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Hi All,
Big appologies for the huge delay in writting this, I thinks it´s been 3 weeks since we wrote but here goes some of it;
COPACABANA, BOLIVIA
We enjoyed a lovely last few days with Gem and Edd on Isla da Sol, an island on the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca. After staying at a truely gorgeous place in Copacabana on the lake shore we took the boat for a few hours to the island. Much to Edds disapointment we planned on doing some hard core walking as opposed to hammock snoozing! So we took a boat to the more remote north end of the island where we saw Inca sacrifice ritual stones and a very pretty village ruin on the edge of the hill overlooking the blue waters of the vast lake. We spent most of the day hiking the trail along the highest point of the island where we could see across the lake, and finally arrived in the biggest village on the south coast just before sunset (And after a refreshment stop to sup a few cervecas overlooking the view). We befriended some village kids who kindly escorted us to our hostel at a cost of some biscuits and pringles! Once the sun went down though it got rteally cold so we went to hunt down a decent place to get some grub. I think we actually found the only place with a fire and as we warmed our behinds on sheepskin furs and sat infront of the fire (Gem and Ruth staking the nearest spots), we tucked into the local speciality of trout from the lake, drinking warmed red wine and finishing off with bananas and chocolate sauce. MMmmmm!
The next day had a cloud hanging over it despite the sunshine, as we would have to say goodbye to Gem and Edd. We ate breakfast overlooking the lake and then walked through the village and down to the jetty to get the morning boat back to Copacabana. After lunch in Copa, we both had buses to catch; them to Cusco and us to La Paz, so we said our rushed byes and had to run to catch the bus. Very sad.
THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS ROAD
Back in La Paz, we successfully managed to get booked in with a mountain biking company to ride The Worlds Most Dangerous Road the next day. That night we stayed in the strangest hotel of all and had an entertaining return to the world of budget travelling. All of the walls were covered in red leather studded padding (We didn´t stop to wonder why!), it was possibly the most genuine 1970´s accomodation in all of South America, but our room had views across the city which were fabulous, so we liked it!
Finally the day had come that we had both been waiting for! We would get to risk our lives throwning ourselves and our hired bikes down the official ´Worlds Most Dangerous Road´ Yey! After kitting us out with helmets and full shiny tracksuit style sexy equipment, we were driven in a jeep out of La Paz to the start of the road at the top of the mountain. At 4200m altitude we were shivering as we practiced in the car park on our bikes. The first part of the ride was flat and even uphill on tarmack and managed to get our hearts racing. It was bloomin quick and made even more bracing when it started to hail in our faces. The uphill part was tough but being the fit people that we are we both rode through the pain and made it to the top without getting off. Then the real fun began, as the road came over the brow of the hill it turned to gravel and we got a glimpse of what was to come. You could see the track clinging to the side of the mountain, at the edge it was vertical and we began to understand why people had died cycling this in the past. We were split into groups so that the fast maniacs like Greg could throw themselves down first and the controlled maniacs like me could go next (Followed by the scaredy cats at the back I´d like to add!). I wont bother trying to put into words how awesome it was, only to say that it was awesome! Very scary at times titering between wanting to just speed up and feeling to need to squeeze the brakes just a little bit! In the morning at my most cocky and confident I did have a scrape with death as I managed to throw myself off my bike into the gutter, but thankfully on the mountain side and not the cliff....phew! Needless to say I wasn´t so confident after that. Greg had a few similar adrenaline rushes at the front of the pack, but in true biker boy style he stayed on the bike! We finished the day right at the bottom of the valley 600m altitude, having ridden only 46km but dropping nearly 4000m! We ate dinner and relaxed in the pool of a hotel before going back to La Paz for our night bus.
That night we travelled to Cochabamba in the middle of Bolivia and the next day got another bus to Santa Cruz. We spent a brief day in Santa Cruz before catching the train in the afternoon which would take us to the border of Brazil.
That is it for the moment but we will fill you in on the rest of Brasil in the next day or so,
Hope this finds you all well,
With all our love
Ruth and Gregxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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