The Death Road, Bolivia

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, the Death Road in Bolivia is statistically the most dangerous road in the world. It has of course been turned into a tourist attraction, with twelve separate ‘adventure sports’ companies in La Paz offering Death Road mountain biking trips.

The Death Road, Bolivia

I decided to attempt it myself whilst in La Paz. The day began with a guest house pick-up at about 8am, and we drove from La Paz up to the starting point – ‘La Cumbre’ – at about 4,700 metres altitude. We’d imagined a nice sunny day, but for the last 30 minutes of the journey, we drove through sleet and snow, and we feel silent.

The company I’d chosen – El Solario – had promised to supply a waterproof raincoat, which turned out to be little more than a porous rag, and the state of the Trek mountain bikes left rather a lot to be desired – with chains falling off and brakes not working before we even began. These kind of ‘mechanical issues’ don’t inspire confidence when you’re about to descend 3,500 metres (in altitude) down the Death Road!

The first 20KM were spent freezing and wet, hurtling down rainy sealed roads with very low visibility as we passed through the cloud line. Soon we headed off-road onto the real ‘Death Road’ which is unsealed, and has no crash barriers at all along its nearly 40km length. We would intermittently stop whilst our guide described who had died (and how) in particular spots along the way. The worst accident involved a head on collision between two buses in the 80s. Both went over the edge, and sadly all 102 people lost their lives. There have also been 12 mountain-biking tourists killed over the years.

As a biking trip it was great fun. The views were superb, and biking downhill for nearly 60KM (and 3.5KM in altitude) was definitely a huge adrenaline rush. But was it really dangerous? On one occasion I came close to losing control on a bend, with a lethal drop to one side. This slowed me down immediately and for the rest of the trip but on several occasions I still nearly flew off the bike on as I connected with a rock or two. I’m sure a lot of people are considerably more reckless than I was and I’m also sure that for these people the Death Road could easily bring about a sudden and premature end….

Links

Photos of the Death Road biking trip, Bolivia
The Death Road on Wikipedia

Video: Isla Del Sol, Lake Titicaca

This video shows the beautiful Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, the site of the main Inca creation myth – it was here legend has it that Viracocha (the creator god) had his children Manco Kapac and Mama Ocllo spring from the lake and found Cusco and the Inca dynasty.

I took a boat to Isla del Sol from Copacabana, and walked the length of the island during the day – only 7km, but at this altitude (nearly 4,000 metres) it felt three times further!

I apologise in advance for my infantile presenting, I obviously just have no idea whatsoever.

Links

Photos of Isla Del Sol and Copacabana, Lake Titicaca

Copacabana & Isla Del Sol, Lake Titicaca

I decided to break up the journey between Puno in Peru and La Paz, the capital of Bolivia with a stop in Copacabana and a trip to Isla del Sol (Island of the sun). Isla del Sol is the site of the main Inca creation myth – it was here legend has it that Viracocha (the creator god) had his children (the first Inca) Manco Kapac and Mama Ocllo spring from the lake and found Cusco and the Inca dynasty.

Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at about 3,800 metres, and the waters are a beautiful blue, reflecting the sky, surrounding hills and distant snow-capped mountains. There’s something other-worldly about the whole lake Titicaca area – it’s almost as if the lake exists in a region between heaven and earth, but in neither.

Having arrived in Copacabana about three hours after leaving Puno, we stayed the night in Copacabana and caught the earliest passenger ferry the next day over to a small village called Challapampa in the North of La Isla del Sol. About 45 minutes walk North of the port, perched on a cliff with breathtaking views across the lake lie the sacred rock, and ruins of the Inca temple of the sun.

From here we spent a few hours walking about 7km South across the island towards Yumani. It may not sound far, but at this altitude, on the undulating island paths it took a good three hours with a few rest stops. The walk was truly spectacular, the views across the lake towards the mountains in the background were unforgettable.

We arrived in the small village of Yumani close to sunset, and quickly found a very cheap room (US$2) with views across the lake towards the mountains, and settled down for the night.

Links

Listen to my podcast from Bolivia
Video of Isla del Sol & Lake Titicaca
Photos of Isla Del Sol and Copacabana, Lake Titicaca

Studying Spanish in Cusco, Peru

Finding myself with a few days to kill in Cusco, and having seen enough colonial churches and Incan ruins to last a while, I decided to try and find a Spanish school that I could join at short notice and do a few days of one-on-one Spanish lessons.

