A 6am rise this morning didn't help matters, we went to the biking office to get kitted out, the name of the company is Madness..so you can get an idea of my state of mind right now, Tina rightly opted out of the activity so I went along with my comrade from last nights vindaloo session.
Neither of us were feeling the best, but he took a few ammodium so at least he won't shit himself on the way down. Kitted out we headed to the starting point, 4200 metres above sea level. The first 25km's is paved, but you still need your wits about you as every km or so there's a giant pothole that wouldn't look out of place in Leitrim!
After passing through the Police coca checkpoint, we headed to the next village, one of the lads showing off nearly getting a smack of a lorry!
After the village we were put into the van and taken 8kms uphill, with the altitude the hills are a killer! At last we arrived at death road where we will travel 43kms to 1200metres above sea level, the first part of the road is the most dangerous with parts of it being less then 3 metres wide and a 4000 metre drop to the left of you! It was dubbed the Worlds most dangerous road as it claimed the lives of 300 people per year until the new road opened in 2006, and 18 people (11 Israeli's) have died biking this road..but don't let that phase you, we're here for a good time, not a long time!
...And a good time is what you'll get the rush is out of this world, travelling at speeds of over 60kmph on a mountain bike down pure gravel tracks was like nothing I have ever experienced. Obviously you'll need to keep your wits about you with the crosses littered at the side of the road being a chilling reminder of how quickly this road can take you...Half way through the ride I couldn't hold the vindaloo any longer, so the rest of the group had to wait while I went through "The burning ring of fire"
So why do it? It's a bike ride of a lifetime, literally...it is probably the most popular things to do in La Paz..and I'd do it again in a second...well maybe not but I certainly made the most of it, fronting the group for most the ride. One Icelandic girl is our group hadn't cycled a bike since she was 3 and decided death road was the place to get back up on the horse: The mind boggles..needless to say she arrived 2 hours behind the rest of us and delayed us from getting back home. Other then that we'd one guy smash into some rocks, other one catapult of his bike and cut his knee & a girl with a sprained wrist...at least somebody is looking after me upstairs!
Equally as dangerous was the guy driving us home, driving against traffic until the last minute..the people in the van were gobsmacked by his driving..but I don't know I've been in so many buses and dodgy taxi's I was completely unphased by his driving...
We arrived back in La Paz at 7:30, we'd survived Death Road & rush hour traffic in La Paz...I think that's enough death defying adventures for this trip! I now have 2 t-shirts: 1 for surviving death road and one for surviving the spiciest vindaloo I've ever tasted!
Some info regarding the Yungas Road:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungas_Road
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8683075.stm
NOTE: I'm having some trouble uploading pictures so everythings abit all over the place
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