A Day On Death Road

6:20am - Alarm goes off. The day I have been waiting for.

*Surprisingly, I was quite calm when I woke up. Complete opposite of my normal self when facing a thrill such as this one. Should I have been nervous that I wasn't nervous doing this at all?

7:30am - Find my friend and off we go to find the cafe for what could be our last breakfast and then group meeting.

8:30am - Paying my $9 for insurance before the ride.

9:00am - Leaving the cafe with our guide/group and heading out to the rode before Yungas.



9:30am - Arrive at our meeting place where other people are picking their bikes, testing their bikes out, getting the 411 on how to ride/brake/control & pick up speed/what not to do/rituals/just breathe.

My first bike was just a little too high for me. It made me extremely nervous. I tested it out and the peddles were a little hard to reach. I'M SUPPOSED TO TAKE THIS ON DEATH ROAD?! AHHH! I attempted to try and get on/off the bike as our guide was showing us (bike in motion) and I kept missing and falling on the bike/to the ground. Painful. I begged Clinton to please give me a new bike! He said he would try the best he could but he couldn't make any promises..

I saw that this guy had the bike that was the perfect size for me and for this other girl but he was refusing to give it up! He obviously was a little too nervous! Finally Clinton took control, took his bike away from him, gave it to me, gave my bike to the another girl who needed mine, and gave her bike to him. He wasn't happy but he had to suck it up and deal. The girl freaked out and wanted my bike and claimed she wasn't going to ride. Um, the bike was perfect for her. Case of the nerves, again? Oh goodness.

Clinton, our guide, finally told her to just try it out before she makes the decision to quit. She tried it and said SHE WAS FINE.

THIS IS WHAT THE DEATH ROAD DOES TO YOU! Crazy, I tell you.




10:30am - Clinton assures us we will be fine, take your time, DON'T BREAK HARD OR YOU WILL FLIP AND WHO KNOWS WHAT'LL HAPPEN.., and talks to us about a ritual one does before riding on the road. We each took a sip from the bottle, poured one drop on our front tire, and one on the ground to pay tribute to Pachamama and to ensure we come out alive. It's time.



10:45am - Our ride does not start right away on Yungas road. You have to ride the regular road for, I want to say it was anywhere between 10-15 miles, until we reached death road.

I just have to say I oddly thought the ride to death road was scarier than the ride on death road itself. I think my reasoning for this was the fact we were going fast down the road whereas death road is also downhill but you are riding on a dirt road which somehow helps in the speed of the ride.

*Times from now on are assumed*

~11:00am - Hoping that we'll reach death road soon because I wasn't liking this ride, yet I was still calm. Again, should I have been nervous for not being nervous doing this ride?

And then it happened...

I watched my friend FLIP OFF HIS BIKE, SPLIT HIS CHIN, AND SPRAIN ONE OF HIS WRISTS! This WAS NOT EVEN ON DEATH ROAD! He braked hard going downhill and because of that + the high speed = to him flipping off his bike. He didn't move at first and everyone who saw, including myself stopped, made sure he was okay, and waited for our bus to arrive to check him out. He was done. His ride was over. He was bandaged up and had to sit in the bus until they were able to send him somewhere else to get to a hospital. After this, we continued our ride..

I'm supposed to ride on Yungas road AFTER seeing what I just saw? Just crazy. :/

At that point, I had to put it behind. I was not going to give up and I could not worry about it any longer. I'm on my bike. I was at the point of no return. Continue on...

We hit our last town before the tunnel/the road for our last bathroom break and pay our fee which helps to repair/better Yungas road. Kind of hard to explain, but I actually don't want them to repair the road. Yes, it is painful for many families who have lost loved ones on that road but at the same time, the road has history. I say just don't have anyone ride it anymore. Maybe I'm wrong? I don't know.





We then hit a tunnel. We were told we won't be riding our bikes in the tunnel because it was pitch black and for obvious safety reasons so we rode our bikes on the road just around the tunnel. My first taste of riding on dirt. And it was weird. The road was bumpy, rocky, and I was having a hard time braking without skidding. I hoped then that it wouldn't be like this on the death road because if it was, I would be in trouble.

