La Paz and the Death Road

Many warned us beforehand that La Paz is like Lima, reeking of traffic, not beautiful and not entirely safe. So we arrived in this city already somewhat biased. Already on the way into the city, the bus changes from the paved country road to unpaved field paths. It goes down into the bowl, where have we landed here!? Quickly by taxi to the hostel and first of all arrive. But already on the taxi ride there we notice that everything is not so bad. The traffic is dense, but far from as bad as in Lima. Arriving at the hostel, a beautiful old villa with a huge terrace, we are warmly greeted by Sergio, the owner. That's how La Paz can start. Shortly afterwards we also meet Mike, our old acquaintance, at the hostel. For dinner, Sergio takes us directly to a great restaurant. The neighborhood where the hostel is located is super relaxed. The next day we go on a city tour and are led through the Witchers Market, which turns out to be a normal market. Next, we visit the globally known San Pedro Prison. In this prison, which is designed for 500 inmates, there are currently over 2500 inmates, some with families. It is a city within the city where the prisoners take care of themselves. There are 6 guards at the entrance. We are told some stories about this prison that send shivers down one's spine. Then we continue to the various, sometimes bloody, sites of the city. Very interesting. At the end of the day, we stroll through the city a bit before getting up early the next day. So we already take a taxi early in the morning and are taken to the tour agency. From there, we go to the starting point near the city at an altitude of 4800m. There is snow and we put on our overalls and test our bikes because today it's the Death Road! We will race down the famous Road of Death by mountain bike. However, we start on the newly built, paved part of the road, here we pass trucks, cars, etc. at a decent speed. The Death Road was once the only connection between the government seat La Paz and the jungle region. Over 300 people died here every year. In the meantime, the road has been closed and a newly paved, safer one has been built. After the paved part, we take a short bus ride to the official Death Road. Already at the starting point, we are greeted by a breathtaking landscape. Let's go, at first we are a bit hesitant and venture onto the narrow road with its deep abysses. After the first few minutes, we feel more and more comfortable and it goes down faster. In the end, we have covered 30km and over 3600 meters of altitude. We drove from snow-covered peaks to the jungle with almost 25°C. At the bottom, there is food and some time to cool off in the pool with a cool beer before we head back to La Paz. What a great day!

Jump in time:

After the Pampas, we are back in La Paz and take it easy. In the evening, Sergio organizes a barbecue for us twice with Argentine steaks and a mighty trout. On the last day in La Paz, we still use the local means of transport: a cable car that lets you hover over the city. We are currently in the beautiful colonial city of Sucre and enjoy ourselves in the sun, good weather, and drinkable beer.

Best regards

Max and Marius