As some of you may know, Hannah and I made possibly one of the stupidest and bravest decisions in our lives and decided to mountain bike down the "World´s Most Dangerous Road" that starts at La Cumbre in La Paz (at an altitude of 4,800 meters above sea level) and ends in Yolasa (at an altitude of 1,700 meters above sea level.)  The route is 64 kilometers long and almost completely downhill.  Mind you, Hannah has not ridden a bike since she was 13 and I was only slightly more experienced from having ridden my bicycle around Boyuibe on very flat dirt roads.

Luckily, we went with a very reputable company, gravity assisted mountain biking, whose bikes basically do most of the work for you and whose guides are very experienced (we had two - one of which was the downhill bike racing champion in Bolivia last year.)  It was quite a trip and I have to say that most people in our group (there were about 12 of us) were whipping down those steep hills like they were born on their bikes.  I would describe my experience as more like taking a sunday stroll on a very expensive mountain bike.  I am quite sure I completely destroyed the brakes of my bike by riding them so much.  At any rate, it was thrilling and something I will never again do in my life , but am very glad to have done.  We have some pictures posted and lots more that aren´t.

This is Hannah - ditto to all of what Meg said. After the ride was over, the group was directed to the La Sende Verde wildlife refuge where we had free showers, a buffet pasta meal, and all of the monkey, parrot, and snake sightings you could ask for.  You can`t imagine a happier group of strangers. Despite feeling bonded to these people, I also realize that extreme sports are not my forte, think I`ll stick to yoga.... which leads us to the next destination, Corioco (I think it translates literally as paradise). We stayed at Hostel Sol y Luna (see pictures of our cabana) and nursed our sore muscles in the oxygen-rich climate. We bought good wine and chocolate from the market along with some fresh friuts and veggies, and, essentially, vegged for 48 hours. Sometimes you need an excuse to relax on a journey like this -- it felt like a vacation...

For those who want to see more pictures, go to the photo section of the blog. And hey, if you read this, fell free to send us a message on the message board, we like hearing from you too!