After that, we hit up the street again for a few more miles before we finally made it to the road known as....

DEATH ROAD. The WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD.



~12:00pm - One more discussion before we started the ride. Since we were biking downhill, the cars going uphill have the right of way. Meaning: We would be biking on the side closest to the edge, NOT mountain. If a car were to pass us, we would have to stop biking and stay near THE EDGE of the road. Yeah, don't think anyone was happy about doing that but that's the risk you take when you do this bike ride.

Oh and DO NOT ride the person's a$$ in front of you. If you do and YOU crash into them and something bad happens to them, it's your fault, and they will try to rescue/take care of THAT person, NOT you! Take your time and enjoy the ride.

~12:15-4:00pm - Let's go.

At first, the ride was fine. I was suddenly feeling more comfortable riding on the dirt and getting used to it. I had better have gotten used to it because that was where I was going to be for most of the day.

Then the edges were in plain site. I looked down. Normally I would say DON'T LOOK DOWN, but again, I wasn't nervous, well, I was a little. Normal. But what in the world! It was like I wasn't myself that day. My heart should have jumped out of my chest after my first glance of dead air. Anyway, I tried my best to avoid biking near the side. Remained at my own pace. Wasn't fast, but wasn't the slowest in the group.




Riding straight downhill is definitely not easy. Maybe on the street, yes, but on dirt and thousands of feet above, no. My hands went almost completely numb/tightened up by stressing over braking the whole time. We finally had our first break and the first thing I did was focus on my hands. One because it hurt, two because I didn't want them tight the whole ride, and three, because I wanted to take pictures of the scenery with my camera because the views were absolutely incredible. I just constantly opened/closed my hands, kept them moving, and finally after a few minutes, they loosened up and started to feel normal.




Funny that by the time we continued our bike ride, I realized how much FUN I was having. It was right after I took my concentration away from my hands, looked at everyone in my group, and the gorgeous views that I had SO MUCH FUN DOING THAT FIRST RIDE!

The tables have now turned after only one section of the ride...

I WENT CRAZY, OUT OF CONTROL, NO LIMITS, ADVENTUROUS, AND ZOOMING DOWN DEATH ROAD!

What?! I was ahead of the pack. I was swinging around corners, Devil's drop, Collar Bone Road (known to be so bumpy that people have fallen of their bikes and end up breaking their collar bones), and another corner, which the name I can't quite remember, but it must have had death or devil in it!



I remember stopping to take a picture at a famous point known for many fascinating pictures and right after, I hopped on my bike and was about to go when I could hear Clinton shouting/laughing: "STOP! Wait for your guide!" Right after he told me that I had worried him because I mentioned before the ride that I was deathly afraid of heights and falling and thought that I would be taking my time and be the last one in the group. NAW! Last thing he thought I would be doing was going crazy and flying all over the place! He thought it/I was pretty cool. Especially because I overcame my fears and gave the road everything I had.




Honestly, I was having so my fun. Rarely in my life I have ever felt that free as I was flying down the mountain. JUST for the record, I told my parents everything when I got home! Didn't want to worry them. My dad's face turned white and my mom, of course was like, what were you thinking and just shook her head. She took it well while my dad, not so much! Scaredy cat!

There was a point where we started to hit big rocks on the road, which I'm assuming were due to recent landslides. We were told that the day we went was an absolute perfect day. Couldn't have been better. No rain and no clouds. Road was visible. Anyway, I skidded a few times and realized I had better slow down because I may skid again and fly of the mountain. By far the hardest part of the ride was trying to avoid the rocks on the road.

I can go on and on, but it would be forever! Literally, you will spend majority of the day biking. You will be tired, exhausted, and go from the extremes- very cold weather - cold - nice/chill - warm - hot/humid. Different elevations, as you know, bring different weather conditions and it is very neat to experience them all in one day.

