Sunday April 4th, 2010
~6:30am PST
Sitting on the plane in La Paz, feeling well rested; honestly surprised I didn’t have any crazy dreams from the malaria pills. I don’t know if I should be grateful or feel jipped. Got my first taste of a language barrier though, when they told me on the visa application to fill out everything in Spanish. Cue the stupid American card!
One good thing about La Paz is the altitude—it gives some amazing cloud watching to a girl sitting on a plane for an hour. Back to reading…
~11:00pm EST
Hola from Santa Cruz, Bolivia! Got into country this morning and rocked through customs. Got my $135 USD visa; yikes, and only got slightly schemed on the US/Bolivian exchange rate. Oh, and it turns out Easter Sunday is a great time to do a country-wide election, so pretty much everywhere was a ghost town when I arrived. Apparently it's a statement trying to push for the reintroduction of indigenous culture (as opposed to Christianity).
Wayne and Cody met me outside customs as I got waved through. Took a few minutes to chat it up, then sent Cody back to the States. Caught a taxi to the LP Hoteles and organized to head over to our hostel. Jodanga is some word that means “crazy party with lots of guys/girls.” Very trendy. We showed up, played some foosball and changed into swimsuits. There was a 50 Bolivianos (~$7 USD) BBQ that helped me remember how awkward I am in large social situations. One British girl named Sarah recognized my Chaco’s from the Miami International Airport--small world! I got to hear about her existence as a tentative traveler too. It really helped me feel better.
Then, Wayne and I hiked around the urban park, where I got to witness massive amounts of unclaimed garbage, public displays of affection and a 2 year-old peeing in broad daylight. Just popped a squat. Oh culture…
Came back, ate some dinner, played some cards. Pretty cool. I’m happy to be on this adventure this week. I can tell that I’ll be learning a lot.
Monday April 5th, 2010
~9:15pm EST
Was this only one day? Woke up a little before 8 to a breezy, cool morning. Got to try out some of my backpacking clothes on a jog around the urban park. It’s time for me to get back out there into regular training! One “Bolivian pull-up” to my credit, we went back to Jodanga. Grabbed some hostel breakfast and got temporarily flustered by my inability to create the “@” character on the S. American keyboards. Silly me. Grabbed a shower and packed up to head in our taxi to Samiapata.
Three cautious hours later Wayne, Jack, Pete (plus me) show up at our hotel/campground. Wayne and Cody stayed here a few nights earlier in their trip, so this was a total safe bet. Paid the taxi fare, which equated to ~$5 per person for a 3 hour drive, which is pretty ludicrous! Then we grabbed lunch. Turns out this is one of the only organic gardens in the country, not unreasonably priced either.
Finished lunch and headed to “El Fuerte”, meaning the fort. Pre-Inca apparently, about c. 1800B.C., this place was a ceremonial location for the culture in the area. Absolutely phenomenal clouds as the evening moisture rolled in, and great lighting for some classy photos.
On our hike out of El Fuerte I stopped and bought 20 postcards for the equivalent of ~$8.50, which is a steal. As we hiked out, the vendor told us he’d walk with us back to Samiapata, about 10km. Gearing up for a few-hour hike with a Spanish-speaking vendor, I busted out my best espanol and asked, ¿Cuando tus años trabaja por el Fuerte? Got a one-word answer, “Diez,” and the upper tier of my Spanish was exhausted before we lost sight of the souvenir shop. He spoke some English though, so that was helpful. I followed a good bit of what he and Wayne talked about, but I wouldn’t have known how to say it myself. Best Spanish lesson yet though.
We cut down some trails to make it to the road, and ended up at a waterfall with a bridge that our driver crossed on the way into Samiapata. After ~30 minutes of walking with the final light of the day disappearing behind the clouds, we got a ride from a good Samaritan-my first unintentional hitchhike!
Walked from central plaza to the hotel/campground and caught up with the owner (Peter), who will help us organize the rest of our Samiapata travels. Dinner now, then reading, then sleep!
Tuesday April 6th, 2010
~10:00pm EST
Working through an irrational, actually…slightly rational fear that some medium to large mammal is lurking behind me on the hill. No big deal, just trying to make myself sleep here in this hammock even though I’m not that sleepy yet.
Got up bright and early ~5:00am, because I couldn’t get comfy. I was a little cold, a little hungry and had to pee a little, but mostly I was just super well-rested. Read some of the book I’m working on, The Biology of Transcendence, and got to the task of exploding everything I brought into piles, so I could pack it again.
At La Vispera, the awesome campground/café/casita where we stayed the night, I got to take a picture of the two white ponies famed in the trees in the morning light from the veranda café porch. Gross, right? Peter, the owner, gave us beta on La Pajcha, a waterfall ~40km from Samiapata. So, we ate a delicious breakfast and got our items ready before we had the taxi phoned. Got to ride ~ 1 hour on a 4WD dirt road in a teenie little coupe, sketchier than more of the forest service roads I run on. We thought we were going to have to get our and push the guy through the mud at one point, but he backed up and made it. Ridiculous!
