Across the Death Road

Villa Fatima

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Attraction | "From Fatima Onwards"

Villa Fatima Photo - Villa Fatima, La Paz, Bolivia

Quote:

In Death Road Breakfasts I commented on a typical scene of La Paz: during the early hours of the morning – before the masses wake up at around 10 AM – vans loaded with bicycles can be seen picking up passengers at restaurants and hotels. They are about to begin their descent through the Death Road to Coroico. An alternative method of experiencing the Death Road relies on local transport. The main bus terminal is of no use for this; it serves only inter-departmental destinations and Coroico is within La Paz. As all northern destinations is served from a northern neighborhood known as V...Read More

In Death Road Breakfasts I commented on a typical scene of La Paz: during the early hours of the morning – before the masses wake up at around 10 AM – vans loaded with bicycles can be seen picking up passengers at restaurants and hotels. They are about to begin their descent through the Death Road to Coroico.

An alternative method of experiencing the Death Road relies on local transport. The main bus terminal is of no use for this; it serves only inter-departmental destinations and Coroico is within La Paz. As all northern destinations is served from a northern neighborhood known as Villa Fatima.

Villa Fatima is just north (and up) from Miraflores, one of the best neighborhoods of La Paz. It can be reached by foot from downtown La Paz, though that would take at least thirty minutes. Another option is taking one of the minivans reaching it; they are clearly marked with "Villa Fatima" signs. They can be picked up everywhere, just give a sign and if they have room, they’ll stop. However, the best spot for catching them is just under the new tunnel below the Perez Velasco area. From there, the vehicles reach Villa Fatima through the shortest route.

The main road crossing Villa Fatima is one large bus terminal; every few meters is a stop leading to a different area. Each stop serves buses, minivans and taxis. The stop leading to Coroico (via the Death Road) is easy to find: it is located next to the unused gas station. See the pictures attached to this entry, the roundish structure is unmistakable.

A few blocks up from there, is the stop to Caranavi, another popular destination which is fifty kilometers "inner" than Coroico. Bolivians living on the Andean High Plateau – and La Paz – call "inner locations" to settlements being lower and deeper in the rainforest. The stop to Rurrenabaque is also nearby. This last is an important destination in the Amazonian Basin. Many travelers reach it from Coroico. However, from there they need to travel to Yolosa – at an extra expense – and then catch the bus that left a few hours before from La Paz. Seats are not assured in such a way and delays in the bus would mean long waits under the strong sun. Thus, it is worth keeping in mind that a visit to Villa Fatima can solve all these problems.

Once in Villa Fatima, it is worth taking a look around. The area is surrounded with extraordinary cliffs; most of them are built almost to their top, offering very unusual sights of boxy brick houses clingin on them at odd angles. Moreover, if climbing to the upper areas of the neighborhood, one can enjoy views of downtown La Paz and the flat line of the Andean High Plateau; this is one of the few places where both sights can be enjoyed at once (see attached pictures).

The buses to Coroico are cheaper than any alternative, but they don’t offer good views. The minivans travel with 14 passengers; even if getting a window seat the experience is uncomfortable. Bolivians travel around with incredible amounts of luggage; touching and pushing around other people is accepted. This means a minivan is not a comfortable option for the trip. That leaves the share taxis as the best option. Since the two and half hours trip costs just $3.5 by taxi, then this clearly is the preferred solution to the trilemma.

However, nothing is simple here. In South America everything seems to be downgraded. Most foreigners would expect "bachiller" to be the Spanish name for a "bachelor" degree; instead is just a high-school degree. Any regular "teacher" is a "professor." Accordingly, "minivan" is used for the sedan vehicles used as taxis. The girl loudly announcing "minivan a Coroico" means a shared taxi.

A ticket must be bought from her in advance. The vehicle departs once it fills up. Since the seats are marked, the best is sitting next to the driver, or in any seat with a window on the driver’s opposite side; in such a way the best views are assured. For reasons that would become obvious in the next entry of this journal, timing is crucial; the earlier, the better. The 7 AM taxi would assure the best views along the way.

