Quack Quack Quack

January 7th and 8th, La Paz Bolivia

While we were at Urban Rush (see previous post), we met a British lad, Tom who works at the 'party hostel' called Loki and had brought a group from the hostel. We got chatting and decided to have a victory drink at Loki - for surviving!

Loki has a nice bar in the hostel, and seems super party so I'd recommend it if that's the kind of place you want to stay in. Tom got us our first drinks, he's a sort of manager around there, only 23 years old and has been pretty much travelling for the past 5 years before deciding to settle in La Paz for the past year now. We chatted with him and to Adam, the Israeli bartender (who hadn't heard of Kenshoo) and just generally to anyone and everyone.

We also had a long chat with an American boy who got separated from his group so was there alone and at some point when he told us he was from Minneapolis Minnesota, we got so excited about 'The Mighty Ducks' that all three of us started yelling Quack Quack Quack. It really is one of my favourite sunday movies to watch!

Happy hour began and it was double vodka in a pint glass! They then started the 'Blood bomb' challenge, drink shots for your country. Apparently India had never been up there on their board, so I was determined to represent. I then bumped into a group of Brazilians and we became fast friends and moved on with them to another bar. It was a super fun night, me and the Brazilians girls got up on the bar and danced! On hindsight, I wonder what I looked like dancing next to 3 Brazilian beauties... and how I even dared!

This morning was pretty much a write off. I did not move till about 1 pm, when beloved Berns brought back burgers to the room. We're staying in La Paz an extra night because we're taking the flight instead of a bus to Sucre. Hopefully the bags will get there with us.

All in all, a great time was had in La Paz, but I'm quite happy to spend the next 2 weeks in Sucre away from the chaos here!

India on the board for the first time!

Dancing on the bar! Bernie's terrible photo taking skills

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can...

January 7th, La Paz Bolivia

Yesterday morning we lazed around in our hotel (such a luxury since we've been rushing around a bit) and finally ventured out to a Cuban restaurant for lunch. It had rained really heavily in the night and early morning, but the sun was now out and it was beautiful and warm. The restaurant looked promising and had good reviews (thank you Tripadvisor!) and had set meals for very cheap, I think our meals plus drinks only came to $7.

After lunch, we roamed about a bit and went to a travel agency to find out how much it would cost to take flights to Sucre instead of a 12 hour bus. It turned out to be quite reasonable, though 5 times the cost of the bus, so we bought them and are flying to Sucre tomorrow. I have to say that I am very happy to avoid the long bus journey, especially since the buses in Bolivia have quite a bad rep. While at the agency, we looked at a flyer for Urban Rush - basically you walk/run down a 17 floor building, but on the OUTSIDE with a free fall at the end. This sounded much funner than biking down the Death Road and was also a 5 minute walk away so we rushed there.

I will not lie, I was very very nervous. We got to choose an outfit as well. Both of us picked Spider-Man suits! We got the instructions and practiced on a small wall, I did very badly in the practice round but was raring to go. It is super safe, they have never had an accident and all their equipment looks new and strong so I was not too worried.

And it was amazing!

The practice wall

Running down the building!

The free fall

Superman, Spider-Men, Mario, Luigi and the crew!

Screaming my lungs out during the free fall

Flying

Practice wall and already so scared

The building from across the road

The view of the centre of La Paz from the top, before we jump out!

We did it!

Everybody needs a bosom for a pillow

January 6th, Puno Peru and La Paz Bolivia

We woke up early morning to catch our bus to La Paz via Copacabana (the original Copacabana, not the one in Rio). This time we were smart and we got a 25 soles ticket on bus 'Tour Peru', which I would recommend. I read a lot about the border crossing being chaotic so we were ready for anything.

We left Puno at 7:30 am and got to the Bolivian border by 10:15 am. The border crossing is quite confusing but fun. You need to get off the bus and exchange your Peruvian soles to Bolivianos and then queue up in a little bare room, the Police station, where they stamp your entry form. You then queue up in a separate building - the Peruvian immigration office where they take the paper and stamp your passport.

