kitchen in the jungle

pR 041
Originally uploaded by em_azo.

After the most uncomfortable, enfermed bus ride of my life, we arrived to La paz this morning at about 6 a.m. after a two day trip from Villa Tunari via Cochabamba. I'll write more about this later, I am mostly trying to upload some new fotos!

This will be brief because this computer at the singular internet cafe in Villa Tunari, Bolivia, is a little slow. I have too much to catch up on, but I will send a brief update. Jess and I made our way from Potosì, where we stayed for a few days mostly because of the super comfortable hostal (Koala Den) we found, to Sucre. Sucre is a pretty town, and ended up being an extended stop...I'm not really sure why. We had a lot of fun, though! During our 5 or 6 days there, I went on a day hike that ended up being one of the best things I've done during our time here. I went with a Dutch guy and a French girl to a little transit pick up spot called Ravelo and the outskirst of town. We were going to catch a bus, but found out this would require 2 or 3 hours of standing in the isle...we decided to investigate taxis. We found one to take us to this town (can't remember the name of it) that was between Potolo and Maragua. None of us really knew what we were going to do, it had just been recomended that we go see the Crater in Maragua. I passed out in the taxi, and awoke to an increadible view into a 500 meter deep valley lined with the most amazingly colored rock faces I've ever seen. We never actually reached the crater, but found out later that the wierd swirly colored disk-like mountains in the distance were the crater walls. No matter...it was a beautiful 4 hour walk. I just wish we'd had more time.

The next day, Jess, our new friend Melissa, and I, hopped on a night bus to Cochabamba, where we planned on finding transport to Villa Tunari. We stayed a night in Cochabamba (which turned out to be a lot prettier of a city than I expected), and barely made our bus yesterday afternoon. We arrived to this random town, Villa Tunari, at about 9:30 last night. It was pretty easy to find a hotel, even in our slightly delirious states. Our plan is to do an excursion in the jungle for a few days. We asked around about guides and tours, and several hotel owners recomended this guy named "Gusano" to us. We spoke with him on the phone and we're supposed to meet up tomorrow to discuss our options for treks, canoeing, etc. Jess is feeling a little sick, though, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. We may not be able to go.

Potosi, Bolivia...Jess and I just arrived a few hours ago. We checked into a hostel called Koala Den that was recomended to us by our friend Jorgi. It's a little expensive (expensive for us here is $5 a night, so I guess that is relative), and it's so worth it after the past week we've had. On Wednesday afternoon, we got on a bus to Uyuni. There was a direct bus at 6, but we were impatient, so we got on the 3:30 bus, which required a bus change in Oruro. THis change was supposed to arrive at 7 and leave at 8, but things didnt really work out that way. We arrived and waited in the most unorganized bus station I've ever seen. It was total insanity, and nobody seemed to work there. So, another bus was in the spot where ours was supposed to be, but it wasn't actually ours. We finally figured out that it was supposed to arrive as soon as the other bus left, which took another half hour. Finally a bus pulled in, but it wasn't ours either. Eventually, we figured out that our bus was somewhere out in the parking lot, so we hopped on. We were waiting for the huge bundles and packages of the other passengers to be put under the bus, when we started hearing murmers of a refund of 5 bolivianos. I asked some other passengers, and it turns out that some people had been charged 30 bolivianos, and others 35. They asked me how much I had payed, and I told them that we'd payed 70 in La Paz. They informed me that this was a rip off, and that it should have only been 45 total. So, I hopped off the bus to join the angry mob. It was pretty useless because I had bought my ticket from another company, but it was really funny to watch. There was a woman police officer yelling at the driver, and some consumer advocate guy who had been monitering this sort of fraud, and then all these confused looking passengers. Some tourist police had befriended us earlier tried to help me, which was also pretty funny. I think they were really bored. After another 25 minutes of photocopying "evidence", yelling, and a few refunds, we were on our way. Now, let me mention that the bus company in La Paz not only charged us more, the lady who sold us the tickets also lied to us when I asked if the buses were heated. She said that of course they were! I don't know why I believed her, I have had this experience (in warmer temperatures) and should know better...I think because I couldn't image being in a bus in sub-freezing temperatures without heating, I didn't bring my sleeping bag on board, or the new huge fleeze I bought in La Paz. And of course, there was no heating on this overnight bus. It was miserable...I swear I almost lost some toes. A few passengers took pity on us and at the end of the trip, we had a bed sheet, a jacket, and a scarf. I had my feet under some guy's blanket that was out in the isle. The bus pulled in to the dusty little town of Uyuni at 5:30 a.m. (ironically, the same time that the 6 pm bus arrived). It was SO COLD outside, and we didn't know what in the world to do until everything opened. There is a tourist info center where you can check out different travel agencies that lead trips to the salar, but we didn't know where or when they opened. So, when a lady aproached us saying "you want trip to salar? I have heat in the jeep", we decided not getting hypothermia was more important than finding the very best tour. She picked up a few other recently arrived tourists, and we went to her little office to hear about the tours they offered. We decided to stick with the company, "Jhaneth tours", and that was that. At 11 a.m. Thursday, we were on our way.....

