Risking life and limb in La Paz

THE first thing I noticed about La Paz was the noise and pollution. Horns were beeping, people were and traffic was already building up at 7am when we arrived.

Market stalls, food and drink sellers and shoppers fill the streets from dusk until 10 at night, and the city is full of gringos. No matter how hard the tourists and backpackers try to blend in they are instantly noticeable by the patterned alpaca wool cardigans and woolly hats they are all wearing (and sadly after buying a llama cardigan and multicoloured beanie, I am now one of them).

The area we stayed in was not the best but it was perfect for its central location. We were surrounded by hostels, English and irish bars and restaurants serving up cuisines from all over the world – all catering for the increasing number of travellers that visit La Paz each year.

Our first day is spent catching up on sleep after the crazy overnight bus ride. Once I’ve come back to some kind of normality, we have a small tour of the area and visit the witches market.

Although the locals are all catholics they have their own Andean beliefs. They wear symbols which represent various things to bring them luck, fortune and love. You can also buy a range of potions, including for love and fertility, and herbal remedies for illnesses.

For me, one of the beauties of La Paz was the Valley de Lunar (Moon Valley). It is an area of strange natural clay formations and offers some stunning views from the top.

It is almost an oasis away from the craziness of the centre and I found it amazing that something like that exists on the outskirts of a major city.

Visible from the Moon Valley is also the world’s highest golf course. Not having ever played a round of golf before, and this being a holiday of firsts, I thought I would give it a go. And if the fact you are having a chilling afternoon walking around the course and enjoying the sunshine from the top isn’t enough for you, then the gorgeous backdrop of the valley and mountains will certainly add to the experience. With caddies being compulsory on the course I didn’t have to worry about carrying the clubs around and my caddy even gave me a few tips and a quick lesson in swing techniques as we went round.

I guess now I have played at such a scenic golf course for my first time others back home will have a lot to live up to.

There are more than one million people living in La Paz and it is a constantly expanding city with houses going up at every small space in the countryside. The poorest people live high up in the mountains and their slums can be seen from miles sitting one on top of the other. Just in January this year many of these homes were wiped out after torrential rain in Bolivia caused landslides from the mountains.

While it is sad to see such crowded conditions on the outskirts of the city, the views were immense and the lights from the houses in the mountains at night looked great. The mountains created the most incredible backdrop for the city and made La Paz totally different to any city I had been to, or had visited so far on this trip.

The World’s Most Dangerous Road

IF someone asked you if you wanted to cycle down the world’s most dangerous road in La Paz where people have been known to die, any sane person would say ‘No’.
But of course accident prone me, who has never been mountain biking before, barely even thinks about it and signs up.

I guess I didn’t want to be the odd one out but I thought it’d be fun and I was secretly craving a small adrenaline rush.

The road, which starts at 4,700 metres above sea level, has the most road accidents than any other in the world, and already this year, two people have fallen to their death from the cliffs trying to complete the cycling challenge. Recently the road was featured on Top Gear to show just how hazardous the road is for motorists.

At the top I felt a little queasy and dizzy. I put that down to nerves and the altitude but a short sit down and sniffing some 94 per cent alcohol on the advice of Hernan our tour guide sorted me out and I was ready to go.

Having heard all the scare stories about the deathly cliff edge, I was completely petrified about the bike ride but nevertheless I got on my bike and tried to get used to the horrible gravel surface.
I pretty much kept a firm grip on the brakes all the way as we did the crazy journey downhill. I think I literally left an imprint of my fingers in the handlebars of my bike.

There was no way I was going to let go of the brakes and speed down that road.

Cars, lorries, coaches and anything else that moved passed us on the sometimes narrow road. At one point we almost witnessed a serious collision as a bus driver tried to overtake cyclists and misjudged the distance of a car coming in the opposite direction.

We passed roadworks, animals and houses, and other cyclists overtook me as I pottered along on at my own pace, panicking every time I approached a sharp bend or saw a few rocks in the road.

What we were doing was completely mental and aside from feeling like I was about to fall to my death at every corner, the views were just breathtaking. We were right up by the snow capped mountains and at some points our heads were literally in the clouds. Stopping at certain points and taking in the scenes of the valleys far below us was just perfect and in some ways made all the terror worthwhile.

As we got further down the road we heard a car that had whizzed past us earlier, had gone over the edge. Luckily the driver managed to get out and was helped by our guides and some locals, but others haven’t been so fortunate. Along the way you can see wreckages of minibuses that have veered off the road or evidence of where a tanker has crashed through a barrier and gone up in flames over the edge…..what the hell was I doing there?!
Apart from a few wobbles on the bike and trying my hardest not to look down or at the scenery around us, I can proudly say I completed and survived death road!

Then just as we headed to the finish meeting point, I misjudged a speed bump in the road, did a wonder woman flying over my handlebars and crashed to the ground with my bike landing on top of me.
I escaped with just a few cuts, grazes and bruises to my face, arms, legs and side and ached for hours after but I was pretty disappointed in myself for being the only clumsy fool of the group. Although at least I am still alive!

A well deserved drink and a hearty pasta lunch waited for us at the end at the La Senda Verde – a small animal refuge, home to many varieties of monkeys and birds. I hobbled around after friends used their best first aid skills to bandage up by elbow and the refuge was a relaxing end to a very active and totally crazy day.