I´m currently paying just over one dollar an hour to use the world´s SLOWEST internet. It is almost causing me physical pain. Nate, it makes the internet at work look really fast, which is saying something...
Anyways, continuing our travels...
The next morning, we packed up and wandered down the island, looking for a restaurant with an acceptable view. We eventually found a very pleasant one with a patio, so we sat outside and enjoyed another fantastic view of the mountains. The “American Breakfast” they had was remarkably good, with tea, (fake) orange juice, lots of bread, jam, eggs, yogurt, and a banana. Then we continued on our way, and Matias, Nate and Lisa went to see more ruins while I had tea and read at another small restaurant with an even better view and Kasia, who didn't feel good, napped on the ground (which was grass-very rare!) next to our table. I was reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austin, which I think I like, but it's rather challenging because I have to think pretty hard to follow the old English. (Aside: I also read “The Help” on this trip, which I bought from a used books store here. It was fantastic! I highly recommend it. I was very disappointed to finish it because I really enjoyed reading it, but I bought another book, Seabiscuit, which is similarly engaging. I want to see both movies now!) After a while I got tired of reading and just relaxed and took pictures of the mountains.
When our other group members came back, we went down to the water to get tickets for a boat back to Copacabana, but apparently the people who sold us the original ticket incorrectly told us the departure times from the island, so there wasn't one until 4pm (this is at about 11am). We decided to take a boat to a different town and then catch a cab back to Copacabana. The boat ride (B$15) was short, which was probably a good thing since it was pretty windy and this was not a large boat by any means. As we approached the new town, we could hear lots of music, which sounded kind of like a middle school marching band practice. When we got there, we discovered that it was a giant festival and dance competition, so there were many groups of men or of women in matching costumes doing the same basic dance steps together, to live bands (yes, plural) at the same time. It was sort of chaoitic, but really neat. We were also the only white people there. We watched for a bit and then, with the help of a drunk Boliian guy who had been on our boat, started looking for a cab. We found a guy who said normally there were lots of buses/cabs but since today was a party, everyone was drinking (the boat guys had neglected to warn us of this). Luckily, this guy was sober (or at least appeared to be) and offerend to drive us himself in his minibus, so we got a ride for B$10 each. En route, we picked up a couple of people walking to Cochabamba, and dropped off a package to some people out in a field (our driver had his small son run the bag halfway out to the field, where a family had their small son run to pick it up. Yay children!) so it seemed as though getting a ride from this guy worked out for everyone. We had lunch at our favorite restaurant and then bought tickets (B$15) for the 4pm bus to La Paz. Nate was to take the bus all the way there, since he was leaving on Sunday, but the four of us were going to get off in Huarina to get a different bus to Sorata. I have never seen seats recline so far back on any public vehicle, and I wish those hadn't because the large lady (one of the few I've seen here) in front of me had her seat all the way back, meaning I had about 10 inches in between my face and her seat for my backpack and breathing. In Huarina, we asked a few people about buses, and they said a minibus should come by every half an hour to Sorata, but after waiting about that long and seeing two packed Sorata buses, as well as many other buses, also all packed, we decided it was probably a futile adventure, so we crossed the street to get a bus to La Paz. Most were pretty full, but we had seen a few emptier-looking ones, and pretty soon a minibus came that was almost empty, so we got a ride with him/his wife for B$10 each. We picked up 5 or 6 more people on the way, which just seems to be the thing to do here if you have room in your car. When we got most of the way through El Alto, which is the city bordering La Paz, our ride ended and the drivers recommended we walk to blocks and catch a different minibus. We found this one and after refusing to pay a ludicrous price, agreed on B$21 for the group (still ridiculously high, but welcome to the world of being a gringo). Another group of travelers, rather more inebriated than us, got on too, so they were entertaining. One guy was a computer programmer from England that just brought his work with him and had been traveling since January or February. Not a bad way to live. We made it to the street with our original hotel, Estrella Andina, where we stayed our first night in La Paz, and had dinner and planned our next move. We decided not to go to that hotel since it's pretty expensive and we wanted to be cheap, so we found several reccomendatiosn from the trusty Lonely Planet, and after a lenghtly cab ride (B$15) since our driver couldn't find the hostel we wanted, we made it to a reasonable place to stay for B$45, which is pretty reasonable for La Paz, where lodging is pricier than other places. We were all exhausted from a long day of travel, so it was good to get sleep.