Where to begin? I am in Bolivia. Jessica and I arrived here last Thursday...well, that's not totally accurate. We are in La Paz right now. On Thursday, we arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 7 a.m., and were prepared for our 24 hour lay over. We got up at 4:30 on Friday to get to the airport, only to find that our flight had been changed to 6:30 p.m. in stead of a.m. Maybe this is what you get for flying with an airline who charged half of what all the other airlines charge. So, we spent a very delirious, sleep deprived day wandering around Santa Cruz, which was cool because we found these 30 cent fruit salads in the market. This is pretty common throughout the country actually. Food is, in general, really inexpensive here.

So anyway...we wandered around all day, watched a little World Cup soccer, made some frustrating phone calls about Jess's lost luggage. Oh right, the luggage...it was sent from Nashville to Oakland instead of to Mexico City, which is where we met up. It was rediculous, but in the end, I think a momma interviened from Nashville, and we picked up the luggage in this little wearhouse building on Saturday at the airport in La Paz. We arrived here on Friday night, and after getting the back pack, we hopped on a bus with a few new friends that we met on various legs of our flights, and headed for Copacabana, which is next to Lake Titicaca. This wasn't the most efficient way of doing things, since we are now planning on heading south and the lake is north. But it was good to get oriented that way, and we had a lot of fun during our 2 days there. We climbed a big hill, which is no easy business at 11,000 feet. But it was worth it because there were some cool altars at the top, and an amazing view. On the first afternoon, I went for a walk on a dirt road that leads from Copacabana to another town where you can catch boats to Isla del Sol, which is a major tourist spot. I just wanted to see the country side a little bit. I met up with these two girls on the road, and started talking with them a little bit. The were aged 8 and 13, and were walking out to their family's field to play soccer and then herd their sheep to the place where they sleep at night. They were shy, but eventually asked if I wanted to go with them, and I did! We got to their plot and played for a while (I was totally out of breath after like 10 seconds). Then they showed me their llamas, and one of them almost spit on me when I petted it. Yes, llamas spit. They look cute and soft, but then they turn their heads toward you and pucker up. This made us all laugh a lot, especially when I ran away. Then they started untying the sheep, and hearding them together. These girls were tough! The 8 year old grabbed some sticks from cut down lima bean plants and started whacking the sheep. She totally dominated the heard of 11! I tried to imitate them, and it was pretty fun! I may have found a new vocation. So, this was really special to me. They asked if I wanted to come back the next day, because they are always there in the afternoon. I did go back yesterday to say bye and ask them if they'd like a photo. Their mom was there, and I asked her if it was ok. She was this really cute chola, she just laughed and said it was up to the girls. They were really excited about it. So, I am going to try and mail these photos...we'll see if it works!

Yesterday, Jess and I also went to Isla del Sol, aforementioned tourist site. It was...well, touristy. But it is a really ancient site. First, the Aymara speaking Tehuaneco (?) people were there, but the Inca's came and were the most recent culture to inhabit the island. In Inca mythology, this island is where the first two Incas were born. Also, the lake is so beautiful...I had no idea what lake Titicaca would look like, but it is so big and blue, and the sky is also a more vibrant shade than I've ever seen anywhere else I think.

Today, we chilled out in the morning, and caught an afternoon bus back to La Paz. From here, we will leave tomorrow for Uyuni, where we will visit these salt flats for a few days. Internet access is a little less existent here, but I will try to write about it soon!