Spanish classes in Cusco, Peru

I quickly found out about the Fairplay Spanish School, a relatively new Cusco-based NGO that trains local Peruvians who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to become Spanish teachers – especially single mothers – to teach Spanish. Fairplay then acts as their agent finding them work and then taking 33% of the fee with the rest going directly to the teachers.

As I’ve already studied 8 weeks of one-one-one Spanish on this trip in both Guatemala and Ecuador, and have done huge amounts of Spanish grammar, I specifically requested to just spent my time on conversation practice. I spent my time with my teacher (Marta) pictured above, strolling around the museums, plazas, shops and markets of Cusco, chatting away. The photo above was taken at San Cristobal church overlooking Cusco in the middle of one of my Spanish ‘classes’.

I would highly recommend Fairplay Spanish School and especially Marta (herself a single mother) to anyone thinking of studying Spanish in Cusco, Peru.

Further information

You can contact Fairplay Spanish School through their website at http://www.fairplay-peru.org.

The Fairplay Spanish school charges the following:

$15 or $30 enrolment fee (the higher fee includes the Fairplay grammar book)
$4.50/hour – for one-on-one lessons with a less experienced teacher
$6/hour – for one-on-one lessons with a more experienced teacher

Whilst in Cusco, I stayed at Andes de San Blas guesthouse. It is located in the heart of San Blas (Calle Carmen Alto 227), and costs about $10 a night including breakfast and free wi-fi internet.

You can contact them at andesdesanblas@hotmail.com or by phone on (+51 84) 242 346.

Cuzco: The archaeological capital of the Americas

I absolutely adore Cuzco and spent some of the best times of my trip in this city. I also spent longer here than anywhere else…more than a month in fact.

Cuzco is definitely the archaeological capital of the Americas. As the heart of the once grand Inca empire, the magnificent city of Cuzco is at the top of most traveller’s list. The city is a beautiful colonial place built on hefty stone foundations of the Incas. Massive Inca-built walls line steep, narrow cobblestone streets and the plazas are many and beautiful.

The city is an absolute tourist mecca with hundreds of hotels in all price ranges, restaurants, bars, clubs, yoga places, health shops, regular shops,massage parlours, markets. It is an absolutely fantastic place to be a tourist and spend a long time.

The city is also an excursion point for many amazing sites: Machu Picchu, Qorikancha, Saqsaywaman, Q’enqo, Tambomachay & Pukapukara, the Sacred Valley, Pisac, Urubamba, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero…just to give you a few recommendations 🙂

So as you can see you need to reserve a good deal of time for Cuzco and the surrounding areas. They are AMAZING!

Video: Eco Truly Park, Peru

Eco Truly Park is a beautiful Peruvian Pacific coast ecological, artistic hare Krishna community located on Chacra y Mar beach, a district of Aucallama, in the province of Huaral, one hour by bus or car (63 km) north of the capital city, Lima.

It is an international community with about 30 members living there all year long and lots of volunteers visiting as well to enjoy the community living. I specially loved being among like-minded humans who were all vegetarians and lived according to the same principles as me – namely to live in harmony with each other and nature and not kill.

This was the comment I left on their website after spending an amazing time there in 2009:

“I spent 10 days in Eco Truly Park and really loved the time there. After six months of intense travel in Latin America it was like a sanctuary of peace, relaxation, learning and introspection.Everyone were tremendously welcoming and accommodating.
I loved the delicious vegetarian food and the yoga practise as well.I would definitely recommend it to anyone with a spiritually open mind.”

For more information, please check out the volunteer website: tp://volunteeringecotrulypark.blogspot.com/

or visit their facebook page: Eco Truly Park, Peru

The video below is a tribute to the place – hopefully it will give you an idea about the beauty of the place and the people.

Onwards to Bolivia!

Having spent possibly a bit too long in Cusco, Peru – I’m heading back to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca tomorrow morning, then onto Copacabana on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. Whilst in Cusco, I have been studying Spanish with a fantastic Spanish teacher called Marta at Fairplay, a local NGO that trains single mothers to teach Spanish. Our lessons consisted of wandering around town going to the market, churches and just sitting in the sun chatting. No more grammar lessons!! More soon…