DEATH ROAD! YUNGAS!

I first heard about this from someone staying at my hostel in Lima 3 years ago. I remember thinking OMG this is crazy… I would never do this! Guess a lot can happen over 3 years.

I booked a few months in advance via Viator and was set up with Gravity. Pretty sure you can book directly through them by submitting a form as well, but I’m all about ease booking online.

The great thing about Gravity is that they are the most professional, most safe, and most reliable with the best equipment. Bikes are like $3-4k each, and the jackets they gave us were brand new. I appreciated the options available for gloves and helmets, and they worked really hard to give me a bike that fit me properly (spoiler alert, it was a kids bike). They’re the only company that has rescue ropes, full oxygen supply, and a driver that only chooses to work with them. Mind you, this driver is awesome because he LOVES driving the Yungas, has never had an accident or fatality, and he is the only driver who will take the group back up death road on the way back to La Paz. I was very impressed! Apparently if you have to book with another group, Barracuda is owned by the same people as Gravity, they just get Gravity’s bikes and equipment after 2-3 years.

Alright so the death road isn’t for the faint of heart. Or people who suffer from extreme altitude sickness– definitely wouldn’t do it until you’ve spent a few days getting used to La Paz. Or people who aren’t so great on a bike. Or people who hate heights, unless you’re trying to get over that. I basically thought: good thing I spent time building confidence on a bike in Amsterdam? SoulCycle won’t cut it!

I was joined by an Aussie, a few Brits, Irish couple, Brazilian couple, Germans, and a Latino guy who never mentioned where he was from. Our guide was Scott from Scotland who was super awesome! We also had a separate rider from Bolivia so that we could always have one guide in front and one in the back. He doubled as photographer. Believe it or not, Gravity is the only company who has 2 guides to encompass the group during the ride…

We started at La Cumbre which is 4700m above sea level. That is HIGH! I was quite happy I felt normal considering I’ll be over 5000m in February when I climb Kilimanjaro. It was also cold AF. We spent some time getting used to our bikes and then got together to take some photos and make our sacrifice to Pachamama. 96% alcohol and it was gross! I think everyone gagged… but hey, I will pray to every God I can to survive a day like the Yungas.

The first descent is on pavement downhill so you really get a feel for the bike and how much space to give others. That part was pretty fun and easy… and fast! We had our first casualty of the day when we had to go around a tunnel a French girl died in because it’s too dark, and we all got our first taste of gravel and rocks which was terrifying. The Brazilian girl went down and I almost fell trying to dodge her. She hurt her knee pretty badly and tried to continue but ultimately wasn’t able to.

Once we got to the entrance of the true death road we were all pretty terrified. There was a fog that rolled in that made visibility bad, but at least you also couldn’t see how scary the cliffs were. One by one we followed Scott down. Throughout the road you stop at various points to learn more about the road and its casualties… for example there is a Japanese corner, Italian corner, Aussie corner, etc… We also learned about some vehicles that had a wheel slip and everyone on the vehicle falling to their deaths. Scott was nice enough to save more of the graphic details for when we were completely done with our ride.

Alright, so I fell. It wasn’t pretty and yet I was SO LUCKY it wasn’t worse. I thought for sure I would’ve broken my collarbone flying headfirst over the handlebars around a corner. It was really rocky and my backwheel lost control and I ended up flipping. Not really much else to say. Blocked the fall with my hands and arms and the impact really screwed them up. 2 days later and it hurts to type or grab anything, and I’m seeing scrapes and bruises I didn’t see then. I slid for a bit and cut my leg as well, but for the most part I’m all good! Thankfully there was a guard rail where I fell and one of the guides was right behind me to help me build confidence and make sure I was all good.

We ended the ride at an animal refuge that originally started when people tried to stop animals from being sold on the black market in La Paz. It was a really beautiful setting with nice food and (well deserved) beer to celebrate our survival. Also, since we were in the Amazon it was HOT and sticky. 3600m of descent makes a huge difference in the environment.

Some things I wish I knew going into this day:

1. Unless you cycle often, you ass will ache. I didn’t have a big issue thanks to SoulCycle. Woo!
2. Your hands will hurt like crazy. Since you’re descending and trying to maintain control of the bike, the majority of the work is done by braking with your hands. I like the way the Brit girl described it: “it’s like I’ve been practicing scales on the piano for hours.”
3. Layer up. You’ll assume the entire ride is cold, but it goes from extreme cold to extreme hot. You’ll want to strip down, but keep the jacket and gloves. I heard of someone wiping out after stripping down and the scrapes were crazy. If I wasn’t wearing my gear during my fall I would be a bloody mess.
4. Wear shoes with some traction. My Nikes slipped on the pedals often. Bikes also are not clip in…
5. Try not to look up deadly stories and horrible near death accidents til afterwards. No need to freak yourself out beforehand.
6. Be strategic about staying hydrated. Adrenaline will make you forget you have to pee, which is good because you go about 3 hours between public bathroom breaks. Also, the bathrooms cost 1 or 2 Bolivianos.
7. Space is key. Give the people around you some room, you will appreciate it. Also for overtaking, it happens on the right. Road rules are STRANGE. Drivers going downhill stay on the LEFT side of the road instead of the right because it’s easier to see how close you are to the edge based on the placement of the steering wheel.
8. Sunglasses, and perhaps one of those ski neck scarf things. I had the sunglasses but wish I had some neck protection in the cold.

I’ll try to update this with freaky accident stories when I have a moment!