By bus, by bike, bye bye La Paz

We are back after a Christmas break, so a reminder of where we left off: winging our way back to La Paz from the Madidi jungle.

Tiwanaku beckoned

We had cunningly booked into a homestay in El Alto, the flatter, dodgier part of La Paz, ready for a speedy day trip to Tiwanaku - the sacred centre of a pre-Inca empire. After dinner at Pizza Gooooooal (a tiny sports bar) we bonded with fellow home-stayers, two French girls, over their home-made banana cake, our shop-bought chocolate and tips on visiting New Zealand.

Our relaxed banana milkshake breakfast was cut short by our host who insisted his wife took us to the Tiwanaku local bus on her way to work. This involved two collectivos and much squishing in, but we were soon out on the open road. 

First up, for background understanding, was the Tiwanaku Pottery Museum, which illustrated the civilisation's advanced craftsmanship and rituals, as well as their trading links with other parts of Bolivia and Peru. The delicately sculpted seahorse was the highlight.


Then we trotted round the Tiwanaku site itself. Due to pillaging, half reconstruction and poor archaelogical investigation over hundreds of years, not much is known about the functions or meaning of different parts. However, we saw: a slumped and excavated 7-terraced pyramid, with cross-section showing how it was constructed; what appears to be a miniature model of another, undiscovered, temple site; a sunken temple lined with stone heads or idols pillaged from other communities to show dominance; the main, raised sacred area with clay altar, sun gate (moved from original place) and monoliths; carvings of cats, crabs and tesselated creatures; water channels; a patio lined with sarcophogi; magnetic standing stones.

The sunken temple

Detail from the base of a monolith in the raised area

The biggest monolith is housed inside to protect it, after it was originally displayed in La Paz (there is a replica Tiwanaku sunken temple in the middle of a roundabout there). It is HUGE! But we weren't allowed to take any photos.

Back at the main road we waved down a minibus and trundled back to El Alto, then chose a minibus over the Azur Teleferico (cable car), which was repeatedly being hit by lightning in the mounting storm. By the time we got to the Amarillo Teleferico the storm had died down, so for all of 3 Bolivianos we took it over the edge of the La Paz bowl and down into the city. Refreshed by an Alexanders sundae and quesadilla we picked up our bags (thanks Camino Royal), booked biking at Barracuda, and checked into a new hostel. Dinner was delicious tacos and fresh juice at a painfully backpacker-y Mexican bar.

Teleferico selfie

After much debate we had decided to 'do' the 'Death Road' biking. Freewheeling down the World's Most Dangerous Road was last undertaken by Coventrys in 2003, when the road was still the main trade route between La Paz and Coroico, and trucks, minibuses and cars sidled past each other on the cliff's edge. Finally in 2006, a new, tarmac road was built on the other side of the valley, and now the old track is just for biking.

The steepest, sharpest corner

There were 10 of us plus two guides and one bus in the Barracuda Group 1. We zoomed down the first 22km, on tarmac, avoiding the crazy overtaking of oncoming vehicles. At the offshoot to the old road, several tour groups were gearing up, so we admired the valley quickly and juddered off down the rocky gravel. Soon an order was established - young no-fear crazies first, then us, then those less confident or more cautious. Unlike in 2003, there was space to admire the view without going over the edge, and the guides insisted on many stops to take epiiiic photos of us all.

Roger and I biking under a waterfall next to a memorial for one of the accidents

The corner that became a famous image of the road

As we descended the climate and vegetation completely changed. 33km down, we arrived in a little village, where there was a final 500m of tough uphill that separated the real bikers (me and Rog) from the rest. A welcome pool and beers greeted us, for maximum relaxation and socialising, and a big buffet. The other Barracuda group arrived 1.5hrs after us, having been plagued by crashes and punctures (and generally being slow).

The bus took us back up the new road, which still had some hairy hairpins and mad overtaking, but also safe views from above the clouds. The next morning we departed La Paz.