Into Bolivia and loca La Paz

We had a very interesting journey into Bolivia. Instead of the usual way going south round Lake Titikaka we had to go round the northern part of the lake. It was a long drive and some of the roads were pretty rough- especially on the Bolivian side! We finally reached Copacobana, which is a small town on the lake. We spent a day visiting the Isla del Sol, which is a really beautiful island in the lake. All the tourism is run by local people so it had a very nice feel to it. We walked from the south to the north of the island and although there were some tough uphill parts (I’m still not used to the high altitude!) it wasn’t too bad and I didn’t suffer as much as doing the trek in the Sacred Valley.
The next day we travelled to La Paz for the last stop on my Dragoman tour. La Paz is a completely crazy city. After lots of travelling I decided to spend the first afternoon there relaxing in my hotel room but my snooze was soon interrupted by the sound of a marching band coming down the street! They were followed by loads of dancers in really colourful, sparkly costumes. Thought that it was just a nice coincidence that we were there for this spectacle but saw two more similar processions on the following days so looks like it might be something that happens a lot in La Paz.
The next morning we had another early start to do the bike ride on 'the most angerous road in the world'. Not quite sure why I signed up for it, since my bike-handling skills are pretty poor! The ride starts at 4,700m/15,400 feet, where it's pretty chilly. I was introduced to my bike 'El Optimista' (good start!) and had a bit of a practice ride. We started on nice tarmaced roads and going downhill was pretty exciting once I'd got over my fear. Unfortunatley only the first third of the route is tarmac so we soon had to start riding on the rough track. Our guides were really good and explained how to use the brakes and avoid big rocks in the road ('baby heads'). One of the key instructions was to use your eyes to see where you wanted to go- i.e. if you look over the edge of the cliff you'll end up going that way. Unfortunately my inante inability to remember left and right meant that I couldn't get to grips with which brake was the front and which was the back. At first I spent most of the time braking with both anyway, but after I'd got a bit more used to the bike I started going faster and let go of the brakes. This is when it all started to go wrong. I was nearly at the end of one section of the route and was slowing down when I pulled the front brake too hard and went over the handlebars! Luckily I didn't damage myself too seriously but I did get a nice war wound on my elbow. After that I decided to take it slow and stay at the back of the group but after a few more sections I started feeling confident and starting picking up speed. I even overtook my friend who was in front of me! It was at this point that a large baby head appeared in front of me. All I could do was stare at it, and true to the warnings of the guides my eyes led me straight to it. Not sure what happened when I hit it but I've been told it looked pretty spectacular. I landed about 5 metres away with my legs tangled up in the bike. Went into shock then and couldn't feel my legs properly but when I'd calmed down I realised they were still working and were just a bit battered and bruised. Had to get onto the bus for the next couple of sections but made it back onto the bike for the last bit. The ride ended at La Senda Verde Animal Refuge, 40 miles and 3,600m/11,800 feet from the start of the ride. We were greeted with a lovely cold beer and had a tour of the refuge, where there are loads of rescued monkeys and birds. Was nice to chill out a bit before we had to take the bus all the way back to La Paz. This was actually more scarey than the bike ride. When you're on a bike you don't really notice the sheer clifff edges but on the bus the drop was quite clear, and all the way back our guide kept telling us about all the accidents that have happened on the road.

Back in La Paz I had a couple of days to wander around but unfortunately came down with dodgy stomach infection so couldn't really enjoy the city. It was quite sad to say good-bye to my Dragoman bus and all my friends on it but I’m excited about doing a bit of solo travelling and looking forward to the Spanish school in Cochabamba.