The World´s Most Dangerous Road

After what had seemed like an eternity in the driest desert on the planet (no joke--not even an insect lives there), Jess and I thought it might be nice to have a change in ecosystem. This is the reason we chose to ride mountain bikes down the world´s most dangerous road in Bolivia. This road, now only used by tours and mountain bikers since the construction of a less crazed road, drops roughly 10,000 feet in 80 kilometers. That is to say, it is 90% downhill riding, which is about all the biking we were up for after 6 weeks of being lazy vacationers.

The road began in the mountains outside of La Paz where glaciers and clouds flanked the road. The guide gave us instructions on proper braking, which would be our primary occupation for the next 6 hours. We also loaded up on the clothing layers which we would shed throughout the day. After getting a few kilometers under our belts (and one drug check-point), the sharp sting of cold air started to ease and the clouds got a lot more dense. We also started to see some small scrubby plants. This was the beginning of the cloudforest. The air slowly got more humid and the plants more dense though the mountains peaks remained dramatically steep. We dropped a couple of layers in the support bus.

Soon we were riding through the clouds and it started to rain on my glasses. The pavement gave way to gravel and the greenery got greener and bushier. Moss and vines started to appear and we had to do a bit of uphill riding before the road turned to dirt and rocks. After droping another layer in the bus, the clouds slowly disappeared and the trees got bigger and more tropical. We saw bananas, butterflies and squaking birds. Yet the peaks and drop-offs remained quite steep and our guide had us pause to look at a dead truck that had fallen 600 feet strait down into a gulch. He also pointed out a precipice from which several political dissidents were tossed (perhaps not remarkable when one considers that the country has had over 220 coups and 175 presidents in about 155 years of independence). We paused for some bug spray and a snack.

It was then time to decend into the Yungas, the tropical coffee, banana and coca-growing region. We stripped down to bare essentials for the final drop as we passed terraced agricultural plots in the mountain-sides and rode through small waterfalls. We made our way to our final destination: the animal refuge in Coroico. There we ate a much deserved buffet with beer among the monkeys (recovering pickpockets), maccaws, and jungle chickens.

I write this post from the beautiful Lake Titicaca--birthplace of civilization according to the Incas. Tomorrow we are off to Cuzco to prepare for hiking the Incan trail to Macchu Pichu. More stories will surely follow!