Location: Guatemala

Monday, January 11, 2010

The 'Death Road' - the stupid things I do



Having heard of the spectacular views that you get from bike riding down the 'world's most dangerous road' I stupidly signed up. At 68km long, just over the width of a car and with a 3.6km drop off the edge of the majority of the road, this is the probably the most stupid thing that I have ever done in my entire life.

I cannot even remember the last time that I rode a bike. Let alone at 4700m above sea level on a road made of deep gravel which spins your back tyre out from you frequently as you try to maintain a reasonable speed down the hill. You are deceived into thinking it is going to be easy when you arrive at the top of the ride where the road is wide, paved and has side guards. This lasts for about 20kms. Then you hit the 'world's most dangerous road.' Gulp. At least we went with a reputable company. We heard tales from a guy who was trying to claim from his insurance for a suspected fractured wrist. The result of dodgy breaks on his bike. That's what you get for being cheap.
Riding on the left side of the road (yes, the side with the cliff) made the whole experience a lot worse. Normally, Bolivians drive on the opposite side to Australia, however it swaps especially for the 'Death Road' - so that the driver going downhill can see how close he is sitting to the cliff face....

Miraculously, we all made it down without a spill to the tiny town of Los Yungas. I have to admit that the scenery (what I caught when I wasn't concentrating on the road) was magnificent - from my favourite rolling hills to the Amazon basin.


On the way back up in the bus, our guide was good to point out where other people had not been so lucky and had gone over the edge. We also paused momentarily to look at the wreckage of a car that still remains down the bottom. eeeek.



The best part about the entire day was the animal sanctuary at the bottom of the hill - La Sende Verde - which was home to monkeys, boa constrictors, a bear and a coatis. The monkeys were so cute! We had the chance to have a cuddle with the babies, which would jump and climb all over you. It was so awesome. It makes me want to volunteer at an animal sanctuary for a bit.

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