La Paz to Corroico

La Paz produces practically no foodstuffs, therefore all agricultural products have to be shipped up from the surrounding lowlands. The problem is that these lowlands are at about 3.5km below La Paz (i.e. like vertically, you dig?). Naturally this elevation difference had to be bridged, so a dirt road was built, or rather "hewn" into the side of the mountains. This road is well used, especially by large trucks and buses. So you can imagine the consequences - a very steep, windy, narrow road used by maniac, sometimes drunk, often sleep deprived truck drivers. The accident statistics were horrendous - at least one fatality a month, normally much more.

So in 1995 Bolivia asked the Inter-American Development Bank for assistance in building a new road. The bank commissioned a study to examine how many accidents occurred on the 64km stretch of road between La Cumbre and Corroico. They didn't need long and soon after the bank dubbed it "THE WORLD´S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD" (capitals necessary).

Now titles like that are there to be misused, so within a couple of years there were a handful of agencies offering to take you down THE WORLD´S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD... On a mountain bike.

One would think that if agencies are going down with customers that it must be all safe and cushy, well not really. Last year an English girl dismounted from her bike on the wrong side and fell 600m to her death. An Italian girl died two years ago because her brakes had failed and to make things even more fun, 2 guides have died in the last 3 years.

But your intrepid reporter was not to be deprived of his bragging rights (And I didn't want Mr. Lloyd missing the chance of editing my posthumous travelogue), so it was 28 novenas, kiss the rosary, a hail Mary or ten and on yer bike.

The decent starts just outside La Paz at La Cumbre (4800m), starting off with a wide asphalt section, this then gets progressively narrower until the road is only about 3m wide (i.e. truck width) and the asphalt disappears and is replaced with a rocky dirt track. I was right behind the guide (Omar, Bolivian, Crazy) and we were not going slowly (to put it mildly). There are few words to describe the feeling of hurtling down a bumpy track at around 40kph with a sheer drop of anywhere between 100m and 800m to your left. This is not the sanitised Bungee & Skydiving where you are in the hands of a professional and where statistics show that nothing is going to happen. This is turn your handlebars too far to the left and you are going to be doing a superman... Sans cape and superpowers.

To make things slightly more edgy, my chain ring & crank became slightly separated from each other (not good). The replacement bike on the bus was way to small for me, so Omar bandaged the parts together with an elastic band, smiled and said "Vamanos". Honestly I kid you not, I don´t have to make this stuff up any more... It just happens.

Anyway, 4 hours, 64km and about 3400m vertical drop later and we arrive in Corroico. Dirty, sweaty, thirsty, but alive and with massive grins on all our faces. Corroico is an oasis, after the barren heights of the Altiplano it was pure bliss to walk around in a T-Shirt. The town is situated on a mountain ridge in the middle of a lush valley with parrots & condor flying overhead. The hotel we stayed at had a swimming pool, a sauna and a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the whole valley. It was cold beer heaven.

It all ended to soon and the next morning it was back up in a bus to La Paz... On the same road.

Give me a mountain bike any time.