The Canadian couple we met in Colombia, that were circumnavigating South America, gave us some good advice. They suggested taking the new road out to Coroico and riding the old road, nicked named the Bolivian Death Road, back to Bolivia. The rational was that direction was all uphill and much more fun on a motorcycle. Also the area is swamped with Mountain bike riders coming down the mountain and you can manage them better if they are going in the opposite direction. With that information tucked away we headed for Coroico, stopping frequently in La Paz to ask for directions to Coroico. It is clear the town is well known. Leaving La Paz the road quickly climbs to and eventual height of over 15,000 feet above sea level. It was on and off foggy and raining and really cold. As we continued we so no evidence of the so called Road of Death. The road we were on was nicely paved with guard rails, viaducts and even two long tunnels to tame the terrain. In some areas the road has been ravaged by landslides where challenging off-road detours were necessary.
As we continued we realized we were on the “New Road”. However we could not find a turn off for the well known city of Coroico. Both our GPS showed us close to the town but there were no roads to take us there. I was starting question how we could come this far and not find “The Road” or the town. We eventually saw a turn off sign for Coroico. We took it and after about 20 minutes of going up a steep cobble stone trail we stop and questioned if we the butt of a sick joke. The road had obviously not been used. It was over grown and several donkeys on the road acted like they had not seen anything with a motor in years. We returned to the main road and became further confused by the large sign pointing to the road we just came off. It advertised Coroico as a great Peru tourist destination and included a picture of a large resort hotel complete with swimming pool. So where was this large city hiding? Long story short the town was on the top of the mountain. We were in the valley and had missed the main turn off several miles back. We later found that the little path we were on was an old seldom used path and if we continued on it we would have reached the city.
The main turn off was obscured by a police control point and road side vendors, both of which we have learned to avoid. We finally reached the town and sure enough it was a buzz with Peruvian, European, South American and US tourists. Coroico seems to be the starting point for a number of adventure attractions in addition to being associated with the Death Road. The area has mountain waterfalls, mountain treks, horseback riding, mountain biking and more. The official Coroico Tourist map lists all of those activities and curiously includes the location of the nearby Coca fields.
It also is an area where a number of African slaves settled. One local told us the slaves were brought in to work the mineral mines in the south. The mines are at a high altitude with its associated cold weather. The Africans moved to the area surrounding Coroico to live in a more agreeable climate. Some have adopted the culture and mannerisms of the local indigenous people including the dress and those interesting hats they prop on top of their heads. The younger ones seemed to have been watching MTV or BET and many look straight out of Compton California or Detroit with sagging paints, corn rows and backward hats…. in a striking contrast to their older generations.
After talking with some of the locals we got an idea how to get to the Death Road. It starts about 4 miles from Coroico in a town call Yolosa. It was getting late in the day so we decided to spend the night in Coroico.
This guy decided to adopt me as I wandered around his city. 
From our hotel window we could see the start of the Old Road.
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