Stay in Coroico

We survived Death Road twice! (Only got one T-shirt though.)

After our downhill cycling experience with Vertigo 4 days ago, we spent a few days at the town near the end point of Death Road called Coroico.

Yesterday we took a mini-bus taxi back to La Paz. (For 30 Bolivianos each) We did hear that the new, alternative, safer road to La Paz is closed from 8 to 4 pm every day but we went ahead and got onto the taxi anyway. We soon recognized the road we were traveling on: Death Road! We travelled all the way up the road which vehicles are actually no longer supposed to be using. We rode next to the steep cliff under and through waterfalls in our local taxi while cyclist dodged us. The local passengers in the taxi with us were all fast asleep while we where holding our breath with every turn.

If you are cycling Death Road, do consider staying in Coroico a day or two afterwards. We really enjoyed it and so did our airways and sinuses. The air in Coroico is so fresh and it’s a good place to relax and go for scenic walks. Just try to take the new road back to La Paz!

We stayed at Hostal Chawi which has only recently opened. The guy in charge of the Hostel is very friendly and has quite an interesting story. His name is Inti and he studied mechatronics in Germany. He is fluent in a few languages. He also makes yummy breakfasts! The first morning we had salsa scrambled eggs and toast and the second morning we had crumpets with caramel! Oh, and he made us coffee which he grows in his garden!

You can draw money in Coroico with a Visa card at BancoFie which is on the opposite side of the church in the main plaza. We didn’t know this initially, so we were stressing a bit because we didn’t have a lot of cash with us. After we put the money away which we owe Inti for two nights’ accommodation we had about 30 Bolivianos left. When we arrived on Sunday afternoon, we were told there is a place in the plaza which you can draw money but it is closed on Mondays.

On Monday we met Martin, a traveller from Holland. He suggested we have pizza and beer for lunch… We told him we were thinking of just having bread that day because of our cash flow predicament. He laughed and said he has been in the same situation before so he will stick us for lunch. 🙂

We could have actually drawn money from BancoFie on Monday already but we only discovered this on Tuesday morning. It was very kind of Martin to buy us lunch!

From peaceful Coroico we were back in chilly, smoggy and busy La Paz. Now we are on an overnight bus to Sucre. The bus company we booked with is Aldorado and was recommended to us by a few people. The seats can go 180 degrees back so we should get a goodnight’s sleep.