Day 1
Today we were leaving our nice Air BnB apartment in Sucre
and heading to La Paz. We had time to
kill in the morning before heading off to the airport, so we had some
breakfast, I got the blog right up to date whilst Shell cleaned the apartment.
The owner of the apartment had kindly booked a taxi for us
to take us to the airport and it promptly arrived around 1pm. We had chosen to fly as we had saved a bit of
money by not doing much and didn’t fancy a 14 hour coach trip plus the flight
was pretty cheap. The journey to the airport was only around 45 minutes and so
we arrived well before our flight so we watched a bit of TV on the Ipad, but
more pleasingly when I went to take some cash out I tried our blocked card and
it worked!! We are now up to full strength
on our cash cards.
It was only a short flight of about an hour, but Shell was
not happy as it was a very bumpy flight and she was pleased when we landed. Interesting
fact, La Paz airport it officially the highest international airport in the
world. So if arriving from sea level, don’t walk fast to the migration desk as
you will soon feel all of the delights of altitude sickness. Our baggage arrived very quickly and we were
soon in a taxi heading for our hostel.
We must have hit town in rush hour because the traffic was
grid-locked and for the first 15 minutes we didn’t really move. The traffic eased up a bit and we were then
heading along the top of the city, the main city is in a large valley and it
looked massive.
Soon we were dropped outside our hostel which appeared to be
in a very touristic part of the city, with cobbled streets and shops all
selling traditional, rugs, bags, etc. We
were pleasantly surprised by the room as it was fairly big and nicely decorated
and what looked like a decent shower.
As usual we locked our stuff up and headed out to have a
look around and check out the local bars.
It took us some time to find a bar that was open, but we did, it was
quite a dingy, scruffy looking place with odd paintings on the wall. We stopped here for a couple of drinks, but
eventually between the smell (drains or mouldy table coverings - we weren’t sure) and the barmaid’s miserable
demeanour, drove us out to find somewhere else.
I was quite happy when I saw a sign for ‘Hard Rock Pub’ but
when we got inside I think this must have been an old sign as they were playing
traditional Bolivian Pan-Pipe/Accordion music.
However, there were a few more people in this bar and it didn’t smell so
we stayed here for a few more drinks before heading for home.
On the way back to the hostel, we picked up some iffy sausage
and chips off a street vendor as we couldn’t be bothered to find somewhere to
eat. Getting back to the hostel we
watched a bit of TV (internet was not good enough to stream ‘Celebrity’ L) before switching off
for the night.
Day 2 – Walking Tour
We were still having problems sleeping due to the altitude
waking up at various points in the night and feeling pretty breathless.
Getting up just in time for breakfast we headed for the
rooftop terrace and discovered breakfast was some jam & rolls and recycled
scrambled eggs and sausage, so we just opted for a cup of coffee and sat on the
terrace which had great views over the city.
The lady looking after breakfast, Fanny, came and chatted to us pointing
out the various landmarks over the city and recommended some places for us to
visit.
We had already decided to do the city walking tour, so after
a shower and getting ready we headed down to the main square to wait for the
tour to start around 11.00, trying to take some sneaky pictures of the ladies
in bowler hats.
The tour started in the main square and the first thing that
was pointed out was the prison which was in the main square. Apparently, there are no guards within the
prison itself only around the perimeter, and the prisoners have to pay for
their accommodation and food. In order
to do this they have to set up businesses within the prison itself to earn
money for their keep.
One of the main sources of income is cocaine, somehow, they
get the raw ingredients in and then they process it and distribution happens by
wrapping the pure cocaine in nappy’s, then lifting the corrugated iron prison
roof and launching it into the main square, where it is picked up by waiting
drug dealers. You would have thought
this would be easy to stop, but the police turn a blind eye because they know
all the drug dealers involved and the police get their cut of the profits!! The
cocaine produced in the prison is one of the purest in the world.
Another entrepreneurial English guy who was banged up there
on drug charges, to earn money for his keep decided to run tourist tours of the
inside of the prison. He paid other
inmates to act as security for the tourists and so they became quite
successful, but when he was released it was taken over by other inmates without
the security, so tourists started to get robbed and even raped so it was
stopped.
