20 - 28.02.11 La Paz, Bolivia

The mist and rain welcomed us into La Paz which at over 3600m is the highest unofficial capital in the world (Sucre is Bolivia’s official capital at over 4000m).  Unfortunately the night bus from Uyuni dropped us off at the unearthly hour of 630am and check in wasn’t until 2pm, not great as I was suffering really badly from the altitude.  After some breakfast we headed back to the hostel who kindly allowed me to lie down whilst they prepared our room.  I felt rotten, had a headache, upset stomach and felt very lethargic.  

Ryan and I high above La Paz

Having started a course of altitude sickness tablets I was feeling a little better and 2 days later we headed out Tiwanaku, one of Bolivia’s most important archaeological sites.  Tiwanaku was an empire which lasted around a 1000 years well before the Incas were around.  Although the site was only partially excavated, our guide painted really good pictures of what the buildings would have looked like and talked us through the amazing sculptures that were found during excavations.   It was incredible to learn how advanced their knowledge of astronomy and astrology was from the symbols they drew on their sculptures.  3000 years ago they had already devised a calendar which included 365 days and 12 months in a year – incredible.  That night I had my worst night ever – I felt sick, had an upset stomach and a standing pulse of 120.  I could hardly walk home from the restaurant that evening and Ryan decided it was time to call a doctor.

Tiwanaku Pre Inca Ruins

We had fantastic service from the ‘Doctors for hotels’ service in La Paz.  He arrived the following day 20mins after Ryan had phoned him and within the hour we had been driven to the laboratory to give some blood samples.  The Doctor advised us that he would pick up the results that day at 430pm and would be back at our hostel by 5pm to discuss.  After he had examined me he advised that there was a 90% chance of Salmonella poisoning and 10% chance I had a parasite.  Ironically, we were pleased to find out that I had the former and we traced the beginning of my illness back 20 days to La Serena, Chile.  It was such a relief because I had been convinced for 2 weeks that it was the altitude!!  Excellent service and of all the places I didn’t want to be ill, La Paz turned out to be the best!

Once fit and fighting well it was time to properly explore La Paz.  The city is unlike any other we have visited.  A vast manic metropolis fused with indigenous Aymara culture on every corner.  People sell allsorts in the streets just to make a living. There is a Witches Market selling dried Llama foetus’s, good luck charms and potions for non-existent or undefined illnesses. Stalls selling huge bags of coca leaves adjacent to the usual gringo tat of ponchos and pan pipes. We’ll buy those later! We visited the coca museum chronicling the traditional use of coca as an offering to the gods to the crack cocaine smuggled illegally around the world. Bolivia, in particular the Yungas region just outside La Paz, is the world’s largest producer of coca which is still legal here for traditional purposes. For example, you can buy coca tea in almost every restaurant and Aymara women with their bulging cheeks from chewing leaves in the street is a common sight. 

 Streets of La Paz 

We walked past the entrance to the infamous San Pedro Prison in the centre of La Paz (Written about in the book ‘Marching Powder’). A prison ran wholly by the inmates who work to pay for their rent. There are no wardens or police on the inside only at the gates allowing family and friends, even tourists, entry. No thanks! We kept on walking having heard all sorts of rumours of trapped tourists, extortion and drug related incidents.

Friday 25^th Feb was Ryan’s birthday so we decided to celebrate by tackling the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Road’ made famous by the Bolivian episode of ‘Top Gear’ a few years ago (check out You-tube to refresh your memory).  For those who are unfamiliar with it, the WMDR was named such when the Inter-American Development Bank conducted a study on how many deaths occurred on the road each year.  Don’t quote me but each year up to 250 people were falling off the edge into the sub-tropical abyss.

We were notified that day that there was a pending transport strike and it just so happens our friend Line from Puerto Natales was in town!!  We set off before the strike started and at 8am we reached ‘La Cumbre’ at 4700m.  We were given our bikes and lots of safety gear before the guide gave us a lecture on road safety and our riding style. We then performed a ritual to Pachamama (mother earth) involving some 97% alcohol, our lips and their tyres.  The first 20km section of the 63km ride is on the ‘new road’ which is paved up until the start of the WMDR.  This allowed us to get used to the bikes, the brakes and the sleet which was pounding in our faces at the beginning.  There is then an ‘optional' 8km uphill stretch which Ryan and two other lads found pretty tough going at 3600m.  I found it a breeze along with the other girls as we jumped in the support bus!!  