The next morning we slept in some, since for once we didn't have a pressing morning schedule, and had another successful American breakfast from the hotel itself, including hot chocolate with milk (far better than water!) and then walked to the bus station, which was, as we had chosen, just across the street. Unfortunately, the bus to Sorata does not leave from the bus station, so we took a cab(B$10) up to a different neighborhood. The cabbie was very friendly and gave us his cell and home numbers so we could call him when we came back. He asked around to find the specific street where the Sorata minibuses leave from, so he was quite helpful. We bought our B$17 tickets and left about 20 mnutes later. We somehow played a nice long game of Scratch, even though we didn't have that much room, and then all read for a while. We went way high up in the mountains and drove through a cloud for a long time, which was slightly terrifying since our sight distance was rather limited but our speed didn't change much. At about this time, we unfortunately switched from paved to dirt road, and for the rest of the ride, I literally think I inhaled more dust than air. I have never fought my gag reflex for that much time and I seriously considered requesting to be let out and walking the rest of the way, because the dust wasn't coming from outside, it was definitely coming from the seats in the van. One of the more painful bus rides of my life. However, t my thouough happiness, we eventually made it to Sorata, where my primary goal was to breath clean air, and second goal (by just a hair) was to eat. The main town is pretty small and centers around a large plaza, so there are lots of restaurants to chose from. I had tea and delicious tacos with guacamole and felt much better after. We then checked out a few hotels and decided on the one that was actually adjoined to the restaurant where we ate. We don't have wall outlets or soap, but we do have towels, toilet paper and supposedly have hot water, and check out is at noon. Also the beds have an extra blanket and there is an internet place very close by. We've developed a list of things to look for when choosing a hotel, because so often you're at a place and you think: “Hmm. This looks pretty clean, and it's cheap. Sounds good” but then you realize you're missing all sorts of things you want.
Matias and I ventured out to the nearby internet place (incredibly slow, but just over $1 USD per hour, so I'm not complaining too much) and then we came back to the hotel (after buying the missing soap) to join Lisa and Kasia in reading for a while. Seabiscuit is getting good :) Since we'd had lunch so late, we read for a long time before dinner, but we eventually checkout out Lonely Planet's suggestion and ate at an extremely satisfying and reasonably-priced restaurant. We had Hawaiian pizza with strawberries on it (surprising but delicious), tea (always good), banana smoothie/milk drink which was incredible, so much so that we got a similar pineapple one (even better), and crepes with a bit of chocolate. We also played Euchre, which I loved, and watched The Mummy and then some other move which had lots of simultaneous natural disasters (giant sinkhole, breached dam, and possibly the aftermath of a hurricane, or something similar) and stressed out people trying to handle everything. We enjoyed discussing flow rates and soil liquefaction possibilities and I want to see this movie, but the guy who worked there didn't know what it was, so if you do, tell me!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Random Comments
First, my apologies for the sporadic and very limited posts. Most of the places we´re staying don´t have internet, so we have to go out and find internet places, which isn´t hard, but it is a time commitment, as is typing detailed accounts of everything I´m doing. There will be a few more posts yet though!
Cards- I've taught my fellow travelers how to play Rummy, which we have down solidly and have played while waiting for every meal recently, Scratch, which is still new but quite successful and will probably be our game of choice for the rest of the trip (because it is great and doesn't require much table space) and Euchre, which may have been a bit too complicated for a late-night (10 pm) card game session, but I'm still hopeful! Since meals take FOREVER to come here, playing cards is great. It's also a lot of fun after dinner when it's still to early for bed but it's also dark and cold outside.
Temperature-Beautiful during the day and shorts and a t-shirt would be fine except that it's often windy, so I tend to wear a layer or two more. At night, it's cold. It is winter here, after all. I have fleece pants, two fleece jackets, and a beanie, and I've been wearing all of them every day. I can't wait to do laundry! Also, the pants and one of the jackets were a total of $10 max at Value Village. Definitely one of my best investments.
Restaurant service- Not like the US. You might get your tea two minutes before your entree, which comes 40 minutes after ordering, which was 20 minutes after coming in the restaurant. Or, you might have pretty speedy service, but don't count on it.
Dogs-they are everywhere. I've concluded that they must survive off garbage, because no one appears to treat them nicely and yet they don't appear malnourished. This brings me to my next point:
Garbage- Good lord! You'd think the people here had never heard of a garbage can. It is disgusting. There are wrappers and bottles and paper everywhere. Also, stormwater systems are combined with sewer at best, and often seem to just flow into a convenient body of water (say, Lake Titicaca), so that could be improved.