From the main square, we were then taken up through the local
markets which were very colourful and had so many photo opportunities if you
were brave enough to stuff you camera in someone’s face, we weren’t.
At the top of the market the guides then gave us information
on the Cholita’s (the ladies in the traditional dress and bowler hats). The inspiration
for the large dresses came from when the European ladies of the time arrived in
Bolivia and the Cholita’s, falling in love with the dresses but not being able
to afford these, handmade their own take
on these.
The bowler hats came from when the British came over to
build the railways and the locals quite liked the bowler hats they were
wearing, so some bright spark thought to make extra money he would import a
load of bowler hats to sell to the locals.
Unfortunately, he thought that as Bolivians are smaller in build he
ordered small bowler hats, which didn’t fit the Bolivian men, as the guides put
it , Bolivians have ‘big potato heads’. Now lumbered with about 1000 bowler
hats he came up with another idea and managed to flatter a local Cholita by
telling her she looked lovely but was missing something, to try on a bowler
hat, she loved it and then once wearing it the other ladies liked it and the
fashion caught on.
We also learned about the courtship of the Cholita’s, if she
is wearing it straight on top of her head, she is married. If she is wearing it slightly askew she is
either single, divorced or widowed and is available. The romancing of one of these ladies is quite
complicated and involves firstly throwing stones at her to get her attention,
chasing her down the street (men must do this to prove they are keen), her
coyly playing with her long plats, a bit of pushing and shoving and a lot more
flirting. It eventually culminates in
the lady raising her skirts slightly so the man can get a glimpse of her calfs,
which is considered to be the most sexy part of their bodies in Bolivia!!
Next stop was the witches market, which was a large store
dedicated to all sorts of potions and superstitions. The most worrying one though is when a small
construction is being done various offerings are given to Pachamama (mother earth),
including dried up llama foetus’s, they are buried in the foundations to ensure
no one gets hurt during the construction.
However, when it comes to huge constructions Pachamama requires a live
human sacrifice. According to folklore, someone
goes to the down and out area, befriends a drunk and finds out he had no family
or friends, then proceeds to plie him with neat alcohol until he passes
out. The unfortunate person is then
transported to the building site, stuck in the foundations and covered in concrete
whilst still alive!! It is considered as
somewhat as an urban myth, but recently when demolishing some buildings, they
have found human remains in the foundations. Plus a guy who was lucky to escape
has written a book about his experience, so don’t pass out drunk in La Paz!!
They actually told us white foreigners are preferred by Pachamama!.
After this gruesome tale, we visited the local cathedral
which was built by the Spanish using local labour and encompassing some
traditional stone carvings, in order to convert the locals to Catholicism more
easily.
It was now around lunchtime so we were taken to an
undercover market where we were given 15 minutes to grab some refreshments and
were pointed out the best stalls to buy from.
Shell and I had some really nice fruit smoothies and a couple of local
snacks, a fried mash potato ball filled with meat and boiled egg (me), Shell a
Saltina, which is a sort of meat and egg filled pasty.
Rest stop done we were then taken across a bridge and down a
few streets until we reached the main square which contained the government
buildings. We were then told a few
stories about the various Bolivian presidents (they have had loads) and their
varying popularity, one was actually hung by a lamp post in the square outside
his governmental residence. Another who
had decided with his governance time was going to start again so he had the
clock in the main square, assembled so the numbers on the face went backwards
and wanted all the watches and clocks in Bolivia to do the same – it didn’t
catch on!!
Our final stop for the day was in a pub where we were
treated to the local drink/shot, which was a sort of brandy sour type of
thing. Whilst there we were told about
their latest and most controversial/slightly mad president who comes up with
all sorts or mad idea’s. After
conducting a census and finding out that Bolivia only had 10.5m population he
wasn’t happy, so he decided he was going to ban condom’s. When it was pointed out by health experts
that condoms were to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and not just
pregnancy, he relented. After thinking
again, he then decided that he would tax any women over the age of 18 that did
not have children, which also did not go down very well and caused huge demonstrations.
