Anyway.
Dried llama fetuses galore.
View from the beginning of the death ride. 
Being thrown off the cliff by Hannah and Andy.
I absolutely adore La Paz. We arrived to this bustling city by taking a night bus (went well again, knock on wood) and immediately started exploring our surroundings. The city reminds me of a bowl. The buildings are built on hills that surrounded the center of town. It's absolutely beautiful to see at night. We wanted to do a free city walking tour that started in the early afternoon and we were determined to book a Death Road biking trip before it began. We talked to a few different agencies and ended up booking with Gravity Assisted Mountain biking. It was pricier than a lot of other options but we wanted to be sure of our equipment and overall safety. No regrets, it was a great choice and we had a fantastic time.
The city walking tour was fantastic. Neither Hannah and I can remember the company name but I would highly recommend them (blue shirts?). Our guide was a really knowledgable 18 year old Bolivian who did not hold back his opinions. We learned which museums were boring, why Bolivians hate Chile (they lost a war and the coastline), and that the cops are completely corrupt. The tour lasted 3 hours and my favorite stops were the San Pedro Prison and the tallest building in La Paz (a bank).
A plaza. So nice.
The San Pedro prison sounds absolutely insane. The prison is split into different living areas and prisoners rent apartments. In the richest area, the prisoners are able to built onto their apartments and leave the prison during the day. Pretty much, from the way our guide was explaining it, it sounds like a nice gated community. People have set up stores and shops inside and they have a solid economy. The prison also provides the majority of cocaine to the city (1.5 bolivianos for a gram...it's around 7 to a dollar). It sounds absolutely fascinating and he recommended the book Marching Powder (which I will be reading as soon as I can) which talks more about the seedy situation in the prison.
The tallest building wasn't very interesting but the information that went along with it was incredibly interesting. We learned that when they went to destroy the original building in the spot they discovered the basement filled with dried llama fetuses. Dried Llama fetuses are still sold on the streets for luck, protection, and (I think this was mentioned) to ward off evil spirits. They come in a variety of sizes (from embryo to toddler) and smell odd. When there's a large construction job, people still bury dried fetuses under the foundation. For much larger construction jobs, there have been recent reports of human sacrifice. Sometimes the dried fetuses aren't enough....
The tour ended in the witches market (where you can find the llama fetuses) and we spent the rest of the day shopping.
Tour guide showing us a shrine that people create with dried llama fetus, statues, and candy decorated with things that they want (money, land, new car, etc).
The next day we dedicated the morning to three museums about Bolivian history (small, clean, interesting, all in Spanish so I was pretty lost). After lunch we went back to the markets to wander and then it was off to the cemetery. The cemetery is really beautiful and completely different to anything I had ever seen. The plots were small windows decorated with flowers and items that represented what the person liked or did in life. The cemetery was huge. Old apartment buildings had been turned into plots.
Windows in the cemetery.
Then it was an early bedtime for the death road.
We met our guides at a British pub in the early morning (there's a picture on FB at me celebrating in the same pub after the ride) and had time to practice on the mountain bikes provided before heading for the first, and newest, part of Yugus Road. We biked around 22 km on the nicely paved part of death road and got situated with going really really freakin' fast. I really enjoyed this part. I think the hardest parts of the ride were keeping my eyes from straying too long on the gorgeous scenery and wanting to go even faster. After a quick snack it was on to the older (and scarier) part of death road.
I'm fine with bungee jumping. I'm cool with jumping from 15-20 meter rocks into water. The idea of skydiving thrills me. Cycling downhill on gravel? Not gonna lie- this makes me really really nervous. Thankfully, we weren't racing and we could go at our own pace.
We started riding around 9 and finished around 4. We had a guide who led the way and another who stayed at the back with the stragglers (me). We had 10-15 short stops where Andy (our guide) would explain the upcoming section of road. He told us where we should slow down, where to be more attentive of the edge, and a few stories about deaths or accidents that have taken place (we are riding on the cliff side). Surprising, there have been relatively few accidents since they built the new road. Previously, there was a death a day (mainly motor) and in the last 30 years or something there have only been 17 (I think?) bike deaths.
We also passed a historically significant section of road where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had their hideout.
The older road was bumpy, muddy, and had sharp turns galore. We were told to watch out for 'baby heads,' or medium size lose rocks (what a great name). I would love to tell you about the scenery during the ride but I was focused a few feet ahead of me at all times. It was also so bumpy that my arms were bruised the next day (that may also be from gripping the brakes so hard).
Of course you haven't completely finished death road if you don't have a celebratory beer. While we had our drink, we were given the option of ziplining. Of course, as I had just survived death road, I was keen to put myself in danger again. The zip line was fun but not as exciting as I thought. It's 1555 meters of zip line divided into 3 sections. You're given the option of going 'superman style,' hands free and facing the ground or normal sitting position. I ended up trying both styles before we were driven to our last stop for lunch (it was around 4 so I don't know if I should really call it that) at La Senda Verde Animal Refuge. We had a pasta/salad buffet and the option to either go on a monkey tour or swim in the river. I opted for swimming in the river and learned very quickly that I'm a terrible swimmer (it was fun but had a really strong current. Andy saved me once or twice).
The drive back was really fun because we stopped for beer and the bus became a mini-party bus. We were driving on death road at night (once again, thank god for beer) and it was pretty intimidating. We continued our death road celebration at the pub later that night. All in all, it was a tiring but wonderful day.
A shot of the slim road that we biked.
Next post: BIRTHDAY WEEKEND
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