how them bolivian roads?

This question from my bud sarah warrants its own blog. Fact is, these roads are bad.

Her question came after reading an article about BBC journalist Lola Almudevar, who was killed last week in a car accident near Bolivia's capital, La Paz. Sad story. Common story. She was in a taxi on the road in the picture above. This mountain pass is officially named Yungas, but it's better known by its nickname: The Most Dangerous Road in the World.

Bolivia has its host of threats: diseases, political unrest, crime, drug trafficking, but getting into a cab or stepping up on a bus is probably the most dangerous thing we do here. The last time I took the ten hour trip from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz, my friend Kyle and I were in the front seats on the upper deck of a large, lazy boy style bus. The view was phenomenal, and despite having stayed up all night before catching our ride at seven in the morning, I was wide-eyed, taking in the beautiful mountains and valleys sliding by. We got stuck in traffic at one point, and, from my high position, I could see past the cars and buses ahead of us. There were hundreds of people standing on the side of the road, all peering down into the steep valley that dropped off to the right. As we eked by, I saw what they saw: an overturned bus a hundred yards down the hill. I learned later that the bus, also headed for Santa Cruz, had left the bus station in Cochabamba just thirty minutes before us. Thirty people were killed. Many more seriously injured. The driver had fallen asleep.

I closed my eyes for the rest of the trip.

It's not just the lack of guard rails, seat belts, and pavement that make traveling the thrill it is here. The drunk drivers, poorly maintained vehicles, half blind cabbies, and love for passing on blind curves add their flavor to the punch. We plan on blindfolding our parents during cab rides when they come to visit. There are plenty of beautiful things to see in Bolivia, but the roads are not one of them.

While we are on the subject of life threatening elements of living in Bolivia, a friend of ours was held up at gun point the other day because someone wanted his cell phone, another is in the hospital from eating some less than clean food, and another with dengue fever. Far graver, four people were killed in Sucre last week during the riots sparked by potential changes to the constitution. It's a crazy place here. Impoverished, unstable, and ever bursting with political change. And yet I don't feel unsafe. It's not exactly the farm life in Free Union, but it's home for now, and I like it.