After a quick, but adventurous, layover in Iquique, Chile, Cody and Matt were off to La Paz, Bolivia where they had planned many adrenaline-filled activities. Upon arrival in La Paz, we headed to the hotel, dropped our things and were off to explore the city on foot. We quickly realized that La Paz is not easily conquered on foot due to the steep hills and elevation (about 12,000 feet at the bottom and more than 13,500 feet at the top of the El Alto section of the city) especially when you are coming directly from sea level without any time to acclimatize. For comparison, Cuzco, Peru is just over 11,000 feet and Quito, Ecuador is at 9,350 feet and both of these cities can give people problems with altitude. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. We bought our kids some team Bolivia soccer jerseys, chewed on some coca leaves to try to preempt the altitude problems that we might have, grabbed some dinner, and then went to bed relatively early. We had an early and long day the next day biking Yungas Road.
La Paz, Bolivia looking up towards the plateau of El Alto from below in La Paz.
Yungas Road is also known as Death Road and has been characterized as the worlds most dangerous road (although I would probably dispute that characterization since it didn't seem that dangerous to me). We booked a tour with Barracuda Biking Company and they took us to the top of the pass in a small bus and gave us our equipment and a bit of safety instruction and we were on our way down the hill. We basically started at about 15,500 feet above sea level and descend down to 3,900 feet above sea level over about 40km. The beginning of the journey is on paved road and then it goes into a dirt road for the majority of the journey. There are no guardrails and there are many twists and turns and there are some pretty big cliffs right on the edge of the road. At the top, it is very cold and once you reach the bottom you are basically in a tropical climate with lush jungle all around you.
It was a cool day, with a lot of fog and clouds (with the exception of the summit, the ride down was not too clear...couldn't see how big the cliffs were). Basically, the road is the width of a single vehicle (so not too narrow). Going down, you must ride on the left side of the road (outer edge), so that was a bit strange. We were given pretty good bikes with front and rear suspension as well as coveralls and a helmet. Once we got going, we basically split into 2 groups (faster and slower). Despite the suspension on the bikes, the road was very rough and your arms got pretty shaken up with the amount of speed and bumps that we had to endure. It was a very scenic route and a great experience, full of adrenaline.
Cody, getting ready to head down Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Looking down on Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Once we started out, the fog started to set in.
Cody, stopping for a break on Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Cody, looking over the huge cliff into the fog on Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Cody, pausing on the downhill ride on Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Cody and Matt, near the end of the journey down Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
Great trip with Matt Raleigh down Yungas Road near La Paz, Bolivia.
The next day, we needed some down time, so we decided to wander through the streets and check out "el mercado de las brujas" (the witches market) which turned out to be only a few blocks down the street from our hotel. We were fascinated by the amount of herbs, spices, and potions that they had (according to them, these things could give you power to do all kind of things or cure all manner of ailments). They didn't enjoy us taking pictures, since this was very serious business for them, but we took some anyway.
Cool, intricate statues at the witches market in La Paz, Bolivia.
There is a potion for everything at the witches market in La Paz, Bolivia.
Endless rows of spices and herbs for spells at the witches market in La Paz, Bolivia.
Lama fetuses hanging from the shops in the witches market in La Paz, Bolivia.
Cody, admiring the lama fetuses and other spells and potions at "el mercado de las brujas" (witches market) in La Paz, Bolivia.
Cody, heading into the witches market in La Paz, Bolivia.
After the witches market, we took the "teleferico" (gondola) up to the El Alto part of the city and explored some of the weekend markets (we didn't buy anything), but it was cool to see the whole town in one place.
We then went back down to La Paz and did some rapelling down the side of a building with a company called Urban Rush. They have a very cool concept and allow you to dress up as superheroes or other characters and you rappel (either backwards or face first - "Aussie style") down the side of a 17 story building. Of course, we opted to go Aussie style. Cody dressed up as Spiderman and Matt was Superman.
Matt (superman) and Cody (spiderman) getting ready to rappel down a building in La Paz, Bolivia.
After we finished rappelling, we grabbed some lunch and then headed out to see the "cholitas" lucha libre show. This is basically Bolivia's version of WWF wrestling. Think of chubby guys in wrestling outfits and masks mixed with traditional little old Bolivian women with their long braids, little hats, stockings, sweaters, and knee length dresses fighting it out on a stage in a high-school gym. We had front row seats to this spectacle and it was a pretty entertaining way to spend a couple hours.
Cody and Matt, front row at the "cholitas" lucha libre wrestling match.
We had our flight back to Santiago, Chile the next afternoon, but we were able to book one last adventure before we had to head out. We decided to book a full day tour to do some beginner ice climbing at Huayna Potosi (a mountain peak just 25km outside the El Alto section of La Paz). The peak is at about 20,000 feet, but we only got to just above 16,000 feet.
Huayna Potosi from a distance.
Close up of Huayna Potosi, with the clouds rolling in and out.
Better view of Huayna Potosi up close.
Matt and Cody, learning to ice climb at Huayna Potosi outside of La Paz, Bolivia.
Looking up the snow and ice of Huayna Potosi.
Cody and Matt, beginning the ascent on the ice of Huayna Potosi near La Paz, Bolivia.
Hanging out on the ice at Huayna Potosi.
Cody, climbing up the ice at Huayna Potosi near La Paz, Bolivia.
Coming down the mountain, we were pressed for time, but we were also sweaty and dirty and we wanted to take a shower before getting on the airplane. We were also pretty affected by the altitude and how strenuous the hike was in such a short period of time (both rather grumpy). We asked the driver to find us a place to take a shower and he obliged. We were taken to a back alley in La Paz, walked up the stairs and shown to our individual stalls. After some effort (since we got undressed before we realized our error), we were able to buy some soap and shampoo as well as rent a towel to use to dry off after we were finished. Matt was emotionally traumatized by the entire experience as the showers were filthy, the water lukewarm, and the towels dirty. I'm pretty sure he didn't say anything to Cody for the remainder of the trip to the airport and was just about ready to call quits on the friendship at that point (Matt did not want to go ice climbing in the first place). Luckily, the airport had nice big hamburgers and Cody was able to salvage his relationship with Matt over a good, hearty meal.
