So I flew back to La Paz nice and early this morning (my flight was at 9). Took it pretty easy today but I also booked DEATH ROAD for tomorrow Aghhhhhhhhhhhh.
Tue 16/Aug
Death Road (officially known as Yungas Road)... let me explain:
The road of death is located about an hours drive outside La Paz, it is 61 km long and was christened death road by The Inter American Development Bank.
The road was built in the 30's and it was up until a few years ago the only road that connected the capital of La Paz to the Amazon region of the country. It is estimated that when this road was the primary route between La Paz and the Amazon 200/300 people died on it per year.
The road features extreme drop off's of 600 meters (on the left hand side as you are descending), a width of a single lane of traffic (most of the road is no wider than 3.2 meters) has very few guard rails and it is gravel.
On 24 July 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia's worst road accident. AT LEAST 18 cyclists have died on the road since 1998, the most recent being a Japanese girl..... two months before I did it.
So I signed up to do it with the company called Gravity, they are a little more expensive than most but they have a zero fatality rate and it was the founder of Gravity that was the first person ever to bring tourists down the road!
It was an early start, I meet my guide and the rest of the group (which included a 13 year old boy and his Dad) at 6.30am. The reason we had to meet so early is that there were strikes over transport going on in the city so we had to try and leave the city before they set up the protesters set up the road blocks!
We got to our starting destination with no problems where we were given our bikes and safety gear. When I signed up I was measured for everything; bike, gloves, helmet, knee pads and high vis vest.
Our guide Clint was from NZ and a former stunt and overland bike rider. He was nice but firm on the rules as he went through them. After he had gone through everything it was time to make our offering to Apacha Mama (mother earth). This is a tradition done by everyone who cycles death road and involves sipping 97% alcohol which BURNS!!!!! Then we headed off!
The first part that we cycled is not death road, its a lovely downhill, tarmacked road that is part of the new road built to replace Yungas. So this was lovely and easy. Halfway down we had to get off our bikes and walk through a military drug checkpoint. The reason for this is that we were entering the valley in which most of Bolivia's coca leaves were produced. Bolivia has now over taken Colombia in the production of cocaine and the Bolivians are very active in trying to curb the production and exportation of the drug.
And then it began.... Death Road..... Aghhhh
It was not a race and I went as slowly as I felt comfortable with. To be honest I didnt really have time to take in what was around me as I never took my eyes off the road. We were warned not to or basically we would die.
We went down the road in stages, I think there were 6 in all. After every stage we would stop and take a break and the guides would make sure everyone was OK. All the time we had one guide at the front of the group and one guide at the back. We were also followed all the way down by our van, so if anyone at any stage wanted to take a break they could! Halfway down we stopped for lunch so it gave everyone time to rest and get back on it again.
As we descended the thing I found most uncomfortable was the crosses and memorials that were along the road, placed there by victims family's. There were a lot but apparently there were 3 times as many but a public committee in La Paz said they were bad for tourism and went along the road one day removing two thirds of the crosses and memorials.
Also the road was very deceiving, in parts where the cliff was there were trees and plants which gave you a false pretence that there was no 500ft drop on the other side....
So I reached the end of death road....alive! WAHOOOO! Obviously I did not dare have my camera with me while I was going down but one of the guides had a camera and took videos and photos for us.
The day was not yet over. As part of booking with Gravity you get to go to an animal refuge and have lunch there. The animal refuge was amazing! I stayed in with the monkeys the whole time who were sooooo cute!!! One of them did eat part of my hair braid though....
The ride back to La Paz was pretty interesting as we had to go back up death road to get home! It was here that we got to appreciate what we had just cycled down. It was also here that Clint told us the horror stories of the road...
The latest person to die on the road was a Japanese cyclist two months previous. Her and her boyfriend had cheap'd out and gone with a 'pop up' company on a two for one deal. Her brakes failed, she went straight over the edge and died. Another French girl died when she lost balance as she was straddling her bike. She was close to the edge so when she fell over she fell off the side. That's why the number one rule is when you stop your bike you must dismount straight away and dismount to the right, not the left which is the most natural side anyone one get off there bike. He also told us of one poor English boy who just cycled straight off the ledge. He died and his parents donated £30,000 so that an ambulance could be put in place around the clock on the road. All very very sad stories.
Despite the horror stories it was a great day. I fully intended going out that night but I woke up from my power nap at 2.30am and didnt make it out of bed.
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