Anything else? Of course, having a hot drink before the trip is recommended; its upper part would be freezing cold. Next to the stop is a stall selling typical quinoa drinks. The apple and quinoa drink is especially tasty. After it, it is high time for the Death Road.
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 20, 2010

Villa Fatima
Villa Fatima
La Paz, Bolivia

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Death Road (El Camino de la Muerte)

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Attraction | "Surviving the Death Road"

The Way to La Cumbre Photo - Death Road (El Camino de la Muerte), La Paz, Bolivia

Quote:

There was some criticism about my mentioning at the Death Road Breakfasts that travelers do die in the Death Road. Yet, this is a reality. After leaving Villa Fatima, the road begins gently climbing along a narrow valley. The villa is on the upper parts of La Paz – its mean altitude should be around 3800m – and La Cumbre, the first landmark along the way, is almost 4900m. Somewhere along this part of the way (see pictures) is the first police control stop (in Bolivia travel is highly controlled). A sign there states that in the last year thirty people died along the way to Coroico. One of ...Read More

There was some criticism about my mentioning at the Death Road Breakfasts that travelers do die in the Death Road. Yet, this is a reality. After leaving Villa Fatima, the road begins gently climbing along a narrow valley. The villa is on the upper parts of La Paz – its mean altitude should be around 3800m – and La Cumbre, the first landmark along the way, is almost 4900m. Somewhere along this part of the way (see pictures) is the first police control stop (in Bolivia travel is highly controlled). A sign there states that in the last year thirty people died along the way to Coroico. One of my goals for this trip was to find if this was truly a "Death Road" or if there was something else behind the scary name.

The police stop was behind us, and the road kept climbing. The landscape wasn’t very different from the typical Altiplano views: low bare hills and very little vegetation. Wild dogs walking along the roadside and a freezing breeze. The dam along the way has added some color, but not much. The smallish dam collects glacier melted waters and is one of the main water sources to the adjacent city. Soon we reached La Cumbre. Meaning "The Summit," this is a smallish peak north of La Paz; it features a minor glacier and a nice lake next to flat surface just before the Death Road begins. Here, the bikers get ready for the trip downwards. Roughly at 4900 meters above the Pacific Ocean, this is the highest point along the way; it is located on a mountain pass leading to the other side of the Cordillera Real. Once beginning the descent, the traveler enters the Amazonian Basin upper parts.

The pictures attached to this entry do not make justice to the glory of nature here. The peaks are not very high – the highest peak seen along the way is just above 5800m – but the landscape is dramatic in the extreme. Almost vertical cliffs of black rocks featuring rivers frozen at impossible angles, a serpentine paved road crisscrossed by dirt paths and sunlight too strong to be pleasant; the traveler is dizzy not by the altitude (that is assuming one got properly acclimatized in La Paz), but by the illusion that this landscape cannot be possibly real. Yet, real it is.

After a while, a snowed peak appears. The last are a rarity in Bolivia – the country is too close to the Equator Line – thus each one of them has a name. In this case, recognizing it is simple. The peak is flat, looking like a snowed plateau atop a vast rainforest disappearing within the fog. It is the Mururata (5800m). Its look here is vastly more dramatic than its southern side, visible from La Paz and El Alto.

From here, things warm up. Tunnels come and go. The road is sometimes paved and sometimes not. If taking into account the nature of the area, the road is very good, with two well marked lanes; it displays a suitable infrastructure. Walls of different shapes contain the thick rainforest just next to it. Heavy vehicles and well equipped teams are continuously working on it, especially along the geologically unstable areas, which are also well marked.

While Trekking in the Everest, it is advised to keep the best views for the afternoon. Simply, during the mornings the dew evaporates and creates a misty cover over the attractions. After this is over, the Himalayas can be enjoyed in their full glory. I was expecting something similar here. Accordingly, at the early morning some mist blocked the lower parts of the landscape. However, the situation kept deteriorating along the day. In the afternoon, most of the sights were hidden under a thick fog. I remembered that when flying atop the Amazon (while flying from Bolivia to Miami), its basin looked like a sea of clouds. Now I was within those clouds.

After a bit over two hours we reached the lowest point of the road. Since Coroico is 1700m above the sea level (3200m lower than La Cumbre!), probably this point is at 1400m. Here, the taxi made a sharp turn; we left the paved road and began climbing to the town along a stone paved road, similar to the ones seen in older parts of La Paz. The town couldn’t be seen, until it suddenly appeared clinging to one side of a hill. "Welcome to Paradise," a sign stated.

