Delia in her shop with sacks of pasta and everthing else you might need

Martin with Nester, Nester is standing on the bottom step of the stairs, they are compact here

Outside the shop have extricated our bikes through that far door

On the road with some spectacular drop offs

28th January Arapatal - La Paz 93 miles

On getting to our beds last night I sat down on the bed and thought i had sat on a concrete wall, the beds were horse hair or something similar and were really stiff, we thought it would be grossly uncomfortable but actually it wasn’t too bad.
The next day we are woken by a builder opposite who decided to have his radio on at disco volume so that everybody in the village could benefit from his choice of music. After about 20-30 minutes I can only guess someone else who felt the same way as us must have had a word with him because it went down big time. Too late for us and we might as well get up and get an early start as we need to get to the airport to collect my shock.
Our hosts Delia and Nester are fantastic and give us some coffe and bread and cheese before we extricate the bikes from their secure parking area.
We are then on our way and have to cross many rivers where the water is cascading down the mountain and needs to croos the road to continue on its way. It is another 15 miles before we reach our original destination town. A horrible cobbled road leads us out of the town descending steeply, it is horrible because it is very slippery and we have little back brake, we think due to the altitude and I have no rear shock. At the bottom we enquire the correct road, we are now at the bottom of the road of death and my bike will never make it to the top so we take the new road.
A track along the valley and then over a complex double bridge section and we are on the new road. It is paved and then it isn’t and that goes on through its length but in fairness the majority is paved. Back over the mountain and today it is clear, no cloud and we see that we had got to 4071 masl.
Trying to swerve the city in La Paz, purely to miss the traffic, is challenging and we end up in a couple of dead ends and also climb some off of the steepest roads both Martin and I have been on and we were glad we didn’t need to attempt a hill start on then.
We arrived at the airport and the worst news, the plane which is bringing my shock to La Paz has broken down in Miami. Regardless of when it leaves now we are stuck here for the weekend as customs is closed all weekend.
Dejected we head back to La Paz and try to implement plan B. Martin had suggested that if we did have a problem with the shock we could do a trip to Lake Titicaca, this is a 2 day trip and would occupy our weekend and also means that when we finally get mobile again we can scoot straight to Peru and by pass Titicaca. Good plan and we are able to do just that so we are off at 7.45 in the morning.

Some of the bridges could use a little maintenance, althought it looks a s though this car has just crossed this is the old bridge

A rainbow punctuated by a cloud

Our secure parking once we got them in

Here you will see the road working its way along the hill on the right

Another pic of the road, here you can see how steep the sides are, some a crumbling

Look very closely and you will see a house in the middle of the hill, Billy no mates, we couldn't see how they got to it

Fantastic scenery if you dare take your eyes off the road to look

27th January La Paz – Arapatal 79 miles

Tried to do the blog differently today but it will take a week, so sorry some of this you will have read with the photos

Today we are going to travel down the world’s most dangerous road. We eventually leave La Paz at lunchtime and have a slow journey out of through the city traffic. The road then becomes a climb and we encounter road works on the way but are able to find our way to the front of the queue and Martin even gets one of the workmen to take a photo of us

We end up travelling in cloud and the road looks as tarmac does when it has just been laid in the rain with wafts of mist rising from it, more road works and we encounter a lorry which Martin manages to overtake, the mist is now thick fog, the radio crackles and Martin said it was clear if I wanted to overtake, I replied that I couldn’t even see the lorry at the moment.

As we started to decend the fog/cloud eased and we went passed some spectacular waterfalls and you can see one in this photo.

We stopped to eat in a little place still right up in the mountains and also put on some more clothes as it was now really cold having climbed above the snow line.

We got to the point where the road starts and we are stopped by the police, as is everyone, and we notified them of our intention and they allowed us through saying take it slow.

The new road is mainly paved and we turn right onto a rough stoney road and start our decent. The road winds down and is quite steep in places with a sheer drop off one side, as the road narrows we come across traffic jams as lorrys and coaches jostle near the edge to allow each other to pas.

Here you can see that we have little advantage trying to pass on a motorcycle.

You can see some of the flora and fauna we saw en route.

We carry on along this road and can see the vally a thousand feet below us and there seems no end to this road, it should only be about 30-25 miles long but this is still going. There has been a landslip and we wait whilst a bulldozer attemps to move the surplus mud and rock and then we are allowed to continue on our way.