I am almost over the urge to get to fear for my life every time I get into one of those taxis, but I just hope they have the Frogger arcade game to play as children.
Can’t decide if I’m an easier target for a preying jaguar in the forest or if Wayne would get eaten first lying in his tent on the ground…Hmm…just heard some rustling.
Well, we thought we had a 3km hike down to La Pajcha, but the driver took us all the way there! Got camp setup, went to the waterfall for the afternoon and did not go more than 100’ with my pack on all day. Originally it was going to take us ~2 days to hike here and who knows how long to leave, so having 2 days just to make it~22km is no big deal at all. It will be uphill to start tomorrow, but that is fine with me.
Missed out on my chance to smoke Wayne at cards. In “La olympicas de Bolivia,” he took Rummy 2-0. Now I read, maybe.
Wednesday April 7th, 2010
~9:30pm EST
I’m enjoying vacation very much, but I’m also realizing that going backpacking in a foreign country is almost a waste of time. La Pajcha is awesome and all, but I don’t feel like I’m in Bolivia. I’m camping with Wayne, and that’s about it. Maybe a more forced interaction with the locals the rest of the vacation will be tempered by my two days of familiarity. Perhaps backpacking when the stakes are higher is a poor use of brain cells. Example, we’re almost out of water. Oops.
Today was a challenging day for me on the trail. We got a late start because I caught up on sleep; then my pack hurt. It took me all day adjusting it, and I still didn’t feel it was quite right when we stopped. I got pretty exhausted from the uphills we did (even though a good sweat feels great complimented by a breeze). And my body just hurts now. It’s like, “What the crap do you think you’re doing trying to carry all that weight in those shoes without proper food and threat of no water?” Complain much? I know.
One crazy observation we made was “blood rock”, which got unearthed by the guy grading the road we are on. The rainy season is coming to a close, so now they're going through and fixing all the dirt roads, literally the day after we took the ride of our lives. Wayne initially thought it was blood from a kill that got pushed in front of the grader, but it’s just a really red rock!
Got my butt kicked less royally at Rummy tonight, but that’s not the focus of practice, I suppose. Sleeping on the side of the dirt road suspended over a moderately steep cliff. Tonight—the reading may not last long. I’m exhausted.
Thursday April 8th, 2010
~8:30pm EST
Back at La Vispera for our final night camping.
Woke up to a light sprinkle earlier (~7:00am), and got excited to hike to San Juan de Rosario with cloudy skies. Saw Mr. Grading the Road Man, as well as a few motorcycles, and headed on our way. Nicest people ever! Got to the town in a half hour, waaaay sooner than we expected!
Got a liter of water from the tap of a man who spoke no English. Kind of figured out that there was no sure way to hail a taxi, so we started an unexpected 25km hike, somewhat reluctantly. The grade of the road was pretty much tamer than all the hiking preceding it, so I had no reason to complain.
And then I ran out of water.
Got a little cranky pants about it once we found ourselves hiking uphill in direct sunlight. Took a 30-minute break to triple filter our liter of water, and drank carefully. About on hour later we got a mercy ride from a Bolivian branded government pickup truck. Our moods brightened immediately, and with each passing hill I realized, from the back of the truck, that 4 miles as the crow flies doesn’t mean shit on a GPS when you are on roundabout dirt roads.
Got dropped off in Samiapata’s central plaza and waved off a taxi that descended on two gringos pretty immediately. Got lunch from La Vaca Loca, and ate an awesome chicken curry and some sketchy salchichas (sorta like fried hot dogs, eww). The papas fritas (french fries) were great though. Yay salt. Then, I made my belly hurt by eating a huge, poorly matched ice cream sundae. I thought I was getting chocolate, vanilla with espresso beans and coffee, but the vanilla-ish flavor was coconut with raisins, or something. Not an awesome combo.
Cue random German farmer.
Apparently he knows Tony, the owner of the La Vaca Loca. He invites himself to sit with us for a sundae too. He is trying to buy land to farm nearby, yet has no residency in Bolivia, apparently little $ and no working knowledge of the language. Oh travelers…
Got to go to a dirty, dingy internet café, which only half worked. Bought some auga sin gas, hiked back to La Vispera and am gearing up for roast beef hash for dinner with some macaroon shrapnel for dessert. And soon, I lose at Rummy, my poorest event in the Bolivian Olympics. Then, I get to read!
Update: I won the short hand we played…270 to 90. Total fluke. We’ll see if I can replicate that back in the states. I also wrapped a pee-smelling sleeping bag around me for warmth. Win some; lose some. (It was the extra gear nearby that I thought would just be to keep me warm while we played cards. I was cold!)
