Every day we´ve seen people come back to our hostel with broken limbs, casts, sprains and tales of the Death Road. What with Jules continuing to have bank issues and Jon and Sonya unsure whether their travel insurance would cover the World´s Most Dangerous Road, Devon and I set off on a day of mountain biking without the rest of the gang.
A 6am start and a quick breakfast later, we were joined by three others - an Irish man, and English man (this sounds like a bad joke, I realise), and a Portuguese guy. We´d opted to go with Barracuda Biking, and when we arrived at the starting point for the day´s biking I was really relieved we had. I might have been the only girl in our small group of five, plus the guide, but the other groups were huge, and it was fantastic to have that little bit more attention.
We started the whole affair with a blessing to Pachamama, Mother Earth. Our (fantastic) guide Jubbi produced a small bottle of 90% proof alcohol, and we each had to dribble some over our bikes and the ground, before taking a swig, so as to ensure our safety on the road. We had a dry run on our bikes, testing out the super sensitive brakes. The most common injuries come from not paying attention and braking too fast...and with the last mountain biking death a year ago we were all pretty keen to stay firmly attached.
The death road is almost 70km long, a small part of it being paved and the rest gravel. It´s still used by motorists, although there is a new, much safer alternative route. 200-300 people die a year on the road (mostly in vehicles), which is an insane number, emphasised all the more by the frequent crosses of remembrance and barriers where people have gone over. One girl recently fell 200ft from her bike down the mountain and survived.
On that cheery note, I´m happy to say that while I found the paved section more difficult, I loved the gravel, and (hurrah!) didn't keep the boys back. You ride from the very top of the mountain, down through the cloud line and eventually through the jungle. The scenery is incredible, and it was difficult not to become distracted by it all. Luckily, Jubi the guide was on hand to take photos and videos as he went. The guy is a nutter but great fun, and he took us through waterfalls, pouring rain and blazing sunshine. We had a few stops along the way, doing ´the llama´pose (see below), getting snaps on cliffs and the like. Completely exhilarating and one of the highlights of South America so far.
The stories Jubi told of the road were fascinating (and morbid), from the van police had discovered was crammed full of drugs, plantation busts in the jungle to whole buses simply going over the cliffs. Wreckages of smashed vehicles can still be seen which made for a heart fluttering viewpoint, as we craned our necks down sheer drops.
At the end of the ride we relaxed with a drink, a shower, and a meal together at a little lodge where we spotted a parrot, monkey and went hunting for some puppies. On return to La Paz we found the others playing darts, with the loser having to down shots or wine. Guess who´s really, really terrible at darts? Jules has a charming video of me necking wine which I very much hope never makes a public appearance.
Next we´re off to the Amazon, where we´ll spend a few days on a pampas tour before making our way northwards to Peru.
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