Article Death road

Cycling trip along the death road starts always the same way. Microbus with bikes on the roof cruises around the hotels in the center of La Paz and picks up people interested in this famous downhill bike. It sets out for the journey around eight. It rises to Cumbre Pass through a wide valley with slopes covered with yellow grass. There is also a toll booth, where a fee for asphalt surface is collected. Right next door is a number indicating the number of victims of the road per calendar year. And it's not low at all. Waiting times for payment come in handy for ladies selling here refreshment.After about an hour’s drive in minibus you finally see the statue of Christ – you are at the highest point of this journey – in the pass La Cumbre (4,660 m asl). Right here or a bit below the pass begins your ride straight down into Yungas. Cumbre Pass serves as a starting point of perfect Inca trail leading through the neighboring valley El Choro trek.

The downhill bike begins at the rocks smoothed by the glacier overlooking many twists of the old gravel road.

As soon as you quickly ride down the first vertical meters, there is a nice outlook point back to the first part of the ride. Black hills smoothed by an ancient glacier do not give an impression to be almost at five thousand meters above sea level.

Clearly visible is the difference of the old and new road. The old gravel road falls in many twists, the new asphalt road leads in wide curves.

Looking down from the rock cliff three hundred altitude meters above the bottom of the main valley, you will see a few buildings in the distance – this is a usual first stop for breakfast.

From the outlook point on the rocky cliff awaits you a great downhill bike full of wonderful views of the countryside around. But do not forget to pack gloves; otherwise you'll have frostbitten fingers in a while. After a short moment, the cliff will be already far and mainly high behind you.

The road leads below the smoothed rock walls towering high above you.

There is more greenery with decreasing altitude.

The air becomes warmer and more humid and the first clouds and deeply sliced ​​ canyon are the first signs of approaching foggy Yungas and harsher part of the death road.

After about twenty kilometers away from the ride down (during which there was only one rising section and even this part you may be transported by minibus (depending on travel agency and specific arrangement), you are at 3 100 meters above sea level. You finally turn here off from the new asphalt road and bike along the old gravel death road among the clouds that are created here every day out of sultriness.

Every path or road to Yungas smacks of danger and incredible change in altitude. You will descend within a few kilometers from the passes in Cordillera Real higher than 4,500 meters above sea level to Amazon basin located about 3.5 kilometers below. You can peacefully enjoy this change during a few days trek leading along Inca trails or within a few hours on the bike or car.

The local misty jungle adheres to steep slopes, which are after longer rains often grooved by massive landslides. Nature is here protected by the national park Cotapata /the main reason for its establishment seems to be the opportunity to collect more money from cyclists passing here/.

Road width is quite sufficient for the bike, so only elementary caution is necessary. In fact, the greatest danger is cyclists themselves, because there are around fifty of them every day here and they all ride +/- at a similar time.

Anyway, in earlier times (before 2006, when the new road was finished) it must have been a real adventure, when buses were avoiding trucks here.

The road is stamped also in older landslides. Along the way you'll see a lot of crosses of those, who ended their pilgrimage here. And the number of trucks and buses fallen into the gorge are countless.

The more you will descend along the road, the weather will be hotter. You will finally get below the misty clouds and you will be able to sunbathe during waiting for others. The only thing that might bother you will be the crowds waiting for taking photos. So it maybe sometimes better to move a bit from the main group.

The downhill bike ends after about 50 kilometers near the village Yolosa (1 200 m asl). There are plenty of bankrupt food stalls; after all, after the new road has been built, not many people pass here. The bikes are washed here and people continue on uphill to Coroico to enjoy deserved relax by the swimming pool and lunch. You will usually get to La Paz already after the dusk.