We finally reach the end of the road and have to turn left on a narrow track, somewhat like a farm track at home, some of the route is fine and easy going and other bits are wet clay type surface which is very slippery.

We have still not reached the original target town even though we have travelled much further than it was supposed to be, Finally we come to a reasonable sized town and Martin checks directions with a local. Not far now but it is dusking and we are driving off road. It is now pitch black and although we have good lights it is very difficult to read the road as the surface is constantly changing. Suddenly we come across a local with a motorbike which has a puncture and he is repairing it with the light from his phone screen, we offered assistance but he assured us he was fine.

Eventually we come across a small village and look for some accommodation, having enquired at a cafe a small child is despatched to run in front of our bikes and show us where the ‘hotel’ was. It turned out to be the general store, which stocked everything from food, shampoo, toilet fittings and gas, to name but a few.

We were offered secure parking and the doorway looked a bit narrow so we removed a pannier or two only to find that the handlebars wouldn’t fit through, no problem stick it on full lock and get Martin in front with a strap and ease it in, both bikes in safe and we went back to the cafe to thank them and have a bite to eat.

The accommodation cost 4 pounds 50 and the meal 1 pound 80 and both of those prices are for both of us.

27th January La Paz – Arapatal 79 miles

Today we are going to travel down the world’s most dangerous road. We eventually leave La Paz at lunchtime and have a slow journey out of through the city traffic. The road then becomes a climb and we encounter road works on the way but are able to find our way to the front of the queue and Martin even gets one of the workmen to take a photo of us

We end up travelling in cloud and the road looks as tarmac does when it has just been laid in the rain with wafts of mist rising from it, more road works and we encounter a lorry which Martin manages to overtake, the mist is now thick fog, the radio crackles and Martin said it was clear if I wanted to overtake, I replied that I couldn’t even see the lorry at the moment.As we started to decend the fog/cloud eased and we went passed some spectacular waterfalls and you can see one in this photo.

We stopped to eat in a little place still right up in the mountains and also put on some more clothes as it was now really cold having climbed above the snow line.We got to the point where the road starts and we are stopped by the police, as is everyone, and we notified them of our intention and they allowed us through saying take it slow.The new road is mainly paved and we turn right onto a rough stoney road and start our decent. The road winds down and is quite steep in places with a sheer drop off one side, as the road narrows we come across traffic jams as lorrys and coaches jostle near the edge to allow each other to pas.Here you can see that we have little advantage trying to pass on a motorcycle.

You can see some of the flora and fauna we saw en route.

Some of the scenery on the way

OMG, the Lamb

The Swiss couple who own the tandem

My boot, he had never seen a boot so big

Pride of place, bikes in the lobby

The exit was easier than the entry

A Mushroom we think, didn't try it. Helen??

