Highlights:
La Cumbre: Death Road Mountain Biking
Lowlights:
Demonstrations: miners striking.
People:
Isabella: Bolivian girl, very sweet, animated, showed us around a lot of the city,
Kent & Friend: 2 South African guys that were in our group for the death road mountain bike trip. They were the first fellow South Africans we came across in our journey yet. They were very friendly and I had good conversations with them,
Darcy Michael: Australian guy, easy to converse with, spent half a day with him, told us much about the life style in Australia
Places:
Mega Centre: was a major shopping centre, quite far out from the centre, where we went to meet a Couch Surfing friend. A mall is a mall I guess no different from South Africa.
Cultural Centre: a big building with amazing pieces of art, from beautiful murals to sculptures made out of recyclable materials. The art was very funky, vibrant and unique.
Jazz Bar: Isabella brought us here, it was very expensive but we got to enjoy some amazing live Brazilian jazz (Bosa Nova).
Mercado de Hechiceria (Witches Market): it is called the witches market because it is freaky as hell. There are llama foetuses all over the place, some of them look fully grown. You could buy absolutely anything here as well.
Miradors: there were many view points from which you could see the valley of La Paz city as well as the beautiful back drop of the Andean mountains.
Valle de la Luna: A valley of eroded mountains, made of clay, it looks like a dessert filled with stalagmites, which resembles the surface of the moon,
Tiwanaku: is an important archaeological site of the Tiwanaku civilization (existed before the Inca civilization). It contains many architectural works of the ancient civilisation. It also had a museum nearby with ancient artifacts and the history of the ancient civilizations.
Puma Punka: not too far from Tiwanaku, contains the famous “H-block” structures as well as other architectural works. The precision of these constructions is unfathomable for a civilization so ancient. Many archaeologists believe that some of the holes that appear in the blocks could only have been made with a diamond cutter.
Activity:
La Cumbre: Death Road Mountain Biking: what an amazing experience. We started at La Cumbre (4500m above sea level) and worked our way down (approximately 63km) down. The guide told us to be careful because the breaks were the opposite way around, but unfortunately for me muscle memory got the better of me and I braked a little harder on my front brakes instead of my back brakes, causing my back wheel to slide out under me and me to bale. I had a lovely scar to show for that, and I learnt very quickly how the brakes work. The whole experience was pretty scary, we descended at a rapid rate, reaching a max speed of 60km/h. The road was very narrow (3m) at some parts, and the drops off the side where up to 600m high. We had great double suspension bikes, very reflexive brakes, full face helmets, knee & elbow guards, so we were fully equipped to do the journey safely. I thoroughly enjoyed the adrenaline rush and the amazing views along the way. We had a great, friendly group. Our guide, Chello, was hilarious, always making us do stupid poses (the super llama) and always cracking funny jokes along the way.
Tour Bus: We took a red tour bus (much like the ones in London), that navigated through the city and to Valle de la Luna. It had earphone sockets for multiple languages, so you could hear the guided tour in multiple languages. The tour was quite fun and informative, explaining landmarks along the way and giving interesting historical facts.
Foods:
Burger King: tried Burger King for the first time in Mega Centre, was nothing special really, I would say it’s a mix of Mc Donalds and Steers. Nothing to rave about..
Llama: I tried a Llama steak twice, both times I was disappointed. The meat doesn’t really have the greatest taste, I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat it again.
Api con Pastel: Api is a maize drink that is purple in colour. I didn’t really enjoy it, it was too rich and not really my cup of tea. Pastel is a fried pastry, lined with cheese, absolutely delicious.
Namaste: a wonderfully decorated vegetarian restaurant, it had very chilled ambient music and served delicious food, I had a vegetarian burrito, it was excellent, exploding with flavour.
Api Happy: I had Api & Pastel with Raphael here.