It was over. I had survived the "Death Road." But, was the name true? Was this a "Death Road?" With no doubt the answer is negative. The road is good, but Bolivian drivers are bad. Bypassing at the most dangerous spots is the norm; floating right and left on the road at all other times is custom. Foreign bikers traveling at full speed along the center of the road do not contribute to the safety of the trip. The road is safe and good; humans just play with their lives for no good reason, and at least thirty times in the last year, paid for it.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 20, 2010

Death Road (El Camino de la Muerte)
La Cumbre
La Paz, Bolivia

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Coroico, Bolivia

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Attraction | "A Single-Postcard Town"

Coroico Photo - Coroico, Bolivia, Coroico, Bolivia

Quote:

Coroico surprised me. I expected it to appear as Sorata had done: dramatically clinging on a mountain side far below the road. Instead, Coroico was almost invisible until we hit the bus terminus. Even then not much could be seen; the large terminal faced a cliff. Impressive green mountains were across it, and even a bit of snowy Mount Mururata could be seen in the distance. Coroico was just a name of the building side; the town itself seemed invisible. Was this the logical foundation for so many South American novels? Using a shiny front to hide … nothing.The large building...Read More

Coroico surprised me. I expected it to appear as Sorata had done: dramatically clinging on a mountain side far below the road. Instead, Coroico was almost invisible until we hit the bus terminus. Even then not much could be seen; the large terminal faced a cliff. Impressive green mountains were across it, and even a bit of snowy Mount Mururata could be seen in the distance. Coroico was just a name of the building side; the town itself seemed invisible. Was this the logical foundation for so many South American novels? Using a shiny front to hide … nothing.

The large building was empty. It served only minivans and taxis to La Paz and Caranavi, yet it occupied several floors. The traveler must appreciate every one of these empty wonders in the way out; unless - of course - he attempts a Garcia Marquez styled vanishing act through the adjacent cliff.

I left the last option for another day, and climbed out. Hiking up the stairs was surprisingly easy. That was to be expected, since I was acclimatized for 4000m, and Coroico is at a mere 1700m above the Pacific. I had plenty of oxygen in my lungs; a welcomed change, though now the heat hit me. It was extremely hot – probably around 25 Celsius – a baking oven when compared with La Paz.

The next surprise was just outside the terminal. I expected a plaza. All Bolivian towns include a colonial plaza. Yet, roughly in front of me was a smallish food plaza shaped a short line of stalls. An adjacent road climbed upwards. Colorful houses delimited them; green cliffs approached the sky in the distance. The place had a strange feeling… it looked like an outdoors corridor, but to where?

Still enjoying the extra-oxygen in my blood, I quickly conquered the uprising street and reached the corner of the central plaza. One look was enough. A typical Bolivian central plaza. The municipality building, a church, the main commercial area of the town and some tropic plants at the center. Instead of a statue of a "man-on-a-horse" – the quintessential ornament of South American cities, here there were several totems. They seemed new, and for certain depicted no typical local motifs. Then the sign that appeared down the road while approaching the town became clear: Coroico is the first "Tourism Municipality" of Bolivia. I was visiting not a charming town in the Amazonian Basin, but an official "tourism-town." Bad news.

The next look was even more worrying. Locals were scarce. A group of non-Bolivian South Americans were selling knickknacks on carpets placed on the plaza’s sidewalk. One of them took a quick picture of me. This is part of a known scheme here. I reported a similar event while visiting Rosario. Last year, the Bolivian television reported that in Tarija, foreigners were carefully taking pictures of all the people that participated in the protests there. I’ve seen that also in Desaguadero. Finally, I was also attacked by such a street-gang – though it was an Israeli-Bolivian one – in La Paz. Bad news.

I moved away quickly, deciding to take a look at other parts of the town. At the other side of the plaza where two stalls selling fruit juice. Coroico being at the heart of a fruits producing area, stopping there was inevitable. I ordered a papaya juice. Two glasses – the requested serving and the almost obligatory "yapita" (a combination of the Aymara for "add" with the Spanish diminutive) – for less than half American dollar. Bolivian fruits are surprising at first. They are organic and of naturally grown plants. No special seeds, no GMOs, not even specially chosen seeds. That means each fruit has a unique and unpredictable taste. This papaya was slightly bitter, but still tasty.

