Mountain biking down the most dangerous road in the world was some of the most fun I´ve had on this trip so far. This one day descent down what the locals call "Death Road" was intense for certain. The name is not a joke, in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank determined this road to be the most dangerous in the world due to the number of deaths that occur on it. An average of 26 vehicles per year fall off this 3.5 meter wide dirt road. The road stretches from La Paz, over the Apacheta Chucura pass (at 14,580 ft.) dropping 10,800 ft. in elevation over 64 kilometers to the jungle towns of Yolosa and Coroico in the Yungas at 3,600 ft. Rock overhangs with waterfalls spill onto and errode away the fragile, gravel surface. Larger trucks and busses have difficulty on the narrow switchbacks often times loosing traction and sliding backwards over the 3000 ft. cliffs to the jungle floor. The worst accident to date was in 1983 when a "camion" or large truck used to carry people and animals, slid backwards over the cliff killing the driver and the 100 people crowded into the back of the truck. On rare occasions mountain bikers do die on the road. The ascending vehicles have the right of way and the inside line up the road. So, as I bounced my way down this precarious strip of roadway, sometimes with only inches to oblivion, I couldn´t help but think of the consequences to making a mistake. Talk about focus!! We stopped at many points to let vehicles pass, rest our arms and let the blood back into our knuckles. This provided for some photo opp´s that can be viewed on our flickr link.
Despite the nailbiting turns on cliff walls the ride was awesome! 64 kilometers of nothing but down and the views were second to none as we had a clear, blue sky day for the ride. Once at the bottom the day turned quickly to relaxation as I checked into the Don Quijote Hotel, grabbed a much needed shower and sat down to a big buffet dinner. The town of Coroico is a tranquil jungle town and the Don Quijote fits perfectly into it with its many parrots and toucans singing around the pool. A peaceful place to wait out the chaotic presidential elections which were the following day.

Who won the elections you ask? A very interesting outcome! Evo Morales was the victor. He is the first ever indigenous president and a coca farmer to boot! Bolivia has a crazy political history with over 250 governments since it´s birth as a nation in 1825. Many of its leaders are killed, one was hung from a lampost outside the presidential palace! Most only last 6 months or so. This administration should provide the Bush administration with some frustrating challenges as they have spent hundreds of millions trying to erradicate the coca plant. Good luck.

I entered Bolivia on Tuesday the 13th of December around mid-day. It was a blue sky, sunny afternoon and the warmth was welcome after a chilly overnight bus ride from Cusco, Peru. The bus arrived in Puno at about 4:30 am, the driver let us "sleep" on the bus for a few hours until the terminal opened. It wasn´t until 7:30 until I was on a smaller bus heading for the Bolivian border.
The border crossing was easy, the guard didn´t even look up at me or respond to my greeting. He pulled the paperwork I had filled out on the bus from my passport, stamped both documents and slid my ticket to enter his country across the table. I was in! I have been looking forward to Bolivia for a few reasons. Phil and I spent six weeks in Peru. As beautiful a country as it is, I needed a change, needed to move forward. We had spent an unusually long time in Cusco waiting for a slot on an Inka Trail hike, waiting for equipment to be sent from home and arranging Philip´s flight back to the states. With all of the logistics taken care of and Phil safely at home, I was off on my first solo undertaking of the journey.

My first stop was Copacabana, a small village on the shore of Lake Titicaca. The lake posses´ a phenomenal beauty which adds to it's historic and geographical uniqueness. More than 230 km long, 97 km wide and at an elevation of 3,820 meters (about 11,460 feet) it's among the world's highest navigable lakes and covers over 9,000 sq. km. straddling the Peru/Bolivia border. According to ancient legend, the sun was born here, and the Inca believed their first emperor rose from the rock called Titicaca (rock of the puma) on the northern tip of Isle del Sol. The Aymara people who populate it's shores see Titicaca as a magical place, indeed the energy levels here are very high.
The day I arrived, I hiked to the hilltop just outside of town. The views of the town from the hill were well worth the burning in my lungs (gotta´love the altitude). I sat for a time and watched the sun sink below the Bolivian countryside. As I gazed across the lake at the Isle del Sol, a thought entered my head, spurred by an earlier sighting of a kayak on the bay in front of town. "How cool would it be to kayak from Copacabana to the very island where the sun was born!" Very cool, I decided. So the next day I would rent a kayak and make my thought a reality.
Down pouring rain in the morning dampened my plans, I returned to my hotel and finished the book I had been reading. Around noon I re-emerged to find the sun shinning and the streets and bay busy with people. It was a significant paddle at approx. 20 km of open water but my gear was ready and I couldn't pass up the sunshine. Renting the kayak was not difficult, although I was surprised to find that the going time slot was 30 minutes. We agreed on 150 Bolivianos, about $19 US dollars for 2 days. I threw my overnight bag in the porthole in front of me and began to paddle towards the point to get out of the bay and it's heavy boat traffic.
The Bolivian military has strategically located it's base at the point where the bay turns to open water. At first, I pretended I didn't hear the soldiers yelling, but it was unavoidable, I was the only one around. I paddled in as eight camouflaged Bolivian "policia" were talking at me in Spanish. Muy peligriso! Very dangerous, they said. I tried to explain that I had a great deal of experience with kayaks on large bodies of water. They didn´t bend initially, but neither did I being as I just paid for this boat for two days and didn´t want my plan spoiled. Eventually, thanks to my stellar Spanish skills, they gave in and told me to go but I was on my own, they were not going to come rescue me.
From this point on I was free. The lake is a crystal clear, blue/green color allowing you to see to the bottom where it is shallow enough. Cliffs dropped into the lake on my right hand side the entire length of the paddle. I was in another world, it´s a beautiful place. After almost three hours of steady paddling I was very much looking forward to reaching the point where I would turn towards the Isle del Sol. Upon passing through a notch in the cliff wall I realized quickly that I still had a long way to go. It was another solid hour of paddling before I reached my destination. Finally, at about 5:30 pm. I stepped foot onto Isle del Sol, the birthplace of the sun! My arms were exhausted, my legs cramped and I needed some food. Two local boys and a man ran to the shore to greet me yelling "hola amigo!, hola"! They were very excited considering how many tourists visit the island. It wasn´t me, it was the kayak! They couldn´t wait to hop in and take it for a spin. I didn´t mind, I was spent and it´s not like they were going to paddle it off somewhere, we were hours away from anywhere. I gathered my gear and myself as they played in the boat. The town was straight up the steep, steep hill from the docks. The two boys argued over who would get to carry the paddle up the hill. The winner proudly approached me and told me that he would be my guide up to the town. 30 minutes later, with legs and lungs burning, we reached a ramshackle structure that would be my home for the night. I tipped the boy one boliviano and checked into my room.
The time on the island was peaceful and relaxing, not much happens there and when it does, it unfolds slowly. I hiked that evening and the next morning, observing the very simple life of the people on Isle del Sol.
I took the morning slow with a hike to the southern summit and then afforded myself more time to get back to town knowing it was a long paddle. An hour long rest break in a rocky cove made the journey back more enjoyable. As I paddled back across the lake, several tour boats filled with gringo's and locals alike passed me by. I had a clue that it wasn´t too common to kayak that stretch; the military police, the excitement of the islanders and the fact that many people on the tour boats were not only waving but taking pictures of me as well. When I saw the driver of one of the tour boats leaning out to take a photo, I was sure that I was in the middle of a very unique experience, one that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Jeff

