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I know bus journeys have been talked about often but this one was up there with the worst! The second half felt as if we were driving over a road full of boulders, the bus bounced around all over the place, any bags in the overhead bit eventually fell down, with most landing on people lol.
Checked in to the cheapest hostel we´ve stayed in so far, £2 each per night! We met up with Ross & Emma, from Australia, and booked to do the Death Road with them the following day (downhill mountain biking), whilst drinking a very strong Rum & Coke, at their slightly more expensive and amzing hotel room!
We went for an Indian for dinner, where on the menu was the hottest Vindaloo in the world on the menu, with a very large warning with it. We opted against this, but half way through our meal a crazy Swiss bloke came in and ordered the Vindaloo, because he wanted beef and it was the only thing on the menu with beef, idiot! He soon became our entertainment lol. The chefs were at the kitchen window laughing at giggling at his red sweaty face! Hannah couldnt believe it could be that hot so tried the tinniest amount and almost burnt her whole mouth off! (Graham would have loved it)
Another early start, 6.30, for the Death Road. Picked up by a guide looking not so alive, and almost asleep standing up, which filled Hannah with confidence! The last person that died on the road was in June 2011!!!!
To start with you rode on an actual road to get used to your bike, but there was traffic on it, and we did overtake a massive truck! We stopped at one point where you could see the track we would be taking, and just over the steep edge you could see the remains of a mini-bus where the driver had fallen asleep and gone over the edge!
When we got onto the dirt track there were big boulders, which the guide called baby´s heads!, you had to avoid these going round corners otherwise you ended up eating dirt and rocks, as one Australian found out. The guide stopped us about every 5mins, at the start of each section to explain what it was called, eg Collar Bone Alley, tell you about how dangerous the corners were, and about all the injuries/deaths that had occured and where! All along the edge of the dirt track is a steep drop, meaning that if you went over the edge then you probably wouldnt come back! One Japenese girl fell 350m after going over the edge!
Thankfully we both survived, with no injuries!
La Paz is a hectic city were no one sleeps (South America loves noice), sellers every where selling everything, shoe shiners found on every street corner (sad fact, shoe shiners wear balaclavas, not for what i first thought but to hide themselves as not to cause shame on them or their family). Theres is even a witches market, which had Llama fetus´s for sale! Aparently you bury it under your house for good luck, i dont think customs would agree with that!
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Glynny Im so glad you dont tell me these stories before you actually do them. Lol. Wouldnt hqnnah be ok with the fur, surely its similar to cats tails? And im pretty sure she wears them as fashion accessories:) ha ha (to all who dont know the tail story, do not fear, no kittens were halmed in the making of hannahs accessories......but dont know if i can say the same thing about fully grown cats ;)
Hannah Thanks Glynny for once again keeping that very much made up story alive! lol xxxx