Bike Like I Told Ya

We left Peru heading toward Copacabana (Bolivia) with a troop of about 10 people, this has its advantages and disadvantages as its great to have a lot of company and many people to talk to but when we decide to do anything it takes many hours and changes of plans to make things happen for example deciding where to go to lunch took a good hour to deicide where. The boarder crossing from Peru to Bolivia was one of the friendliest that I have encountered with the staff being very buoyant and upbeat interested in where we were originally from but now I’m expecting it to slowly get worse.

Lake Titicaca at Copacabana is the highest body of water in the world resting at about 4200 meters above sea level and this was the first place we got to experience the cheapness of Bolivia with our room costing 20Bs which is about £2 with the room being of a generally good standard. With it being the highest I also believe that it has the most abundant source of trout fish in the world so for dinner trout was a must and I can say it is without doubt the freshest tastiest fish that I have ever eaten in my life. The next day we had to get up early to get the ferry across to Ile De Sole for a day trip where we would trek across the island, this trek was quite easy for me as I am now a pro trekking at altitude but for Fergal our Irish friend he found it quite difficult and at some points he was on all fours crawling up the steps wheezing and spluttering away. We were going to stay on the island but as I mentioned before these plans changed by the minute but I am glad that we did rush back and get to La Paz as I met some great people there that night I might not have met if we rested for a day, as I said before everything happens for a reason so I just go with the flow!

La Paz is a massive bustling city that is a party town for many a backpacker with its endless bars and massive drug problem lots of backpackers find it hard to leave and after 8 days there I can tell you that it hit me hard and I don’t really want to go back there. If you remember from the last blog the Molecular Biologist who done some creative work on my foot I met up with her again and her crazy Dutch friend Paul aka W man. Paul is crazy and reminds me of most the Dutch I have met on my travels but in La Paz I have met one Dutch person that I didn’t like but I wont go into the details I’m putting this here merely as a reminder to me for when I get home. Paul is quite a character and unfortunately I cannot describe him on this blog as it would bring the tone down quite a fair bit but I am sure I will remember him quite well and the laughs we enjoyed. So I could go into to details about the drinking and social life in La Paz like my quest for the sceptic or my out of control encounter with the Swede that I backed away from (massive regret) but you would have to be here to understand, instead I will tell you about some of the activities that I managed to do in La Paz.

Few highways in the world have as intimidating a reputation as the old road linking La Paz with Coroico in the north Yungas, it represents the end of the Andes and the start of the Amazon Rainforest. Widely referred to as the most dangerous road in the world (death road) it’s a rough, narrow track chiselled out of a near vertical mountainsides that descends more than 3500m over a distance of 64km. Dozens of vehicles tumbled off its edges every year with fatalities often reaching the hundreds. Recently however a new and safer road has been built meaning traffic on the old road is practically non-existent; instead travelling the road by mountain bike has fast become one of the top Bolivian tourist attractions. After booking this excursion I was quite scared to begin with but after the first 20km on tarmac racing down at speeds of 60kmph I became with one with the bike and once I got on the Death Road I was oblivious to the 3500m drop just 1-3 foot on my left as you are going so fast you have to concentrate at least 15 meters in front of you scanning the road and the dips bumps and even the type of gravel you are about to hit. I was one of the fastest down the mountain ever wanting to go faster and increase that adrenalin and as you can tell I survived but some don’t. The last backpacker to die was an Israeli girl who came off because her goggles steamed up during the bad misty weather, before that was a Canadian who was going too fast for a corner and just flew off the edge. We had one girl in our group that was not amazing on a bike and scared of heights and too be fair I don’t think she should have taken part as she was travelling at a snails pace constantly aware of the drop and going so slow that you have to turn the bike with the handles and not leaning. Paul’s enthusiasm on the 45 minute ride out there gave me a massive boost but gave one of the girls the opposite effect.

One Sunday in La Paz I decided to support the local side in a game of football so with another troop of 10+ we headed towards one of the highest stadium in the world. Bolivia have beaten top countries such as Brazil 6-2 and Argentina around the same figure and this is because the other countries are not used to the altitude so Sepp stepped in and Fifa have now banned this stadium from being used as it is seen as an unfair advantage to Bolivia. For 40bs we got to see two matches and for 30bs we got to purchase a replica kit NOT JERSEY as the American among us called it. I was like any hardcore supporter I bought the home and away kit but we noticed that they had over 15 different kinds of kit for sale. I was in vocal flight shouting support for Bolivar the home team whilst the others were like the prawn sandwich brigade sitting there barely watching the game. The players even come around the stadium after the game to sign any autographs. Bolivar drew 2-2 with Los Mamore and the players were then escorted off by riot police.

Chris and Nick arrived in La Paz which has now made it five countries that we have met each other in which is quite a feat so yet again I was forced to drink the cheap beer and socialise on the La Paz social scene. I took on tour guide and showed my friends around the city and the famous witches market where you can purchase talisman, charms, potions and even llama foetuses. Chris’s spirit for shopping rubbed off on me and I was tempted into buying some alpaca garments and t-shirts……my bag is now bursting at the seams!

Find out in the next blog how close we came to death again and when I finally left La Paz or also known as Las Paz! Don’t worry though I am ok its just this blog had to be split into two due to the lack of internet and the amount I am doing!