I am currently in a little rural town in Bolivia’s Yungas Valley called Coroico. I have come here to nurse my aching bum, sore forearms and stiff fingers after yesterday’s incredibly jolting, albeit successful, descent down “The World’s Most Dangerous Road.”
My chosen place to rehab is a bit outside of town, but I am finding the solitude, spectacular views of the Andes mountains and chorus of Amazonian birds completely therapeutic and delightful. In fact, as I write I am being entertained by a myriad of dancing butterflies all around me. I am no longer in the arid high altitude plain of La Paz, but now a subtropical valley of the Amazon. This country is incredible.
My open air cabana here at Hostal Sol y Luna!
My temporary accommodations make me feel like I am living like Swiss Family Robinson if they had Mac Books, Kindle Fires and iPhone 5s. It is completely open air with only a thatched roof over my head and a mosquito net over my bed to shield me from the 1,000,000 bugs that came to visit last night. The name of my cabana is “Jatata” which is the name of the wood it is made of…which looks a lot like bamboo to me.
My little piece of Amazonian paradise is so far removed from the rest of the cabanas, camp sites and restaurant area that I have taken to the attire of Adam and Eve when going to and from my garden shower (which does have hot water, thank god) and getting ready. I think the bugs and birds are enjoying it!
The view of the magnificent Andes from my lofted, mosquito netted bed.
Last night I enjoyed the flit of fireflies and delicious bottle of white Bolivian wine. This morning I enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee made from beans grown here in the valley (I am bringing a little plastic bag of it home) and amazing sunshine. This is indeed an idyllic spot for rest post my mountain bike adventure.
The beginning of our Most Dangerous Road adventure – altitude 4700 meters or over 15,000 ft! We are waiting for our bike assignments and safety talk.
The World’s Most Dangerous Road was named so by the Inter-American Development bank in 1995 because of all the deaths that occurred from cars and jeeps falling from 3 meter wide road directly into the chasm 800 meters below (~2400 ft!!!). Locally the 33km stretch is known as “The Death Road” or “Camino de la Muerte.” You can navigate here to buy the best cars at the best quality.
Knowing that a French girl had just died on this road a few weeks earlier doing the same excursion as I was about to embark on, I chose the most reputable company in the business (there are around 200 that do this tour and most are more concerned about $/BS versus safety and bike maintenance) who are known for their impeccable safety standards, solid equipment and native English speaking guides, Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking. I absolutely chose correctly.
Ready to hit the Most Dangerous Road in the World (I have to admit I was a little nervous).
I am not a mountain biker and that was clearly obvious when I first set out on the first 30 or so kilometers of paved road we took in order to acclimate to our bikes before getting on WMDR. Mike, my 22 year old guide from West Virginia, was wonderful though and instructed me perfectly so that I was comfortable and more relaxed (which is a relative term) before hitting the scarier stretch of gravel road (not to mention the 2400 feet drop to my left).
I made it to our first stop (out of 15) alive…and this was the paved road part!! Behind me is a monumental cliff and at the bottom a green bus that wasn’t as successful as myself.
Our group was comprised of 13 riders and 2 guides. As it turns out the group of 4 hungover Texans were the one’s that kept up best with our lead guide, Will from La Paz. Let’s just say I was never in the front of the pack.
Next we took on The World’s Most Dangerous Road. This gives a sense of what we had on our left for most of the ride. A great incentive to not wreck.
Our bus driver taking one of the most deadliest corners of WMDR. Below him is a “graveyard” of trucks and buses.
I don’t have a lot of pictures of me on my bike yet, but Mike our guide was taking pictures all the time. They will be uploaded to Facebook and sent via Dropbox shortly so I hope to have some of the action shots of me looking terrified…I mean, bad ass shortly (updated: I added some of the pics that Mike and Will took below).
Our path on WMDR…it was breathtaking!
Over the course of the day we traveled 40 miles on our bikes and descended 11,800 feet! Various resource has said that WMDR was relatively in good shape for a gravel road, but much of the time we were navigating “babies heads” (enemy sized rocks for a mountain bike which are the size of, well, a baby’s head), pot holes and rock gardens . I don’t think my body has been jostled for such an extent of time EVER in my life. I found that I became very good at pumping the brakes so that I always felt in control. I never did figure out how to see or focus when my velocity got too high cuz I was bouncing around SO MUCH! Oh my bum hurts just remembering!
