Nosotros estamos en Bolivia

To start things off, we had a long trip to Cochabamba, Bolivia. We woke up at 4am in BC and flew from Vancouver to Toronto, then flew from Toronto to Lima. Once we arrived in Lima, we bought plane tickets to fly from Lima, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia. Since the tickets cost us nearly $500 each, we decided to wait 22 hours in the airport instead of taking a $30 taxi just to go to a hotel. So we slept on the floor, like many others, and we ate at some of the restaurants in the airport. One restaurant was selling traditional Andean food, so I got some Anticuchos, skewers of grilled cow heart served with a mustard style sauce. They were delicious, and the meat was extremely tender.

Just after midnight we flew out to La Paz, and arrived there at 3:30 in the morning. From the airport we took a taxi to down to the bus terminal. La Paz is at over 12 000 feet elevation, and the airport is at one of the highest areas in the city. So we were feeling the effects of the altitude and sleep deprivation when we arrived at the bus terminal. The taxi ride was incredible, you could see out over the entire city (which is pretty much entirely mountainous) and although we were expecting it, the poverty was surprising. As we rode to the terminal we saw wild dogs barking and running all over the place, but other than that the city was silent. At the bus terminal, we were freezing, as it was approximately 2 or 3 three degrees.

To warm us up and to cope with the altitude, we bought some coca tea from a man who was selling it out of jugs as he wandered around the terminal. Coca tea is the best cure for combatting altitude sickness, so we had a few cups. It gives a nice kick, although I must stress that the coca plant (which is used by most people here) is completely different from the drug cocaine. Cocaine is subject to numerous toxic chemical processes, and while the plant offers relief from altitude sickness, hunger, and sleepiness, it is entirely safe and natural (also legal).

Emily was quite surprised by the bus terminal and the country as a whole when we arrived, but she is enjoying it very much now. We took an 8 hour bus ride to Cochabamba, which was absolutely incredible, as the latter part of the trip wound through immense desert mountains. However, we were getting quite grumpy and felt disgusting from the long trip, so arriving at our hotel was a relief.