Transportation- My next post will touch more on this after an adventure we had, but basically, the transportation system here blows my mind. For the most part, everybody who lives here knows how the transportation system works but foreigners have no idea and have to ask how to do everything. Also, they seem to have all routes optimized quite well by number of departures and size of vehicles. For example, we´re currently in Sorata, which you get to by minibus, (technically an 11 seater vehicle I think, although often they have a fair few more people than that) and it seems like everybody knows that obviously you take a minibus rather than a big bus to get there, and obviously they don´t leave from the bus station, they leave from a different part of La Paz called The Graveyard. No joke. Somehow, they seem to fill every bus up but there are never huge waits, eigher for more people to fill the bus or for more buses since they´re all full.
Also, the people selling you tickets will tell you whatever you want to hear to sell you the ticket (rounding down the time the journey will take, for example). This doesn´t suprise me, though.
Finally, I think gringos like us finance plenty of the transporation system since we´re always paying more than other passengers going the same distance. We only have so much bargaining power, though, and at some point you just have to accept this because we do have so much more money than most people here, and paying a few, or even B$10 more is less than $2 USD more, so it´s not that big a deal.
Jobs- And I don´t use the word career here intentionally. I have NO idea how most people here make a living. It seems like half of the country sells candy, crackers, soda, and alcohol in little tiny shops/booths, and every places sells the exact same products. Then you´ve got hundreds of women who sell either cups with jello, or a bowlfull of beans, or potatoes. a) Their wares are dirt cheap, and b) there are so many people who sell the same thing, in the same place, so they don´t even have the advance of a scarce product. I think the option of a career for a future is pretty unlikely for most people (judging by the infrastructure and construction we´ve seen here, there certainly are not very many construction, geotech, structural, or general civil engineers here! we´ve definitley been enjoying gawking at the styrofoam and chickenwire/newspaper used in building construction here. Almost makes me thankful for ASCE7. Almost.
Cards- I've taught my fellow travelers how to play Rummy, which we have down solidly and have played while waiting for every meal recently, Scratch, which is still new but quite successful and will probably be our game of choice for the rest of the trip (because it is great and doesn't require much table space) and Euchre, which may have been a bit too complicated for a late-night (10 pm) card game session, but I'm still hopeful! Since meals take FOREVER to come here, playing cards is great. It's also a lot of fun after dinner when it's still to early for bed but it's also dark and cold outside.
Temperature-Beautiful during the day and shorts and a t-shirt would be fine except that it's often windy, so I tend to wear a layer or two more. At night, it's cold. It is winter here, after all. I have fleece pants, two fleece jackets, and a beanie, and I've been wearing all of them every day. I can't wait to do laundry! Also, the pants and one of the jackets were a total of $10 max at Value Village. Definitely one of my best investments.
Restaurant service- Not like the US. You might get your tea two minutes before your entree, which comes 40 minutes after ordering, which was 20 minutes after coming in the restaurant. Or, you might have pretty speedy service, but don't count on it.
Dogs-they are everywhere. I've concluded that they must survive off garbage, because no one appears to treat them nicely and yet they don't appear malnourished. This brings me to my next point:
Garbage- Good lord! You'd think the people here had never heard of a garbage can. It is disgusting. There are wrappers and bottles and paper everywhere. Also, stormwater systems are combined with sewer at best, and often seem to just flow into a convenient body of water (say, Lake Titicaca), so that could be improved.
Transportation- My next post will touch more on this after an adventure we had, but basically, the transportation system here blows my mind. For the most part, everybody who lives here knows how the transportation system works but foreigners have no idea and have to ask how to do everything. Also, they seem to have all routes optimized quite well by number of departures and size of vehicles. For example, we´re currently in Sorata, which you get to by minibus, (technically an 11 seater vehicle I think, although often they have a fair few more people than that) and it seems like everybody knows that obviously you take a minibus rather than a big bus to get there, and obviously they don´t leave from the bus station, they leave from a different part of La Paz called The Graveyard. No joke. Somehow, they seem to fill every bus up but there are never huge waits, eigher for more people to fill the bus or for more buses since they´re all full.
Also, the people selling you tickets will tell you whatever you want to hear to sell you the ticket (rounding down the time the journey will take, for example). This doesn´t suprise me, though.