Pretty sure this road would be indeed scarier in a bus versus on a mountain bike….albeit softer on the bum.
Snack break with Coca Cola on WMDR. Gravity Assisted thought of everything!
Our last rest stop before reaching the town at the end of the world class mountain biking road.
At this point it was so warm that I had stripped down the the lightest layers I had on. Everyone was lathering on the sunscreen and sucking down the water…and, wow, was it dusty. For this final stretch Mike told us we didn’t have to look out as much for babies heads but rather children, chickens, cars and other obstacles that civilization brings. He particularly warned not to hit a chicken. His last experience doing so ended up with him being yelled at by the farmer in Spanish for 30 minutes and having to pay him 20BS for the loss. He did, however, get to take home the chicken. He said it was delicious.
We ALL made it!!
Yolosa is the town at the end of WMDR. We all got down safely (5 flat tires though…the most Mike has ever had to fix) so Mike treated us to a beer…well, he treated everyone else to a beer and me to a Fanta (no wine available). Some then went on to experience the nearby zip line (3rd best in the world), but I along with 4 others decided we had had enough adventure for one day and stayed back to enjoy our Fanta, beers and travel talk.
Monkey at La Senda Verde, an animal rescue and our dinner and shower spot.
Our adventure ended at an animal rescue called La Senda Verde. There we were treated to a pasta buffet, showers and glimpses of monkeys, macaws, parrots, caimans, turtles and some animals I had never seen before. This sanctuary provides refuge for animals rescued from illegal traffickers. Around 50,000 animals are illegally exported from Bolivia every year. 🙁
Mike then called me a taxi (which Gravity paid for!) to take me to my own sanctuary for the next two nights. A tear almost welled in my eye as a said good-by to Mike. He took such good care of me (he may have spent a bit of time with me at points during the ride as he hung in the back with yours truly) and was just a genuine good guy. I can’t recommend this company or him as a guide enough.
Alright, I think the birds that keep squawking all around me are telling me it is time to hit the pool! Tomorrow I head further into the Amazon Basin and I need to be well rested…and tanned :).
Picture Addendum!
Here are some of the shots that Mike and Will, our guides, took of me, the group and our views!
Safety Briefing by Mike at 15,000 ft! We had to hold up our right hand and promise not to ride like a “fuck wit”…not a hard promise for me to keep!
Prior to heading out we had to a Bolivian tradition for luck on the road. Each of us took a bottle of 94 proof alcohol poured a little on our bike, a little on the ground to honor Pacha Mama (mother earth) and then a swig ourselves…tasted horrible.
We needed a little of his and Pacha Mama’s aid to make the trip safely!
Mike, our fantastic guide from West Virginia!
Some of the incredible views we saw…this is still on the paved part, before WMDR (I always the one in the ugly green helmet…usually in the back too 🙂 )
Scenes from the route.
Mike doing one of his many duties while being our guide! Thanks to him we have all these great memories of our adventure like….
…this one!
And so we begin! This is what Gravity says about it, “A 15,000ft descent, sheer drops and 300 deaths a year: Welcome to Bolivia’s Death Road, the terrifying route tourists love to cycle.”
It may be dangerous, but it is still awfully pretty….
Concentrating on getting through this “rock garden”…
Our group! Pretty obvious in this picture why so many have come to tragic ends on this road. Although I am safely on the edge, I still look like I am holding on for dear life (I am one in end in blue jacket).
Another one more close 🙂
Me and another one of my fellow intrepid riders, Kristi! This is at one of our 15 stops down the WMDR.
Mike took this pic of me at the base of a waterfall on the road.
This is Will, he was the guide who would start out each segment and stay in front of the group blazing the trail. This is how he went through the river part of the WMDR.
This is how I went through.
Happily we all survived!
If you are ever in Bolivia, make sure you bike the World’s Most Dangerous Road…and if you do, the only company to chose is Gravity Assisted!
