I'm alive. Just. Jeremy Clarkson and me now have something in common. We've both survived the "World's Most Dangerous Road, (WMDR - (TM))".

And man does it live up to the hype. Seriously, you might have thought alot of the stories are hearsay, exagerated, made up etc but it's pretty much all true. Up until the new road opened about 6 years ago, all traffic between Coroico and La Paz used this single track gravel road cut into the side of vertical cliffs in the Yungas Valley. On average over 100 people died every year with many of Bolivia and South Americas worst traffic accidents occuring on the road, (including one where over 100 Bolivians died). Now, only stupid 'Gringos' die on the road whilst trying out one of South Americas biggest tourist activity. Two died last year, one who lost it on a corner and went over the edge and one who lost there footing whilst trying to capture that perfect photo. There is evidence of these fatalities everywhere, from humble crosses on the side of the road, to full on shrines to 4 Politicians who were kicked off the point of the longest vertical drop of over 600M. You can even see the remains of a bus down one cliff. It's so typical of the backpacker trail that everybody would want to free wheel down this road but it's bloody exhilerating. And terrifying. And absolutely, stupendously breathtakingly beautiful. It's the only way to you would ever see such dramatic scenery, by balancing precariously on a 3M wide gravel track cut into the side of the valley with a 600M vertical drop one side and a 1000M vertical cliff above you. The entire valley is covered by rainforest, there are eagles and vultures flying alongside you as you try to avoid watching them so you can negotiate another 180 degree turn. Huge electric coloured butterflies fly into you and waterfall after waterfall after landslide increase the ever present danger of one tiny thing going wrong and you skidding off the side. You start at over 4700M and 60KM of downhill later you are deep in the rainforest at a sweltering height of only 1000M. The first section is part of the new road so is tarmac and has traffic on it. This is the fatest section and you can really get some speed up, overtaking lorries, cars, other bikes. I struggle to keep up with one of Bolivia's top downhill mountain bikers - Carlos who is one of our guides - despite me having a brand new Kona Stinky Six full suspension mountian bike. We start off above the clouds and are soon in them giving the road and experience an added edge. You then hit the gravel and suddenly come out below the clouds to be greeted by a stunning green valley with ridiculously high and steep sided slopes for as far as the eye can see. The only sign of humans is the faint line of the road snaking along the valley and it seems impossible to imagine it exists let alone how it came into existence! You fly down the track, trying your hardest to just look at the road a few metres in front of you yet every now and again you catch a glimpse of the drop and you get a burst of adrenlalin and decide to slow down. We cycle through stunning waterfalls where water from hundreds of metres above cascades down onto the road, and we dodge locals working on repairing the many sections which have been washed away by landslides. At one point at just have to laugh at how ridiculously beautiful and yet stupid the whole experience is. We finally complete the most dangerous sections where the majority of people die only to be told that the next sections are where most people injure themselves - confidence is high and the road begs you to go faster with less hairpin turns and the lack of sheer drops to keep you in check. We finally cross over the only speed bump on the road, at the end of the WMDR, just before you enter a small village nestled in the rainforest on the side of a raging river. I'm massively relieved but also incredibly pumped up and want to do it again. Not sure I've ever done anything as exciting in such a dramatic setting before. I guess ski-ing a black run in the Alps is the only thing that could come close. A well deserved beer and a swim whilst dodging monkeys and sandflies in the animal sanctuary we finish at is followed by the news we have to drive back up the road since the new road is currently closed. The next 3 hours are possibly the most terrifying of my life. I draw the short strawer and am sat on the cliff side of the mini-bus and at one point, where half the road is impassable due to debris from a landslide, our driver has our right side wheels literally centimetre perfect on the edge. The sliding door is open due to Darren, our other guide, having got out to clear the road of debris and I'm left staring down hundreds of metres to the valley below knowing that one skid too many would lead to us sliding over the edge. This is marginally more terrifying than when we pass the 600M sheer drop and the driver, comedian that he is, decides to stop his wheels right on the edge of one section of missing road..........

What better way to celebrate getting back to La Paz alive than the next day to hit Oliver's Travels with Andy, Kate and Em for a full English breakfast and a full premiership fixture list. A true traditional welcome to Bolivia for my friends from back home! We even go for a curry and I add to my increasing t-shirt collection by adding "I survived the World's Hottest Curry" to my "I survived the WMDR" t-shirt! Andy and I hit the La Paz nightlife, (Mongo's for those who have been here), where we befriend some Swedish, Dutch, Americans, Canadians and English before Andy has his phone stolen and we decide to call it a night since we have a 6.00am bus to Puno and it's now 4.30am.......

La Paz is a crazy place, set stunningly in a valeey surrounded by huge mountains. When you first see it you can't quite believe it, appearing from nowhere like it does. It's one giant car boot sale, with steep, narrow, and traffic clogged streets of locals selling anything you can think of, women walking around in big pleated skirts and bowler hats, and people shouting inaudible destinations like some deranged stock broker, auctioneer or bookie at a the races, from the Caminones "share taxis". The Witches Market is packed with women selling dried Llama foetuses, herbs, spices and amulets promising to cure any ailment. Gringos wander around wide eyed with mouths open. Then there is the setting. At over 3600M, it's the World's highest Capital City. Just a few steps up one of the steep streets and your heart and lungs feel like they will explode. Beer goes straight to your head, food takes longer to digest and headaches, dry throats and the cold hamper your sleep. The locals recommend you "caminar despacio, (walk slowly), comer un poco, (eat a little), and dormir solo, (sleep alone)". Whilst Em and Kate take this advice, Andy and I ignore it completely drinking all day, eating a full English and ridiculously hot curries and dancing all night with a variety of different Nationalities. It's great to have three more really close friends joining me and sharing these experiences and I feel incredibly happy as we leave La Paz to embark on the next leg of my adventure. To Peru and Puno for Lake Titicaca.

The next blog will follow shortly, and hopefully be a short one. I'm then off to the Jungle for a few days before trekking the Inka Trail so we could be on comms blackout for a while.

Bolivia is immense and I wish I had longer here. After Chile and Argentina, it's great to actually see some culture and feel like you are truly in South America.

Take it easy chicos - the clocks have changed and Spring is on it's way!

Hasta Pronto.

Matt.

P.S. Marching Powder is also 100% true. There is no exageration there either. You can no longer take a tour around the Prison but what goes on in there is just as the book says. We did take a wander down to San Pedro Prison. The Plaza is beautiful and it's amazing to think that on the other side of the non-descript wall with a small door and one armed guide outside, one of the World's most corrupt and strangest of places goes about it's daily business.......