Death Road!

South America » Bolivia » La Paz Department » Yungas Road
March 24th 2010

Published: March 29th 2010

Today, I cycled down ´The Road of Death´and as you can probably tell, I survived. This is the road (as featured on Top Gear

) that used to be the most dangerous in the world having more deaths per year than any other until a bypass was built 4 years ago. The 61 kilometre road used to be responsible for 200-300 deaths per year and here is my story of survival...

8am pick up and we were taken to the starting point for a warm up before attempting the Road of Death. We were given our bikes, our gear and a little bit of food. Only I totally freaked out before even starting because when on the bike, my feet couldn´t touch floor. People were saying to me ´oh you don´t need to reach the floor´but I definitely did. Luckily, the guide had one bike left. The gears didn´t work but my feet touched the ground so I was sold.

Because I freaked out so much at the start, the guide (David) assumed that I would be rubbish throughout and wouldn´t let me go fast on the way to the road. And beforehand I admittedly was a wee bit scared so everytime I caught up with my group, I received a very patronising ´well done´or a clap. On one stop, one nameless member of the group, patted me on the head and said ´well done chick´. I was ready to hit her but I held back.

Before we started, I had told the group that I wanted to go slowly and a couple of the girls responded with 'oh yeah, me too I´m staying at the back´and as soon as we started they were off like a shot leaving me behind. It then started to rain. Lares Trek take II? Me on my own at the back in the rain? Yes. But so much more fun.

It didn´t stop raining for a very, very long time. And the waterproof gear was in no way waterproof. And so I was drenched through with no vision through my goggles. The rain did however, make for some truly awesome waterfalls and it was a surreal experience to be cycling through the clouds.

We had to return to the bus to be driven to the actual Death Road and as we reached our destination, my jaw dropped. The rain, the bends, the narrowness, the waterfalls, the trees, the rocks, the road. The guides said that the rain made for a more interesting ride but it also made for a more dangerous one. I cannot believe that cars used to be able to drive both ways when the road was barely wide enough for two bicycles.

David once again took charge of my speed and demanded that I stay at the back with him. And so as everyone else sped off into the distance, I began my journey.

It was downhill but it was like riding on a gravelpit with the biggest gravel you´ve ever seen sticking out at random points. In the rain. Don´t forget the rain. After a while, my goggles began to mist over which definitely made for an interesting ride but also caused my speed decrease.

The bends were sharp and insane with nothing but sheer drops to the left. Crosses were erected all through the journey where people hadn´t made it which were a strong reminder of exactly what I was doing. I was starting to think that this was a bad idea.

A couple of times, my group did decide to wait for me for a quick group photo but soon gave up. I think I spent two hours on my own/with David - cold, wet and hungry because they´d forgotten to pack a vegetarian meal.

Whilst I was keeping up with the group however, I came to a large waterfall which ran into the sheer drop. And after watching the others do it I thought that I may as well give it a go. Bad idea. I fell off. In the water, caught my foot in the bike and now have the mother of all bruises on my right knee which if nothing else, is very colourful.

I picked myself up, put myself back on my bike and continued on like a trooper (well, in my head anyway.)

The rain began to clear and the ride began to be worth it: the views were incredible. Mountains, glaciers, the jungle, wow.

After a long ride down a bumpy road, my hands started to hurt from the vibrations caused by the rocks in the road so I kept making ´stretch stops´ which put me even further behind the group. At one point I had convinced myself that I´d taken a wrong turning (not that there were any turnings) because I hadn´t seen the group or David for around 20 minutes. Suddenly though, David appeared like Superman out of nowhere. He had been changing his tyre. Phew! I was still on the right track.

As I reached the ticket check point, David said that the next part was the easiest. He lied. The next part was a tractor, cars passing and many many more rocks. The truth probably would have made me walk the rest of the way though so I forgave him.

Instead of following the road, David took a left turn. I though he was taking us on a shortcut because I was taking so long but he wasn´t. It was just wishful thinking on my part.

On the way down, we stumbled across two vans just sitting in the road and I didn´t quite understand why. Until I turned around the next bend. There, stuck in the mud, was a huge lorry with four men trying their hardest to dig it out. I jumped off my bike and had to wheel it up and around, into the mud being thrown around and back down the other side of the vehicle. I was a tad muddy but later discovered that Sarah had fallen into the mud at that point so it could have been worse.

After the mud pit, David gave his flat tyre to a kid on the road (whilst waiting for me to catch him up) and the child looked absolutely ecstatic! He had the exact same look on his face that I did when I reached the ending point.

Two more bends and I was to finish. As I ventured around the last corner, the group were there waiting for me. And clapping. ´Wonderful, I¨ve just done what you all did but half an hour slower´that really deserved a hearty round of applause. I smiled and I didn´t hit anyone who said ´well done´which was a triumph in itself. Had my photo taken with David and jumped back on the bus to be taken to a hotel for food and swim.

A four hour bus journey later and I was back in La Paz. I jumped straight into the shower, ate some chocolate as a reward and went soundly to sleep.

Despite being at the back on my own in the rain, I had a great time and survived! I wouldn´t change the day for the world but I definitely won´t be doing it again.

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