So, cycling down the most dangerous road in the world, on Friday 13th - good idea??

Five people were in my group. Liam and Toby (aussies), Michael (US) & Julian (French), plus our guide. We drove out of La Paz and up the mountain to a very high 4,700m where there was snow which I got very excited about! After testing our brakes (!) we were off down the road which was tarmacked and two laned, for the moment! The mini bus followed to check we were ok. So we whizzed along downhill (the best way to cycle I find!), me last as the boys were obviously heavier than me and therefore could go faster, until there was the little uphill stretch. This would not be a problem in the UK but at altitude, it was flipping hard work!! It was only about half an hour of uphill but it felt like forever and it felt like there was no oxygen at all!! Anyway, I was very proud of the fact that only two people cycled the whole way and I was one of them!!! Woo hoo for me being the only girl! The french guy was the other one who just beat me! At the top the minibus driver fed us bananas and chocolate bars and we stripped off to shorts and t-shirt as it was getting lovely and warm.

Then off again down the tarmac road. Then we met the ´Road of DEATH´! This is a gravelly, stoney, rocky road, one lane narrow winding down through the mountain with a sheer drop one side. Incredible views but with crazy drivers in lorries and buses etc, it makes it pretty darn dangerous and this road claims the most deaths per year in the world, hence its name! So on we went, and traffic switches to drive on the left side. It was lots of fun and we stopped frequently, occasionally to look at a memorial site of people who had gone off the road, including a memorial to an israeli girl who died in 2001 cycling down the road doing a death tour..... Apparently israelis are a bit rubbish at cycling and don´t know how to use gears. Hmm......

We also had several punctures between us, totalling 5 in fact! And when the guide ran out of inner tubes, he had to fix the punctured ones. Lots of big smelly trucks and buses thundered past us and we all had doctors´ masks for the dusty end bit. By the end of the tour, my hands were aching from holding the brakes and juddering over stones and I was glad when we finally reached Coriaco at the bottom. A shower (we were covered in mud and dust) and good lunch awaited us before the drive back up the death road to La Paz. In all, we ´cycled´ 79km and went from 4,700m down to 1,200m. The drive back was a little nerve wracking, especially as the clouds came down at the top, but we kept ourselves busy talking in the bus instead of looking too much! They were all really nice guys, especially the aussies. The guide took about 300 pictures and I have them on cd included in the price but can´t put them on the website at the moment. Will put some of them on when I can as they were really good.

Came back to the hostel and met up with Sherry and Naomi again. Also bumped into english Graham who I first met in Buenos Aires. Really good to see him again and he joined us girls at an arab restaurant and then at the Sol y Luna bar for a few HCCs and we watched the Afro-Boliviano band which played.

This afternoon I fly to Rurrenbaque where I plan to find a hostel with a pool, before going into the jungle for a couple of days. Will hopefully catch up with Sherry and Naomi again in Cuzco - looking forward to the party there! xxx