There were quite a few stories like this, but I would be going on for pages if
I told them all. He owns a few Coca fields himself.
The tour had finished and after paying the fee and tips we
went downstairs to the main bar to get a drink.
Whilst sat there we got chatting to a Canadian guy, Todd, and an Australia
lady, Tania who had met up whilst traveling
in Peru.
Todd was an interesting 50 something guy, who was a
dive-master, so we were chatting to him about our diving experiences. Todd, put us to shame as he had sold
everything he had, including his property and was planning on travelling for 5
years and eventually he wanted to buy a bar/restaurant somewhere on his travels
and start a new life.
After a couple of drinks Tania had to leave to catch up with
a friend (we agreed to do the Death Road cycle with her in a couple of days
time), but it appeared that Todd wanted to party as it was his last day in La
Paz/Bolivia. So, we had a couple of drinks and then text
Katherine (our pal we met in Myanmar) for some recommendations as she had spent
a month in La Paz.
Once Katherine had got back to us we headed out on quite a
pub crawl with Todd, firstly stopping at Todd’s hotel to book his taxi for the
morning. For the rest of the afternoon
we spent in bars drinking and talking a lot of nonsense and into the early
hours. We also picked up a few unsavoury
characters along the way, which we had to shake off when we finally headed
home.
On the way back, we said we would go for one final nightcap
with Todd, but the place we had decided on was already shut. So, we
said our goodbyes to Todd and watched him stagger off to find another bar, I
don’t know how he is going to manage to catch his early morning flight the next
day (1 of 4 flights he was getting to take him to Mexico – rather him than
us). We then just headed back up the
hill to pass out in our hostel.
Day 3 – Write Off again!
Waking up feeling incredibly rough and wondering if Todd had
managed to catch his flight, we were very pleased we did not have to do much
today.
After slowly getting washed and dressed we headed out to try
and sort out our excursion for the next day, which was mountain biking down
death road, the most popular activity in La Paz.
Wandering down the road we found the company that we were
looking for, it was the one recommended on tripadvisor which although the most
expensive in town, had the best equipment and the best safety record. The woman at the company, Gravity assisted
Biking, got us to fill out some forms including disclaimers and showed us a
short video of the next day’s activity. After paying our money there was now no
going back, although we did feel more confident about it after talking to them
for a while.
Booking done and still feeling rotten we decided to head for
the English Pub for an English breakfast and a beer, hoping the hair of the dog
may help us, it didn’t.
Not feeling up to anymore sightseeing we headed back to the
room to recover by watching some TV (managed to see the latest Star Wars film)
and watch a few downloads on the Ipad.
In the evening still not feeling great, I headed out to grab
some saltinas and we ate in the room before having an early night in
preparation for Death Road tomorrow.
Day 4 – Death Road!!!
So today was the day we were going to get back in the saddle
and tackle Death Road, the most dangerous road in the world (Remember Top Gear
Special). We had to be up early as we
were meeting in a café down the road, getting there for 7am, we could grab a
coffee and a bowl of very milky sweet porridge – could be our last meal!
We met back up with Tania who had also booked the trip and
we sat there nervously (apart from two pro-riders in all their spandex kit) until
everyone on the trip turned up and then we got onto the mini-bus to head up
into the hills. Whilst we drove along
the guide explained what was going to happen on the trip and handed us all our
safety equipment.
After about an hour we came to a stop where we got out of
the mini-bus and were told to put on our jackets, trousers, gloves &
helmets. We were then all given bikes
that had been tailored to our heights and given time to ride them round on the
flat to test them and so any little adjustments could be made to them (I got
them to switch my front/rear brakes over).
The bikes were top of the range and cost a few thousand each and had
incredible suspension, very bouncy.
Just before we set off we were gathered in a semi-circle and
as is the custom we each had to give a offering to Pachamama. A bottle of pure
alcohol was handed round and we had to sprinkle a bit on the earth, a bit on
our front tyres and then take a small swig.
