We left La Paz early in the afternoon planning to drive the "Death Road" then spend the night in Coroico. Little did we realise how long it would take to actually leave the maze that is La Paz or how many police stops there would be along the way. In total we were stopped four times one guy wanted to see the mandatory first aid kit - easy, another the paper work as usual. One police officer was nice and lazy and just wanted us to put the back window down so he could check we had no contraband. As if a momentary glance in the window will prove that our mountain of bags contained no contraband. Our longest stop was apparently for a speeding ticket, but we played dumb and pretended not to understand a word of Spanish. They then saw our Chilean plates and told us we had to go back to La Paz but instead Will distracted them by showing them the map of our drive across Bolivia they must have decided we were to much hard work and let us go without a ticket!
It was now starting to get a little late but we decided that we didn't want to come back in the morning so we drove most of the Death Road in the fading light and the last few corners in the dark. For some that sounded crazy but it really wasn't so bad as there were only a few other cars on the road and no cyclists. It certainly had some spectacular drop offs but nothing that required your wheels to come close to the edge unless your brakes failed that is. The evening drive also gave the road a new perspective, different to what you see in most photos.
Once back on the 'main' road google maps proved its worth as we navigated in the darkness through the narrow streets of the hill side town of Coroico to reach our hotel, Sol y Luna. We took a budget room over the restaurant for $17NZD. This town seemed to be the beginning of the jungle with mosquitos, constant bird and insect sounds and a frog in the shower with Will in the morning.
We left early the next day missing the offered yoga class and swimming pool. Instead we headed down an over grown road on route to Caranavi. We made good time despite driving on what many call the real death road because it includes not only steep drop offs but all types of traffic like speeding buses and overloaded trucks that refuse to pull to one side, not to mention all the half finished mud clogged road works. In Caranavi we went to the two recommended hotels but both were ridiculously over priced and the staff were as uninterested as you could be. So after another typical Bolivian lunch of soup, rice and this time fried chicken followed by a strange tasting ice cream we continued out of town. Frustrated we pushed on hopping to find a place to free camp. Not long after Will spied the most amazing spot, a bar and huge swimming pool just off the road in a grassy setting. They said we could camp for free so we said thank you by paying for a swim and a few beers while making noodles on the cooker next to the deck. Soon after the few remaining locals started singing karaoke but it was all quiet by 9pm. Here we had also asked the locals about the road that appeared on our map through the Madidi jungle which is where we were heading towards. One man spoke English but they weren't sure about the road only that there would be a few pontoon river crossings on the way, so we pressed on the next morning.
We left early the next day missing the offered yoga class and swimming pool. Instead we headed down an over grown road on route to Caranavi. We made good time despite driving on what many call the real death road because it includes not only steep drop offs but all types of traffic like speeding buses and overloaded trucks that refuse to pull to one side, not to mention all the half finished mud clogged road works. In Caranavi we went to the two recommended hotels but both were ridiculously over priced and the staff were as uninterested as you could be. So after another typical Bolivian lunch of soup, rice and this time fried chicken followed by a strange tasting ice cream we continued out of town. Frustrated we pushed on hopping to find a place to free camp. Not long after Will spied the most amazing spot, a bar and huge swimming pool just off the road in a grassy setting. They said we could camp for free so we said thank you by paying for a swim and a few beers while making noodles on the cooker next to the deck. Soon after the few remaining locals started singing karaoke but it was all quiet by 9pm. Here we had also asked the locals about the road that appeared on our map through the Madidi jungle which is where we were heading towards. One man spoke English but they weren't sure about the road only that there would be a few pontoon river crossings on the way, so we pressed on the next morning.
By lunch we were almost in Guanay but were stopped by a large slip over the road and a line of traffic waiting for the bulldozer to clear the way. Will took the opportunity to get out and ask some more locals about the road through Madidi. Unfortunately they confirmed there was no such road and we would have to take the main route to Rurrenabaque also known as Rurre. A little disappointed to be missing the pontoon river crossings we looped back to the main road which did in the end require one pontoon crossing and plenty of tranca's the Spanish word for toll or a rope across the road, not sure what exactly we were paying for because the roads were as bad as ever but we did pay.
We then fuelled up easily in a small town and noticed the exhaust had broken again and was only hanging on at the back, oh well we would fix it again at some stage. We then pulled back onto the main road, straight away there was another toll and a police check. This time the officer wanted 35bs because he stamped our paperwork, yeah right! We had never had to pay before so after much arguing he decided we weren't worth the effort and let us continue. For lunch we had another rice meal though with sausages this time and again for dinner it was soup and rice simply because we knew if we brought dinner it would then be ok to ask if we could camp outside the restaurant. It was a simple place with the family shack behind it, the whole place had large gaps in the wooden walls, tarps over the roof and an outside cold tap for a shower, luckily we didn't see the toilet.
We woke up early to find road workers were closing the road we were about to drive on. But they decided to let us through as long as we went straight away so it was all aboard and we rolled into Rurre that afternoon. In Rurre we played the usual tourist game of walking around the countless tourist offices looking for the best deal. While walking with map in hand we were offered help by an ex American man called Ron who had been living in Bolivia for 12 years. We told him about our trip and how we like to try things a little different to your typical tourist. Ron mentioned that he was having dinner with a friend who was an ex guide and might be interested in taking us into the jungle. Cheo was a young idealistic ex Madidi Travel guide who spoke pretty good English and made jewellery out of seeds and other things he found in the jungle. He said he liked us and had some ideas for a trip he could take us on. We agreed to meet the next day for a short trail walk and to talk more about a possible jungle trip having learnt that Cheo had just come from a month in the jungle we could understand that he might not want to go back so soon.
In the end the walk the next day got a little awkward as his price was higher then we expected so we had to do some bargaining. Given that we planned to take our car and pay for much of our own food and all the gas. After a ridiculous amount of toing and froing we had basically decided not to go with Cheo and had signed up for a pampas tour, but at the last moment Cheo came to our hotel campground and agreed to take us for the price we thought was right. So we put the pampas tour on hold and woke up early the next day to stock up on food at the local Sunday market with Cheo. I'll let you know how everything went in the next blog.
Rochelle & Will
In the end the walk the next day got a little awkward as his price was higher then we expected so we had to do some bargaining. Given that we planned to take our car and pay for much of our own food and all the gas. After a ridiculous amount of toing and froing we had basically decided not to go with Cheo and had signed up for a pampas tour, but at the last moment Cheo came to our hotel campground and agreed to take us for the price we thought was right. So we put the pampas tour on hold and woke up early the next day to stock up on food at the local Sunday market with Cheo. I'll let you know how everything went in the next blog.
Rochelle & Will