My last day in La Paz - The most dangerous road!

We woke up really really early and headed out up the mountains. We were told to wear layers because it would be cold at the top but as we cycled down would get warmer... I was a little nervous and made sure I told our tour guide. He was this wacky guy with a long ginger goatee... but he had some brilliant stories! The best being that he was actually the founder of Gravity and started up the commercialisation of the World's Most Dangerous Road himself! He said that he was already into extreme biking, and when he and some friends stumbled on the road that was mostly (and still is) used by locals to transfer goods, he realised its potential.

When we got to the top we got kitted out in ridiculous clothing and helmets etc and had a go on our bikes. One brake was for the front wheel and one was for the back, however they were extremely powerful and unless you pressed them at the same time and slowly - you would flip over. This was particularly hard to get the hand of, especially when if you feel that you may go off a cliff edge you dont think "im going to press my brakes slowly...".

The bikes were also apparently capable of feeling the riders sense of gravity and would veer towards wherever you looked - keep your eyes towards the cliff and away from the view basically. And then there were technical things like which leg to have bent on corners etc... and a lot of safety briefing about keeping distances and avioding cars etc. All in all, i felt a lot less safe after all this!

We put the bikes in a circle before heading off and each had to drink a bit of Ceibo (96% alcohol) and drop the same amount on our wheel. This is used as an offering to Pachamama, goddess of nature for a safe ride and good weather. He said Ceibo is used because its so pure.

The first leg of the journey was on cemented road for practice and was the most fun Ive had on a bike for so long! We went so fast!!! This was short lived and the soon hit the dirt track to start the real road that really earnt its name. As soon as we hit the rocky path I realised just how little control I really had over my bike and found it quite hard to control the direction of my handlebars! This soon because dangerous when we found the cliff edge that we would follow to the bottom. Sharp turns, dodgy terrain and a sharp drop left me pretty scared by the time we made our first pit stop and I decided I didnt really want to die on my last day in south america for being stupid. therefore I jumped back on the bus only to ride every now and again when one of the guides said that it wouldnt be such a tough part of the road.

It was a bit of a shame to pay so much money and go all that way to only cycle bits but I still got to enjoy the beautiful views, I gave it a shot and really enjoyed the animal sanctuary at the bottom! The food was great and the monkeys were so cute and playful! It was also really hot at the bottom and because it was so low, i had NO altitude sickness. So Id really never felt better :)

That night we went out for dinner and i got a few peoples addresses and numbers etc. It was a really nice dinner and i got a bit teary saying goodbye to everyone. Then Sophie and Alexis and I headed to the airport.