Just for the record, going with Gravity and I'm assuming most other bike groups, you will be given a snack and lunch to stay refueled and energized during your ride. So don't worry, you won't starve.:)



And finally we made it to the wonderful town of Coroico, which is part of the Amazon Rainforest, one of my favorite places on Earth! We biked through the town where we saw plenty of locals, houses, and plenty of beautiful nature. Love your Pachamama! We stopped at a local refuge where we saw plenty of monkeys, wildlife, and bugs! What would the Amazon be without the scary bugs!



~4:00-6:00pm - We enjoyed an early dinner, had a chance to go swimming with the monkeys, and take a nice hot shower. I, as well as the others, were exhausted, sleepy yet somehow alert, felt healthy, brave, and accomplished with what we did that day. It was now time to relax...

Wait...Relax? Oh no, my friends!

I ALSO signed up go Zip-lining in the rainforest! Yes, you can now call me crazy. After everything I did that day, I thought my heart wouldn't be able to take anymore, but somehow it had some room leftover for flying in the air. I found the ziplining to be a little nervewrecking but enjoyable at the same time. For one thing, I don't think I'll be able to not be nervous when ziplining over open space.

I still think Costa Rica is the best place to zipline because you can't see the ground there. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the long ziplines that Bolivia offers. Really allows you to thoroughly take in your surroundings as you are zipping thru the air. I remember just looking around while I was flying to the next post and just feeling at peace. Like everything was moving at slow motion.

There were only a total of three lines but I happen to think it was worth it because the lines were long and the package was affordable. Here are just a few pictures of that adventure below.






~6:00-11:00pm - The ride home. It was late and we were behind schedule. The other two groups were probably almost in La Paz when we finally left Coroico.

And how did we get home?

So for some reason, I thought we would be heading back to La Paz another way but boy was I in for a treat! We rode up death road AT NIGHT. Pitch black status. Now that was a new adventure I had not planned on doing or was ready for emotionally.

Everything was fine until I watched Clinton open the bus door and sat on the edge, looking down over the mountain. Out of control. And then I thought, once in your life, and I sat down and joined him. Of course there was railing there and YOU KNOW I held on for dear life. And you want to know something? It was absolutely thrilling to be sitting there and looking of the edge of the World's Most Dangerous Road. I was like a kid in a candy store! It was exciting! He had to have thought I was a cool one to hang with. Heck yeah!





Is there anything else you can think of that could top this adventure? Yes, there is in fact..

The driver stopped driving and Clinton and I had to get up. There was something wrong. Seriously? On the death road? Another van was blocking our way on the road and our driver couldn't and I'm glad that he didn't try to drive around! The van was stuck on death road. Why?



Because one of their tires flew off their van and down the mountain it went. The problem? Well, there were two woman and two men in the van and the men were drunk. I was not okay with that. I thought one of the men were driving and that didn't settle well with me. You are on the death road, you can't do that! After we all were conversing in Spanish with the group, we found out one of the women were driving, THANK GOODNESS. That was a relief.

Of course they were having a hard time putting the spare on because the men were too busy playing around to be paying attention to what was going on. I soon watched as the two women turned on their flashlights and started walking towards the edge of the road and look down to see if they could find/recover their fallen tire. Then I saw them starting to work their way down the mountain in hopes of discovering it. I remember saying: "No! Que no es seguro! No!" ("No! That is not safe! No!")

I wanted to say 'tire' in Spanish but I've yet to completely master Spanish. I'm still working on it! Our protests finally worked and they stopped. The driver finally put their tire on, we said our good-byes and they drove away and we continued on the road. Everything died down and we were soon all half-asleep. So hard trying to stay awake! We finally arrived in La Paz and parted ways. What a story I will have for the rest of my life.

I will never forget this day. The day I survived the World's Most Dangerous Road.



*As for Gravity, I 100% recommend them. I felt safe, secure, and was in good hands. Our guide, Clinton, was knowledgeable and you could tell he loves what he is doing with his life. The other guides I saw that were with the other groups seemed to also be just as wonderful as Clinton was. I was able to have fun, bike how I wanted, and felt confident enough doing what I was doing. I was amazed at how I was able to quickly learn how to ride a dirt bike and ride on dirt with ease and control. I never felt pressured and I didn't feel like I was held back. The money value for the ride was completely worth it. Go with Gravity.

