La Paz, capital of Bolivia, the highest capital city in the world. Elevation, about 12,000 ft. It reminds Dana and I of New York. Everyone is in a hustle and bustle. There are kids handing out flyers, beggars asking for money, sky scrapers, and cars honking their horns at you as they come within 2 inches of hitting your legs, literally. Ok, so maybe that last one only happens in South American cities, but you get the idea. There is also security, police, or military personel on every corner which makes you feel very safe...or maybe not.
The other day, when we went to go buy our Death Road trip we passed lots of soldiers with shields and big guns. On down the street at another intersection there was a demonstration going on in the street. We kept walking to the Vertigo office. As we walked, we heard several loud claps in the distance. I think they were just firing into the air to scare off a crowd or something or possibly backfire from the cars. Later after booking our trip with Vertigo for the mountain bike trip down Death Road a man walked into the office. He looked homeless with no shoes and dirt in his arm hair. Later I noticed he had old, black tatoos all over his arms. He asked where we were from and said he was from New York and that he had been in the San Pedro prison in Bolivia for 11 years. You should know, they offer tours through the San Pedro prison because its very unique. You can probably look up some stats about it online but all I know is that lots of tourists take the tour and that you can even stay the night or several nights there. (It brings in money for the prison since its not run off tax dollars.) Its also the only prison that houses a cocaine factory inside. Anyway this man was promoting the tour and then asked if we would like to hear a joke in exchange for a bowl of soup. We didn´t say anything and he told the joke anyway, I wasn´t really listening because I thought he could be full of crap anyway. Tom, the guy that went with us to the Vertigo office gave hime the change in his pocket and we went on our happy way. This is just one of the days we had in Bolivia...
The other day, when we went to go buy our Death Road trip we passed lots of soldiers with shields and big guns. On down the street at another intersection there was a demonstration going on in the street. We kept walking to the Vertigo office. As we walked, we heard several loud claps in the distance. I think they were just firing into the air to scare off a crowd or something or possibly backfire from the cars. Later after booking our trip with Vertigo for the mountain bike trip down Death Road a man walked into the office. He looked homeless with no shoes and dirt in his arm hair. Later I noticed he had old, black tatoos all over his arms. He asked where we were from and said he was from New York and that he had been in the San Pedro prison in Bolivia for 11 years. You should know, they offer tours through the San Pedro prison because its very unique. You can probably look up some stats about it online but all I know is that lots of tourists take the tour and that you can even stay the night or several nights there. (It brings in money for the prison since its not run off tax dollars.) Its also the only prison that houses a cocaine factory inside. Anyway this man was promoting the tour and then asked if we would like to hear a joke in exchange for a bowl of soup. We didn´t say anything and he told the joke anyway, I wasn´t really listening because I thought he could be full of crap anyway. Tom, the guy that went with us to the Vertigo office gave hime the change in his pocket and we went on our happy way. This is just one of the days we had in Bolivia...
The Death Road bike ride was amazing! A van picked us up outside our hostel at 8 o´clock in the morning and we rode up to the top of the mountain where we began. We started at like 4,800 meters. They gave us an indtroduction and we put on our saftey gear, helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves and we off. The first part was an open flat road that we basically just coasted down...very fast! We took a couple of breaks to check the equipment and to take pictures. After about an hour we made it to the official Death Road. The road was still down hill but very bumby and narrow. It was so bumby that it jarred your whole body and made your hands hurt. We took several breaks and they gave us snacks along the way. Our guides were really cool and would come up quick beside you to take a snap shot or a video. We had a lot of laughs with these guys. There were waterfalls that we had to go under and corners to cut very closely and carefully. There were crosses all up and down the road for the people who had died doing ride. The view was amazing though. When you weren´t focused on keeping your bike straight you could look out and see the mountains forever. It was so clear and beautiful. We continued to descend from the top to the bottom and the terrain changed as well. It got hotter and hotter as we neared the bottom the forest around us turned to rainforest. The road opened up a little toward the end so it wasn´t so narrow and got a little flatter as well. Out whole group made it to the bottom of course and celebrated with an overpriced beer. (Still cheap though because you´re still in Bolivia.) After the celebratory beer we got back in the van, which had followed us down the whole way, and went to the hostel where we enjoyed a nice dip in the pool and some lunch. It was a long ride back up the mountain to La Paz that night but it was nice and slow. On the car ride back our guide told us the stats of the road and it turns out that about 27 people, tourist and guides, have died in the last 15 years and that about 200 people a year had died in cars and buses along that road. About 3 years ago they built a new road that is paved and is at least 2 lanes wide so the road we actually biked on isn´t used by many people much any more which is safer for everyone. Sadly, the most recent person to die riding down death road was our guide best friend who was also a guide. He died about 8 months ago doing the ride with a group, just like we had done today. Our guide didn´t cry but you could tell it was still very emotional. We walked away with a little more respect for the ride itself ater that story.
Overall, we had a great time. La Paz was definitely an experience that we´ll never forget.
Perhaps not what a parent should be reading when her daughter was planning to do the ride whilst there!! LOL! Curiosity got the better of me and l went checking -mmm! Sounds like you had a great time though - well done for the courage to do it.
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