Finally, I think gringos like us finance plenty of the transporation system since we´re always paying more than other passengers going the same distance. We only have so much bargaining power, though, and at some point you just have to accept this because we do have so much more money than most people here, and paying a few, or even B$10 more is less than $2 USD more, so it´s not that big a deal.
Jobs- And I don´t use the word career here intentionally. I have NO idea how most people here make a living. It seems like half of the country sells candy, crackers, soda, and alcohol in little tiny shops/booths, and every places sells the exact same products. Then you´ve got hundreds of women who sell either cups with jello, or a bowlfull of beans, or potatoes. a) Their wares are dirt cheap, and b) there are so many people who sell the same thing, in the same place, so they don´t even have the advance of a scarce product. I think the option of a career for a future is pretty unlikely for most people (judging by the infrastructure and construction we´ve seen here, there certainly are not very many construction, geotech, structural, or general civil engineers here! we´ve definitley been enjoying gawking at the styrofoam and chickenwire/newspaper used in building construction here. Almost makes me thankful for ASCE7. Almost.
Lake Titicaca
Copacabana
On Wednesday, we (Carley, Garry, Nate, Matias, Kasia, Lisa and I) got up rather early and took a seemingly very nice tour bus to Copacabana, which is on the southwest shore of Lake Titicaca. We sort of got fumigated but La Paz pollution and/or bus exhaust fumes for the entire ride, but other than that, I really enjoyed it because we got an excellent view of the La Paz and the countryside. The city is HUGE and incredibly hilly because it's in a very steep valley, with several beautiful mountain peaks in the distance, so it was enjoyable to look at as long as you don't look at the ground or any water features, which are covered in trash. Once we got out of the city, the landscape became pretty flat and very dry. There is not a lot of green here since it's the middle of “winter.” (I wish Seattle winters were this warm!) At one point in the drive, we had to get off the bus and take a boat across a strait (we were also fumigated on this trip from the two-stroke motor) while our bus was ferried across by a long, low boat. Very sketchy. The rest of the bus ride was absolutely beautiful because we could see the lake, which I am in love with. I could spend an entire vacation just sitting and watching the water throughout the day as the sky/sun reflections gradually change. I highly recommend that if you're ever in Bolivia, you come here.
Copacabana, our destination, was far more touristy than anywhere else we'd been thus far in Bolivia, so it was really weird to see so many other white people and permenant hippies who sit on the road and try to sell weird foods and jelwerly that they made while working our growing out the dreadlocks. There were also a ton of small booths with beautiful textiles and I've had to exerise significant self control to not purchase anything yet because I absolutely do not have room in the backpack I brought with me (I think 40 liters would be perfect for traveling; 30 is just a bit too small). We spend some time wandering around the town and then climbed up one of the large hills/small mountains on the edge of town, which had stunning views of the water. I probably would have spent the rest of the day sitting at the top but I was with other people who eventually suggested we continue exploring and get food, which are certainly reasonable options. We had an absolutely fantastic dinner based on Lonely Planet's suggestion (that is my guidebook), and although it took about three hours, plus an hour wait outside playing cards since the restaurant wasn't open yet, it was definitely worth it. A typically meal (and by typical, I mean the standard meal that you have to work pretty hard to avoid) is soup, probably quinoa with carrots, beans, and salt, and then a meat (trout, chicken, or beef), with rice, french fries, and a few vegetables. This is fine but it does get a bit old and I can't wait to come home and eat delicious and healthy salads!! Anyway, this restaurant had better food so I had a top-notch quinoa/veggie side and excellent trout (trout is definitely a specialty for the lake region) and as a group we also had great hot chocolate, wine, pasta, and cognac-soaked bananas drenched in chocolate sauce. Normally, one puts just a bit of alcohol on the bananas and it cooks out, but not these ones. This was definitely our most expensive meal thus far, but so worth it. The next morning we fulfilled one of Garry's goals, which was to go swimming in Lake Titicaca. It actually wasn't as cold as I was expecting, even though we're at about 12,000 feet. It wasn't bathwater by any means, but I did enjoy it (for the 30 seconds I was in the water). We also met another one of Garry's goals, which was to buy a charango, a small 12-stringed guitar-like traditional instrument. I took a video of the guy playing it but it would take a year to upload it from here, so you'll have to wait until I come home to see it! I'm really tempted to buy one for myself. They are sweet.