 Death Road in dismall weather

Rach at the river crossing. Not a foot down - Honest!

After paying the road tax and crossing a drug check point, we were at the top of the WMDR.  Weather conditions not great, our guides undertook another brake check and off we went.  Ryan at the front, Rach at the back with hands on brakes at all times.  The road is unpaved and the first section was loose gravel and lots of pretty large rocks.  It being my first time on a full suspension bike I slowed and swerved past nearly all of them.  The guides were very patient though and soon I was racing down with the odd nervous eye on the perilously close road edge.  After a fair bit of rain, the clouds cleared and we started to appreciate the valley views on the way down.  We cycled though snow peaked mountains, waterfalls, lush greenery and finally into jungle where at 1200m we came to a stop in a small village called Yolasa.  We were both pretty shot after we returned at 830pm and instead of going for a birthday curry we ordered take out pizza and fell asleep at 10pm – rock and roll eh?!

The following morning I left Rach snoozing at 7am to meet my group of 6 riders for some serious single track mountain biking in the mountains surrounding La Paz. After getting geared up with bikes, full face helmets and padding our bus dropped us of at the start of the Collana Trail for 3 hours of continuous downhill mayhem. The heavy rain brought with it copious amounts of mud making the riding hard and the falling soft. That said, hitting a cactus at full tilt wasn’t fun. I was still pulling the needles out of my fingers hours later. In the valley basin we had to cross a river bed. Usually dry, the rains had turned it into a raging river. ‘The best technique is just to ride down it’ said our guide Phil – When in Rome! After a picnic lunch in the valley we headed to La Paz’s downhill race course at Muela Del Diablo for 3 runs of jumps, berms and drop offs. We were dropping 1000 mtrs in altitude in 10 minutes. The pro’s do it in 4. Hmm! I have been missing my bike a lot so the past 2 days have made up for it. Well, almost.

Ryan on La Paz's downhill mountain bike race course

After Ryan’s tough day of single track we took the opportunity to spend our Saturday evening experiencing some local culture at a Pena – a restaurant with traditional Bolivian dance and live music.  We were pleasantly surprised with the steaks that we ordered which is more than we can say for the first act.  It was a dance troop of two men and two women doing little more than prance around the stage in strange costumes.  I hate to compare but it wasn’t a patch on the Tango show we had witnessed in Buenos Aires.  I couldn’t stop laughing as the women twirled around with blank expressions out of tune with each other and the music.  This went on for far too long and when the ‘real’ musicians came on we weren’t expecting much.  Again we were surprised as they the four musicians and one singer started belting out their tunes on small traditional string instruments and the ubiquitous pan pipes.  By 1230am though we were past it and called it a draw.

The night at the Pena. What was that all about?

We chose to stay another night in La Paz as our camera, which has been temporarily not working for ages, finally packed in.  We knew of a man who could ‘fix’ any camera problem but he wasn’t open till Monday.  This gave us the opportunity of witnessing Sunday’s ‘Cholita Wrestling’.  Now I can assure you that this is no wrestling like you have EVER seen.  We were shipped up the ‘El Alto’ the fringe city of La Paz, in an old American children’s’ school bus.  Not sure what to expect, we were ushered into a sports hall and directed to our ‘tourist’ seats at the ring side.  We collected our popcorn and drinks just in time for the show to start.  We’d heard a little about the ‘Cholita’ wrestling but nothing could prepare us for the spectacle we were presented with.  After a relatively tame warm-up act of man v man and women v man we were hit with the real comedy.  Picture this.  A woman dressed in typical Bolivian clothing, bowler hat, layer skirt, hair in long black plats and ballet style pumps.  Another woman dressed in white slashed leggings, biker boots, thong leotard and striped (on view) fluorescent knickers.  To add to this frenzy, two blokes, one topless wearing a pair of blue cycling shorts and the other dressed in a red devil gimp mask.  A pretty random and non ‘PC’ addition was a dwarf dressed in a similar suit to a power-ranger complete with gimp mask.  What followed can only be described as hilarious mayhem.  Men fighting with men, women fighting with women and men, dwarf getting tied by his neck to the ropes on the ring, men being kicked in the nethers.  Unfortunately, as our camera was not working we were unable to take piccies but trust me when I say it was the craziest, funniest, non PC debacle we have ever witnessed. 

Not our pics but you get the picture...