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WMDMar 31, 2006
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| I came to South America to ride the bus. I didn't know that beforehand, but that's the way it has turned out. Maybe it has made me a stronger, more patient, person, but I don't know if I can take any more. We have been on the bus (except for a two hour plane ride) for the last four days making our way up to Ecuador. My head is numb, my ass is numb, my eyes are numb. I wish I could put myself in one of those cyrogenic freezes like Hans Solo and wake up in Ecuador. Just one more 12 hour overnight bus ride... So the World's Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia was just that. It is carved right along the cliff-hanging slopes of the Andes just north of La Paz and was designed for one way traffic but services both ways. About 25 cars take the dive everyear, straight down the sheer cliffs for thousands of feet. Gravity Bolivia is a mountain bike company that takes people in a van up the Death Road and then you coast down in new, well-equipped mountain bikes along the switchback road not wide enough for two vehicles to pass each at most points. You ride along sheer cliffs at about 14,000 feet up in the Andes. This is what Jimmy did. What I did was far, far different the World's Most Dangerous Road. I laid sick in one of the World's Most Safest Beds sick while Jimmy captured the glory on the death road. I'm still pissed. Bolivia was beautiful, huge and inspiring, the people were stoic, straight forward and friendly, but it was nice to leave. I never really adjusted to the altitude. And La Paz was a dirty, chaotic, noisy city, the kind I have seen enough of. So far Ecuador is beautiful, the green tropical paradise that I imagined South America would be (and which Peru wasn't). Along the way through Peru we did stop for a while in Puno (where I got my bag stolen last time), and went out on Lake Titicaca to see the islands made of reeds, something I didn't do last time. A pretty amazing site, islands with homes and huts and boats and everything made out of reeds, and it has been that way for thousands of years. Pretty cool. Hope to be kayaking, climbing, spelunking soon. Looking forward to anything but sitting on a bus! will post more pics soon |
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