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Published: January 15th 2008
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Crossing the Bolivian Border was quite an experience. I have never done a boarder crossing before acorss land, so I was not sure what to expect. I did prepare myself for possible harassment and bribery, but as it turns out paperwork and red tape is much, much worse. I´ll take bribery any day over what we went through.
We left the Pantanal with 4 other backpackers who were crossing into Boliva. What made things espicaly frustrating was that at some point in the Pantanal we had heard there was a new law in Boliva that required US citizens to pay money when corssing the border. Of course everyone we spoke to gave us a different amount needed to cross. We were trying to leave Brazil with as little Brazilian money as possible to avoid getting taken on the exchange rate, howver some people 300 us dollars, some told us nothing, and everything in between, and everyone knew "for sure". Personally I thought the boarder guards were just ripping people off.
When we got to the boarder the heat was well above 100F. The Bolivian officials had no idea what to do with our passports or the many many pages
of paperwork we filled out, and we spent I don´t know how many hours going from one person to the next only to be sent back to the previous person becuase they did their part wrong. All this involved climbing stairs several times to the second story where the administrators office was. In the end we spent about 20 minutes listining to the officials yell at each other in Spanish, we paid us$100 and jumped in a taxi to get as far away from that hell hole as possible.
Like I said, next time I´ll just go for the bribe.
Once we got into the country things were great. The hundred dollars I quickly forgot about when after some quick calculations I discovered my amazingly great steak dinner cost less than us$3. Nice!
After staying overnight we hopped on a plane, and after several conectons landed in La Paz. I could feel the altitude immediatly. We had gone from sea level to over 12,000 ft in only a few hours. But a little dizzyness and feeling your heart race is not to bad. Not like altitude sickness.
After being in La Paz for a few days
Another Street
In the background you can get an idea of the slopes this city is built on I must say it is really great. The streets are often at a 40% grade which means everyhwere you go is a hike. The streets are thin and lined with vendors, usually the tribal people of La Paz who come in to sell their good. They have everything from clothing, to fruit, to coca leaves, to anything and everything made from llama fur. These street vendors are mixed in with shops that line the streets selling the same stuff and also eveything else under the sun. No Home Depot here.
The only thing I dislike about La Paz is the pollution. There is a constant march of cars and busses down every street, and most seem to burn oil, putting out large black clouds of exhaust. I don´t mind the altitude, or the steep terrain, but sucking on an exhaust pipe can really bite when your lungs really need the oxygen.
What I like most here is that this city seems to be an adventurer´s paraidse. Aparently in and around La Paz is one of the great places to pursue the climbing of some very high peaks. 18,000 ft +. On every road near our hostel there is
Typical Bus in La Paz
Reminds me of Ken Kesey for some reason. a dozen or so booking agencies that guide people up the snowy glaciers and slopes that cover these mountains.
I was really excited when I came but as it turns out most of the climbs are 3-5 day excursions and ask that you be in the city for a week to become acclimatized. I found one place that didn´t ask that and was willing to push 2 days, but decided that on the top of a very high mountain was not the place to be playing games like that. I´ll come back. In fact to climb Mt. Rainier (Oregon) on a four day guided trip will run abotu $900us, here to climb peaks that are over 4,000 ft higher the cost is around $150 us, which means you can pay for a plane ticket and eat lavishly for a week for about the same price. (from what I heard you can get a plane ticket to La Paz for around $600.)
Anywas the weather here is cold, a welcome change and personall vindicaton since I have been trucking around winter cloths in 100F heat for the past two weeks.
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