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Photo by Ellen Delis, Lagunas Ojos del Campo, Antofalla, Catamarca

I haven't been everywhere...
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Photo by Ellen Delis,
Lagunas Ojos del Campo,
Antofalla, Catamarca



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  #1  
Old 22 Jul 2011
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Camino del Muerte - Bolivia
The "Camino del Muerte" is one of the most famous roads in south america. Or has been?
I´m aware that there´s a new paved road for some years running more or less "parallel" to the old one.
Is it still worth doing the old one?
My idea is: to take the old one one way and the new one back.
Any recommendation? Which way is the best for the old one: La Paz to Coroico or the other way round?
In which direction do you ride close to the abyss?

greetings from Arequipa (Peru)

Panny
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Old 22 Jul 2011
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I was wishing I'd ridden uphill, only because it's more fun to go fast uphill than down. It's just a single-lane road without any traffic, so you can ride as close to any available abyss as you please; just don't run over any terrified mountain bikers from behind.

Seriously: the road is not much of a deal. It's pretty and fun, but no scarier than lots of others. The round trip ride you're describing is that standard: ride down the old road and back to La Paz on the new highway. Go early or late in the day to evade the mountain bikers.

I stopped by at one of the mountain biker tour offices to see if I could buy a "I survived the road of death" t-shirts, but he was out of stock at the time. He did give me some free condoms, so if that's of interest.....

Hope that helps.

Mark
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  #3  
Old 22 Jul 2011
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After the dirt roads in the Peruvian Andes, the "death road" is slightly boring in comparison. But heck, if you can get free condoms, its probably worth the trip. But if you skip it, youre not missing anything special IMO.
Last edited by crashmaster; 22 Jul 2011 at 17:41.
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  #4  
Old 23 Jul 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Panny View Post
The "Camino del Muerte" is one of the most famous roads in south america. Or has been?
I´m aware that there´s a new paved road for some years running more or less "parallel" to the old one.
Is it still worth doing the old one?
My idea is: to take the old one one way and the new one back.
Any recommendation? Which way is the best for the old one: La Paz to Coroico or the other way round?
In which direction do you ride close to the abyss?

greetings from Arequipa (Peru)

Panny
It's a very beautiful road in my opinion, lots of vegetation / waterfalls etc and at the end you can stay in Coroíco which is a nice little town.

The direction that rides close to the abyss hosts the people going down, as they want their steering wheels to be on the side closest to edge.

Also we rode this uphill, though I don't see how it could make much of a difference.
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Old 23 Jul 2011
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Imho
All,

Have not been down El Camino del la Muerte, but I have been all over the Andes. My vote for most dangerous road would be some of the sections between Ayacucho and Andahuaylas (Peru) or between Celendin and Chachapoyas (Peru). Not quite the beauty of the mountain jungle, but beautiful in it's own way!

Toby
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Old 24 Jul 2011
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Free condoms?
Free condoms? I think I will have to start my trip here!
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