26th January Oruro – La Paz 145 miles

At breakfast we meet the couple who own the tanden, they are Swiss and are on a mammoth trip starting in Europe moving into Central America and down into South America and once they reach Buenos Aires they are going to Asia, wow.
They leave headed for Uyuni which will take then a couple of days and we head off for La Paz. Guess what its market day and the traffic is gridlocked, again. We finally break free of the traffic and head in the opposite direction to the way we want to go until we reach the ring road and then we circle the city to get back on track. Why, you may ask, purely to get away from the traffic it was ridiculous. We gas up and find the right road and away, oh it’s a toll road, so be it.
Progress is quite good today as the road is much smoother so I am able to keep a reasonable pace. One interesting thing today, in the South of the country they have NO roads, just sand tracks, in the middle they have gravel and are building some paved roads, here they have a perfectly good road and they are building another carriageway, why, there’s very little traffic on it.
We pay our tolls as we progress and at some we are just waved through. Lunch today is all about biscuits as we stopped for some water and this shop sells bits and peices and not really enough to allow us to buy sensible things for us to make a decent lunch. One thing Martin picked up was a bag of fluffy puffs, they looked like sugar puffs but much bigger, they also taste a bit like that but no where near as sweet, but boy do they take some chewing.
Whilst eating today the cabaret was in town again to keep us amused and entertained. A coach came through the peage and immediately stopped some 50 meters through and a guy got off and marched back with purpose, a few minutes later he returned with a policeman who started interviewing a man jusrt inside the bus. There was assistance from some of the occupants of the bus who opened windows and shouted down to the officer and this went on for about 10 minutes. Suddenly it was all resolved, the man got off with his guitar and walked with the policeman back to his office and the coac went on its way.
La Paz is now about 11 miles away according to my sat nav and we are just coming into a town where finally we spot some loos, Martin is now desperate having waited about 70 miles. A short break and we discuss where we want to head for which is a little challenging with limited detail on our maps. On we go and this town gradually intensifies and it would seem we are in the outskirts of La Paz. I mentioned traffic and markets yesterday talking about Oruro, well that couldn’t hold a candle to this it was wall to wall and in the main Toyota Hiace minibuses, all full, we turned off to get out of the gridlock but more of the same. Progress was slow as we edged up a hill at about 4100 masl.
La Paz is set in a kind of bowl ona hillside and ranges in height from 3000 masl to 4200. As we reached the top we took the right fork and started to descend and suddenly the buildings cleared and there it was, the image I have seen before of La Paz. Martin took some shots and we now started the descent and the traffic seems to have eased and it is such an interesting road, sheer drop to our right and now greenery and trees. The sun is shining and we also have a little rain to accompany it.
As we go down there seems to be a road to continue taking you down and then various roads go of to our right which then traverse across the bowl. The traffic is back big time and the drivers seem to live on their horns, police are often placed at junctions blowing their whistles, sometimes maintaining good order and at others mayhem justs continues to ensue.
Time to ask someone, well we asked policemen who said yes just carry on down there, taxi drivers who had no ideas, how can a taxi driver not know where the cathedral is and passers by. The traffic by now is awful, the bikes are getting really hot, they are air cooled and getting very little of it, and I can smell my clutch with the repeated steep hill starts. We have now been crawling around the city for over an hour and decide to stop and allow the bikes to cool down and also give each of us a bit of respite. It appears that we are only about ¼ to ½ a mile away so onward and at last we find the hotel we have been searching for.
All looks good but they only have a room for one night, I asked about parking for the bikes and they have a space they could go on the second floor, how do we get up there, ride them up the stairs. Hmmm, I don’t think that is an option so I took her to the front door and showed her my bike, ah, we have another building with dorms and you could park them there. A guy walks down the road with us and shows us the dorm building, it is perfect, large wooden doors which lead to a sort of courtyard, similar to those buildings in ‘The Italian Job’. Back to the main building and we decide to stay and reserve a room for the following night subject to cancellations, neither of us could face trawling round in that traffic searching further.
We get the things we need from our bikes and get ensconced in our room. It is now pouring down with rain so we chill a little and wait for it to ease. Back out to play with the traffic and by the time I get just down the road we have hail bouncing of my helmet, all parked up we venture back to the hotel.
Another good thing about the hotel is that they serve dinner and today being Austrailia day we are having BBQ’d prawns, salad and veggies. It also has its own micro brewery, that’s why Martin spent so long searching for it!
We had a good but noisy evening and I caught up with a lot of the blog as we now have WiFi and will get that uploaded in the morning.
We met some great people from the UK, Sweden and one guy who I thought was English and Martin put down as Irish, he turned out to be from Uruguay.
Martin has just informed me that we now have the room for a second night as they have had a cancellation, great result, so tomorrow we will probably venture out to the Road of Death having caught up with the blog etc.

