Having arrived in La Paz and found a hostel we set out to find food and to have a look around the city.
We followed the suggested walking tour in our trusty guidebook, which turned out to be a bit less interesting than these tours have been in the past, regardless we took in the Witches Market (read Bolivian textile market for Gringos), the San Fransisco Cathedral (which dates back to the 1500's), the black market and the Presidential Palace.
We went to one of the better restaurants in the city (Vienna) that evening and enjoyed a great meal with mains costing 40-45 Bolivianos ($1USD = 7.3USD) - less than a McDonald's Combo!
The following day (Saturday) we booked in for a mountain bike descent of the Worlds Most Dangerous Road for the following Monday. We also checked out Parque Mirador (lookout) Laikota which turned out to be a giant children's playground with amazing views of the city which is set in a valley (La Paz is one of the only cities in the world where the wealthy live in the lower parts of the city).
Sunday rolled around and Kim arose to find she had been stricken by one of Bolivia's famous bugs, needless to say her day was spent between the bed and the bathroom...feeling sorry for her I left to tour the cathedral (which Kim wasn't interested in anyway) only to find out it was closed so returned for a day reading, getting Kim food and updating the blog...
Monday and the mystery illness still lurking, Kim agreed to stay home while I set off for the ride down the worlds most dangerous road. (The available information is conflicting but generally the consensus is that on average 100-250 people died on the road annually before the new road opened, generally because of vehicles slipping over the side and often because the drivers were drunk...)
Some of you may have seen the documentary in NZ recently where a reporter from the BBC joined the New Zealand Owned Company Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking for a descent of the road. Gravity are the pioneers of the ride, and from what I observed on the day the only operators you should use on this route if you ever attempt it...
The day was long, starting at 7am and ending at around 9.30pm. Unfortunately the day was also wet once we got off the initial tarmac section and onto the worlds most dangerous road itself. When combined with the recently graded road the wet made for slippery conditions, poor visibility and photos that are much less likely to scare your mother...(bummer!). My camera remained in the bus, so the photos you see are taken by the guides (in a few days I will have a link to a website with more pictures and video for you).
Overall it was a great experience and is thoroughly recommended (even for nervous cyclists as they let you go at your own pace).
Honestly, I only felt like I was going over the side a couple of times, otherwise it was just plain good fun...
Kim's sickness put an end to our plans to spend a couple of days hiking around Coroico, so the following day we boarded a bus to Copacabana, Lake Titicaca which is our last stop (and possibly the most in impressive) in Bolivia before we head to Peru.
I can report Kim is well now, and we are travelling alone again after farewelling Ant and Lisa at the bottom of the worlds most dangerous road.
Take Care,
Dave & Kim
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