We are a bit behind on this blog due to lack of access to the internet. We have found an internet cafe in Uyuni that we can use whilst we await our bus to Potosi. We have just completed a tour of the Salar de Uyuni but I do not have enough time to write all the details of that up yet. Instead I will write about the most dangerous road in the world and the bike ride that we did down it.
In summary it was the most dangerous and thrilling thing that either of us have ever done in our lives. The ride involves a downhill ride from a rather cold La Cumbre to about 20 km short of Coroico. The vertical descent is 3650 metres and the biggest vertical exposure is 4500 feet. It is very dangerous! The first 20 km are on asphalt and the road is two cars wide. This is good as it gives you time to become accustomed to your bike and the fact that you are going very, very fast down the mountain. I had my brakes on for most of this bit and I was still flying - pushing your pedals around has no effect. It was lovely and sunny at this point and once I got over my nerves (I had hardly slept the night before) I felt fantastic.
After about 20 km the road turns into a dirt and stone path that is about one car wide and it is quite windy and very steep. By this point our confidence had gained and we moved more towards the front of the group and just went for it. Absolutely unbelievable. The road is so rocky and it is all you can do to stay on the bike as you are going so fast and bumping up and down so much. Every now and then where a landslide had occurred there was a cut into the path and you could see straight down (major stomach flips). However most of the time you had to concentrate so much on the track in front of you that you didn't have time to look over the edge.
You have to cycle on the outside (yes, right next to the drop) so that you can see around the corner and check if any cars are coming. Both of us agree that it was amazing. Several hours of sheer adrenalin. Nothing comes close to it (and neither of us have veered away from thrilling things in the past).
There are 26 fatal accidents per year and our guide told us (afterwards) that 3 cyclists a year go off the edge of the mountain. The last fatality was not that long ago and last week someone hit a bus. He was okay but his bike went off the edge. The guide also told us that the bikes can only do 4 trips down the mountain before they have to be striped down and all the brakes, gears, etc. replaced because of the strain that the ride imposes on them (and they are not cheap bikes).
We'll put more detail soon as we have to go and catch the bus now.