25th January Potosi – Oruro 188 miles

Woke this morning to hear that my shock is on its way to Miami courtesy of Virgin Atlantic and should be in La Paz at 1am on Friday, that is a day early but given the weekend if I can clear it Friday it will save us 3 days, result or at least I hope so.
Received the airways bill by email and our hotel owner/manager has kindly printed off 2 copies for me so we should be set.
Off to Oruro today which is about half way to La Paz from here, settled our bill for 4 nights bed and breakfact and also laundry for bath of us, 55 pounds, hmmm not bad.
The first challenge is to get the bikes out of the hotel, down a 10 inch step and an 8 inch curb into the morning traffic, all done no probs, to the gas station and we are on our way. Very soon after leaving we come to a peage, ah so this is a toll road, we pay up and off we go. Although it is a toll road it is very bumpy and quite windy so I am taking it easy as with no shock it is like a fairground ride if I try to go too quickly.
The road is fantasic and as Martin stops to take pictures I soldier on and he will then catch and pass me until the photo opportunity. It has to be said that occasionally I stop and wait until he catches up so stunning is the scenery. It is actually pleasant going a little slower to take in the views. The countryside is quite dramatic at times looking like a waste land and then others of this beautiful rock formation, and the area is vast.
On the way we passed some workers working on the road and they had obviously been issued bicycles to get to their work spot for that day and each of them carried a cone and a flag. A bit further on we came across another group but this time they each had a motorcycle, still with the obligatory cone and flag, they must be the long range workers. I must point out here that the terrain is hilly and that is a gross understatement, so far we have gone from 4000 masl down to about 3600 and back up to 4200, so you can see that it undulates.
Also along the roadside are locals, some sitting on the side of the road and others tending animals, sheep, llama and donkeys. It is incredible as at one point we were on a stretch of road with a sheer drop of one side and a shepherd was herding her sheep up the road on the side that had a sheer drop without a care in the world, obviously something that is done on a daily basis.
We stopped at yet another peage and paid our dues, 90p each and a small community had grown up there, I don’t know what came first the peage or the community. Children swarmed the peage every time a vehicle arrived and were trying to sell something, we couldn’t make out what it was.
Its tablet time for me so we stopped about half a mile up the road and had a spot of lunch, just a roll with tuna onion and garlic, to keep the ....... away. Whilst we were there, possibly 20 or 30 minutes the peage must have taken at least 3 pounds, so goodness knows what they are doing because I doubt it will cover costs.
After lunch the road must have improved as the miles seem to melt away and we approach Oruro, Martin spotted it about 20 miles out and at 8 miles it is obvious off to our left a City sprawling up the hillside. As we approach, usual story the traffic slowly increases and builds to a crescendo, here the dominant vehicle is the Toyota Hiace minibus which are used as taxi’s, but not in the normal fashion, people get in and out of these things allm the time, at traffic lights, whilst they are still moving, whenever. Most of them are full and if there are 9 seats, quite a few have 12 in them. We think someone sits by the door and takes the money and is frequently heard shouting so that may be to indicate where they are going.
Every time we get to a town or city here it seems to be market day but we now think that that is their trading style and every day is market day, Whilst looking for a hotel to stay in we end up driving right through the middle of a particular market area, not sure we should have been there and given choice we wouldn’t have been.
Finally found a hotel and they have parking, checked out the room and all OK, so where is the parking, we went to follow the lady outside and get directions but she opened both doors to the hotel and said drive them through here. So mount up and drive straight through the front door right throught the ground floor corridor and out to a courtyard at the back wher we also saw a tandem parked.

In my Lonely Planet guidebook there is mention of a gourmet cuisine restaurant, it is only 2 blocks away so we thought we would give it a try. Well on entering we were not blown away but we will see. The decor is a little tarnished and a plain carpet with worn runners, the tables and chairs are simple and functional. So we check out the menu and it is very interesting with lots of dishes and we both plump for the house speciality which is lamb. I asked for red wine and expected to get a wine list, instead I got a glass of wine to sample the one red wine that was on offer, it was very nice. When the food arrived it was fantastic, a huge peice of lamb still on the bone done to pertfection, it was fabulous and deserved its reputation.

Photos

For some reason photos not going up today, will get them all up when I can.

24th January Potosi

So much for the cheap meal yesterday afternoon, at about 8 in the evening i said to Martin that I was still full and did he want to go out for dinner, oh yes always room for something he said. Off we go to a Mexican restaurant that Martin has spotted but it was closed last night, it is also closed tonight. so off to the place we ate at last night, I am feeling a more full and getting a little suspicious so I just have a main course and eat half of it and rearrange the rest and leave it at that, I and also leave Martin to finish the wine as I cannot face it. Back to the hotel and I immediately disappear off to the bathroom and well it must have been food poisoning and lets leave it at that.
Next day I feel particularly fragile and stay in bed, Martin has gone off to the Mint yet again as it was closed all of the weekend. Martin is back, the Mint is closed for cleaning so he is not destined to see it.
I did get up eventually and we chilled out most of the day and caught up with various people on email and skype.
In the square are some boys cleaning shoes so Martin has washed his boots and gone to get them polished, sadly he forgot to take any money which really distressed the lad cleaning his boots but he did try to reassure him he would be back. On his return he took my boots and asked him to clean them, the lad was beside himself, he had never seen footwear so big, see the pics. We are both polished up now so if we do get the rain we are promised at least the boots are protected.
Went out in the evening, back to the Mexican and hooray, it is open. Thought I would take it easy but the food was good, I stayed off the alcohol, but felt much better having eaten.

