Saturday the 5th July we flew back to La Paz. After one hell of a bumpy ride in the jet we touched down safe and sound. After an even more death defying taxi ride back to Loki we finally dumped our bags down in the dorm. Fresh from our jungle adventure we wanted more danger so we signed ourselves up for some mountain biking along the worlds most dangerous road. At 89,000 deaths (around 250 a year) to date we went with the company who only had one death in ten years. It seemed logical. The injury list for this ride is no less then horriffic and with drops ranging in the region of 600m (yep that's right 1969 feet) it gave us something to look forward to on the Monday. For reference google the Yungas Road. With that booked off we cruised into town. Some town based action followed by a reasonably early dinner. An English curry was on the menu. That evening we treated ourselves to the cinema to watch a bit of Hancock. Pretty decent flick. After that it was bedtime.

On the Sunday (and after an all to regular bit of R and R) we cruised to a few Bolivian markets. We also hit a witch market where they sold all sorts of freaky s***. If your looking for the dead featus of some small animal then this was the place to find it. Absolutely horrible and we're not too sure how well it's going to go down with our Mum's when they find out we bought them one for the mantlepiece....... After a freakish afternoon we decided to hit a smartish restaurant. The one we wanted was closed so we hit a very nice Thai establishment. Again another chilled evening. We had some biking to do.

On the Monday it was up at 06:30 to get in the zone. We had a 07:30 meet in a local cafe where we would set off for the 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road'. A couple of brave pills popped it was an hour until we arrived. There we got kitted up in gear that we looked like we were going to rob a bank in and recieved our 1000 pound plus bikes. We had some bloody big safety briefings before we got the show on the road. The first section which lasted about 1 to 2 hours was on tarmac. A chance to get used to the bikes and put a bit of speed on. Great fun. After a couple of naughty uphill sections (the virtually no oxygen wasn't fun) we arrived at the official start of the road. The 'road' or dirt track is still open to the public, is only a car width wide in most places and going down it you have to ride on the left hand side. The left hand side being the one where the cliff edge is. Rules of the road. There is no barriers and no second chances. You mess up only once and you've had it. The fact your less than a meter from the sheer drops will make sure of it. Now the boys sensible approach to the ride was going to be to ease it down and take no chances. However testosterone can be a funny old thing and before they knew it they were belting it down. Not OTT but certainly at a speed where even if you come off and stay on the road teeth will be missing and arms broken. It's just one of those things you can't help doing when you're there. It seems the eyes are fixed on the road and the drops ignored. It was an awesome ride. Over 60km of heart pumping stuff. We had regular stops to check the bikes and to let everyone regroup. The Gravity guys we did it with were true pro's. They constantly reminded us that we ain't pro's and the second you think you are will probably be the last thought you'd be having. It was wicked. We can't recommend it as i'm sure there is legal reasons that could come back on us but it was definitely one of the best things we've done (James less so as he's not a great fan of heights) and would do it again. After we completed our ride we randomly finished up at a wildlife sanctuary. We had a bit of tour, a beer, a meal and got the o so sort over T-shirt for finishing the ride. At half 4 it was time to return to Le Paz. After a vote (and not one the boys were totally up for) we decided to go home via the road we had just come down. The next 2 hours were possible the scariest on record. Chris had a back row, right hand seat which was bloody cliff edge side. Not until we saw it from the bus and could look out over the drops did the full extent of just how dangerous the bike ride had been. The whole 60KM was pure drops. Any car that goes off is dead. It was unbelievable. Heart in the mouth stuff. It is mental they even allow such a road to exsist. Crazy!

After 3 hours we returned to our pad. It had been a full 12 hour day which we hadn't expected and we were pretty spent. Headed to a tidy restaurant which looked like a bit of a mafia hang out before hitting the sack. What a day!

The Tuesday it was time to say our goodbyes to La Paz. We had a date with the salt flats and an overnight bus. We took it easy on the Tuesday as per usual. Picked up our gravity CD from the bike ride and had the pleasure of standing in a postal place for 2 hours trying to send a package. Our favourite. After contacting home etc we were done. Packed the bags and set off for Uyuni.