Death Road Day
It was an early start for our day out on Death Road.
The Yungas Road, or Ruta de la muerta is known for being one of the most dangerous roads in the world....
Our trip started at Little Italy, about 10 minutes walk from Loki. From there we had about a 45 minute drive out to where all the trips start from. There we got into our biking gear - protective gloves, trousers and jacket, and a helmet, knee and elbow pads optional. There were 13 in our group - myself and Sal, an Irish girl, a South Korean guy, a couple of German guys (Samuel, quite young, and then a much older, slightly odd man), some Americans, some Brazilians and some Bolivians.
From here we did the first part of the road, which isn't actually Death Road and is fully sealed. I loved zooming down this part as fast as the bike could take me, and the views were breathtaking. As we descended it got hotter and hotter. We then arrived at a tunnel and our guide Gus told us that we wouldn't be going through it, as vehicles coming through it will overtake without looking for cyclists. We had to go round the side of the tunnel, and Gus said that if we could make it through that without falling off then we would have no problem on Death Road. Hmm...
About a kilometre after the tunnel we dismounted and all the bikes went back on top of the van. Thank god as the uphill cycle to the start of Death Road would have been extremely difficult, especially at altitude!
Then for Death Road. Well, I did love it but I also have to admit that the further we biked the more scared I became. Again, the views were amazing, though it was easy to see how accidents could happen and end with people going over the edge, on this narrow road which was only really made to be one vehicle wide. But the height wasn't what bothered me - the road was just so bumpy and I felt like I was going to come off the bike at any time, the whole way down! Basically, I was just being a wuss. Similar to when I biked in Skipper's Canyon in Queenstown (no regrets for taking the easy route down there!).
I still really enjoyed Death Road though, and the guide was really cool about me going "tranquila" even if it did become a bit of a joke that I always arrived at the next stop 5 minutes behind everyone else. At one point Samuel got a puncture and this was my excuse to go even slower, while his bike was fixed and he caught up!
After we had biked the 34km of Death Road, there was the option to go zip lining, but I've done it in Costa Rica, and both Sal and I did it on our Inka Jungle Trek, so we weren't too bothered about doing it here.
Most of us went back to Barracuda HQ, where beers, a pretty dirty swimming pool and the river awaited. We were all hot and sweaty at this point, so that beer tasted so good!
As nice as a dip in the pool would have been, it looked like it had never seen chlorine in its life, so instead we clambered down to the river where all the local kids were swimming in their uniforms, and a man washing his clothes. Still looker cleaner than that pool though!
There followed a late lunch of bolognese and chips, a look through the photos and videos from the day, and a few group photos before getting back on the bus, which would take us back to La Paz on the new road.
3 hours later, we were back at Loki, excited but tired. We'll just go and have some food in the bar, before going to bed, we thought. Jajaja! It turned out that Sunday night had just been a quiet night, because Monday night the bar staff were all over getting everyone wasted, pouring free shots down everyone's necks and getting us all up dancing on the bar. The evidence is all over Facebook! Dinner and bed turned into bedtime after the bar closed. Awesome night. Loki did live up to its reputation after all!
The Yungas Road, or Ruta de la muerta is known for being one of the most dangerous roads in the world....
From here we did the first part of the road, which isn't actually Death Road and is fully sealed. I loved zooming down this part as fast as the bike could take me, and the views were breathtaking. As we descended it got hotter and hotter. We then arrived at a tunnel and our guide Gus told us that we wouldn't be going through it, as vehicles coming through it will overtake without looking for cyclists. We had to go round the side of the tunnel, and Gus said that if we could make it through that without falling off then we would have no problem on Death Road. Hmm...
About a kilometre after the tunnel we dismounted and all the bikes went back on top of the van. Thank god as the uphill cycle to the start of Death Road would have been extremely difficult, especially at altitude!
Then for Death Road. Well, I did love it but I also have to admit that the further we biked the more scared I became. Again, the views were amazing, though it was easy to see how accidents could happen and end with people going over the edge, on this narrow road which was only really made to be one vehicle wide. But the height wasn't what bothered me - the road was just so bumpy and I felt like I was going to come off the bike at any time, the whole way down! Basically, I was just being a wuss. Similar to when I biked in Skipper's Canyon in Queenstown (no regrets for taking the easy route down there!).
I still really enjoyed Death Road though, and the guide was really cool about me going "tranquila" even if it did become a bit of a joke that I always arrived at the next stop 5 minutes behind everyone else. At one point Samuel got a puncture and this was my excuse to go even slower, while his bike was fixed and he caught up!
After we had biked the 34km of Death Road, there was the option to go zip lining, but I've done it in Costa Rica, and both Sal and I did it on our Inka Jungle Trek, so we weren't too bothered about doing it here.
Most of us went back to Barracuda HQ, where beers, a pretty dirty swimming pool and the river awaited. We were all hot and sweaty at this point, so that beer tasted so good!
As nice as a dip in the pool would have been, it looked like it had never seen chlorine in its life, so instead we clambered down to the river where all the local kids were swimming in their uniforms, and a man washing his clothes. Still looker cleaner than that pool though!
There followed a late lunch of bolognese and chips, a look through the photos and videos from the day, and a few group photos before getting back on the bus, which would take us back to La Paz on the new road.
3 hours later, we were back at Loki, excited but tired. We'll just go and have some food in the bar, before going to bed, we thought. Jajaja! It turned out that Sunday night had just been a quiet night, because Monday night the bar staff were all over getting everyone wasted, pouring free shots down everyone's necks and getting us all up dancing on the bar. The evidence is all over Facebook! Dinner and bed turned into bedtime after the bar closed. Awesome night. Loki did live up to its reputation after all!
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