After finishing it, I surrounded the central plaza from one block away. It was the end of the commercial area. Beyond that there were just colorful, old building extending in every direction. Wild dogs walked among them. I returned to the central plaza, from a different side, making sure a safe distance existed between me and the gang. It was still early; I checked around for a suitable hotel, and then began searching for a breakfast. I would enjoy the "Yungas" no matter what.
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 20, 2010

Coroico, Bolivia
Nor Yungas Province, Western Bolivia
La Paz, Bolivia, South America

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El Jatatal Cafe Restaurant

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Restaurant | "An Historic Breakfast"

El Jatatal Photo - El Jatatal Cafe Restaurant, Coroico, Bolivia

Quote:

"I would enjoy the Yungas no matter what," ended the previous article of this journal. With this sentence scribbled in my notebook I decided to have a late breakfast. An important part of any trip is sampling local food; enjoying it seemed the perfect way of achieving my goal. Here the prospects of that were substantial since Coroico is the largest and most important town in the Bolivian Yungas, which is renown in Bolivia for its food.Yungas"Yungas" is a Quechua word meaning "warm place." The "y" is pronounced as the one in "yellow," the "u" as the "oo" in "spoon." Argentineans pronounce it "shoongas," but that’s not faithful to the Quechua word.This is the n...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 24, 2010

El Jatatal Cafe Restaurant
Central Plaza
Coroico, Bolivia

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Back Stube (Backstube)

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Restaurant | "Ice-cream on the Cliffs "

Back Stube Photo - Back Stube (Backstube), Coroico, Bolivia

Quote:

"A Single-Postcard Town" I called Coroico in an entry of this journal but didn’t elaborate. If arriving at the town via the bus terminal, then this title is self explanatory. The structure is atop a cliff, watching over an extraordinary rainforest occupying most of the mountains across a stream invisible in the depths. The snowed Mount Mururata is barely visible in the distance, adding a bit of iced white to the picture. A tree with red flowers abounds in the area, adding more warm colors to this living postcard. Probably this is one of the few spots in the world were a thick rainforest and a snowed peak can be enjoyed on the same sight.However, that’s it. Beyond that, Coroico has no subst...Read More

"A Single-Postcard Town" I called Coroico in an entry of this journal but didn’t elaborate. If arriving at the town via the bus terminal, then this title is self explanatory. The structure is atop a cliff, watching over an extraordinary rainforest occupying most of the mountains across a stream invisible in the depths. The snowed Mount Mururata is barely visible in the distance, adding a bit of iced white to the picture. A tree with red flowers abounds in the area, adding more warm colors to this living postcard. Probably this is one of the few spots in the world were a thick rainforest and a snowed peak can be enjoyed on the same sight.

However, that’s it. Beyond that, Coroico has no substantial attractions, rating roughly as Palca and far below Sorata, both towns adjacent to the Bolivian Andean High Plateau. Despite that, this single postcard is definitely worth a visit.

The town was designed in such a way that the nice postcard is visible only from very few spots. Most of these are nearby the bus terminal, on the upper rounded rim of the cliff dominating the town’s shape. Roughly half a block from the central plaza, counting from the corner nearest to the bus terminal, is Back Stube, a German owned pastry shop. This last fact convinced me to enter. Coroico has a slight resemblance to Namche Bazaar, and the last is renowned for its German bakeries. For the sake of my Nepali memories, visiting it was unavoidable.

Once inside, I found myself within a small room, a counter at its one side, a covered balcony at the other. I studied the menu before choosing a seat - I didn’t want to stay for too long and Bolivian waiters tend to be slow - and ordered an ice-cream coffee.

Then, I studied the room. It was decorated with the bright colors typical of Bolivia. A few books in English were for sale. Among them, a note advertised a local published book. "If there is no coca, there is no life" was the first half of the very long title. It was published by two Afro-Bolivian women from the area. This was doubly interesting. First, the Yungas is the original area for growing coca in Bolivia; the infamous Chapare is a recent addition. Second, the Yungas is home to a large population of Afro-Bolivians, the descendants of African slaves brought to work in Potosi’s silver mines during colonial times. I got a copy, and went to the balcony.

The view was awesome. The whole postcard was in clear sight, though it was covered by a thick mist. The few pictures I took do not make justice to the glorious view. It was yet another instance in which the limitations of photographic cameras were shown; our eyes provide much more details and colors. Our minds can easily filter out the fog and provide an unobstructed view of the magnificent creation.

Soon, the ice-cream arrived and was placed on the table nearest to me; I was still standing by the balcony. I took a look at the dessert. It had been prepared with filter coffee – I did check that before – and not from an espresso machine; moreover, it wasn’t local. The texture and color of the local ice-cream was unmistakable. Bolivian ice-cream is lean in cream and relies on artificial flavors and colors. The chocolate syrup on its top didn’t add to its beauty.

Slowly, I turned away of it and returned to my living postcard.
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Member Rating 3 out of 5 on August 24, 2010

Back Stube (Backstube)
Calle Kennedy Near Main Plaza
Coroico, Bolivia

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