The Death Road and cocaine - La Paz

It`s St. Patrick`s day.

I`ve discovered this fact because someone has just attacked me with neon paint, and the beer I`m drinking is bright green.  As if things can`t get more surreal, I`m asked if I`d like some cocaine with my beverage.

I`d been in La Paz for 24 hours and this was the 20th time I`d been offered some kind of white powder.  I was even driven past a `cocaine nightclub´ by a taxi driver hoping for some commission.  Don`t worry mum, I didn`t visit the club and I`m still clean.  I`ve been to a lot of areas of the world where drugs are popular/grown/cooked up - the Rif mountains in Morocco spring to mind - but I have to say I am surprised at how visible the cocaine scene is in La Paz.

Anyway, the main activity on the list was to jump on a mountain bike, point it in the direction of Death Road (or the Worlds Most Dangerous Road, either way it doesn`t sound good) and slam it down to the bottom. Preferably without falling off, crashing into the mountain or killing anyone else.

The road leads from La Paz to Coroico and is about 40 miles long.  The gravel track, only 2.5 meters wide in some places, is almost completely downhill - clinging to the mountains as it snakes its way down the valley.  Everywhere you look there are sheer cliff drops and there are no safely barriers to stop you from falling off.  It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it the "World's Most Dangerous Road". In 2006 a new bypass opened and the road was closed to traffic - before that it is estimated that 200 to 300 travellers were killed yearly.  You regularly see crosses marking spots where vehicles have fallen.

There were 18 of us in all, we met up at the HQ and picked up our gear.  It included a rather colourful cycle jacket.  Wearing it was mandatory "so that we know whether a person belongs to our company if they fall off the side" the guide told us.  Fantastic.

We were driven up to 4,300m above sea level and given our bikes and tested them on an 8 mile stretch of asphalt road.  It was very steep and I found myself overtaking a few trucks.  I stopped doing this when, on one occasion, I came face to face with a truck overtaking around a corner.  I don`t think the highway code has reached Bolivia yet.  We arrived at the top of the Death Road proper and checked our bikes again.  The front brake on mine had stopped working so I got a new bike.  They all had numbers on them in order to tell who each bike belonged to.  My broken bike was number 54 - the new one was number 13.  Nice.

Bike number 13 lived up to its name - I was the first to stack it.  The road may be closed to traffic, but not donkeys.  I was racing a German guy and came flying round a corner to find an old woman and three donkeys in my path.  Instead of getting out the way, they just stood there as I skidded helplessly towards them.  Luckily for them, I was stopped by a large rock, went over the handlebars and landed in a heap at the foot of a particularly hairy donkey.  The old woman chuckled and wandered off.  Anyway - I was fine.

The bikes were really good and you can really get some speed up while going down.  The only problem is when the gravel road turns into something resembling a boulder field.  Steering doesn`t work in this case, those were the scary parts.  We traversed through waterfalls, mud puddles and streams - the scenery was magnificent.  All in all, we travelled 40 miles and descended over 3,000 meters in about 2.5 hours.  A truly exhilarating experience!  I was rewarded with a DVD and a t-shirt - now I don`t have to do any clothes washing for a couple more days - result!

Other than the Death Road, cocaine and partying, there isn`t really much to do in La Paz.  You used to be able to gain entry to the infamous San Pedro prison but the practice has been banned, as most people who visited did so to buy cocaine from the inmates.

Other than that I spent a day wandering around the city with some other backpackers.  We visited the witches market, where you can buy llama foetuses (a good luck charm that Bolivians bury under the porch of a new house) and various potions & medicines.

Next stop is Lake Titicaca to visit Copacabana (not the famous beach) and Isla del Sol, where the Incas believed the sun was born!  I`ll leave you with a picture of La Paz.