It was then time to get on the road, but not death road, we
had to ride about 22k on a tarmac road to get us there. It was nice as the road was very good and all
downhill which gave us some time to get used to our bikes. We stopped very regularly to keep the group
together and so the guide, McKenzie, could explain each section of the ride and
any hazards we may face. The ride down
this road was very picturesque, passing through mountains with only some slow
large trucks to negotiate along the way.
Reaching about 18k we got to a tunnel which bikes were not
allowed through so this gave us our first taste of off-roading as we had to use
a side path which was covered in rubble, which meant standing on our peddles
and letting the shock absorbers do their thing.
Back on the tarmac for a few more kilometres and then we
stopped and were given a snack of a ham and cheese roll (or just ham if you’re
a Shelley!), before we had the option of an 8km uphill ride or get back inside
the mini-bus. I’m please to say that all
but one (professional guy) of us opted for the mini-bus, which meant we all had
to take it. There is no way we could peddle upwards at this altitude.
So, we drove for a while until we turned down to a sign that
said Death Road!! We were given our
bikes back and rode down the bumpy road for 1k or so and then we all grouped up
again as we were about to start the proper ride. It was probably not the best point in the
trip for one of our colleagues to ask about injuries and fatalities, he was
told that in the 16 years that people had been riding this road, there had been
1 cyclistfatality a year and numerous injuries!! (Fingers Crossed, they had had
a death in April, so hopefully that was it for the year).
Death road is considered to be the most dangerous road in
the world and decends 15,000 feet and it is estimated that over 300 people a
year lost their lives on it, before a
new road was opened in the last few years.
However, it is still open to motor vehicles and is still used to this
day.
I was quite cloudy here at the top, but once McKenzie had
briefed us on the next section we were on our way again. During the tarmac section
we had worked out an order with the guide up front followed by the more
confident riders (8 of us in total), Shell and I towards the back with Tania
(being the slowest) at the back, followed by 2nd guide and support
mini-bus.
The road started to get more bumpy and we had been told to
watch out for ‘baby heads’ which was McKenzie’s terminology for large rocks,
the size of a babies head, which could just up-end you. We were told just to trust in the bike and if
we couldn’t avoid them just ride over them as the bike would deal with them.
We were both doing quite well, easily keeping up with the
rider in front of us, you have to give a 10 metre gap to the next cyclist in
case they slam on their brakes. The road
was getting bumpier and narrower and now you could start to see the massive
sheer cliff drops right alongside you, with no barriers to stop you going over
the top!!
The first section done we all grouped up again, I recon we
were 4-5 minutes behind the spandex riders, but unfortunately Tania was finding
it difficult and trailed in about 10 minutes after us. We were feeling quite confident now, the only
trouble was as we were concentrating so hard it was difficult to appreciate the
scenery, only able to do that on the scheduled stops.
Again, we were briefed on the next section which took in a
part where there had been a landslide and there were plenty of large rocks and
hairpin bends to take in. We all headed
off in formation and the road became more bumpy and hazardous, so taking it a
bit more cautiously with our fingers constantly on the brakes we made our way
along (all downhill). It was on one of
these rocky bends that unfortunately Shell applied the brakes a bit too hard,
slid on the gravel and she came off her bike, luckily she was not going that
fast and the clothing we had been provided protected her from any cuts and
grazes. Manfully, after we put her
saddle back in place again she got back on the bike and continued to finish the
section.
Stopping at this section we were given an energy boost of a
chocolate bar and some coke for refreshment.
Shell checked for any damage done but fortunately there was no harm
done. About ten minutes later Tania
finally arrived at this point, but she said she had had enough and would hang
up her bike and continue in the support mini-bus. For a brief second I think Shell considered
the same, then concluded that she wanted to finish the ride.
The next section was the narrowest section of road, with
only a car width of track. It was
allegedly where Clarkeson and Co did their car passing thing where he could
have gone over the edge, but in truth in would have been impossible to do here,
a bit of poetic licence and TV excitement for you.
Briefing done we headed down this stretch passing under
small waterfalls coming off the cliff face, heeding McKenzies warnings of not driving
through large puddles that could contain large rocks. A bit further along this
section and then we all grouped at picture card corner where we stopped so we
could take some nice photo’s at this iconic spot.
