La Paz

November 4th
After a long day of bussing from Puno we got to the border crossing into Bolivia which is right outside Copacabaña. It was definitely the most unofficial border crossing I have seen! We walked into a house and got our passport stamped and walked back out into the hail storm again. This is where we left our guide Luis, because only certain permitted guides can work in Bolivia. After a quick lunch we got back in the bus and drove to a ferry crossing over Lake Titicaca. The bus got on one "ferry" (a flat barge with a small motor) and we got on another small sketchy boat. From the other side it was about two hours to La Paz. We stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the city which is huge! 1.5 million people spread out in a valley surrounded by small snow capped mountains. Our hotel was in the tourist area of La Paz so it was easy to find shops and restaurants. For dinner we went to an excellent steakhouse. The alpaca burger and ribs were both massive and delicious and cheap!

November 5th
Today was shopping day. Court and I both mailed home a large package of souvenirs and Christmas presents we have bought so far. The whole process at the post office was quite chaotic so we are really hoping they make it to Canada in one piece!

November 6th
Today I biked the Death Roads - it was definitely exhilarating! I booked the tour with a couple of friends from our old tour group. We drove about an hour outside of La Paz to the top of the new Death Road, almost 5000m. We got suited up quickly with our safety pants, jackets, gloves, visi-vests and helmets because it was freezing!! The first hour was on pavement and went by quite quickly. Unfortunately most of the scenery was hidden by fog for the morning. At the bottom we drove a short distance to where the real Death Road started. We got a quick briefing about what to expect, including the part where we have to ride on the left side of the road. The left side is the 400-500 foot drop side so we were all a little confused by this rule! When driving the Death Road vehicles coming up have the right of way an they hug the mountain side. This way the drivers going down on the outside can see exactly where their tire is at so they don't drop off! We also had to learn to get on and off our bikes on the right side (very counterintuitive!) so you are never facing the cliff. The biking itself was not too bad. The road is quite steep so pretty much as soon as you get on your bike you are going too fast but we had pretty good brakes. I didn't really notice the cliff beside us very much because you have to pay attention to the road. We made frequent stops along the way to take pictures, catch our breath and hear some of the history of the road which was really interesting. Up until the new road was opened there were around a 100 deaths a year on the 36 km stretch of road which earned it the nickname of the Death Road. The worst accident that happened was a produce truck carrying 102 people back from a soccer game went over the edge in 1985 killing everyone on board. Another interesting landmark that was marked with a large monument is for the five martyrs that tried to start a democratic government in Bolivia. It looked like they were going to win the election so the current government brought them up the road, blindfolded them and chucked them over the edge. Thankfully they didn't die in vain because a democratic government was implemented. By the time we got to km 36 it was sunny, hot and humid! We were definitely back in the jungle. We had lunch at a really nice nature reserve that is run by volunteers. We got to see parrots and monkeys and lots of other critters that have been rescued from abuse and rehabilitated. Then came the really scary part - driving back up the Death Road! If I thought the road was narrow on a bike it is definitely narrow in a van! I had the pleasure of sitting by the window and could see every time we came inches from the edge! We made it in one piece though and then it was back to La Paz. Court had spent the day tracking down the debit card she left in an ATM the night before (a thankfully successful mission), and doing some more souvenir shopping. Our tour group went out for a nice Thai dinner then headed to another hostel to have some drinks with a friend from the first tour. It was his birthday and he was stuck in La Paz due to a lost passport but we definitely turned it around and had fun meeting people and dancing at the hostel before heading to another bar too!

November 7th
The morning we spent packing our bags and the afternoon was more shopping and then mailing our parcels. At dinner we had to say goodbye to all our friends from the tour who were carrying on to Santiago together. Then we were all on our own! Definitely going to be a different way to travel! Will miss the ease of the guided tour, but excited for the new experience and the freedom that comes with being on our own. We hung out in the hotel lobby for a while before catching a cab to the bus station and getting on a night bus to Uyuni for our Salt Lakes tour.

-Lisa