Yungas Death Road – La Paz, Bolivia
Yungas Death Road is located 56 km northeast of the capital, La Paz in Boliva.
By: meggie_travel
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South America / Bolivia
How to get to Yungas Death Road
You need to fly to La Paz first, then the best way to get there is by a tour group which will take you to the mountains where you are going to start to explore “ the death road ”
If you don’t want to take a bike tour. You can take a bus, taxi or passenger van. You will find a lot of Tourist shops in central La Paz which offer different services.
Where to stay
The best place to stay is in a hotel or hostel in La Paz (Bolivia) as there is a lot of interesting things to do like witch market, cemeteries or walking tours to see the sights and learn the culture.
Price:
I paid 74£ for my tour as it had a good reputation and no fatal accidents. You can find cheaper ones, but I recommend you to read some reviews before you decide which company.
How much time will you need there
The tour starts early morning and finishes late in the evening. So you need whole day. I would recommend at least 3 nights in La Paz to do the tour as well as other things. The altitude is high in La Paz so some people may need a few days to adjust to the altitude.
When is the best time to go
Between May and September in the dry season is best.
What to do there
Listen to your tour guide. Respect the road, some parts look easy but you need to be careful every moment as there are big rocks that you can hit and make you fall several hundred metres down.
Take with you: sun block, sunglasses, bikini (you can swim in a river on the end of trial)
What not to do
Take it seriously, don’t try to go to fast or try to do it after a night out drinking you may not live to tell the tale of the Yungas Death Road.
Why should Yungas Death Road be on my bucket list?
Amazing experience even you are not big fan of Mountain Biking! Being there is so exciting. I was full of adrenaline. You will start from snow covered high altitude mountain and finish in hot, steaming jungle.
You are so scared and happy at the same time. Plus the view is Unforgettable! For bike lovers so much fun! Even for those who don’t like biking, so much fun too. As it is all down hill and not too much hard work!!!!:)
My story:
I am not brave person, so when I was thinking about the “yungas death road” I had goose bumps on my skin, especially after watching some Youtube videos. I was scared but have no regrets at all. The bike tour group I was with was broken into two small groups. First were the crazy bikers looking for extreme ride going very fast and second group of people who wants to survive by a SLOW ride (I was in that group!! I had my hands on the brakes for at least 80% of the time as I wanted to finish in one piece.
During the drive from La Paz to where you start the tour guide talks a lot about safety on the road, the history and all the accidents that have happened. You are thinking to yourself really?? And start to be really scared.
He told us stories about people falling off the edge and dying, breaking hands, legs, loosing teeth, and even a lost testicle by a dutch rider. They even named the part where it happened dutch ball alley. ouc!. But seriously the road isn’t that dangerous for bikers as long as they listen and follow the safety rules and respect the road… Otherwise you will be in a lot of trouble.
After the story telling part from the guide scaring us all, we finally get our bikes and are able to practice in a safe area. Later before we start going down a small celebration, to take a sip of a local alcoholic drink and put some on your bike wishing everyone in the group good luck.
You need some time to learn how to ride initially on asphalt road and then later gravel road with a lot of stones including very big ones the size of bricks… but don’t worry you will have a lot of time to practice early on.
For almost the whole day you cycle down hill. I wasn’t going very fast as I was scared but there is no pressure to go fast and it’s definitely not a race. Our tour guide had a bus follow us the whole time for safety reasons so if someone didn’t feel well or you were too scared to do some parts you could always sit in and enjoyed the view from the bus. During the trail we had so many stops where you can eat, drink,(my tour provided it for us) listen to stories from Wolf (our crazy tour guide from Germany) or simply just admire the views around you.
When I finally finished my hands and legs was shaking but I was super happy! I did it!! At the end we celebrated at a bar with a COLD beer and we had a early diner at La Senda Verde Cabins an Animal Refuge where you can also meet monkeys, snakes, parrots and other animals. If you feel like a shower you can also jump in the river too!
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