I survived the WMDR!!!

Today I cycled over 60km down the World's Most Dangerous Road from La Paz to Coroico which is a little town in the Amazon rainforest. It was definitely up there amongst the top things that I have done in my life and I had one of the best days ever!

Danny and I were up at the crack of dawn to meet at Alexander's for breakfast before leaving at 7.30am. Last night I think I got as nervous as was physically possible and as a result today I was surprisingly calm. For breakfast I ordered a 'cortado doble' to waken up and ate a bowl of fruit and then we were off.

On the first sighting of the bus that would take us to the Yungas Valley and drive us up the 'death road' I had mixed feelings. The good thing was that the bus was significantly smaller than your typical Ulsterbus at home. But it looked a bit too rickety for my liking. Nevertheless we all boarded the bus and commenced the short 45 minute journey, during which our guide Darren gave us a bit of history about the road. I was surprised to discover that the road was actually formed during the Chaco war by Paraguayan prisioners. There has been a new road built now which avoids the most dangerous parts of the old road but it's slightly longer and so some drivers still opt for the old but more dangerous road. Still, this has obviously reduced the number of deaths quite significantly.

We began the journey on a standard tarmac road which was fine. In fact, I was loving life and taking advantage of the 80km/hour downhill speeds we were able to reach. The purpose of this first part was for us to get used to the suspension bikes as well as the technique that we should follow when on the actual Yungas road. At times it was difficult to concentrate on the road because of the views around us, especially since we had started off at an altitude of around 4000m (pretty much cloud level) and so we couldn't see too much, and this was only to get better.

After several stop offs and passing various towns we had reached the beginning of the Yungas road. We got off the bus and onto our bikes. We went over the safety points such as driving on the left i.e. cliff side which I was just slightly panicking about. This is to allow vehicles driving down the road to have a better view of their wheels since at the best parts of the road it is only just over 3 metres wide. Then we were off!

Darren had told us that if we didn't enjoy the first stage of the road that we weren't going to enjoy the following 2 parts and could get onto the bus for those sections. Me..I did not enjoy it and this worried me. The surface of the road filled with loose rocks/boulders was a bit of a shock and left my whole body shaking the whole way down. My arms were shaking so much that I thought they could have let go of the bike at any point without me even acting.

Regardless of all this I decided to give the next section a go. The further I went the more I got used to the road and the bike and it actually became quite enjoyable. However, some parts were utterly terrifying such as the thinnest parts of the road, the parts where the cliff edges were simply too visible and the parts where the waterfalls were actually dropping onto the muddy road. The ride turned into such a beautiful cycle the further we descented and as the clouds and fog disappeared revealing the valley beneath us, I had to stop on several occasions to take the views in and take pictures.

We were cycling for several hours during which I had a few scares including Danny falling off his bike, even though this was nowhere near the cliff edge and another guy, acting a little too cocky and attempting to overtake Danny and I, coming off his bike. His fall was slightly scarier resulting in him landing close to the side of the road and looking very disappointed in himself. Needless to say I was extra careful after this. Still it was difficult to maintain a slowish speed, given that it was downhill pretty much the whole way and because it was pretty much impossible to brake the whole way without having very very sore hands. To finish off the road we went through a river at the end and as we experienced a change in climate and entered the Amazon jungle region the cold spray of water was very much appreciated.

At the bottom we split as 4 of us went off to do the zip wires and the others went on to eat at the animal reserve, Senda Verde. Just as I thought the day couldn't get any better we had the most exhilarating experience down 3 separate zip wires. The first was the highest, the second was the fastest and the final one was the longest. I was absolutely petrified as we arrived at the first zip wire hut all geared up. Watching the others go helped a little but not much. I went 3rd after having a few practices at steering and braking at the top. The first 10 seconds were spent with me screaming and praying for dear life. Then I looked around and realised how beautiful my surroundings were even if I was hundreds of metres high. The next one was a lot less nerve racking but for the final wire we were given the choice to go down backwards. For some reason I was intrigued but I couldn't understand how we were supposed to see the guy at the other end to know when to brake. The man told me matter of factly that you have to turn yourself around half way down without touching the wire and burning your hands. Even after this complicated, slightly scary description I decided why not. Shaking, the guy gave me a push and off I went. As soon as the river was beneath me I manoeuvred my body around to face forward and arrived at the other end thrilled and pretty shook up at the same time. This was a perfect way to end the death road.

Next it was onto the Senda Verde. On arrival we were greeted by tortoises, parrots and those little animals from Iguazu falls. We didn't have much time to nosey as we were rushed in to be fed and watered (or beered :)). The food was amazing..home cooked pasta with a choice of sauce and a full salad bar. To finish off we had brownie and icecream. Since we didn't have much time before leaving we were rushed off barely having finished our deserts to having a tour of the monkeys. The monkeys were all previously pets bought illegally in the Bolivian markets. This is a serious problem here and results in a large number of neglected monkeys handed over to the reserve. Before entering we were told that it was normal for the male monkeys to perch themselves on girls' shoulders to show their dominance and that we were not to worry. Slightly nervous onwards we went. Thankfully none of the monkeys decided to climb over us but they were just wandering around us having a great time. I think we all had as equally a great time watching them. One of the volunteers there had a project which required her to act like the mother monkey of one of the new baby's which had been brought to the refuge. It was quite incredible to see her roam around with 2 monkeys perched on her head whilst she picked at stones on the ground. As interesting (or not) as that may have been I'm not quite sure I could have stuck it out for more than a week!

We didn't have long there before we were rushed out and on to the bus. We made sure there was enough time to purchase some beers for the journey back. It was a good job as I couldn't have imagined doing it completely sober. This is because numerous times on the way up we were so close to the cliff edge that you couldn't see the road beneath us. To top it off we stopped at the narrowest part of the road and the minibus doors were wedged open giving us a perfect view of the steep, never-ending drop below. Still, not sitting at the window seat as well as having a few beers + Cuba libre's definitely helped and calmed my nerves. The highlight of the journey back has to be when we stopped for a toilet break, half way up the road, and 2 of the guys decided to get butt naked under the waterfall and get pictures taken at the cliff edge. It was a pretty special photo to say the least.

I felt a great sigh of relief after getting back onto the tarmac road again and after an hour and a half we arrived back in La Paz, slightly drunk. A quick change and we went with the others for chinese food and then onwards to Gato's leaving drinks. It was a nice bar and good atmosphere but after a few hours I was done, baring in mind I had been up since 6am. So we all decided to head home shortly after 1. And I think I conked out as soon as my head hit the pillow!