Down The World´s Most Dangerous Road

November 25-27, 2007

Well, it was the world´s most dangerous road. That was before they built a new road which opened in November last year. Now barely any vehicles travel on the road which makes it much safer. There were still shear cliffs that dropped hundreds of metres away to our left hand side, but it was less likely that we would be run off the road by a truck.

The road is about 50km long and the descent is about 3500m. We went with a NZ run group called Gravity who have the undisputed best reputation for safety.

It was a very fun day, except for the small section of uphill riding at over 4500m altitude! We were maggotted! The clouds were thick which meant we couldn´t see much up the top. Including the bottoms of the valleys. We couldn´t decide if this was a good or a bad thing?

We all finished the day unscathed at an animal refuge of all places where we played with some friendly monkeys with great personalities. (Jacko, if you read this mate, they´re looking for a volunteer to help build a bear enclosure... can´t seem to get you on emial!)

We decided to stay a couple of nights in the town of Coroico at the bottom of the bike ride. It was a very chilled and relaxed little town and we were recommended a good hostel just out of town (more like a resort).

The following day was Davo`s birthday. We had pancakes for breaky, lay inthe hammocks all day, jumped in the outdoor spa overlooking the mountains and cloud forest at night, drank some rum and did nothing else. Mumma Davis gave us AU$100 to spend on the special day. She had no idea how far this would go in Bolivia! We paid for everything on the day, accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner, the hot spa, the rum. Then used some to pay for the expensive (in Bolivian standards) night out in La Paz watching the traditional dance and music show. We haven´t spent the other half yet!