We arrived in La Paz at 6am Tuesday morning. We went to Wild Rovers hostel where we were staying and left our bags and then crashed out in their tv room as we were so tired and hadnt really slept much! By 9am we were allowed into our dorm and were able to take a much needed shower! After that we went into the city in search of a tour agency to take us to the jungle and also down the world most dangerous road which are the main things that we wanted to do whilst here.

We chose to go down the worlds most dangerous road with Gravity who are a highly recommended company. The road is named the worlds most dangerous (or death road!) as it used to be the main route between bolivia and brazil and had two way traffic on it. It however is only 2m wide in some sections and so very dangerous! It has claimed many lives due to coaches and buses going over the edge! Of course crazy travellers cycle down this road next to 500m drops for fun! So thats what we did!

We left at 7.30am on wednesday and drove for about 40 mins to the top of the road which is 1000m higher than La Paz (4795m). So not only did we have to contend with riding bikes down this road but also the altitude! The road descends 3600m and is 63km. The first section of the road is tarmac and that gave us the opportunity to practice using our brakes and getting a feel of the bike. There were passing vehichles too so we had to contend with them as well. After about 30km we got onto the gravel section of the road which was 43km. This is now closed to traffic as they have built a new road which is alot safer for vehichles, cyclists still use the old road though.

We had learnt various techniques about going around corners and braking so with that in mind we set off. It was very scary at first as we had a 1000m drop directly to our left! We did the route in sections, stopping every 8km or so. Each time our guide would prep us on the next section explaining what to look out for and partcularly dangerous spots. Our van followed us down as well (very brave driver!) and so anyone who didnt want to cycle could go in there instead. The three of us however cycled the whole way down the road without coming off once or with a single scratch! No one in our group of 13 actually had any accidents which was very fortunate as we heard so many stories of people falling off the edge!

When we got to the bottom at around 2pm we relaxed for a few hours in an animal sanctuary which cares for animals who have been abused such as monkeys, cats, dogs, parrots. Many of these animals are kept as pets and badly treated. The sanctuary also had a pool which was lovely after a hot day of cycling!

At 3.30pm we loaded back into the van with some beers for the 3.5hour journey back to La Paz. We drove up the death road on the way back which was pretty scary especially as we could see what we had cycled down and at times were only cms from the edge! Our guide also enjoyed telling us lots of stories of people who have not been so lucky on their cycle ride and also pointed out wreckages from buses and cars which went off the edge.

We got back to La Paz safe and sound, relieved to have completed it! The hostel were doing a bbq so we had that for dinner and then had some drinks in the bar. We then went out to Club 2 which had very good music although not that busy at it appears that everyone was at a different club!

Today (Thursday) we went to visit San Pedro prison which has been made famous by the book "Marching Powder" by Rusty Young. The prison is not like other prisons as inmates have to purchase their own cell and food! They also have their families living in there with them as they cant afford a house on the outside as well. There are shops, restaurants and cafes in the prison which are run by the inmates as a way of making money to afford their stay. The prison guards are very corrupt and will accept bribes from the inmates to let people in and to get supplies for the prisoners. Bolivia is famous for its cocaine and apparently some of the best cocaine come from the prison as it is actually made there! An english guy called Thomas was imprisoned in San Pedro for drug trafficking and the book Marching Power is his experience of it. It is a very good book and I would really recommend it to anyone visiting Bolilvia. When Thomas was in the prison he started up tours of the prison for tourists who were interested on seeing what it was like. Many tourists also stayed the night in the prison as well! Due to a recent documentary by CNN about the goings on in the prison these tours have now stopped. So we couldnt go in (although after reading the book i wouldnt have wanted to!) but we had a walk around it.

It was very surreal being there after reading about it. There were a group of people outside who looked like families of inmates who were going in. We could also see a prisoner looking out from his window and the forecourt of prisoners behind the gates. As we left a guy approached us saying he had just been to visit someone in the prison and if we wanted to he had his number and we could contact him. He said he would be happy to talk to us or maybe show us round but we quickly declined! We had to be careful taking pictures though as some guys we met in the hostel said that they were taking one outside and one of them was taken into the prison by two guards and questioned about the pictures. he had to continuously show them that he had deleted the photos and only just managed to stop them taking his camera off him before he was allowed out!

Tomorrow morning Beth and I are flying to Rurrenabaque which is north of La Paz. The bus ride is 20 hours so due to time constraints and comfort we are flying! From there we are doing a 3 day pampus tour of the amazon. this will include parana fishing and hunting for anacaondors as well as going on a boat up the amazon river! Sarah is not a fan of boats or bugs especially spiders so she is going to stay in La Paz. We have to be at the airport for 5.15am though so I think it will be an early night tonight!