If you have any questions about this ride, feel free to email me. I have a pretty good memory and can tell you anything you need to know. :)

True Life: I Survived Death Road

So I survived Yungas Road. The World's Most Dangerous Road. By bike and by vehicle. During the day by bike and during the night by vehicle. Yes, it has taken me awhile to write my adventure but it is kind of hard to explain my day on Yungas road. Mainly because I didn't know how to start it or what to say. So I finally decided to just go with it and write what comes to mind.




I've heard about the so-called 'Death Road' throughout my life but the first time I really remember talking/hearing about Yungas Road with others was through an Australian newlywed couple whom I met at a hostel in Brazil during Carnival a couple years ago. I left Brazil to return home and they continued on their journey to Bolivia and further on after that. It sparked my interest. It also frightened me because I'm deathly afraid (not anymore) of heights and falling. YES! The adventurer does (did) have some limits. Inquisitive minds, well mainly mine, wanted to know the reasons behind this madness and the only answer I got was "You can't go to Bolivia and NOT do it." Enough said. I agreed.

Eventually weeks passed and saw their pictures. They survived and wow the pictures were incredible. A definite bucket list check off. Put it in the back of my mind and continued with my quest for adventure throughout the last couple of years on other paths.

13 countries (15 with Peru and Bolivia) and 3 islands later, I was trying to figure out the whereabouts of my next vaca..oops I mean adventure, and decided that when I head over to any part of the eastern hemisphere, that I'll make sure to have more time to truly experience the culture, environment, and, oh yes, food in each country. So where to go?

I thought about Peru but realized that I didn't want to go there unless I had time to hit every place that is important to the Peruvian culture. Thought about Bolivia, which I had heard the outdoors and nature there are stunning, and the fact that it would be affordable was a huge plus to me. I travel to experience and don't care much for spending money. I like my low budget. Helps me appreciate and value life outside of the USA more than I already do. But put it aside because the aspect of it being the least developed country in South America, not going to lie, worried me a little for safety reasons and the unknown, so decided to search more and try to stay open-minded.

Thought about returning back to Central America to step foot in the remainder countries that I didn't hit last time (3 more remaining) but I felt that I needed and had craved a bigger adventure. I think the main reason I wanted to head back there was the fact I was and am still bummed that being stuck on an almost deserted island prevented me from spending time in the one place I wanted to explore in Panama. Spent a total of 3 hours in BOCAS DEL TORO before I had to continue with the adventure. Had a taste of it, which was incredible and full of gorgeous sites, islands, nature, and craving it more. I WANT TO GO BACK THERE SO SO SO BAD.:( One day...

And one day it hit me. I was watching TV. Really?

While minding my own business and just watching Iron Chef, it just hit me. A commercial that is. So odd and random just thinking about it now but yet so right. Perfect timing. A Mitsubishi Car Commercial. They 'wanted to show how amazing their new automobile was by taking it on the World's Most Dangerous Road'. How it turns with ease on the needle-thin path. Etc.. More importantly, they showed the actual road, how narrow it was, how beautiful it was, and how close to the edge they got! My heart was racing with so much excitement you could just hear it pounding out of my chest. My eyes widened. My adrenaline broke through the roof. At that moment, I felt gutsy, adventurous, fearless....

Mitsubishi: Behind the Scenes

The next day, I booked the plane tickets. Bolivia was my destination.

And Chile, but of course, I'm not exactly a planner and well that didn't happen. Peru popped up. But that's another story to tell later.

And then I started to feel uneasy, insecure, and uptight over my OWN crazy adventure plan! What was I thinking?! I can't ride a bike on this road. I can't even look over any edge! 5 feet up on a ladder = 50 feet to me. You know the huge rocks at the beach where people like to hop on and climb? I can't do it because I fear of falling in the cracks. Silly, I know, but that's just my fear. My eyes widen. I get shaky. My heart pumps with intensity to the point of exhaustion EVERY time I'm high up and I look down, but I can ride on Yungas road and be fine?