Carley and Garry then left for La Paz, since they had the first tickets back home, and the rest of us climbed up a different hill/mountain to what was supposedly a pre-Incan astronomical observatory; we didn't find any ruins but we did have another great view and we spend an hour or two just relaxing in the sun and enjoying the lake. Food did eventually call to us, though and we had dinner where we had lunch, at a Mexican-ish Bolivian restaurant which served higher-quality versions of the boring tradition meals as well as other food. They took a liking to us since we came back in the same day, so we got a free plate of nachos, made with Doritos (Oh, Bolivia). They were still good, though. We also enjoyed a DVD of a George Michaels concert in London and all walked out of the restaurant thinking we might buy a CD of his. The food was, as we expected, excellent; I had vegetarian tacos with guacamole for lunch and dinner and was quite pleased, and everyone else's food that I sampled was equally as good.
Isla del Sol
On Friday morning we took a boat to the Island of the Sun, which is the main destination from Copacabana. It was a somewhat chilly ride at 8:30am, but quite beautiful. We also got a fantastic view of the Cordilleras, which are a mountain range that runs through Bolivia (and maybe farther?) I've taken about a million pictures of the biggest peaks, so hopefully a few turn out well. The island is about an hour away from Copacabana, so by the time we left a bit late, made a stop at the other end of the island, and then got off on the north end, it had warmed up outside, which I appreciated. We had our basic lunch and marveled at the number of tourists who all arrived at the same time we did, as the boats seem to run on a regular schedule. So many gringos. Then we spend much of the rest of the day walking across the island. First, we went to the northern tip and saw several Incan ruins. I don't really need to see any more ruins for at least 10 years after seeing so many in Greece, but I did enjoy being outside and taking pictures of the lake framed by various window and door frames. I was also completely surprised by the number of incredible beaches on the island. Most of the Isla del Sol is, at the moment, very sunny and very dry. There are some plants, but most of what we had seen thus far was rock/sand/dirt and hardy plants which like arid weather. The beaches, though, were more like what I saw in Greece (not quite as good though so don't worry). We walked from the north to the south end which we think was about 8km, and somehow I still do not feel acclimated at all. It was very enjoyable, though, and I was really happy to be moving around instead of sitting at either a restaurant or in a vehicle all the time. Also, my backpack's mesh back/frame did a good job of keeping me cool, which I was pleased by. Eventually we made it to the south end, where the town sits on and spills over the crest of the island, so there were spectacular view of water on both sides, and the Cordillera mountains in the late afternoon light. We stayed at a hotel which costs B$25 a night, which is under $4 USD, so it's not exactly fancy, but that's basically free so I'm not complaining. I might splurge more for the next hotel though. I would like to have soap and a wall outlet, for example. Still, we have a killer view which is fantastic.
We were all starving so we picked the first restaurant with a good view of the mountains and had our typically Bolivian meal, which satisfied my expectations. I was so hungry that I even ate the french fries and some of the rice. I should note that for this kind of meal, the french fries and really thick cuts, extremely greasy, and often undercooked. Luckily, they were find tonight. We had panqueques for dessert, which seem to vary between thick crepes and thin-medium pancakes. We waited probably 30 minutes after ordering dessert to actually receive it, which was excruciating, but so worth it because they were delicious and had chocolate and banana inside. My diet is absolutely atrocious here (Karstin, you would be soo proud). I have eaten a ton of dessert/candy, even more gross starchy food, and very few vegetables. Eating real food (with flavors other than salt!) will be nice.
On Wednesday, we (Carley, Garry, Nate, Matias, Kasia, Lisa and I) got up rather early and took a seemingly very nice tour bus to Copacabana, which is on the southwest shore of Lake Titicaca. We sort of got fumigated but La Paz pollution and/or bus exhaust fumes for the entire ride, but other than that, I really enjoyed it because we got an excellent view of the La Paz and the countryside. The city is HUGE and incredibly hilly because it's in a very steep valley, with several beautiful mountain peaks in the distance, so it was enjoyable to look at as long as you don't look at the ground or any water features, which are covered in trash. Once we got out of the city, the landscape became pretty flat and very dry. There is not a lot of green here since it's the middle of “winter.” (I wish Seattle winters were this warm!) At one point in the drive, we had to get off the bus and take a boat across a strait (we were also fumigated on this trip from the two-stroke motor) while our bus was ferried across by a long, low boat. Very sketchy. The rest of the bus ride was absolutely beautiful because we could see the lake, which I am in love with. I could spend an entire vacation just sitting and watching the water throughout the day as the sky/sun reflections gradually change. I highly recommend that if you're ever in Bolivia, you come here.
