Panoramic
Incriminating
Crucifixes
Next city on our list was La Paz, Bolivia's unofficial capital. The streets here are steep and tiring in the thin mountain air, plus they are made of slippery bricks. Altitude is almost 4,000m so every physical exertion is a chore and it's quite difficult on the old lungs. The city itself is quite ugly, but its main attraction is the street life. The road by our hotel was packed with brightly dressed Bolivian ladies selling fruit and vegetables at their makeshift stalls. The colours and smells were amazing.
Took a city tour around La Paz. Checked out Valle de la Luna, a cool eroded hillside full of pinnacles and miniature canyons. Got a panoramic view of the city from Killi Killi viewpoint. Went to see the witches market (Mercado de Hechicería) where elderly ladies were selling magic charms for every occasion. Baby llamas and skeletons were strung up from most shop-fronts. Weird and whacky!
After much humming and hawing I decided to go ahead and cycle down Death Road. While I'm now glad to have done it, sadly I cannot say that I thoroughly enjoyed the outing. The first 25km involved cycling on tarred road - easy peasy. We reached the top and weather conditions were snow, mist, biting cold and driving rain. Kids had even built a snowman by one of the wooden huts at the top of the route. Oddly enough despite my fingers threatening to fall off, and my sunglasses getting completely covered in raindrops and thus rendering me blind, this section of the ride was quite enjoyable (as it was smooth!). Once we entered the old Death Road track the terrain got extremely rocky. Oh and added bonus, our guide Marcos told us that we had to ride on the left hand side of the road (i.e. the one closest to the perilous edge!). Bang went my strategy of hugging the rock face for the entire day. Sheesh, talk about making a risky ride more terrifying! The road itself was very rough and gravelly. I felt a bit like a juggernaut, my hands were shaken to pieces, teeth constantly shattered so you had to keep them clamped shut, plus my sunglasses were violently hopping up and down on my face. Not a pleasant feeling at all. My poor hands were red raw despite the fact that we had gloves, and every stone I went over caused a lot of pain to my palms and my very tender shin. I don't doubt I was probably gripping the handles too tight as I'm not a confident bike rider, but I wasn't releasing my grip for love nor money.
On the plus side, once the mist finally lifted, the views were spectacular. I was rather thankful that most vehicles now use the new road and only cyclists (and the odd local) use the old road. There were a number of crucifixes along the way signalling people who have met their maker on this road - it was incredibly eerie and a stark reminder of how unforgiving the road can be should you lose concentration or get too cocky.
At the end of the cycle we had an option to go zip-lining on three different routes. Now we're talking my idea of fun. I nabbed a superman harness so I could zip across the landscape face down enjoying the views. However due to a lack of similar harnesses I surrendered it after one use, the remaining two zip lines I did the normal way. Exhilarating and great, great fun.
The drive back to La Paz was quite the experience. We had ordered the party bus and so had strobing lights, a dance pole and huge speakers in our transport. Add alcohol, adrenaline and things got very loud, messy and outrageous. The drive back up Death Road was unbelievable. Our poor driver had to content with travelling up Death Road in the dark, with heavy mists, strobing lights, camera flashes, loud music and terribly out of tune singing (cat strangling). I did feel for him, but was enjoying myself too much to care a whole lot. Hilarity reached new levels as we kept passing police checkpoints and had to kill the lights, music and be quiet. No sooner were we past the checks than the driver would get the party restarted immediately.
Alcohol and altitude meant that many pee stops were required on the drive. The funniest was when the driver stopped in the main road and two of the girls went behind the bus and merely waved at cars as they went past. When myself and Heather tried to go, a blooming 4x4 decided to put on its hazards and pull up behind our bus. Cue a cross country trek in the dark without head torches trying to find a suitable place. We were still laughing getting back on the bus.
The piece de resistance for the evening had to go to Tony and Geoff who really embraced the idea of the dance pole, and started doing a wee strip-tease while gyrating on the pole. There are many incriminating photos, but until I get their blessing there will be none uploaded on the blog...
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