One Hell Of A Week

Juan and I didn’t spend too much time in Jujuy, just enough to sample some wonderful regional dishes (picante de llama, pastel de quinoa, empanadas) and explore the town and archeology museum.  Jujuy is rich in culture and colours, reminding us of Salta and getting us very excited for what we would discover in Bolivia.  

We certainly did have one hell of a week and it started in Jujuy as we tried to leave our hostel to catch our 7:30am bus to the border.  We had told the people running the hostel that we had to be out of the hostel at 7am, but when the time came the place was dark, silent and we were locked in!  Not being able to find the lights, I pulled out a flashlight and started rummaging through drawers while Juan tried to find someone to let us out.  Luckily I found the right keys and opened the door just as a very sleepy employee came down to see what all the fuss was about.  She seemed a little annoyed that we had woken her, but we didn’t pay her much heed as we rushed out the door to catch our bus.

Tupiza

The bus ride to the border of Bolivia was spectacular, passing through the Quebrada de Humahuaca, rich with colours on the rocks from mineral deposits similar to those we saw a little further down in Salta.  We had front row panoramic seats on the bus so it was nice to enjoy the view without having to pay for an excursion.  Once at the border (La Quiaca – Argentine side, Villazon – Bolivian side, separated by a shallow creek) we had to walk a little ways to reach immigration.  We waited in line for some time while Bolivians/Argentines bypassed us to our bewilderment, and Kelly noticed some locals “sneaking” under a fence to cross the border – cops in sight.  We finally made it to the front of the line and seconds later we were welcomed to Bolivia.  “That’s it?!”, we asked.  No searching for bags or filling out visa forms?  We walked about 100 meters and then stopped to try to figure out where the bus terminal was, when a police man approached us and asked where we were going, while also asking for our documents.  Looking very annoyed he asked if we were planning to go through immigration.   Apparently we were on our way to entering HIS country illegally heading for a big fine.  The little nameless shack beside him was “obviously” the Bolivian immigration office, which we had to pass through. There were no gates, no line-ups anywhere, no signs, no checks and hoards of people were walking by carefree.  That was our welcome to Bolivia.

Despite our rude welcome to Bolivia, it has been quite a treat to be here.  We have had some of our best and worst times here already and it’s only been about a week.  We started our adventures in Tupiza, the site of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s demise as they plummeted off a cliff.  I know our generation probably isn’t very familiar with these names, but I know our parents are!  To get to Tupiza from the border we took a shared taxi/transport van instead of the bus.  We had already been traveling since leaving Jujuy and we knew the van would be much faster than the bus.  Tupiza is a nice enough town with good restaurants, accommodations, some hiking trails and a lookout, but really it is just a launching off point for people who are intending to do the 3-night, 4-day tour of the salt flats.  Having done the salt flats in Argentina and not wanting to spend the big bucks for the tour we just used Tupiza as a resting point before continuing our travels to La Paz (though if you are planning to travel to Bolivia and Argentina we recommend that you do the salt flats in Bolivia – they are much more spectacular).  This is when we came to our next hurdle…the blockade.  We read that in Bolivia you are bound to encounter protests and blockades – its just part of the culture – and it’s true.  We were on our way to buy our train tickets to Oruro, when we saw that the bus station and all incoming roads to town were blockaded with taxis.  Luckily the protesters had agreed to let the trains continue running so we knew we would be able to get out that evening.  I should mention what the blockade was for.  Juan talked to some of the protesters and we learned that the Bolivian government is putting a law in place that would enforce all public transportation vehicles 12 years or older to be replaced with newer models…possibly to help cut down on pollution (which is a serious issue here) or to increase consumption (we’re not sure).  The law is good when it comes to the environment, but these people are very poor and the government is not offering any incentives to help people get rid of older vehicles or buy newer models…hence the blockade.   

One Street in Tupiza affected by the blockade

I (Juan) had never been on a long distance train before so I was pretty excited.  That soon wore off since the ride was pretty bumpy, loud, and it was pretty damn cold in there! The movies soothed my discomfort but I probably had the worst attempt of sleep in my life.  We passed mostly barren landscape with distant mountains in the background, and 15 hours later we arrived in Oruro.  With just enough time to have lunch we caught a bus to La Paz, probably one of the most memorable.  About half way there we encountered a blockade.  “Oh boy, what now!?  Back to Oruro?”  Thankfully our driver was pretty gung-ho and though most passengers whined, we all pitched in 2 pesos and begun our off-road excursion in an attempt to find a way around the blockade.  Crossing creeks, narrow bridges, dodging other vehicles wanting to block our path, and unloading so that the bus would clear some trenches we finally made our way out.  For some reason Kelly and I were the only ones to clap upon our escape.