Copacabana, our destination, was far more touristy than anywhere else we'd been thus far in Bolivia, so it was really weird to see so many other white people and permenant hippies who sit on the road and try to sell weird foods and jelwerly that they made while working our growing out the dreadlocks. There were also a ton of small booths with beautiful textiles and I've had to exerise significant self control to not purchase anything yet because I absolutely do not have room in the backpack I brought with me (I think 40 liters would be perfect for traveling; 30 is just a bit too small). We spend some time wandering around the town and then climbed up one of the large hills/small mountains on the edge of town, which had stunning views of the water. I probably would have spent the rest of the day sitting at the top but I was with other people who eventually suggested we continue exploring and get food, which are certainly reasonable options. We had an absolutely fantastic dinner based on Lonely Planet's suggestion (that is my guidebook), and although it took about three hours, plus an hour wait outside playing cards since the restaurant wasn't open yet, it was definitely worth it. A typically meal (and by typical, I mean the standard meal that you have to work pretty hard to avoid) is soup, probably quinoa with carrots, beans, and salt, and then a meat (trout, chicken, or beef), with rice, french fries, and a few vegetables. This is fine but it does get a bit old and I can't wait to come home and eat delicious and healthy salads!! Anyway, this restaurant had better food so I had a top-notch quinoa/veggie side and excellent trout (trout is definitely a specialty for the lake region) and as a group we also had great hot chocolate, wine, pasta, and cognac-soaked bananas drenched in chocolate sauce. Normally, one puts just a bit of alcohol on the bananas and it cooks out, but not these ones. This was definitely our most expensive meal thus far, but so worth it. The next morning we fulfilled one of Garry's goals, which was to go swimming in Lake Titicaca. It actually wasn't as cold as I was expecting, even though we're at about 12,000 feet. It wasn't bathwater by any means, but I did enjoy it (for the 30 seconds I was in the water). We also met another one of Garry's goals, which was to buy a charango, a small 12-stringed guitar-like traditional instrument. I took a video of the guy playing it but it would take a year to upload it from here, so you'll have to wait until I come home to see it! I'm really tempted to buy one for myself. They are sweet.
Carley and Garry then left for La Paz, since they had the first tickets back home, and the rest of us climbed up a different hill/mountain to what was supposedly a pre-Incan astronomical observatory; we didn't find any ruins but we did have another great view and we spend an hour or two just relaxing in the sun and enjoying the lake. Food did eventually call to us, though and we had dinner where we had lunch, at a Mexican-ish Bolivian restaurant which served higher-quality versions of the boring tradition meals as well as other food. They took a liking to us since we came back in the same day, so we got a free plate of nachos, made with Doritos (Oh, Bolivia). They were still good, though. We also enjoyed a DVD of a George Michaels concert in London and all walked out of the restaurant thinking we might buy a CD of his. The food was, as we expected, excellent; I had vegetarian tacos with guacamole for lunch and dinner and was quite pleased, and everyone else's food that I sampled was equally as good.
Isla del Sol
On Friday morning we took a boat to the Island of the Sun, which is the main destination from Copacabana. It was a somewhat chilly ride at 8:30am, but quite beautiful. We also got a fantastic view of the Cordilleras, which are a mountain range that runs through Bolivia (and maybe farther?) I've taken about a million pictures of the biggest peaks, so hopefully a few turn out well. The island is about an hour away from Copacabana, so by the time we left a bit late, made a stop at the other end of the island, and then got off on the north end, it had warmed up outside, which I appreciated. We had our basic lunch and marveled at the number of tourists who all arrived at the same time we did, as the boats seem to run on a regular schedule. So many gringos. Then we spend much of the rest of the day walking across the island. First, we went to the northern tip and saw several Incan ruins. I don't really need to see any more ruins for at least 10 years after seeing so many in Greece, but I did enjoy being outside and taking pictures of the lake framed by various window and door frames. I was also completely surprised by the number of incredible beaches on the island. Most of the Isla del Sol is, at the moment, very sunny and very dry. There are some plants, but most of what we had seen thus far was rock/sand/dirt and hardy plants which like arid weather. The beaches, though, were more like what I saw in Greece (not quite as good though so don't worry). We walked from the north to the south end which we think was about 8km, and somehow I still do not feel acclimated at all. It was very enjoyable, though, and I was really happy to be moving around instead of sitting at either a restaurant or in a vehicle all the time. Also, my backpack's mesh back/frame did a good job of keeping me cool, which I was pleased by. Eventually we made it to the south end, where the town sits on and spills over the crest of the island, so there were spectacular view of water on both sides, and the Cordillera mountains in the late afternoon light. We stayed at a hotel which costs B$25 a night, which is under $4 USD, so it's not exactly fancy, but that's basically free so I'm not complaining. I might splurge more for the next hotel though. I would like to have soap and a wall outlet, for example. Still, we have a killer view which is fantastic.