Friday April 9th, 2010
~10:45pm
At the hotel after a long the day of travels. Got up in beautiful Samiapata, barely able to walk with calves so tight I thought there were baseballs stuck inside them.
Set some gear out to dry and went up for breakfast. Me and my upset belly sat there, didn’t even order a coffee to drink. I taught Wayne how to play dominoes though, and whomped him winning 31-7 the first round. The second round he was ahead, but we stopped because breakfast arrived. What a good sport. The taxi back to Santa Cruz almost got the better of my digestive tract. Found the hotel jut in time, and checked in to our lovely set of two twin beds. Dropped off our gear, grabbed Wayne’s bags out of storage, and went out to enjoy an afternoon in the city.
Walked the block over to drop off plant collecting gear, then had my card rejected twice at the ATM, despite calling ahead to let Citibank know I’d be in country for the week. Went over to Café 24 for lunch and got jamón y queso sandwich that ROCKED, and a chicken empanada that was even better. They blended my iced tea, making it like a dessert, and I enjoyed lunch despite the fact that I was now extending my credit from first national bank of Wayne, even though that wasn't the plan at all..
Went over to an internet café and got the email from JET saying that I officially did not get the gig in Japan. Not even an alternate. So relieved! I came out of that interview pretty concerned about the position; apparently the feeling is mutual. That makes me very happy to have gotten some use out of this passport, since it won’t be going to Asia.
Got a few giggles going through the post office too. I scripted what I was going to say, based on a phrase book Wayne brought with him. There are a lot of postcards coming back to the states with disjointed, but accurate spanish. Best souvenirs ever.
Made the rest of our afternoon into a treasure hunt for the Mexican restaurant, El Chiles. Got some of the spiciest chipotle chicken and enchiladas I can remember. Downed a horchata pretty quickly to dull the pain. Tasted like hot tamales soaked in milk. Interesting taste.
Wandered around Santa Cruz looking for a liquería to get Wayne some coca liquor. Apparently that's not so "legal" in the Santa Cruz area. No shops near us had what we needed, so we took a taxi to a sketchy part of town and then back to the hotel when we finally declared it a bust. Grossest thing ever: when I scooted over to sit down in that final taxi, I put my and straight into a pile of biohazard. Ugh. Someone who got nauseated better not have given me hepatitis. I’ll be pissed! So now, I sleep.
Saturday April 10th, 2010
~11:30pm CST
I’m on my 3rd plane of the day, finally headed home. The final travel day has been absolutely fantastic. I really can’t complain!
Talked to Wayne in the morning, and as it turns out both of us woke up a bunch during the night, maybe just excited to be going back to the states. I got such fantastic rest in that hammock, it seems silly that I couldn't sleep in that bed. But, I got to try watermelon juice for breakfast for the first time and snagged some coca tea bags to bring home too. Steeped a cup on the way to the Vida Vi airport, but nothing remarkable to report so far.
Immigration in Santa Cruz was a breeze. Turned in a paper saying I’m an anonymously poor traveler declaring less than $10,000, and got a stamp in my passport. American Airlines searched our bags before boarding (not a bad idea after going through “security” earlier). Wayne had to chug his water, but my nail clippers and tea were no big deal. Luck of the draw.
Finished The Biology of Transcendence on the Santa Cruz flight, and started US Guys, which is an account of a journalist attending Burning Man, a fight club in Oakland, gay rodeo in Oklahoma, etc. Read through all three flights and just finished it. Not the most meaningful literature I've ever picked up, but it was entertaining.
Landed in Miami on time, but our gate was occupied. What 15 idle minutes boiled down to was ~60 minutes to go pick up our bags and get through customs so we could check our bags through again to LAX. I realize now that that time frame is ludicrous; especially since we had to go through security AGAIN, then run, literally sprint, to the gate. Made it there out of breath with a metallic taste in my lungs. Yikes. Got on the Miami to Dallas flight though and enjoyed the shorter trip. Just glad we made it!
Arrived in Dallas and met the coolest TSA employee, ever. I guess I was wearing the, “Uh…now what?” face of uncertainty, so he asked if we knew what we were doing. I just said, “Wandering for a few hours, do you recommend anything?” and that was exactly what he wanted to hear. Oh, the D concourse is the most freshly renovated, almost like a mall… blah blah blah. Love this guy! I wish I would have asked him to join us for dinner. Bet he would have a few great stories to share.
Surfed our way over to the D concourse on the airport shuttle and grabbed some tex-mex dinner. Tried to agree on some Ben & Jerry’s to share afterwards, but after ~5 minutes of window shopping the woman standing at the checkout counter finally broke the news that they were closed.
Talked to the family to give the travels update, and got on plane #3 for the day. I will be happy once we’re home in Big Bear. I’m so grateful though for the chance to have this adventure!
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun trip!
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