November 16, 2005
¡Bloqueo!
“Something is happening,” Em said as she shook me awake at one o’clock in the morning.
As I opened my eyes I felt a bit like we were in a scene from The Road Warrior. Although it was the middle of the night, the desolate desert landscape was partially illuminated by the headlights of buses and semi-trucks that seemed to be circling all around us. It was hard to tell whether people were coming or going, or even if people knew what direction they were heading in at all. Off in the distance I saw tires burning on a paved road. We had reached the road-block.
The bus drivers themselves were not exactly emanating confidence as I kept hearing the driver ask his assistant “What do we do? What do we do?”. I was having a hard time believing that we were out in the middle of nowhere in the salt-plains of Bolivia and I was relying on these two guys to get us back to civilization.
It was hard to tell what was going on but we started to put two and two together. The people who were supposed to be making sure that no one got by the blockade by night had turned into guides that would lead us past using an alternate route for a fee. Our bus started to follow a semi-truck that carried one of the guides.
We made our way along a very rough service road that paralleled a gas line. Keep in mind we were in a greyhound type bus not meant for off-roading but that is exactly what we were doing. We would stop for up to 30 minutes at a time while the driver and the guide ahead would get out to survey the road ahead to make sure the bus would make it.
Two hours later we emerged on the other side of the blockade. Getting back on the highway was a difficult task. I thought the bus was about to tip and the woman next to us started praying to God that we would make it. Thanks to the driver we did. Once back on the road we were again cruising along at 60 miles per hour past a mile long line of buses and trucks that were held up in the other direction. I drifted back to sleep for a few hours.
When I woke up it was daylight and we were heading along at a good clip. During the day we stopped in small dusty towns such as Uyuni, Tupiza, and a few more. At one point the coca leaves were unloaded and Em got some pictures to remember the trip. At about 5:00pm we pulled into Villazón where there were swarms of people waiting for us outside trying to sell bus tickets.
We picked a kid that looked honest that said he could get us tickets to Salto or to Buenos Aires. Although a commission was involved we decided to pay it. In return not only did we get tickets to Buenos Aires but Victor helped us find an ATM, get the bus tickets, and find a hotel with hot showers and a restaurant where we could stay for a few hours before our bus left at midnight.
Once we were in the hotel I found a phone across the street and called Nacho. I told him that we were in La Quiaca and would be in Buenos Aires by Friday morning. From there we could catch a bus to Mar de Plata or Miramar.
After showering and putting on some clean clothes (our backpacks by the way were absolutely covered with dust after the ride through Bolivia) we headed to the restaurant to eat. It was about 7:50pm and I asked if there was a special. There was for a good price, but the waiter told us that we couldn’t get it until 8:30. I was hungry so I asked him to bring a menu so we could get something else. “No,” he replied “the kitchen isn’t open until 8:30. You have to wait that long to get any food” They eat late here apparently. I ordered a large Quilmes to hold me over for 40 minutes.
At midnight we were on the bus to Buenos Aires which was a considerable upgrade from our last bus in Bolivia. You can almost lie down in the seats. Good thing as we will be on this bus for the next 30 hours!
We were stopped at the immigration offices a few minutes outside of town. The head guy was cocky 25-year-old kid who was literally smoking and chewing gum at the same time while he interrogated the Bolivians on the bus heading into Argentina. The guy seemed worse than immigration officials in the U.S. Even if the person had their papers all in order, the guy would make him show his hands, looking for calluses, and then bring him into a back room for further questioning. When he saw our U.S. passports he used it as an opportunity to show off his English. “Go to the bus” was all he said. Forty-five minutes later everyone was aboard and we were heading south.
Posted by Peter Mork at 2:08 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 15, 2005
Touring La Paz
With more time than we expected in la Paz we used the day to catch up on email and tour the city. La Paz is like any other busy capital except that here it is extremely common to see women in traditional Andean clothing walking down the sidewalk in the business district next to people in suits.
Once again, we ran into Tilman and Iris, the German couple that we originally met a in Machu Picchu, and then saw again at our hotel in Copacabana. They were in the same predicament as us, as they had tickets on the train that had been cancelled. We all walked around the city for a bit before they headed back to their hotel. Em and I explored some local markets where she bought a new scarf and down the street we ate at a small local restaurant.. The prices here are incredible cheap.
At 7:30 we had made it to the bus station and waited outside for about 40 bags of coca leaves to be loaded onto the roof of the bus. I asked Maria, who had stayed with us to make sure we got on the right bus, where all the coca leaves were headed.
“Argentina,” she replied.
