"World most dangerous Road" & La Paz

I took a Bus from Copacabana to La Paz (only 3 1/2 hours). When we had to cross the Lake Titicaca the ferry couldn´t handle Bus and Passengers, so we had to get of the bus, took a person ferry and our bus took another ferry ... That was kind of funny. On the bus I met two people from Sweden, Linn and Magnus. We decided to go to the same hostel in La Paz and found a good and big one!!

Next morning, we went to an agency to book a mountain bike trip down the Death Road (no kidding, that´s what it is called!). Linn and I (Magnus didn´t want to go) got lucky, we found a good one (thanks to Marc from Switzerland) and booked it for the next day. The rest of the day we went shopping (I just bought one bag for me (Martina and Bill, I am so glad to see you soon ;-) ...)) and later that day Linn and I wanted to get some diner!! And believe me, that is a problem!! I was so surprised! I didn´t expect that at all! After running around for over an hour we finally found something and believe me - we enjoyed it!!!

Next morning, the agency picked us up at 7:30 AM and off we went. A day earlier one guy had an accident while he was riding this road, broke his hips 5 times and will be in a hospital for at least two months! Promising!! But I mountain biked on the easy paths at Pocahontas State Park South of Richmond - I mean, I am PREPARED!! ;-) You can call me a profi :-)

We stopped at 4700m of altitude, received our bikes and gear (helmet and gloves) and than the adventure started. From mid of December to mid of March the road is double hard, because it is raining season! So when we started, sure enough, the street was wet and slippery! The first 20km were just downhill and freezing cold - I didn´t think,  my hands would survive! Gosh, it was cold. But besides of that, it was fun ... the road was paved, it just went downhill and the scenery was just beautiful!!

By the way, our group was a mixture of nationalities ... mostly Irish, some Americans, one Australian, one woman from Norway, Linn from Sweden and I.

After the first easy 20km we had to bike uphill ... it was tough, but since it just lasted for 5km, it wasn´t too bad ... when we arrive up on the hill, we received a snack :-) ... and it came ... the real "Death Road" or "Worlds most dangerous Road" ... 40km downhill on a dirt road - you have to share it with "normal" traffic, waterfalls just watering the road and makes it even more slippery sometimes the road is so narrow, that hardly one car can fit on it, the cliffs are just next to you, no protection or guards, just down!! Per year, four mountain bikers die on this road ... so far for 2007 they had 3 death ... :-/

But it wasn´t that bad at all ... I actually enjoyed it (my training! ;-) - yeah, right!) Later on, we split up in two groups (the fast ones and the normal ones - I decided to go with the normal ones and that was an excellent choice - even I always was at the beginning of the group ... the fast ones were real experienced bikers ... We had to ride through waterfalls (got wet - was refreshing), we saw the precipice, but at the end we arrived all in one piece and no bone changed its size ... WOW, it was fun. 65km, 3600m of altitude change (from 4700m to 1100m!) and happy :-). We received our T-Shirt, beer was served and afterwards we were brought to a nice hotel with a pool! We enjoyed the pool, took a shower and had a yummy lunch before we returned to La Paz. It was a great day!

At night the Irish (some of them we knew from our ride) proofed again, that they really can party!! But sorry, what happened in La Paz stays in La Paz ... it was good and bad and way too long!! ;-)

The next day Linn and I went for a little Sightseeing in La Paz. That night we both took the night bus (yeah, finally another night bus!) to Uyuni, Bolivia ... but that will be another story ...

I will download some pictures as soon as I have time for that!