In the 1930’s Bolivia was in the midst of the “Chaco war” with neighboring Paraguay and, while Bolivia ultimately lost the war, it used some Paraguayan POWs to build the North Yungas road, which was handy since it was the only road connecting La Paz with Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia. It is a narrow, winding dirt road with extreme drop offs and lacking guard rails or any other normal safety features or engineering. Legendary for its extreme danger, with an estimated 200 to 300 travelers being killed yearly along the road, the Inter-American Development Bank in 1995 christened it as the "world's most dangerous road". Check out these pictures and it is apparent how the road earned that reputation.
But, what may be a dangerous death trap for vehicles and passengers with no other alternatives, mountain bikers soon figured out would be an exciting, scenic and safe (relatively) ride, and that is what Dave and I did. Several firms offer this ride and we used “Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking” (with nice full suspension Kona's with hydraulic disk brakes) Gravity Gravity is probably the leading tour operator and, I believe, the first group to promote the ride. The following is an excerpt from Gravity’s description, which with allowance for promotional spin is a fairly accurate.
"We begin the ride at wind-swept La Cumbre (4,700m/15,400 feet) where you ll see fantastic views of a number of snow-covered peaks, including Huayna Potosí (6,088m/19,973 feet). From here we descend rapidly down a twisting asphalted road among mountain peaks, grazing llamas and alpacas, tiny villages and a drug check-post (?!). We stop for refreshments, photos, and rests along the way -- all the better to give us time to take in the scenery: towering cliff faces, dramatic drops and ever greener vegetation... while preparing ourselves for the next breath-taking section. After a snack we descend further, and after a brief undulating section of road we enter the jungle itself and the most challenging part of the ride. This infamous narrow dirt road is cut precariously into the side of the mountain and descends 2,000m (6,500 feet). With 1,000m+ (3,300 feet) sheer drops off to our left and hulking rock overhangs and cascading waterfalls to our right, we ride through mist, low cloud and dust. With your positive attitude and our expert instruction, coaching and supervision you can safely enjoy some of South America’s most dramatic and beautiful scenery as you hurtle down the road.
As we near the end of the ride it gets progressively hotter and dustier. By the time you arrive at the bottom in Yolosa (1,100m/3,600 feet) you will be tired, hot, dirty and exhilarated. Just below the village of Yolosa we ride down to La Senda Verde Animal Refuge, where we enjoy a late pasta and salad buffet lunch, take in the magnificent scenery, spend time relaxing by the pool, enjoying a cold drink and getting to know the rescued animals."
Our group consisted of 12 North Americans and Europeans (mostly younger "backpackers" - I was pretty much the geezer of the group), along with two guides, one from Tucson (who went to school at NAU) and a Bolivian. The following are some of the photos taken of our group along the way by one of the guides.
Some instruction at the top
Before setting off they perform this ancient Indian ritual of blessing the ground (and the bike and you) so the gods won't require any deaths that day. It is the Bolivian equivalent of moonshine, which Dave properly used to bless the ground and his bike, but passed on the toast. Also, this is at 15,400 feet and it was windy and cold. Unusual for the season, but we had some rain in La Paz, snow up here, the night before, and with this white dusting of snow it was absolutely beautiful (and much more striking than the normal bare gray rock). It warms up (and you shed clothes) as you go down.
What is known as "postcard point" - the most photographed turn on the road
A bit of an unfair picture the guide caught of me walking the bike (I had passed the group stopping place and had stopped just down hill and across the road from where the others were waiting). Truth is that I was absolutely terrified of the heights (and with enough experience to know you can lose control of a bike on loose rocks on even a wide road). But since it seemed like such a fun ride (and not wanting to be an embarrassment to Dave), I put that aside and went anyway. It was fine. Riding a mountain bike, even on a dirt road, requires you to stay focused on the road ahead (not much time for checking around for the views) and as long as you're focused on the road, you don't really notice much the drop offs to the left. Nonetheless, I was a fairly cautious rider going down (more in the middle of our pack and way behind Dave), but on the few uphills and flats I was proudly one of the stronger riders in the group.
This is the bridge to La Senda, which is an interesting mix of an animal rescue park (birds, monkeys, etc.) and resort (restaurant and cabins) in a very pretty setting. Dave may have some pictures of this place and the animals. It is the reverse of a zoo. The animals have free range in the park outside (if you want to get away from them, you need to go inside one of the buildings). Incidentally, of all the members of our group, Dave was the one the monkeys singled out to befriend.
Here's a random picture I took. I've forgotten the name, but some South American cousin of a raccoon
Additional items of interest
On the dirt portion of the road, the traffic rules are different. Uphill traffic always has the right of way. This means the down hill bikers never have the right of way, which is OK and a practical fact of life for bikers anyway. But, if you’re in a vehicle going down and encounter another vehicle going up, odds are you will have to back up to a place wide enough for the vehicles to pass (this is when a lot of accidents occur).
Also, traffic is on the left, which means the downhill traffic is closest to the drop off side of the road. This puts the drop off on the driver’s side and allows the driver to be able to look out his window and see exactly how close the vehicle is to the edge. This also means the down hill bikers are supposed to ride on the left side of the road, nearest the drop off (I didn’t always follow that particular rule).
A girl from another group just ahead of ours actually went over the edge. No one seemed to know exactly what happened; she was just “riding along.” Luckily, she was caught by some bushes and rocks and they were able to bring her up with ropes (that’s when we came upon them stopped in the road). She appeared to suffer only a bruised thigh. You have to see where she went over to appreciate how very, very lucky she was.
According to our guide (and, after doing the ride and notwithstanding this girl’s fall, I tend to agree with him) the most likely cause of a fall isn’t actually riding on the road (which frankly is a pretty easy and safe ride on a mountain bike), but getting hit or losing your balance while standing at edge of the road (e.g., straddling your bike near the edge and getting taped or hit by another biker just enough to cause you to lose your balance and go over.)
In 1996 a new paved road, with multiple lanes, guard rails and modern engineering was opened and the original road is not used so much any more. Nonetheless, the driver of our van took the old road (the WMDR we had just ridden down) back to La Paz, claiming it was safer (and faster) than the new road.
Also, because of the change in climate and elevation, windows fog up. In Bolivia the vehicles generally do not have heaters and, therefore, no window defroster. However, driving the WMDR with a fogged up window and no defroster turns out not to be a problem since the guide, sitting up front, shotgun, reaches across with a roll of toilet paper and shampoo to wipe off the window as the driver negotiates the curves of the WMDR.
Along the road you pass what is said to be a former residence of Klaus Barbie (the “Butcher of Lyon”), a Nazi war criminal who lived in Bolivia after WWII.
In 1944 the ruling military dictatorship was feeling pretty good about how well liked they were and so decided to have a truly democratic election. However, it turned out they in fact were not as well liked as they had thought, a problem which they solved by taking the four popular opposition leaders up to this point on this road, tying their hands behind their backs and pushing them off. This is a memorial to those “martyrs of democracy”
It is a little macabre, since we’re riding this road for the fun of it, but along they way there are plenty of these crosses and markers for someone who has died on the road, some of whom were bikers, each with its own story.
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