Death Road Downhill

What does someone with a terrible fear of heights and little experience on mountain biking do in Bolivia? Rushes to ride down the World's Most Dangerous Road of course! A 65km stretch of mountain road on the Andes from the capital La Paz to a pleasant mountain town of Coroico, it has become the single most famous attraction here that most adventurous visitors to the country just have to do. It gets the nickname from the fact that it indeed is the most dangerous road, having received the most deaths annually. With the recent opening of the new road between the cities, the amount of traffic has been reduced to a minimum and nowadays 95% of it are downhill bikers and their support vehicles, most likely greatly reducing the amount of deaths on the Old Road. Yet it remains a favourite legend among the travelers in the region.

The ride starts on a plateau at some 4800 meters - roughly the same altitude as the summit of Mt. Blanc - and plummets down to 1200 meters. While on the top the weather is chilling and you're out of breath immediately after trying anything properly physical, down at the end of the run the climate is subtropical and you're greeted with the sounds of a jungle as well as a 30+ degree heat. The first 20 or so km are paved road where you go blazing down dodging cars and road construction strips - all the while being dumbstruck by the, pardon my French, f*cking epic views.

And there our little group gets unlucky; when me and Riikka ride around a turn in the road we notice something lying on the street. Pulling over we notice it's our fellow rider, a young Canadien. He's not moving and his bike is thrown some 5 meters from him - or, more likely, the other way around. He is barely conscious when I go to him, and his face is just smashed. There's blood everywhere and all I can do is take his bike to the side of the road and stand guard so cars wont run over him as I'm afraid to move him. He is not able to talk and just makes a scary howling noise, swaying there and staring at all the blood in shock. In some 5 minutes our support vehicle arrives with the other guide and they get him to a hospital for CAT scans and X-rays.. huh. Later we find out he survives with just several fractured teeth and no broken bones. Bad karma but the rest of us push on with no further incidents.

In the end of the paved part of the road there is a 8km stretch of occasional uphills. Our biking company of choice, Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking, are the only one who offer the chance to ride this bit too; the rest pussy out and load their bikes on the busses and skip the uphill section. Our bikes are these really heavy set downhill monsters, not very fit for riding uphill, but we push on and the only thing keeping me going is that I want to be able to say I really did bike the whole thing.

After that bit the interesting part starts; we arrive at the start of the Old Road, which is some 45km of gravel not more than one lane wide, with occasional land slides and waterfalls to surprise you. Oh, and any uphill traffic have the right of passage, AND due to the characterics of the road, the traffic is left sided. This means you have to meet any incoming vehicles on the side where the edge of the road is. Oh, and beyond the edge of the cliff there is up to 300 meters of vertical drop to the valley floor that is already littered with car and bus carcasses. And, sadly, with at least one biker like us - a French girl had gone over the edge some years ago.

While it's technically not a challenging ride, the dizzying thought of the gorge next to you combined to the mindblowing views and the occasional bird/butterfly joining you on the ride, I found myself having to put all effort I could muster to concentrate on riding. After a while the terror of the possible fall lurking not more than 1-2 meters to the left of you subsides, and you start to trust your bike and from there the ride becomes really enjoyable. We're lucky to get amazing weather for it, too, despite the oncoming rainy season starting in a few weeks. There's only scattered clouds and the 6+ km peaks are bathing in the sun with their brilliant white snow covers, the tall waterfalls of San Juan splash you mildly when riding directly under them.. arriving in to the valley you really feel dazzled by the whole 5-6 hour long experience quite unlike what I, at least, have ever seen or done.

Down in the valley Gravity takes you to Senda Verde animal refuge, another eco lodge in the jungle with wild animals rescued from illegal pet trade. Their selection included a load of monkeys, tropical birds, tortoises and even a black Andean bear. There we enjoy a beer and buffet lunch on the biking company and enjoy the surroundings (they even have a swimming pool in the forest where all the monkeys hang out!) so much that me and Riikka decide to stay instead of returning to noisy La Paz. And after that very relaxing night we decide to postpone moving on by a few days and instead pay a visit to Coroico, a weekend getaway town to Pacenos (La Pazians).

Coroico is a colorful small town on the side of a mountain at the altitude of 1700 meters, with great views over the valley and the surrounding mountain ranges. Also you see both the old road and the new road and can sit back with a cold beer and think over what it was like to ride down the most dangerous road in the world. By accident we find a really awesome deal to stay for a few nights; a lodge some 1km hike from the plaza to the west, run by a French couple. A room with amazing view and private baths for mere 17$, and the place has a beautiful garden with a small pool as well as a very inexpensive restaurant with great foods. Jackpot for the weary traveler.