Highlight: La Paz
It's been a long while since I rated anything a highlight, all the way back to the three days we spent with the Cambodian Childrens Fund. However, it's not really that there haven't been any highlights, it's just that I have been somewhat complacent in labelling them as such. There have in fact been a good few, namely:
Learning scuba diving in Thailand
Life altering events in Costa Rica
Red hot magma
Galapagos Islands
Hiking around Huaraz
Machu Picchu and Lake Titikaka
And now we have La Paz; I wasn't expecting to like the place at all but the city itself actually has some pretty nice aspects. Cobbled streets, nice squares, dried Llama foetuses, indigenous peoples and great churches and cathedrals - all over 3,500 metres above sea level!!!
We also did a day trip from La Paz to ride down the most dangerous road in the world, effectionately known as 'Death Road'. 64km of downhill (apart from about 6km of hard work pedalling uphill through one stretch) mountain biking. Statistically there are probably more dangerous black spots but it still ranks up there. Between 100 and 200 people a year die on this stretch of the road and since 2001 there have been 16 deaths to tourists cycling the route; the most recent coming just three months ago. Some points definitely need a little more concentration with the road narrowing to less than 10 feet, made all the more exciting by the fact that you spend most of the time on the left hand side just a couple of feet from a 100 metre plunge and certain death. I've not had to concentrate that hard since learning my 9 times tables!!! I only had one dicey moment when my gear cable snapped; as I was looking back trying to see the problem, whilst trying to divide 72 by 8, I came within a couple of inches of becoming number 17!
After the excitement of the mountain biking we went on a three day trip from La Paz to the Pampas, an area similar to the Pantanal in Brazil. The wildlife you see really is impressive. We saw Alligators and Caimans, Anacondas, Capyburras, lots of different types of birds, Piranhas and other fish, Monkeys, Turtles and Pink Dolphins - all multitudinous, the Alligators and Caimans alone numbered in the many hundreds!!! It was definitely a fun tour with some fun people!!
Six weeks to go now so probably only a few highlights left though we are looking forward to the salt flats at Uyuni, wine tours in Mendoza, partying in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and a final week chilling in Rio!!
Learning scuba diving in Thailand
Life altering events in Costa Rica
Red hot magma
Galapagos Islands
Hiking around Huaraz
Machu Picchu and Lake Titikaka
And now we have La Paz; I wasn't expecting to like the place at all but the city itself actually has some pretty nice aspects. Cobbled streets, nice squares, dried Llama foetuses, indigenous peoples and great churches and cathedrals - all over 3,500 metres above sea level!!!
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| From Death Road, La Paz, Bolivia |
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| From Pampas, Bolivia |
Six weeks to go now so probably only a few highlights left though we are looking forward to the salt flats at Uyuni, wine tours in Mendoza, partying in Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and a final week chilling in Rio!!
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