Last Stop La Paz

Final Stop: La Paz, Bolivia (April 8-13, 2011). La Paz was to be the last stop on our amazing South American adventure. To break up the journey from Sucre to La Paz, we made a brief stop in Cochabamba. We had heard that Cochabamba had great markets, so we were excited to do a lot of souvenir shopping. Well, Cochabamba did have A LOT of markets...but unless we were planning to bring home rooster heads, lamb hooves or cow tongues, these were not the markets we were looking for. Shopping FAIL. So for the first time in Bolivia, we were very excited to board a 7 hour bus ride out of there, direction La Paz! We arrived to a bustling and LOUD city (I swear I tried several times to see how high I could count between car horns and the highest I got was three.) La Paz is the highest capital city in the world at 3650m above sea level and it is surrounded by the high mountains of the Altiplano.

Saw: Our time in La Paz was mostly centred around shopping for souvenirs (this time we succeeded!).

Mirador Killi Killi

Since we had such little time in the city we thought we'd try to get a feel for the main sites of the huge city by joining a "Hop on Hop off" bus tour. FAIL. EPIC FAIL. The city is so congested, traffic is so jammed that the big double decker bus was barely crawling. The one good thing we got out of it was the Mirador Killi Killi which provided really great views of the city and the surrounding mountains. Not long after the lookout stop we started to feel the pain that the bus tour would never end so we cut our losses and bailed. The following four pictures pretty much sum up what we saw on that bus tour:

 

Power lines....dangerously messy power lines.
We didn't need to be told not to stand up on
the bus.





GRIDLOCK. HONKING. And no one getting anywhere.

A bus that drove into a pole. 

We knew we couldn't leave La Paz without mountain biking down "The World's Most Dangerous Road." Scary? Definitely. Thrilling? ABSOLUTELY. Recommended? Without a doubt one of the best adventures we had on the trip. We chose a company that came with good recommendations, B-SIDE Adventures. They were very professional, the guides were great and the equipment was excellent. This trip is not one to save your dollars on. 

When the road was used as a main traffic roadway, an average of 200 to 300 people died every year. Nowadays it is mainly used for mountain biking but it is still open to traffic. 

The road we cycled is approximately 63km and there are three parts to it: first we biked on the highway with vehicles, the second part was steep and covered in loose rocks, and the third part was still gravel, but more packed. We biked under waterfalls, and through streams, all the while barrelling 3600m downhill. We started in the morning at 4700m and finished early afternoon at 1100m.  



Narrow roadway. Add to that the speed of going downhill - a
dangerous combination. It looks flat but it was in fact quite an incline.
I remember well because my forearms were screaming from
pumping the brakes the whole way down.



The whole mountain biking experience was thrilling but the entire time, you had to be focused on what you were doing because one wrong move and you could become an offering to the rain forest that lies below the sheer cliffs. It was sobering to pass by monuments to those that had lost their lives on the road, the last only 8 months ago. This road still claims on average over one life a year. Basically, this is the deal: If you go over the edge, the guides have 100m of rope with which to try to rescue you. The valley is MUCH deeper than 100m, but it becomes impossible to perform a rescue beyond 100m without putting the lives of the guides in danger. 



  

Frankly put, if you go over the edge, your chance of survival is minimal. I in no way want to dissuade anyone from trying this adventure, it was exhilarating, but it merits a word of caution. Anyone can do this ride, but over confidence can mean the difference between a fun trip and a tragic end.

 

We decided to stay at the lower (warmer) altitude and spent a night in Coroico. It was a nice place to rest and a quiet respite from the loudness of La Paz. We lounged by the pool and took a stroll in the coca fields nearby. 

Our accommodation in Coroico

            

The view from our room



Coca field

We took a minibus (van) back to La Paz and THAT ride was scarier than the death road: 

It started to rain and then a thick mist rolled in, so thick that you couldn't see more than a metre in front of the van, but that didn't deter our driver, he hardly slowed down AND he still kept passing slower cars, sometimes on blind corners...with oncoming traffic. I was thankful that Erin had fallen asleep before this part of the journey because I did enough panicking for the both of us. 

Met: We also couldn't leave La Paz without one last visit with our new friends Mike and Laurie. It was so nice to have people to connect with again and again all along the way and share in the experience. Til we meet again!


Stayed: Estrella Andina Hotel in La Paz. This was an awesome hotel, full of character and very clean and comfortable. The hallways and rooms are beautifully painted with murals. Service was great, price was good, location was excellent and breakfast was included. What more can you ask for?
       

Ate: The food in La Paz was for the most part just OK, we had some mediocre Thai, traditional Bolivian and then AWESOME Indian curry at Star of India, the "highest curry house in the world." It was so awesome, in fact, that we ate there two nights in a row, a decision we later came to regret. It would seem that the average Caucasian body was not designed for that much curry.

My favourite Bolivian beer

          

        Beef-tomato-green pepper-cheese-wiener kabob

Last dinner in La Paz with travel mates

Final Tips for Traveling in South America:

• Travel with your smartphone or netbook. WIFI is EVERYWHERE. Add Skype to your device for making reservations for hostels etc.
• Don't bother with handwashing clothes to save money. It is so cheap to have your clothes laundered. Drop off your dirty clothes in the morning and by the evening they will be ready for pick-up, clean and folded, all for around $3 CAD.
• If you are planning to take some flights within South America, consider an air pass. We purchased a South American Air Pass with LAN Airlines. This allowed us to purchase one way fares at greatly reduced fares. There main conditions are:
• you have to fly into and out of South America on a OneWorld alliance airline (there are other airline alliances that offer similar air passes, but this one worked best for us)
• you need to purchase a minimum of 3 different flights and they must be purchased before you leave your home country
• Additional flights can be added at any time and the fee to change your flight is $30 CAD.

And so concludes this amazing South American journey...for now. This magical continent has stolen my heart. It's only a matter of time before I return and when I do, Travel Junkie Jane will be documenting the whole experience again. Stay tuned.