La Paz

La Paz has had its ups and downs. We arrived here Friday morning, took a nap, and then went out to book some tours. The problem was that November 1st and 2nd are a holiday here, Los Dias de la Mortes, so all the travel agencies are closed, which put some pressure on the decision making. Moreover, all the museums and things to do within the city were also closed. What we really wanted to do was fly to the rain forest to do a tour AND climb Hayuni Potosi, which is a relatively easy 6000m high mountain to climb, with glaciers and the need of ice picks near the end. We made a little calender of our time till we have to be in Cuzco, Peru, and realized we couldn´t do both, so we decided on the rain forest, but were still bummed out. I know, life is tough when your most pressing decision is between climbing a mountain and visiting the Amazon, but you can lose perspective when you´re traveling. Anyway, to console myself I signed up to mountain bike the Zonga trail. Unfortunately, since there weren´t enough people, I was switched to the famous ´Death Road´bike ride instead, where you mountain bike down this super skinny cliff side road where cars go over all the time (and 18 tourists have died in the last 10 years). It turned out to be quite fun. The biking wasn´t hard, but knowing a mistake could lead to a 600 meter free fall puts some fear into you. And the views were spectacular. It was a bit overpriced, but I had a good day.

In the meantime, Evelyn went to a cafe in La Paz. She started talking to the owner, Christian, and he turned out to be a member of a Warm Showers, a bike touring web group I am a part of too! we visited him and made plans to do a bike ride together when I get back from the rain forest.

On the Day of the Dead, Jose, the super nice clerk from our hotel, offered to take us to his house, which is right next to a cemetery. On Dias de Los Mortes, famies go the cemetery and hang out next to the graves of their deceased relatives. They sing, bring the deceased´s favourite foods, and generally celebrate their life. It was interesting to see a cemetery so packed with happy people, and to get a good look of Bolivians decked out in their finest clothes. I´m happy we were able to experience it.

Unfortunately, tuesday, our flight day, was rainy in Runnabaraque, so our flight was cancelled. While we knew this would be a possibility, our tour company told us we could get a 100% refund if this happened and switch to the other airline, which flies way more often. However, we were only entitled toa 70% refund, which led to about five hours of hassle for us, and more for our tour operator, who apologized and did their best to fix the situation, before we got our full refund. We rescheduled to fly Thursday morning, and I phoned up Christian to go biking on Wednesday.

The bike ride was the second most grueling ride of my life. We went mountain biking down mount Chacaltaya, starting at an elevation of 5300M and ending in La Paz at 3600. Basically, it felt like I couldn´t breath for six hours. The first hour or two was more mountain climbing than mountain biking. And the bikes were basically Canadian tire quality, meaning heavy and with no shocks. The roads were awful, and four hours of vibrations really took a toll on my back, hands, arms, and derrier. It was a very cool experience though. We went up to a glacier and saw some views where hardly anyone ever goes. Plus, I got to see alot of La Paz while biking through it along an abandoned railway. I am glad I did it.

Thursday morning, we got on the plane, but then got off again because it was too cloudy to fly. Luckily, it cleared up within half an hour, and we arrived only an hour late, and in time to catch our tour of the Pampas.