La Paz, Coroico, and the Death Road

I was still a bit unsure about the status of Bolivia's civil unrest so I was bugging every official between Puno and La Paz assuring we weren't walking into something bad, everyone assured us everything was fine and, of course, they were right. We only stayed a night in La Paz before we left early the next morning to mountain bike down the world's most dangerous road, a 64km stretch of road that now captures an average of a hundred lives a year, including one mountain biker every year for the past 6 years. Our guide happily informed us that there had not been a biker lost yet this year, so one was about due. On our way to the top of the mountain he also told us that it never rains ths time of year, which was nice seeing as last time I biked this road it rained constantly and Reilly ended up going over the edge, narrowly escaping a thousand meter fall. It must have been a special day for us because it rained almost the whole time down and was so foggy we had only 20 meter visability, making the cliff edge look like an infinite abyss of bright white. We all had numb hands and useless goggles, not to mention we had no idea to bring rain gear and were all soaked to the bone. At one point, we went through a construction zone and had to get on the bus for a few minutes. You could see the steam rising of everyone in the van. At another point, we were stopped at a little pulloff right on an external curve to let a bus pass, but there was a big truck right behind us that saw this as a perfect opportunity to speed past us. Neither driver paid any mind to our frantic flailings and both couldn't see each other because of the curve. If one swerved, the only way to swerve was into us, pushing us over the edge. At the last half-second, they both saw each other and skidded to a stop. This road doesn't hold the record for no good reason. We were all a bit used to much cheaper bikes than the ones we were using so it took a bit of practice to not skid out every time you squeezed the hydraulic disc brakes, only adding to the tension down the road, but man, in the rain, disc brakes were worth the acclimatization. It finally dried up near the end and it was so dusty we had to wear dust masks to breathe. We all made it safely to the bottom with only a few close calls that you will have to ask Ellie and/or Chris about. We decided to stay the night in Coroico at the end of our ride at the Hotel Esmeralda after our complementary buffet and just chilled out playing pool and watched a movie. We had planned to take a bus back to La Paz, but after considering the day before road conditions we opted for a smaller and safer vehicle and paid a 4x4 to take us back. We made it back with enough time to visit the Valle de La Luna before the sun went down. Ellie, Chris, and I went out mission hunting for a Bolivian flag patch and although unsuccessful, we got to check out the very interesting market nightlife and found a few travel treasures. We are now headed back to Puno, counting down the days until we begin our trek on the Inca Trail.