La Paz & the WMDR

Bends you dont want to get wrong!
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We arrived in La Paz from Copacabana, a journey of about three hours through village after village, we saw women playing football dressed in their voluminous long skirts, fields of maize and more snow capped mountains.  Getting off the bus we were assailed by the noise and smells of the city.  We received a really warm welcome from Reuben, the owner of Arthy´s guesthouse and it felt very homelike.  Spent the next few days rambling around the city. We visited the coca museum, full of information about the spiritual and cultural use of coca by the indigenous people of the Andes through to the production of cocaine and the huge investment by the US to eradicate the coca fields and the current and past treatments for drug users.  We did our first city tour on the upper open deck of  a tour bus, interesting to see so much of the city. The best part was a visit to the Valle de la Luna, an area of unusual natural rock formations.  We also visited the witches market, a number of stalls there sell talismans, herbs and all things associated with local cultural and spiritual beliefs.  One such item that can be purchased are dried llama foetuses, in a shocking variety of sizes.  These are buried under the foundations of new constructions to bring luck.  There was also a grim selection of eagle heads, various paws and even what looked like ocelot skins...not much in the way of wildlife protection here is seems.

La Paz
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One day´s foray out of La Paz took us to Coroico on the World´s Most Dangerous Road.  A steep descent on a rough windy road with sheer drops over the edge in places.  According to the Lonely Planet, 28 vehicles a year go over the edge, some resulting in loss of life.  We learned from our guide that the road is one of the main roads to Brazil and this accounts for a lot of the trucks that use it, carrying loads back and forth, a long journey for the drivers who are at risk of falling asleep and going over the edge.  The first part of the road is paved so 22km of practice on the Kona bikes (top of the range, with disc brakes, front and rear suspension...some relief from the bumpy road) After that the WMDR begins, a rocky, narrow track (3.5m in places) lots of twists and turns and the occasional stream and waterfall.  It is an exhilarating ride of 66km downhill (mainly) descending from about 4800m to 1600m.  We enjoyed the ride, my fingers were sore from braking nearly constantly, but we were invigorated at the end by cold beer, a hot shower and a big lunch before embarking on the bus journey back up the WMDR...safely !!