Sorata and goodbye Bolivia

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We went to Sorata after one night in LaPaz, they say it was meant to be the be all and end all place to visit. We were expecting an older bus with 30 or so seats for our 4 hour journey, but when we arrived at the terminal we found that it was in fact a mini bus of 12 people. We got the bus and sat up the front with the driver, it was an interesting experinece as we weaved through back streets to avoid the tolls. We drove out of LaPaz through the clouds before droping back down into Sorata, the bitumen stopping and starting at will as cloud covered the road. Just out of LaPaz we pulled over and a boy who looked about 14, crawled under the van, whipped out the air filter, gave her a quick clean, popped it back in and away we went. The bus was full but we even managed to squash a few more in.

Just befor getting to Sorata, what looked like a small accident on the side of the road, had half a dozen Bolivian men and women standing aroud drinking beers. Our driver pulled up had half a glass of beer before we continued into Sorata. Arriving and realising that the town was not quite what Lonely Planet suggessted, with no map we set off on a walk out of town to find where we were wanting to stay for the night. We followed a local man down the back streets and up a few hills and finally arrived after having to tip our lovely local.

We checked into the Altai Lodge and was quite suprised by just how pretty and not Bolivian it was. A little oasis full of grass, trees, dogs, cats, two macaws, a cow, an alpaca, chooks and ducks. The family run place was a true escapes from the cities, but no atms in Sorata meant we had to be very careful with the money we had on us, which was not much!

Had an excellent sleep with no traffic or car horns and a terrific home made breakfast. We walked back uphill into town and by chance a bus was waiting to LaPaz with the same driver. This time we got the back seat and had to share it with a smelly, dirty old man who kept eating coca leaves and spitting them on Grethcen who was lucky enough to sit next to him. Also making us nervous was the driver nearly falling asleep on the return trip.

Checked back into LaPaz for a couple of lazy days before taking an allday epic bus back into Peru. The first part of the across the border was ok with a few imigration checks and another stamp in the passport. The second half however was epic and painful and boring. As we finally arrived in Arequipa, close to 9pm.

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Photos

home made see-saw
get onto this bright idea rosco for hamish and angus!

On the bus door
appropriate given the ride!

Comments

[Richard]

Good to see you have discovered the joy of taking pictures of flowers! Just as fun as taking pictures of the kids with less risk of getting thrown in jail! =)