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Coroico Viejo, Bolivia
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This place was Amazing
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I first heard about biking down 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Road' about 8 years ago in CHCH and have always wanted to do it. The original company that started it is Gravity Assisted Mountain biking which charges US$50. I decided to opt for the self proclaimed 'No 1' company, Eco Tours, which are very high on safety and offer the same package, but for only $39. A decision i didn't regret as it was a great day. I got to the office at 6:30am. There were two dutch guys and a german guy who were just renting the bikes for the day so they weren't technically with the group. My group consisted of 3 Israeli's and myself. We departed La Paz at 7ish and drove for 1 hour to the start point. This was 4000 metres above sea level! We were to decend to 1,600 metres in around 2-3 hours! It was bitterly cold, so we doned our gloves, hats, helmets, jerseys, jackets, and safety (coloured for visibility) jackets. With that, we were off. A guide went before and after our group for safety. Luckily the 4 of us were all speed demons and we all stayed in one group hitting speeds of 65-70km/hr passing trucks, busses, you name it. It was one of the most exhillerating experiences i've ever had. The first leg was mostly sealed road, so we each hit our terminal velocity, assisted by our respective weights, me being the heaviest, and fastest (apart from the front guide who adpoted a crouching cat technique). We all stopped at a narcotics checkpoint which is an attempt to stop the cocaine trafficers to and fro'ing from the mountains. We were just waved past being on bikes. The second leg was the single road part through mistly peaks and stunning valleys. This was the part where we saw many of the tombstones/crosses of those that have perished over the years. The road is truly abysmal and we saw about 3 trucks broken down in the short time we were there. There is often no room for 2 vehicles to pass and for safety, whenever a vehicle was coming up, we would pull over. We paused for a snack and started the 3rd leg which was much the same but a lot dustier. We had peeled most of our layers off by this stage as we decended to the warmer altitude. Maybe an hour later, our arms had almost vibrated out of our sockets and we were COVERED in dust, but we made it. Alive. In one piece. Thrilled. We all grabbed a beer by the road side and piled back into the mini van. We then went to the delightful mountainside town of Coroico to a nice hotel for a swim, and a buffet lunch. What a view from the dining room! Great way to end the trip. After lunch we got back in the van and went up the way we had come. It was incredible how far we had come. At about 4pm, about half way up the shingle part, we hit a road block due to some road engineering works. Rumour got out that they would lift the road block at either 8pm or 10pm depending on how the workers felt. We were pretty pissed off, but in these parts, what can you do? Luckily after about an hour and dozens of vehicles queued on either side of the block, they lifted it and we slowly returned to La Paz for about 7:30pm. I decided to go for a recommended chinese restaurant called Jackie Chans and bumped into the Dutch/German guys so ate with them. They had STOOD in the back of a dodgy truck with locals for the whole way back. That'll teach them for being cheap and hiring the bikes hahah.
Posted
Jul 03, 2005
by bhunter
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