Day 32 - Biking down the world's most dangerous road! (La Paz to Yolosa)

I had my breakfast at 'Hostal Solaris' at 7am and met some of the other travellers going on the crazy mountain bike ride, including an Aussie girl, a Dutch guy, a Spanish couple and two Israeli guys. We were all given a bag full of equipment, including helmets and gloves and the 'Hostal Solaris' team strip!

We set off at about 8am with the bikes loaded on top of the minibus; we had two guides to look after the seven of us. We drove out of La Paz for about an hour before we reached La Cumbre at 4700 metres where the start of the downhill ride begins. (We saw plenty of other tour companies with their mountain bikers all ready to begin the big descent.) We were given a briefing on the rules of the road before being presented with our bikes, mine seemed to be the odd one out and was in quite a bad way with a loose bottom bracket and very loose cones on the rear wheel! I complained and told one of the guides it was a bit shite! They soon presented me with another as a replacement which was much better; however it was clear they don’t really maintain any of their bikes on a regular basis. 

It was great fun for the first hour descending on the tarmacked road and cycling as fast as you could by tucking into an aerodynamic position! There was a guide at front of us on his bike and a guide bringing up rear with the support van. We had to stop at a police check point, to make sure none of us were carrying any drugs! We later stopped for a sandwich and drink, which I thought was a nice thing provided by the company. After more descending on tarmacked road, it was soon time for the real descent on unpaved road to begin. We were all given further rules of the road before heading down. It was great fun riding under some of the waterfalls along the way and getting completely drenched! The lead rider (guide) was taking photographs all along the way, although as I spent a great deal of time right on his wheel during most of the trip, I may not be in very many!

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

We finally reached Yolosa (1800m) at about 2:30pm (not really sure why we didn't ride all the way to Coiroco?). We all handed our equipment and clothing back, whilst having a quick beer at the local bar. The restaurant (our planned lunch stop) was only a five minute drive away, and when we arrived we were told we only had an hour for lunch and a shower before we had to head back to La Paz. Apparently we were running late and we should have had much more time to relax. I could only think it was due to one of the Israeli guys who was incredibly slow riding down the road and we constantly had to wait for him! The food served was ok and so too were the showers, it was just a shame we didn't have long to really enjoy the surroundings.

Yolosa - Biking down the world’s most dangerous road

We arrived back in La Paz at 'Hostal Solaris' just after 7pm, and we were told to come back at 8pm for our tee shirts and our DVD! We all said our goodbyes and I headed back to my hotel, to find my window (internal, overlooking the landing) open and so I panicked a little! When I entered my room all seemed ok after checking my backpack, although some things had been moved around. When I confronted the hotel owner, she blamed the cleaner. I said it’s not a good idea for the cleaner to leave the window open, especially when there is a sign in my room saying 'The hotel is not responsible if items go missing'! I don't think she really understood and she just said in the 6 years she had been running a hotel she has never had anything stolen!

I later went back out again to collect my tee shirt and my DVD before having my last meal in Bolivia, which was nothing special, just a very dry ham and cheese pizza!

I am certainly not looking forward to getting up at 4am to catch four flights, La Paz >Santa Cruz > Miami > Heathrow > Newcastle!!! What an amazing time I have had in Bolivia though :-)

Christmas decorations in La Paz