We Counquered Death Road!

In between getting aclimated to being at an altitude of 3,600 meters we´ve had what I would say is our best time yet! So much fun that at times I forget that the only times I´ve ever been this cold hvae been in the snow with a lack of layers.

After arriving in La Paz at 5am 3 days ago we waited for the sun to rise at the bus terminal and ate a typical (bread with cheese and tea) Bolivian breakfast. Then I, of ourse, had to pee; so after getting his tail light broken by an open door, our taxi driver dropped us off less than a block away! Mike was thrilled that we payed for that sinvce he told be like 5 times it was extremely close! I´m pretty sure it took our taxi driver longer to argue about his light than it took for him to drive us over…oops! Since then however, we´ve been woken up daily by parades, from ones celebrating the day of the indigenous people to ones getting ready for Bolivia´s Independance day celebration tomorow. We also got a little shopping in since we´ve been here! We visited the numerous markets that sell wondrful traditional and touristy souveneirs, and ended up with some awesome alpaca wool to keep us warm! I´m also quite glad to say that we´ve given most of the money we´ve spent in La Paz to actual Bolivian people! As wonderful as this all has been, obviously none of this includes THE BEST PART!

Yesterday morning we woke up at 6am to walk up the hill for breakfast. By about 7:30 we were on our bikes. Mike was off to the delerium off-road trail and I was off to the windy paved road. We met about an hour later, after biking down to the beggining of Death Road! Mike flew down the wet muddy cliffs and I.. well I went fast enough past all of the crosses to have the experience of a lifetime. I´d say the ride was just a bit different from the rides down west cliff on my beach cruiser. Towards the bottom of the road however, I was speeding down the wider and dryer roads almost keeping up with Mike who was zooming through the last few rivers and waterfalls of the ride! Luckily we had full suspension bikes and we trusted our bikesenough to keep up with usas we gained trust in both our riding and dwindelling away of our fears. The ride was incredible and the scenery was beattiful through the mist and mud, but 6 hours and a 10,000 foot difference in elevation later, some hot tea and a warm shower were well welcomed.