We were all starving so we picked the first restaurant with a good view of the mountains and had our typically Bolivian meal, which satisfied my expectations. I was so hungry that I even ate the french fries and some of the rice. I should note that for this kind of meal, the french fries and really thick cuts, extremely greasy, and often undercooked. Luckily, they were find tonight. We had panqueques for dessert, which seem to vary between thick crepes and thin-medium pancakes. We waited probably 30 minutes after ordering dessert to actually receive it, which was excruciating, but so worth it because they were delicious and had chocolate and banana inside. My diet is absolutely atrocious here (Karstin, you would be soo proud). I have eaten a ton of dessert/candy, even more gross starchy food, and very few vegetables. Eating real food (with flavors other than salt!) will be nice.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Important
Well. It has indeed been quite an adventure. We have ruined a clutch and gotten stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service, completely thrown away our original project designs for a a new one, and have gotten kicked out of the municipality where we were working, so our project is now over...!
Here's the short story, since all the details have a) gotten jumbled in my head and b) would take forever to explain because they are so ridiculous. Basically, EWB UW started working in Yanayo, another small, rural community, six years ago. We paid two people, who I will name Juan and Marie, there to do extra work for us (translating, cooking, facilitating, and generally helping. Marie's husband, Diablo (can you see where this is going?) is an alcoholic sociopath who decided he did not what Marie making more money than him and working with Juan so much because rumors had started about them having an affair. So, he beat one of his children, burned down Juan's house, and got mad at EWB/Donee. He has also since claimed Marie and EWB have stolen from him and tried to kill him, which are petty ludicrous accusations. Unfotunately, it turns out he's an extremely charastatic person who is connected to what seems like every person in the Bolivian governent (including the President!) and many people owe him favors. Diablo threatened to file a denuncio (I think that would be denunciation in English) against our organization, which would, I believe, get us kicked out of the country and prevent us from working here again. Obviously this was a bit of a problem so after all sorts of conversations with people in various communities and with many lawyers, Donee met with Diablo, local community leaders, and the mayor of the province we were in, and wanted a guarantee that we would be able to work free from the threat of a denuncio. The leaders of the communities/mayor were only willing to help gaurntee our ability to work this summer but not in the future (Diablo can file this denuncio any time in the next two years) and since we were not willing to stay there and work without this gurantee, the mayor told us to leave. So, we had a brief midnight group meeting, packed up all of our tents, and drove the four hours back to Cochabamba. It's kind of a bummer but this kind of thing can happen in a developing country with corrupt government officials. Ten out of the eleven of us paid exorbitant fees to American Airlines (MY LEAST FAVORITE AIRLINE COMPAY) to come home sooner since we are all a bit tired. All ten of us, with in the span of three hours or so, called the same customer service number to change our ticket and we all received wildly different information regarding flight availabilities and cost. It was absolutely ridiclus. I did, however, somehow manage to get a flight on the 14th (in business class!) even though there weren't any open seats that day at the beginning of my conversation. So strange.