La Paz

We arrived in La Paz dead tired with only just enough energy to drop off our laundry and eat some empanadas.  Back at our hostel we napped and checked our e-mails, and then I found out my good friend Leith was actually here in La Paz!  He’d been working here as a mountain bike guide for about a year but his term had ended late in May.  From La Paz he flew to Kenya to go on a walking safari with his dad for a couple of weeks.  I had assumed he’d fly back to Winnipeg and that we had missed him altogether, but as it turned out he was flying back to La Paz before heading back to Winnipeg, and the two days he was stopping over coincided with our stay!  What luck!  Though Kelly and I could barely fathom going out after our marathon journey to La Paz we managed to hook up at “the best bowling alley in South America”, as Leith put it – 2 lanes, and 1 lazy hombre doing the machine’s work of putting up and arranging the pins after each bowl.  Leith was there with some co-workers and friends but we arrived there too late to participate in the bowling.  They then took us to a happening hostel bar and then an even more happening regular bar where we caught up and shared many-a-drink.  It was a little surreal seeing him after both of us being away for so long, but like any good friend it felt like we never missed a beat.  The next day Leith was off to Winnipeg and the reality of us following him in less than a month began to hit home.  With very little time, we realized we had to pack in as much as possible. 

La Paz with Mt. Illimani (6402m) in the background

La Paz sits 3,660 metres above sea level and is a densely packed teeming city with constant traffic and jam-packed streets.  It’s overwhelming walking down the streets as blue/black smoke from passing buses assaults your senses and people ask you for money or push past you in their hurry.  At the same time, there are some amazing plazas, architecture and pedestrian areas to enjoy and regain some of your sanity.  I must admit I haven’t had as much of a chance to really enjoy or get to know this city as Juan or others have.  I fell violently ill with food poisoning the second night we were here and then got sick again a couple days later with what? - I have no idea.  Somehow in the midst of all my sickness I managed to pop an Imodium and join Juan in a down-hill mountain bike adventure down The World’s Most Dangerous Road (aka Death Road), which took us on a 4 hour ride from La Paz to La Senda Verde, an animal sanctuary near Coroico that rescues animals from the black market or from abuse.  It is home to a variety of monkeys, birds, a coati, a taira, an alligator, many turtles and one Andean bear.  We stayed the night in La Senda Verde, enjoying the warm climate, the animals and quiet of the sanctuary.  

The mountain bike ride down Death Road was both exhilarating and terrifying.  We started at 4700 metres, bundled up in winter jackets and long underwear, and by the bottom at 1100 metres it was practically a jungle and we were down to our shorts and t-shirts.  The bikes were heavy, fat-tired full-suspension beasts that can only be ridden down hill.  We started on the new paved road to get the hang of the bikes and the speed but soon changed to the old, little-trafficked gravel road with an ever-present cliff on one side, sometimes hidden by vegetation.  I (Juan) completely love downhill mountain biking and quickly had a huge smile speeding down at 65km/h at times.  Kelly went down a little slower but conquered her fears and we and the other 14 or so bikers made it down wipeout free.  I have to say that the ride on the bus back to La Paz was waaay more scary than biking down.  Going down you are just concentrated on what’s ahead on the road, trying to avoid “baby heads” (rocks), keeping a fair distance from the rider ahead, and occasionally looking at one’s surroundings, but on the bus we really had a chance to look around, and sheer drop-offs were everywhere!  It didn’t help that the guide would point out where big accidents and deaths had occurred along the way.  19 bikers have plummeted to their doom since 2001, the most recent was only19 days before.  Having known this we both would have gone a tad slower.   But before we headed back up the road the next day we did some zip-lining across the valley near La Senda Verde.  It was Kelly’s first time and she loved it.  We went across three lines averaging 500m and reaching some 80km/h – I thought my contacts would pop out from the wind force!  It was quite the action-packed couple of days.

 

Back in La Paz, as mentioned, Kelly got sick again and spent her time resting and watching movies at the hostel.  We had planned to be back in La Paz for Sunday night to go watch “Cholitas Wrestling” so we had to make an executive decision for me to go without her.  I’d never actually watched live wrestling before but this was some spectacle!  Traitor referees joining in the match, luchadors getting thrown into the crowd, mandarins and popcorn being thrown at the wrestlers, stray dogs sniffing around below the ring, cholitas (traditionally dressed women) fighting the men and performing high-flying acrobatics, and dancing skeletons.  Hilarious!  I took lots of pictures so Kelly felt like she’d been there beside me.

Yes, it was a crazy week.  I (Kelly) felt like superwoman going down that mountain after just having food poisoning the day before and then come Sunday I felt like a weakling, getting sick yet again.  But we had one of the best weekends of our trip here in Bolivia and we’re looking forward to more fun before heading back to Argentina on July 4^th. 

Ciao!

Kelly and Juan