हुर्त्लिंग डाउन थे देअथ रोड!

So we spent Saint Patrick´s Day in La Paz shopping, and checking out the city. We shouted out Happy birthday to Damon across the world. I hope he heard. We just took the day easy--no green beer for us. At night we met some people from Argentina in our hostal. A girl named Florencia, who played a mix of the accordion and the flute, started off playing the theme to Amelie. It was beautiful! From there her boyfriend played the accordion and she strummed away on the guitar and sang some of the most beautiful live music I have ever hear. Noel was able to capture it and make it into an MP3 for her and of course for us. It was an unforgettable and tranquil Saint Patrick´s Day. Of course I made sure to buy a green scarf for about 50 cents (US) for anti-pinching purposes.

All I can say about yesterday is wow. Yesterday was our second day in La Paz, Bolivia, a city of about 880,000 people (not that large for a capital) and sits at its highest at 4,100 meters (13,450 ft) which makes La Paz the capital with the highest altitude in the world. The first day we spent shopping and acclimating. We had a great pizza made to order in less than 10 minutes-- a far cry from Peru´s dinner service which takes an hour for a bowl of soup. We made a decision to go mountain biking down the ¨Death Road¨ www.thedeathroad.com which ended up being one of the best decisions we´ve made so far. Before anyone gets scared (mom) everyone is alive and well with all their limbs in tact. We first started off at 4,230 meters surrounded by snow and a chilly breeze. The first leg of our trip was paved and easy. It wasn´t too cold which was nice for us. Our first unpaved leg of the trip ended up being around a tunnel and was very bumpy and rocky. Our friend Ana popped her tire that first leg and had to switch bikes. Our guides were wonderful. They provided us with snacks and water every step of the way. We felt very well taken care of. We got through all the check-points and finally it was time to bike down THE DEATH ROAD dun, dun, dun. We geared up in our full padding and helmets and started down the road on the left side. It is an English road, I think so cyclists can see around the corner if a car is coming. It is nice because all traffic beeps (clapson!) as it comes around the corner and goes rather slowly. There were definitely a few sharp turns and huge drops as we rounded each corner. We hurtled down the road passing underneath waterfalls and getting into more jungle-like terrain as we descended into the valley. The first 2 hours we were in a temperate climate and as we heading into the last 2 hours it started to get humid and hot and the flora and fauna more tropical. As we zipped down the road our final challenge was to ride straight through a 3- foot river crossing without falling. Even with all the people falling into the river ahead of me I made it through victorious and dry! We ended the trip in the semi tropical village known as Yolosa at 1,180 meters. We dropped more than 3,000 meters yesterday! Wow!

As we arrived in Yolosa we were greeted with warm showers and a swimming pool. We hung out in the hammocks and then were presented with a delicious buffet lunch. I almost wasn´t hungry after our two other snacks we had along our 4-hour adventure to valley. We hung out in the shade lathered in bug spray until it was time for our 3-hour return bus ride. I have to say the bus ride back was a little more disconcerting than the ride down. I was concentrating so much on my own ride down the mountain I couldn´t the hundreds of shear cliffs I was passing by each time. Our guides stopped at a couple of water falls (cataratas) and filled up their canteens with fresh water and we finally made it back into town. What an adventure.

Today we may be going to the little tropical pueblo of Sorata as we make our way down to the Salt Flats of Uyuni. We should be in Buenos Aires at the beginning of April to start teaching and get our apartment. Until then, hasta pronto y cuidate!