Bolivia - La Paz & The Death Road

La Paz is the highest capital in the world (3,660m above sea level according to Wikipedia). The high altitude is really noticeable just doing simple things like wandering around the city – its very easy to get out of breath. La Paz is a bustling city full of people and traffic but it is cheap-as-chips, has some interesting sites (like dead llama foetuses in the witches market), great hostels and restaurants serving international food (such as a British Indian restaurant!) making a welcome break from usual South American dinners of rice, meat and salads!!

A must-do on the gringo trail of Bolivia is to spend a day mountain biking down the Yungas Road... otherwise known as... El Camino de la Muerte (The Death Road)!! The majority of the road is a gravel track hugging the mountains with an unprotected sheer drop on one side of the road into the valley below. Hundreds of people used to die each year travelling the road hence the name. More recently a safer tarmacked relief road has been built which means the majority of the Death Road users are tourists getting their adrenaline fix on a mountain bike!

The route is 64km of downhill riding mostly on gravel track, descending 3600m in altitude. The main challenge is to keep away from the sheer drop which isn't too hard as long as you can ride a bike and don't go too crazy!! Unfortunately the morning I was due to do it I wasn't feeling well at all. I felt sick and also had diarrhoea. The trip to the British Indian curry house might have been a factor but also the early morning long and bumpy minibus ride compounded things. By the time we got to the start I was feeling really ill and I needed a quick exit from the minibus and a dash into the bushes to vomit. This was the start of a long day cycling sections of the road with many visits to the bush to vomit, and then when possible visits to some of the worst toilets in the world to relief myself from the other end of my body !! I managed to spend the entire day on two wheels without falling off the edge or wimping out and getting on the support minibus. I did get some enjoyment from the beautiful scenery and thrill of the ride but having spent the whole day puking and shitting this was definitely a low point of my trip.

During my stay in La Paz a group of us from the hostel went to see the Cholitas Wrestling event. This is basically a show for tourists where women in traditional costume fight masked opponents and occasionally the biased referee joins in the fight. It was entertaining for the first 30 mins or so!