Hola to the masses from Cuzco, Peru, still. We are still in Cuzco after about two weeks, but have recently returned from doing the Inca Trail. We started our voyage early morning on the first of December. In our group were two Germands named Max and Tom, a Belgian girl named Nathalie, two guys named Ryan and Michael from Australia, and of course Dad and I. We bussed from our hotel in Cuzco to the small town of Ollantaytambo. From there we hopped back on the bus and had lunch at kilometer 88. I had been up the night before getting sick and was still feeling under the weather so I opted out of lunch. We hiked several hours through the Urubamba and Cusichaca Valleys. It started to rain part way through so my pack was pretty soaked due to the lack of a cover for it. The two Aussies didn't have pack covers either, so they were bumming as well. That was the point in the trip when we realized that our "rain jackets" didn't do much of anything. Despite the rain we saw beautiful Andean mountains and got to see an Incan ruin. The ruin we saw was Llaqtapata which in Quichia means something to the effect of "town at high elevation." The first camp we had was at the camp Wayllabamba at 9,840 feet above sea level. It was clear the first night that our group was going to make a very fun experience out of the Inca Trail.
The second day was, according to the guide, the most difficult day. We broke camp fairly early, then ascended 3,600 feet to the top of Dead Woman's Pass. This was the highest point we climbed to on the Inca Trail at an elevation of 12,600 feet above sea level. From this point, we hiked about an hour downhill to our camp called Pacaymayu. We had been hiking for about six hours and got to our 11,800 foot camp at about 11:00 AM. We had lunch here and played a German card game called Shnautz. That spelling is probably horribly wrong, but being as neither Max or Tom are here to correct me, it'll have to do. The second night was probably a bit cold for Ryan due to several factors. Some of which being, he didn't have a sleeping bag, his sleeping pad was soaking wet, and we were sleeping at somewhat of an elevation, so it was rather chilly. After a long morning and an afternoon of food and card games, we hit the hay to rest for the third, and most spectacular day.
The third day, although involving lots of hiking, was one of the more beautiful days. On this day, we saw four archeological sites. We got up early in the morning and hiked up about 45 minutes to the first which was Runkuraqay. It is theorized that Runquraqay was used as a sort of hotel for people on their way to Machu Picchu. We then continued to hike another hour and fifteen minutes to the top of the pass. When we arrived at the top, we made offerings by making a little circle of stones with a piece of food in it. The offerings were in hope of a nice sunny day. From there we descended upon the Sayacmarca ruins. Thought to once be a worship place of the Incas, the Sayacmarca ruins had been rebuilt after earthquakes had taken them down. From here, we hiked up and had lunch before taking a short nap. Once we got moving again, it started to sprinkle a little bit, but that passed. The group decided to take the long way to camp so we could see the Puyupatamarca ruins. There ruins are part of three terraces that all face different directions. Each set of terraces was used as a greenhouse for domesticating plants. From here we made our way to camp which was at the Winaywayna lodge. There were hot showers there so we all got showered up. While there we also saw the Winwaywayna ruins which were a few minutes from camp. After a fun night, we laid down to rest. We got up very early the next morning so that we were one of the first groups to arrive at Machu Picchu. It was foggy in the morning, so we couldn't see the classic postcard shot of Machu Picchu. So, we took a consensus and headed into the ruins. They were amazing. We visited all the different parts. The sun temple, water temple, the intihuatana stone, and much more. We climbed Winay Picchu in 22 minutes. Winay Picchu is the mountain you always see in the background behind the ruins. The view from atop the mountain was spectacular.
After our stint up Winay Picchu, we climbed down and then made the descent to the town of Aguas Calientes. We had lunch and spent some time at the hot springs before boarding the train back to Cuzco. The train ride back wasn't so bad, it was the bus ride that was the tough part. We made it back all in one piece after witnessing some amazing things. The city of Machu Picchu will not soon leave my memory.