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Published: July 20th 2005
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Well, I finally made it out of La Paz. My excuse for staying there for 3 weeks instead of 3 days is that at first I was too frightened to do the Death Road and so procrastinated about booking it, then I wanted to do it a second time and then for the past 5 days I've been really unwell. I think it was a bad combination of altitude, street food and, well, Bolivia. I was in bed for 2 days after the second Death Road trip and then I felt a bit better. There was huge fiesta in the city at the weekend to celebrate the birthday of La Paz and in the main plaza outside our hostel there were huge crowds and live music and little stalls selling wierd alcohol drinks. I lasted about 20 minutes before I had to go home again and to bed. So I lay in bed listening to the music and then a huge fireworks display at the end. The atmosphere in the streets was fantastic however, our street seemed to be turned into the city's public baño. Its bad enough on a normal day but this time it was like walking up a
river of wee! yuck! But it doesnt seem to bother the locals, at anytime of the day or night you´ll see men of all ages and even some little girls weeing in the street, not even in a corner or doorway but just anywhere, its revolting and our street always smells terrible!
So I was in bed for another day after that but then I got fed up and went clubbing which actually made me feel alot better although I stuck with orange juice all night. I went out with some Canadians and and Australian guy from the bike trip who were loads of fun although we didnt get home until 630am and then I met laura for breakfast at 8am! She was heading off on a trek with her boyfriends friends and I wasnt going to see her for a month or so.
We´ve only just discovered a British-owned bar that does a full english breakfast and serves proper tetley tea! I had'nt eaten for about 4 days because i was trying to starve out whatever bug I had so I didn't want the full works so I had beans on toast! They weren't heinz but they
tasted fantastic and that coupled with the cup of decent tea made me feel like a million pounds! Later that day I went back with some other friends for the Sunday roast. It was roast beef, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes and peas and carrots! fabulous! (photo to follow, no kidding) The beef was a little rubbery and the mashed potatoes weren't a patch on aunty vicky's but it was still all fantastic.
But it was high time I got organised and moved on with my travels. I've spent the last couple of days buying more souvenirs and posting them home, re-arranging flights so I can stay longer in South America and organising the next part of my trip. Donna, a girl I met a couple of weeks ago was sharing my room (I met her when I came to La Paz and she left for a rainforest trip and then couldnt believe I was still there and hadn't done anything by the time she returned!) So as a bit of a farewell we went out for a drink with Ben and he taught us how to say "Quit your wingeing" in spanish, it's "deja de berrinchear." Donna is also infuriated by the wingeing stallholders!
But after faffing about for so long, despite having found real tea, its time to move on so im now in Santa Cruz in the east. It was a horendus 22hr bus ride to get here. There was a delay of 4hrs in the middle of the night because of a road block so I didnt arrive until 3pm this afternoon. I was the only gringo on board (the cheapest bus is also the local bus) and I watched two awful films in dubbed spanish. The guy next to me also liked to quiz me on how much things cost in Europe, everything from a bottle of water to a computer to a Papaya, he was nice enought though, although he didnt know where Scotland was (a running theme in Bolivia). Santa Cruz, although very pretty, is bigger and busier than I thought so I´m heading out to the counrtyside tomorrow where you can visit waterfalls and Inca ruins. Im at a very sensible 400m above sea level so I don't get tired climbing a hill, or the stairs and its really hot which I'm totally loving, and I have yet to encounter a wingeing stallholder!
Oh La Paz La Paz La Paz, I'll miss your strange views of snow capped mountains mixed with advertisements for Sony, I'll miss your 12 lanes of traffic and the attitude that the red traffic light is only a suggestion to stop, not a command. I'll miss your 10p fruit smoothies, your pirate CD stalls, your wingeing stallholders and your wee smelling streets. But Hello Tropical waterfalls!
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Donna
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hola
Who finally made it out of La Paz herself yesterday? Yep, me! (And now I'm in Cochabamba where there is nothing to do but it is warm.) Meanwhile back at the homestead...Ben ended up telling someone off and getting fired (and thus going to school). I sent 20 KILOS back to the states (rather than using the big plaid bag thing I bought, the twine lady taped my two boxes, backpack, and hiking boots together and covered it in the white cloth...if it actually makes it there I will do a little dance). Laura and Mark both made it back from their treks alive. There was yet another parade Saturday. And the stallholders continued to winge.