On Thursday we made it to La Paz - the highest capital city in the world at 3,660m. We entered the city via El Alto which was a huge corner that just opened up onto the city below - spectacular view. The buildings in the city just seem to cling onto the sides of the mountain and then spill downwards. We also had a view of Mount Illamani in the background which is 6,402m high!

After an early night, 6 of us got up to embark on the Road of Death. This involved mountain biking down what has become known as the "world's most dangerous road" and some of you have probably seen the Top Gear episode showing Jeremy Clarkson squeezing past a car on the edge of a gigantic drop into the abyss!

Anyway, it's a 64km ride, starting at around 4,700m above sea level and dropping 3,345m to the end of the road. It used to be one of the major highways in Bolivia until they built an alternative route but this road is still used. We discovered that 5 people had died in the last 2 weeks and there were rumours that 13 had died fairly recently too. I believe the average is about 10 a month but I'm sure most of those are connected to foolish behaviour. In fact one of the deaths last week was due to a girl stepping back to take a photo (I mean, you just wouldn't, would you?!). The road is only about 3m wide in most places and there are vertical drops over the cliffs of 600m.

So, for not the first time on my epic adventure, I had the hair brained idea to cycle this route. Now, the important piece of information here is that I have never ever been on a mountain bike. I was never encouraged to participate in any outdoor or adventurous activities or sports so this was going to be a lot more challenging for me than anyone else in the group. We had to travel around an hour to the starting point where there were 49 riders and around 8 guides. I freaked out when I got on the bike as it was dual suspension which meant it bounced around a lot and I felt like I had no control over the pedals or the handlebars. Dressed in our helmets, waterproof trousers, gloves and attractive orange hi-viz vests, off we set, me wondering what the hell I'd got myself into!

The first 25km was on a tarmac road (still not overly wide and still with a sheer drop below!) which was reasonably ok and at least I got to grips (kind of!) with the bike. We were overtaking lorries (yes, we were going that fast!) which was a bit scary as they were blind bends and you had no idea if a huge juggernaut or an idiot was about to pop around the corner straight into you. Anyway, got through that section with no traumas and then we hit the real part of the road of death. Now then I got scared! It's basically a rugged, gravelly pathway with no barriers! It was too steep for me to just let rip but every time I braked I skidded which made me fly into a blind panic. I stayed at the very back (at one point the van was following me at a snail's pace!) but was perfectly happy being there. I was not out to prove anything to anyone, unlike some people who seemed to think it was a good idea to fly past everyone else at breakneck speed, almost sending them over the edge with shock. I did most of the road alone as there were people in front and people behind but nobody close by. It gives you a lot of time to sit (painfully!) and think and, of course, I kept wondering how long it would be before someone noticed I had flown off the edge of the cliff! Anyhooo, made it down safely in about 4.5 hours where there was a lot of hi-fiving, whooping and "we made it team!" - and you all know how much I love that behaviour!

Anyway, what was easy to forget on this trip was the absolutely spectacular scenery - huge precipitous cliffs, deep gorges, waterfalls and we started off in the clouds which was quite eerie. The photos definitely don't do it justice. I'm soooooo proud of myself for doing something so scary - and way out of my comfort zone. I'm not sure that experience has encouraged me to take up mountain biking as a hobby but I might be persuaded for the right amount of flowers, wine, nice dinners, cheese, massages etc.

After our 3.5 hour clunky and very uncomfortable drive back to the city, we were so exhausted it was all we could do to shower and get ready for dinner. It was Michael's birthday so Michelle, Sarah and I (Verity was sick) barged into his room to find him sitting in bed, naked with his laptop on his knee. We had bought him a melon (reference to an earlier watermelongate scandal) and put candles into it and we all wore party hats. Persuaded him to come out for dinner as it was also Sarah's last night so, joined by Bill, I think we made it out til about 10pm - wow, party animals or what?! Got up at 4am to say farewell to Sarah - more tears as she had earned the title of Evil Triplet but there are plans in place to catch up in the UK in September.

On Saturday morning, Michelle, Bill and I wandered to the witches market where they sell magical potions and herbs etc. The most disturbing thing is the shrivelled llama foetuses (some with fur on) which locals buy to bury under the porches of their new homes to bring them good luck - weird or what (and very disgusting!). We then went to the black market where they were selling guinea pigs and rabbits to eat and various other animals caromed into tiny cages, in awful conditions. After making the mistake of wandering down the meat section (yuk!!), we were heading back to the hotel when a guy grabbed at Michelle's throat and ripped off her St Christopher's medal. All a bit traumatic.

After lunch was pretty traumatic as we had to say goodbye to Bill, who has been our travel companion and good friend since Ushuaia. After a group hug and promises to try and meet up in the UK, we said our other goodbyes to Jonathan et al and set off with our new group, headed for Copacabana and Lake Titicaca.