Then you actually walk on a little road, around 300 meters, with pigs and cows grazing on the side over the Bolivian border (an arch) passing by little food stalls, until you finally enter the immigration office for Bolivia! It was so cool, I've never actually walked across the border to enter a country. At this point, all Americans have to pay a fee of $135 because of the high fees Bolivians pay to enter the US. It's hilarious because all the Americans we met also find it funny and accept that they can't complain!

The border is quite strict and a family sitting behind us in the bus were not allowed to cross because their documents weren't in order. Additionally, the border is only open certain hours everyday, so you must make sure you take the morning bus from Puno, otherwise you have to go back, or wait on the road in the dark (I do not recommend).

8kms later, we get to Copacabana which is a very touristy town by the lake. We walked around a bit and decided not to stay as we knew there wasn't much to do (we'd already been to the floating islands). Additionally, the prices there were so hiked up, a packet of Doritos was 8 Bolivianos! So we went to the Tour Peru office and bought a ticket to La Paz. We were thrilled we paid less, after our last bus fiasco. Unfortunately, I made another rookie mistake. After paying, the guy told me that he'd written it on his clipboard and he'd be there at 1 pm when the bus leaves. I stupidly walked off without any ticket or acknowledgement. At 1 pm, there was no sign of the guy, but we got on the the bus. We started chatting with two Brits who were traveling for a year, when suddenly a guy starts asking for tickets. Bernie and I start explaining our situation but this man was not having any of it. 

So I jumped off the bus and ran to the Tour Peru office, only tor find the clipboard but not the guy. And his marking was a scribble next to our names which no one understood what it meant. But to our luck, he walked by just then and I grabbed him to explain to our bus conductor who grumpily let us stay. Once again we chatted with the Brits, good to hear their experiences. However I also realised that we are spending a lot of money and need to be a little more careful with splashing out. 

The bus got to Taqila port where we had to get off and get into motor boats to be ferried across. The bus drives itself onto a wooden raft, I kid you not, and is brought to the other side. It was really fascinating. After that back on the bus. We reached the shantytown of El Alto which I thought was La Paz and was quite scared. Turns out, it wasn't and getting into La Paz looking down at the city in a valley was really cool. 

We got to our hostel which is quite nice and our room is really huge, Hostal Sol Adina. La Paz is cheap, but the accommodation isn't but we decided that if we have to stay in a hostel, we're only staying in a private room with a private bathroom. We walked around the city and it's so much like Bombay. Stalls selling sweets next to stalls selling underwear, next to soft toys and clothes and herbal remedies etc! We passed through a lane of only hairdressers - around 50 shops on each side of the lane. And each one of them was packed! I don't know if it was a festival coming up or Bolivians get their hair done very often but there was both men and women in the same parlour and everyone buzzing around. 

We found a nice Mexican restaurant to eat in, at first I loved my food but pretty quickly started feeling sick and also drunk. I don't know if it's the food or altitude or the two mojitos so we gotback to the hostel where I promptly fell asleep at 9 pm. So far on the holiday, the latest I've gone to bed is 10 pm! I love this life. 

The title of this post is from the song 'A brimful of Asha' which I was listening to in the bus. It's true, everybody needs a bosom for a pillow!

A sample picture of the most beautiful drive

Jan 6th: No time like the present...

And so we come to today, a lovely day which we start off by getting great deals on our bus from Puno to Copacabana and further great deals from Copacabana to La Paz. I'm sitting on this latter bus now having read horror stories of having to take pictures of your bus in case they leave you in comfort with wifi ON THE BUS! met an English couple from London just now as well so things are going good and I'm finally writing so will post later and try to stay more on track.

Any questions you've got feel free to ask I'm aiming to get more likes and comments than Nadine because let's face it, it may not be a competition but it's funnier if I'm winning.

Asta luego.

Bernie.