La Paz 9/9/12 - 9/13/12

Arriving in La Paz was a bit confusing since we were dropped off in the middle of the city along the street.  It happened to be more or less centrally located to most hostels; however, still confusing for the bus full of tourists that thought we'd arrive at the bus terminal.

We knew we were in La Paz to do one thing: mountain bike down the "Death Road".  The next day we went and found Vertigo Biking Tours' office, because it was suggested by another couple´s blog we follow.  After securing our spots for the next day, we found a steakhouse in town to get a good steak for Matt's birthday!  Matt was told about a bar that supposedly played American football on tv so of course we went to the bar, Oliver's Travels, that evening to have some delicious food, but more importantly watch Monday Night Football!  Thanks to the U.S. Open Finals we had to watch the first football game on the computer, but later were able to watch the second game on the tv. What better way to celebrate his birthday?!?

Finally, the big day was upon us and the tour van was loaded with our group of 7, but before we got on our way we were told by the manager that there was a strike by the local miners and they were blocking the road to get up the mountain.  We were told we had 2 choices- go home and try and go the next day or take a chance and try and find a way around it.  Although a bit taken aback due to the talk of dynamite throwing and crazed miners laying on the highway, we all bravely accepted the task of going the back way.  It ended up becoming the ULTIMATE back road and added quite a bit of time to getting there; however, we made it and were ready to rock (figuratively of course, because bikes actually roll)!

A little side note: South America's sizes are quite different than back in the states.  Matt requested XL pants and a XL helmet.  Unfortunately, they forgot to bring a XL helmet and he was stuck trying to fit his head in the Large helmet.  Lets just say it was quite comical for everyone else and in the end he had to use the guide's helmet that wasn't full facial covering.  Poor guy ;-).  And the pants ended up splitting when he bent his knees, so he threw those off too.

The "Death Road" gets its name from being a twisty, turny, loose gravel, single lane road, that has had many deaths throughout the years due to traffic accidents.  Now though a new road has opened up and it is much safer to travel; however, the tourist attraction is to bike down the infamous 64km route that starts at an elevation of 4700 meters and plunges 3600 meters during the ride.

The bike ride was pretty awesome!!  Matt loved speeding down the road, sometimes at a speed around 80 km/hr, while Kristin enjoyed the ride from much further behind (holding the brakes and white-knuckled most of the ride ;-) ).  

There were parts where you look off the side of the one lane road and see all the way down the mountain. (Picture taken from the internet, but we had the same view)

After the thrilling bike ride it was time to head back to town.  We didn't realize it at the time, but our driver tried going the direct route in hopes the miners had left, but to everyone's dismay it was still blocked.  

We had two choices at this point (8:00 at night) sleep in the van that was in a line of cars backed up by the blockade OR try and walk through it.  Again, we were all feeling adventurous and peaked with adrenaline from the ride, so we layered up and started our walk.  Nothing crazy happened and we made it through with no problems.  No dynamite went off as we walked through, but we could see rocks and debris scattered around from earlier blows.  It was actually quite interesting to see the striking workers first-hand and complete our action packed day.  Our guide was able to find us public transport to get us back to our hostel.

Too dark (and scary) to get a good picture of the miners' protest.

Although we had planned to leave within the next day or so, we were stuck like chuck due to the blockades; no buses could leave or enter La Paz.  Friday was our last day possible to head out of town to Uyuni in order to meet up with some friends we met in Colombia and do the Salt Flats tour with them.  Fortunately, the talks between the miners and government went well Thursday night and buses could once again leave the city by morning.  We were on one of the first buses out of town Friday morning.

View of La Paz from our hostel

View of La Paz from our hostel

In La Paz, we stayed at Adventure Brew where you get a free beer each night and an endless amount of cold pancakes in the morning.  Matt is a pretty picky pancake eater, thus opted out of the breakfast, but he definitely loved his free beer.  The beer came from a local brewery, Saya, and we both thought it was pretty good.  We had a private room with our own bathroom for about $12 each.