Dynamite, what do I do with this

Ore processing plant

Silver ore

Mineral stalegtites

No health and safety

Scarry person and mine devil

Wait for me

Down the mine

16 year old miner working hard

Martin gives him a rest

Up to the next level

23rd January Potosi

Martin has gone on a tour to the mine today and I am once again resting up and consulting with my medical advisors at home.
Martin has just returned from his mine trip, the meeting point was about 2 minutes from the hotel and he thought a 4x4 or similar would take him up to the mine. Oh no, on arriving there they then walked half way across the city to meet a bus which then took them up to the mine.
On arrival they kitted up in coveralls, gumboots and hard hat and the group Martin was with was Spanish so he moved to another group with a couple of Australians and an English speaking guide who had been a miner for many years, they then descended into the mine. There is no health and safety whatever and pipes run through the mineshafts carrying compressed air and they literally go directly to where they have to go crisscrossing the shaft so that you can walk into it. Most Bolivians we have met and come across are quite short so this is less of a hazard for them but for Martin.....!!
Temperature started off really cold and as they progressed further into the mine it got hotter. The height of the shaft varied a lot on the way in, from a height where Martin could just about stand down to being bent double with bent legs, they eventually got about 2k into the hillside after making turns at various t-junctions.
From way out they could hear this tap tap of someone working, it is Sunday so there are very few miners here today. About 1.5k in they went off to the side and saw this workman in a space barely big enough for him tapping away on a chisel and rotating it after every blow, he is drilling a hole to put the dynamite in and this will take him about six hours to complete. Martin and the rest of the party had a go at drilling a hole, well a few taps anyway. This minor is 16 years old and has worked down here for 3 years.
The miners can pay a fee as an individual and go into the mine and get paid for what they bring out but most seem to work as a co-operative pooling their finds and probably balancing there income. Some 41000 metric tons of silver was pulled from this hill over a period of 230 years from about 1600. Everyone thought it would go on forever but by the late 1800’s it was virtually depleted. The miners nowadays and for the 100 plus years are scraping a living on slim pickings.
The air in the mine is stale and Martin described it as smelling of photographic chemicals for those who have done a bit of developing and printing. There is also dust in the air, hopefully slightly less today for Martin as there are not many working.
When they exited Martin said it was good to see daylight and breath some fresh air, that was a short visit and the miners are in there for 12 hours a day.
A visit to the village and the Aussies bought some dynamite which the guide prepared and then lit the fuse, this was then passed around the group burning away, seems like fun, then the guide ran down and threw it in a crater filled with water and ran back. Suddenly there was an almighty explosion and a plume of water rose in the air. I asked if it was a loud bang and Martin confirmed it was extremely loud, if fact he was filming it and bear in mind he is expecting the explosion, when it went off he jumped and you can see that on the video.
They then un-kitted and jumped on the bus and were brought back to the city.
We just went out for something to eat end I had a burger with ad egg and tomato and chips and Martin had a burger with egg, cheese, ham, tomato and chips with a coffee and I had a fanta, two pounds eighty pence the lot.
OK, we are going to stay here one more day and give my leg the best chance and hope that Martin wont get too bored, then off to La Paz.

Restaurant tower

Potosi

Mine processing

Local couple chewing cocoa

Elaborate church entrance

22nd January Potosi

The plan today is that Martin is going to go on a City tour and I will chill and rest my leg, I need to get the blog up to date and answer a few emails anyway.
The hotel is quite interesting, it is open from the ground floor up to the roof which is glased, it is therefore very light. On the first floor is what looks like a balcony area where we had breakfast and I establish myself there for the day with books and computer.
I had expected Martin to be gone until at least 5 but he gets back about 1.30 quite tired having spent 3 hours walking all over town. I thought he was going to go on an official tour but it would seem that most things are closed so he showed himself around.
He went up to a tower we had seen on the way in and there is restaurant on the top but the lift was not working and the stairs were barred, he wouldn’t have liked the staires anyway as they had glass to the outside and he would probably have wobbled.
Also on his travels he came across 3 weddings and a street market where the items being sold were cars and motorbikes, a lot of tyre kickers around according to Martin.
The smell from the bakers next door coupled with most of the guests of the hotel pitching up with goods from that baker. Martin goes to see what he can find and reappears with some cheesy Cornish pasties, I’m sorry I cannot remember the Spanish name for them, something like Empanadas.
Not a lot more to report today, Martin has gone off to try to book himself on a tour of the Mine, something I was quite looking forward to but I need to be fit for Machu Pitchu.

Bridge under construction

Old man stone

Another bridge to be

Llama grazing