Coroico to Oruro
Oroico, a popular vacation spot for Paceñas (La Paz-ians), is reached by the Yungas road, also known as el Camino de la Muerte or Death Road. Death road has been tamed, this is the road that was featured on Top Gear, but since 2006, it is an excellent safe, road. Portions of the old road are still used by mountain bikers. I was going to try it, but there are no signs in Bolivia, and I ended up on the new section. Very spectacular nevertheless, but not scary.
Coroico was out of my way, my next destination was to be Oruro, on my way to the Paraguayan border but it was worth the side trip. It is definitely a tourist town, but tourism has not wrecked it's character. From what I could tell, the tourists were Bolivians and Brazilians, and there were some French Backpackers as well.
I arrived around noon which gave me plenty of time to look around and be able to make an early start the next day. I had to backtrack down Death Road, ever notice how roads always look completely different going the other way? Double bonus. Back through La Paz and on to Oruro. Along the way I ran into a group of Argentinian Bikers going the other way, lotsa pictures later they went north and I carred on south.
I have a list of sights and destinations to visit in Bolivia provided by Fernando Jordan,
who is the Bolivian KTM dealer as well as El Presidente of Madness Adventures in Bolivia, who among other things, run mountain bike tours on El Camion de la Muerta. It was also Fernando who persuaded me to take in Coroico. I have posted a link to his site on top of this page, as well as a link to KTM of Ecuador, who re-tired my KTM.
Corioco and it's surroundings are all about what is to be seen, so make sure you click here. Oh, and add Bolivia, La Paz and Coroico to the list of places you must visit.
Hi Eric! Just signed up to follow your blog and catch up on your adventures! What a fantastic trip so far! I am completely envious!! You are a terrific writer and funny too! Glad things are going so well!! Ciao!
ReplyDeleteTrish
The pictures of the countryside are absolutely fantastic. I also like the taste of the "VSTROM" owner parked next to your KTM in one of the pictures... Ken
ReplyDeleteHi Ken and Trish, thanks for the comments, it is good to know that someone is reading this stuff and enjoying it. (that might be a hint to the rest of yez)
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