The sections were in 5-10k stops and as we travelled down
the road became a bit less bumpy and hard on the hands and the legs. We passed
through some small srteams, waterfalls and plenty of makeshift cross’s/grave
markers until we reached another stop.
Once again McKenzie was very good with her briefing,
pointing out whilst we had done the most technical part of the road, the next
bit of road was where 80% of the accidents happened as riders became overly
confident and rode quicker.
Shell and I took this on-board and continued at the same
pace, but I could see why this was the case as the road was wider and seemed
less rocky. However, you did suddenly
hit a rocky place where travelling as speed would easily have you off and there
were also the odd ‘baby head’ lying in wait.
As we continued down with regular stops the terrain started
to flatten out a bit, which for the first time meant we had to put some peddle
power to use. It did mean you could
check out the scenery a bit more and a bit of the local life as we passed
thought small villages along the way.
One more final stop and we were off downhill again to our
final destination in a small village where we were going to celebrate. By this time Shell had got her riding mojo
back and was going at quite a pace, I think she was looking forward to that
beer at the bottom.
Just before we reached the bottom suddenly we came to a
standstill as a mini-bus had stopped in the road and there were a few people
gathered around. Someone had gone over
the edge, it was real!! Fortunately, it
was at a lower level with plenty of foliage, ropes had been thrown down and the
rider was then rescued and only had cuts and bruises to show for it, very lucky
boy!!
A couple of kilometres more and we arrived in the village
and dismounted for the final time well and truly weary after a total of 56k
ridden, 22k on tarmac and 34k downhill on Death Road. We took off all our riding gear and were then
taken to a nearby café where we were given a celebratory beer and issued with
our ‘I survived Death Road’ T-Shirts.
We had a choice to pay to do some zip-lining across the
canyons, but as we were knackered we thought we would do this another day
somewhere else, so we opted to go straight to the animal sanctuary where we
could get a nice hot shower.
The sanctuary was run by a couple who took in confiscated
and injured animals from the illegal animal trade, they only started by taking
in a single animal, but people kept bringing them animals and they eventually
decided to run it as a sanctuary. It now
has hundreds of animals, including monkeys, birds, and even bears, but it is
not funded by the government (even though they dump animals there) and it is
one of the things the bike company we were with likes to support.
After a nice hot shower we then went into the sanctuary’s
restaurant where we were given a buffet dinner and a chance to have another
beer. There was an option to do a monkey tour but everyone in the group was
knackered and wanted to head home.
We had an option to return on death road, or go on the new
road. As we still had quite a bit of daylight (it was around 5pm) we all opted
for death road so we could get a glimpse at some of the scenery we couldn’t see
on the way down due to concentration.
The driver was very careful and we were soon at the
narrowest bit of road again where he stopped and allowed us to take some pics…
Check out Shel’s feet in the pic below, we were literally on the edge.
We arrived back in town around 7:30 and headed to a local
bar for a bite, Tania came along together with another guy, Eric who she had
met on a food tour. We could hardly keep
our eyes open though so it wasn’t long before Shell and I trudged up the hill
to bed.
Death Road, well done us!
Day 5 – R&R
Waking up fairly late for us, due to the previous days
exertions, we were surprised to find that our bodies weren’t aching that much,
apart from an unmentionable part of our anatomies where the bike saddles had
done some damage!!
We decided we would have a relaxing day today as we were on
the move again the next day so we just headed out to do a few chores. We picked up some more cash, booked ourselves
a coach to take us to Copacabana (Bolivia), changed my death road T-Shirt for a
different colour (did not want his ‘n’ hers matching!) and got a bit more data
credit for Shell’s phone.
Chores done we headed to the English Pub to get a bit of
late breakfast before heading back to the room for an afternoon of downloaded
TV and a bit of light packing.
In the evening feeling, fairly lazy we just went back to the same bar
for a couple of drinks and an evening meal, taking advantage of their English
menu for a bit of homely stodge. It was
then back to the hostel for a bit more TV and reading before bed.
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