La Paz is an awesome capital city set at 3660m and is a truely amazing urban settlement. You could never imagine placing a city of this size in such a deep valley at such atitude. Walking around is very tiring.
Our Mountain to Jungle adventure from La Paz to Rurrenabaque took 6 days and involved 4 modes of transport. It was a great expedition taking us through very remote areas of Bolivia, far from civilization.
Our first view of La Paz from the bus....woah!
Enjoying the local speciality at Plaza Mendoza....only 140 Bolivianos ( 1.40 euro) for 2 giant plates of fruit and jelly :-)
Chorlitas, local Bolivian women wearing Sunday best.
First leg of our journey, La Paz to Sorata by mini van. Ours had 22 people crammed in for the 3 hour ride including friends Eddie and Georgina who we met in Laos in May.
Sorata, deep in the Bolivian Andes. The only flat area of land in the entire village.
Loading up the bikes for an early start.
Looking over the edge.....GULP. It was a long climb out of Sorata by 4wd to our starting point for the ride.
The road behind us disapearing into the clouds...this was a long way up!
At last we reached the pass at 4825m where the ride could begin. Over 4km of decent lay ahead, 120kms by mountain bike....brilliant!
Suvi letting go of the brakes passing through the Cordillera Real Mountain range.
Looking back up the valley.
What a trail!
Suvi riding carefully....stay away from the edge......
....this the view from my saddle. 1km down into the valley below.
Our group taking a well deserved rest on the cliff side.
At last we reached the river at the valley floor at 1300m, the end of the first days riding. Where´s the shower :-)
There were no showers at our overnight ´hostel´ so we opted too cool off at the waterfall nearby.
A great way to wash away the dust and cool off.
Suvi trying to decide where to brush her teeth in the garden of our Conzata hostel. What a dump!
Awaiting the ride on the 2nd day!
Heavy rains over night caused a large tree to fall across the 4wd track a few kms from Conzata. No problem!!
...we just built a new track around the tree and we were on our way again!
Us crammed in the 4wd pleased to get passed the fallen tree!
Riding on the 2nd day.
Cooling off in a river at lunch time.....getting swept down the rapids...oops!
After another overnight in humid Mapiri, 800m, we commenced our 3 day river trip on the Rio Beni. The barrel was our petrol arriving. Very eco friendly!
Camping on the river somewhere deep in the jungle.
We passed many goldmines on the riversides. Here a local mans takes the traditional approach to finding his fortune.
Taking a hike to a waterfall to wash and swim.
Very refreshing!
Morning wash at the riverside.
Emerging from the jungle on day 5 nursing over 80 mozzie bites. We looked forward to arriving in Rurrenabaque and finding a hot shower!
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