Mitsubishi Yungas Road Rituals



My brain was constantly on work mode after this plane ticket purchase. Just walk on the road if you get nervous. Or how about skip it all together and just forget about it. The ONLY thing I decided against was I could not use the option of just riding in the bus to avoid biking it if I went through with this. Out of the question. But thinking back to what my Australian friends had told me, there was NO WAY in you know where I was going to Bolivia and not doing this. Naw. I decided to turn this into a positive and decided to research and prepare for this.

What did I do? And what I recommend doing for those who get nervous when thinking about heights and falling..

I asked my friends just what they thought about it. Asked them how narrow the road is? If I'm biking downhill (which is pretty much the majority of it), will I fly off the road or will I be able to break and swing around the curve just fine? What company should I go with/how much money to spend to do this? This is your life and you should take care of it and care about yourself. Don't take shortcuts.

This may sound annoying but really, I don't care. If you have fears, talking about it is the best way to overcome them. Hiding your feelings doesn't do any good for you.

They really didn't mind at all and were actually very helpful. I think it also brought back their own memories and were happy to share and help out in their own way. I won't get into exact details about what they told me but they basically reassured me I'd be fine, to be cautious, go at the pace I felt comfortable at, and don't get too close to the edge! They also said: DO NOT GO CHEAP and DON'T TAKE SHORTCUTS. There is a reason why some companies are cheaper than others. THIS IS YOUR LIFE. RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK BUT BE RESPONSIBLE AND MAKE SMART CHOICES. Don't go cheap because you don't want to spend the money. The cheaper you go, the less you get out of your bike. And the bigger risk you take in putting yourself in danger.

They told me this because that is what they did. They were fine, except there was only one guide for their group, which was, I believe they said, around 7-9 people. So basically the guide leads the pack and doesn't pay attention to the ones who take their time. There was only one female in the group, which happened to be my friend who was pretty much left behind by the guide. And because they went cheap, it showed through the bikes. Her chain fell off multiple times and had to constantly stop and fix it. Not cool and not a good experience to have when it's the only time you will take the ride of your life.

What also helped in this situation was to stay calm and not worry. I felt that if I worried, it would ruin my whole experience on the road and it would end up being a waste. So from then on, I didn't worry about it anymore. Didn't worry about it here at home, didn't worry about it while on the backpackers trail, and didn't worry the whole ride itself. It really truly helped me and made the experience feel the way I wanted it to feel---WILD, CRAZY, FUN, ADVENTUROUS, DARING...!

So I took what they said to heart, what I saw online, researched the companies, ended up making the decision to go with Gravity, and put money aside. I dared not to go near it the whole backpacking trip until I was emotionally ready to sign up for it and also pay the $9 insurance in the case I didn't make it out alive! Some serious business had to be taken care of in order to do this.

So I packed up, headed out on my adventure, and changed things up (that story about Peru, which I'll again tell another day) due to the bad weather conditions. So because of this, I wasn't able to bus on over to Chile and with a push, well, no push really, made the decision to go to Peru! This affected plans (in no way bad at all, of course) because my priority was to make sure I took that ride on the wild side. Did things on this trip that I have never done before in my life. I went a few days with NO BED just to make sure I could see the salt flats and check out Yungas Road.

The day I came back to Bolivia from Peru, I booked the Gravity bike tour before I could change my mind, then booked a bus ticket for that night to head down to Uyuni, spent time there where I'm surprised I didn't get pneumonia because IT WAS BEYOND FREEZING but astonishingly beautiful of course, booked another bus ticket back to La Paz, and finally had a bed and able to rest for a day before my journey on El Camino de las Yungas. I sacrificed the Amazon to do this by only seeing it a few hours instead of a few days, but I'm okay with that and lucky I was even able to fit what I experienced with no plans even in. There was no way I was going to leave Bolivia WITHOUT riding on that road! Inexplicable. I just don't have the words to state how disappointed in myself I would have been if I had missed that opportunity.

So with all this: planning, stressing, learning, preparing, changing, and every other word that explains how I felt, leading up to the death road, was....

....beyond worth it. Stress free was the way to be that day.




Stay tuned for PART TWO when I am actually on Yungas Road.