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Published: June 21st 2017
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Peter marching off down the road
Hoping to find a collectivo down on the main road to take us back to Arica from the Museum Geo: -18.4874, -70.3222
I (Liz) enjoyed Patagonia and the ferry cruise. It made a welcome change to visiting cities and I enjoyed talking to any Engllish speakers about their travel plans and reasons for their trip. \there were 2 couples we got to knw travelling with ther daughters and then we saw the Americans again at our hotel, straight after the boat, and went out to dinner together. We also re-met the Lebanese couple from the boat ( a Harvard doctor, now living in Boston) in the Torre Del Panne park, together with the strange Irish Diplomat, Eaomon - all very convivial.
But then the whole day flying north to Arica where we were picked up very efficiently at the airport at gone midnight and were back in very warm temperatures again, so the aircon went on and we slept well from about 2.00am to 9.00 in a comfortable, trendy hotel that had Adele permanently playing. we discovered an interesting museum at which to see of Inca Mumies was 15 miles up the Zapa valley and that you could pick up a shared taxi (collectivo) from a certain street corner. The transport worked well and was cheap and the museum was
in a beautiful setting and interesting. It was too hot to stay out all day, so after a beer we went back to shade in the hotel and set off again at 6.00 to walk to the nearest beach, wnich was solid with umbrellas and children frolicking in shallow water to get cool. It was great to feel the Pacific - the cold Humbolt current gives this resort a wide berth fortunately. We taxied up t the viewpoint high on the rock above the town to look down with the buzzards at the container prt below. Lots of fish for supper, with Adele.
Off early to the bus station and found our seats at the front, but frustratingly couldn't see where we were going for the next 12 hours as the driver wouldn't pull back his curtain, even an inch. The bus began windng its way up the bare brown hills - it doesn't rain here at all and we looked back down on the valley below where Olives were harvested. After about 4 hours we got to the Chilean, then Bolivian border. Snow was on the peaks in the distance and we started to feel very light headed and apprehensive
about the altitude. Peter went very pale and fellow passengers gave him a pill, then coca leaves to chew ( producing a mild cocaine, medicinal dose). When he was asked to get of the bus for passport control he could hardly walk, without support from me and a guide on the other side. Back on the bus as we descended onto the altiplano he rallied and was hungry. We thought we were arriving in the outskirts of La Paz four hours later, but we inched our way through traffic for another 2 hours, and then queued to get into the bus station. Aparently the chaos was due to Friday nght carnival weekend and everyone going off to neighbouring town for the parade.
Our guide and car driver had been waiting for the bus for 3 hours to meet us, and then we queued again into town to our hotel on a busy street selling all the carnival gear - chaos. By this time Peter had a fever, first shivering with cold, then very hot. He groaned much of the night and I wondered how we were going to continue our travels.
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