After our short hike we will return to Hotel Rio Selva, where we will will have our lunch. Hotel Rio Selva is a five star hotel resort set beautifully next to the Huarinilla river.
After lunch we will start our trip back to La Paz. We will backtrack few kilometres and then turn off to a little used shortcut, which will connect us with the main road leading to La Paz, here our four wheel drive (4x4) SUVs will come handy again, as this is nearly off-road track. Once on the main road, we will continue our ascent to the Cumbre Pass. The next section of the road, so called “Death Road” has the infamous reputation of being the “most dangerous road in the world”. I do not agree with this, but nevertheless it is a spectacular road, it is actually the most scenic road around La Paz, if not in the whole of Bolivia. It hugs cliff walls on one side and on the other side it is cut off by a sheer cliff. At several points, waterfalls fall directly on to the road. Road here passes first through mountain jungle, which is latter replaced by cloud forest, which is very often covered by fog. As the road gains altitude, the vegetation starts to disappear. Eventually the road turns into paved road and we arrive to the military police checkpoint at Unduavi, where the vehicles and passengers are checked for controlled substances. From here on the road is wide and in generally good conditions and we are surrounded by rocky giants of Cordillera Real. As we keep climbing, the last of the vegetation is replaced by rocky moon like landscape. Eventually we will arrive to the Cumbre Pass at 4660 m (15289 f).
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