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We have just landed in El Alto and I feel the veins in my neck choking me, a thick and transparent cloud in my eyes and a slight headache. It is sorojchi, the altitude sickness punishing this prodigal son. Bolivia is charging me for years of absence. I am confused a little by what I see. We notice changes, but ordered chaos still prevails where Bolivians find that it makes sense. From El Alto we go down a winding path in the “pot” that La Paz is. The city is convulsed as always.
There is an even greater abyss in the consciousness of the people than in the cliffs that we see on the side of the road. Bolivia is an extreme sport when it comes to travel. Its natural majesty has a cost as high as its peaks, that of giving life to the designs of the Pacha Mama and their children at the driving wheel. The skills of the drivers are undeniable, as well as their recklessness, to the point of total unconsciousness. Without a seatbelt, without respecting signs, without control, it is a miracle to reach one´s destination.
But we are looking for adventure and we go to the Carretera de la Muerte (Road of Death) to ride it on bicycle. Highly recommended: emotion, minimal danger (despite what is commonly believed) and incredible landscapes. We went to Coroico in a car that climbed the mountains; to Rurrenabaque on a road under construction that enveloped us in a cloud of dust with almost no visibility for the driver, which did not prevent him from driving as if he were on the Dakar, braking just inches from the cars in front that appear in a thick cloud of dust.
Then we return to La Paz to continue to Cochabamba, Toro Toro, Santa Cruz, Samaipata, Potosi, Tarija until we reach the Salar de Uyuni, our final destination before leaving Bolivia. In all the sites we have been in a continuous shock, traveling thousands of kilometers on nightmare roads and with terror drivers.
It is necessary now to educate a whole country, including its authorities, to improve the safety and well-being of passengers and visitors on this corner of Latin America. We expect progress to come but with common sense, valuing life above all.