We spend about two days in Cochabamba figuring things out, sending materials that we had already purchased to Piriquina and Taconi, repacking, etc. We stayed at the Hotel Monserrat (EWB always does when we're in Cochabamba) and luckily they are very accommodating and allowed us to check out late (as we did every single time haha) and then hang around the hotel waiting to leave later in the day. We did do our frrst touristy advenure and go up to the “Big Jesus”, which is a giant statue on top of a large hill in the middle of Cochabamba. The road up to the top was cobbled, which was too similar to rural roads for my taste, but the view of the city was fantastic. Buildings are all several stories tall and the roads are narrow, so you can't actually see more than a block or two away when you're walking around, but the city is actually huge and very pretty from a distance. (Unfortunately it's kind of gross and covered in trash when you look close). We then took a gondola down the mountain, mostly because it was awesome and walking in the hot weather wasn't super appealing, but there were also rather entertaining signs warming us that if we took the stairs, we would get mugged. We exited the gondola into an entertaining playground/park/series of (dry) fountains and spend a while playing and imagining how dangerous it actually would be for kids to play there: cracks in the concrete, weird pieces of rebar sticking out of the ground by a jungle gym, broken swings, and somewhat sharp pieces of metal welded on to the edge of the monkey bars. Welcome to Bolivia. Also we enjoyed nerding out and talking about the 63mm HDPE pipe that was laying around for irrigation. (We bought some 50mm for our project!) We then packed up all our stuff and went to the airport for a flight to La Paz and a trip to Lake Titicaca! More to come soon on that story and the other adventures we've had so far!
Here's the short story, since all the details have a) gotten jumbled in my head and b) would take forever to explain because they are so ridiculous. Basically, EWB UW started working in Yanayo, another small, rural community, six years ago. We paid two people, who I will name Juan and Marie, there to do extra work for us (translating, cooking, facilitating, and generally helping. Marie's husband, Diablo (can you see where this is going?) is an alcoholic sociopath who decided he did not what Marie making more money than him and working with Juan so much because rumors had started about them having an affair. So, he beat one of his children, burned down Juan's house, and got mad at EWB/Donee. He has also since claimed Marie and EWB have stolen from him and tried to kill him, which are petty ludicrous accusations. Unfotunately, it turns out he's an extremely charastatic person who is connected to what seems like every person in the Bolivian governent (including the President!) and many people owe him favors. Diablo threatened to file a denuncio (I think that would be denunciation in English) against our organization, which would, I believe, get us kicked out of the country and prevent us from working here again. Obviously this was a bit of a problem so after all sorts of conversations with people in various communities and with many lawyers, Donee met with Diablo, local community leaders, and the mayor of the province we were in, and wanted a guarantee that we would be able to work free from the threat of a denuncio. The leaders of the communities/mayor were only willing to help gaurntee our ability to work this summer but not in the future (Diablo can file this denuncio any time in the next two years) and since we were not willing to stay there and work without this gurantee, the mayor told us to leave. So, we had a brief midnight group meeting, packed up all of our tents, and drove the four hours back to Cochabamba. It's kind of a bummer but this kind of thing can happen in a developing country with corrupt government officials. Ten out of the eleven of us paid exorbitant fees to American Airlines (MY LEAST FAVORITE AIRLINE COMPAY) to come home sooner since we are all a bit tired. All ten of us, with in the span of three hours or so, called the same customer service number to change our ticket and we all received wildly different information regarding flight availabilities and cost. It was absolutely ridiclus. I did, however, somehow manage to get a flight on the 14th (in business class!) even though there weren't any open seats that day at the beginning of my conversation. So strange.
We spend about two days in Cochabamba figuring things out, sending materials that we had already purchased to Piriquina and Taconi, repacking, etc. We stayed at the Hotel Monserrat (EWB always does when we're in Cochabamba) and luckily they are very accommodating and allowed us to check out late (as we did every single time haha) and then hang around the hotel waiting to leave later in the day. We did do our frrst touristy advenure and go up to the “Big Jesus”, which is a giant statue on top of a large hill in the middle of Cochabamba. The road up to the top was cobbled, which was too similar to rural roads for my taste, but the view of the city was fantastic. Buildings are all several stories tall and the roads are narrow, so you can't actually see more than a block or two away when you're walking around, but the city is actually huge and very pretty from a distance. (Unfortunately it's kind of gross and covered in trash when you look close). We then took a gondola down the mountain, mostly because it was awesome and walking in the hot weather wasn't super appealing, but there were also rather entertaining signs warming us that if we took the stairs, we would get mugged. We exited the gondola into an entertaining playground/park/series of (dry) fountains and spend a while playing and imagining how dangerous it actually would be for kids to play there: cracks in the concrete, weird pieces of rebar sticking out of the ground by a jungle gym, broken swings, and somewhat sharp pieces of metal welded on to the edge of the monkey bars. Welcome to Bolivia. Also we enjoyed nerding out and talking about the 63mm HDPE pipe that was laying around for irrigation. (We bought some 50mm for our project!) We then packed up all our stuff and went to the airport for a flight to La Paz and a trip to Lake Titicaca! More to come soon on that story and the other adventures we've had so far!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
