 years ago and have never had any fatalities, unlike some of the other companies. Apparently 4 weeks prior to us doing this a cyclist veered over the edge, never to be seen again.
Well we made it in one piece and never even fell off once, unlike the Tokai days
in Cape Town where you would not have a decent ride untill you fell off at least once.
All I can say is this was absolutly awsome and is something, given the chance, we would do again. Even if we are tempting fate!
We did not get any action pictures of us, needless to say we were to busy holding on, however check some of the pics out, knarrly dudes!
We are now entering Peru for the next part of our jaunt.
c U Soon.
R & W
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Paul Beauchamp
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(F)Truck
Jeepers hows that truck - how did they sort that out?