“What happens to them there?” I asked. “That is the problem” she stated as she shrugged her shoulders. Truthfully, I though, the problem is that the U.S. is waging a ludicrous billion dollar war on this tiny plant. The results are that we drive the price of coca higher and higher creating more incentives for people in the countryside to produce it. The other consequence is that it drives people like Evo Morales right into power.
At 8:30 the crowded bus finally departed and I was soon asleep after listening to a few economics lectures on my MP3 player.
Posted by Peter Mork at 2:04 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 14, 2005
Train Route Blocked
After breakfast at a good café I tried for the 3rd time to get a hold of the lady who was supposed to drop off our train tickets at the hotel. I just kept getting a message machine and it was just a computerized voice that was telling me to leave a message at the beep. It really didn’t sound like a travel agency.
Em and I walked to where the office was supposedly located but it didn’t exist and the security guard out-front had never heard of the place. I headed into an internet café and found another address a few blocks away, but when I arrived at the location I found another deserted building.
At this point I was getting nervous so I tracked down the number of the agent in Copacabana who had been extremely helpful. He assured me it was fine and we would have our tickets soon. I hoped so.
When I finally did get a hold of the lady she told me there were some complications with a new blockade that had been set up in the south. She said that she would meet us at our hotel at six o’clock and would either have the tickets for us or could refund our money and give us other options.
With time to kill we went and saw Zorro II. It was fun seeing a movie in a place other than a bus for the first time since Mexico. After the movie we headed back to the hotel and met with the travel agent Maria. It turns out that the train has been cancelled as people are blocking the tracks. I found out that they are protesting due to redistricting where the group lost a representative in their Congress. They say they won’t let traffic through until they get a representative back. Either way it didn’t look like it would be resolved soon. This sounded like a method of protesting that happens frequently in Bolivia.
Maria explained that there are two buses that leave tomorrow that can get us to the border. One leaves at one in the afternoon, while the other leaves at seven o’clock at night. She said we had a better chance at getting through with the later bus, something I didn’t fully understand, but at this point we are running out of options and she assured me it was safe. Tomorrow she said she would meet us at six at the hotel and personally take us to the bus station. Sounded like a plan as our friend Nacho’s parents anniversary in Miramar, Argentina is fast approaching.
Posted by Peter Mork at 2:02 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 13, 2005
La Paz
This afternoon the travel agent that we bought the both the train and bus tickets from showed up at the hotel to make sure that we made it to the bus. On the way down he let us know that they were out of the “Salon” seats on the train so they had upgraded us to “Executivo” free of charge. Looks like we will be traveling fist class on the train.
The best part of the bus ride was when we crossed part of the Lake Titicaca. All of the passengers had to exit the bus and jump on a boat to cross to the other side of the lake. As for the bus which still had all our packs on it, it too boarded a rickety long wooden boat and made it across the waterway. The photos are going to do it more justice than my descriptions.
You get a great view of the city driving into La Paz. Although the city is the highest capital in the world, it is actually located in a valley and is surrounded by steep mountain peaks. Once we were dropped off at the bus station we bought tickets for Oruro where the train will be departing. It is about a 3 hour ride and the tickets were about $3.
We found a decent hotel right off Plaza San Pedro. On the way to the hotel we shared a taxi with a woman whose bus had to return to La Paz after being held up at a road block. They had paid a guy to get them around the blockade but a tire on the bus went flat. They tried to make it through on foot to where another bus was going to pick them up but for some reason eventually had to take a bus back to La Paz. She said when they passed the bus they were originally on, they saw that someone had shattered the windows with rocks in retaliation for trying to get past.
The hotel was located right off a nice plaza but it wasn’t until we had checked into our rooms that we realized that the famous San Pedro prison was also located on the plaza about 100 yards from our hotel. According to the guidebook it used to be the most “bizarre tourist attraction on earth” as inmates gave tours of the place for small fees in order to make money to eat. That came to an end after prison riots a year or two back. The owner of the hotel confirmed the stories and warned us not to try to bribe our way in… something we weren’t planning on doing anyways.
After dinner we were entertained by a Bolivian reality TV show called “Prohibido Mentir” (i.e. You Can’t Lie). This was no “Fear Factor”, it featured a candidate for the presidency for the upcoming December elections along with his VP. I thought they were going to strap them in and make them take a lie detector test, but in truth it was just a series of “tough” questions as they stared at themselves in a mirror and suspenseful music played in the background. A sample question: What kind of man do you see in the mirror? A capitalist?
When they began to ask both candidates about their current salaries, the tension in the room started to increase. The vice-presidential candidate was ready for it though and proudly proclaimed that while he did make good money as a doctor, he did not own anything. The host pressed him and asked if he owned a home. Nope, he rented it from a brother-in-law. A car? No again. He borrowed one from another family member. Karl Marx would be proud.
Shockingly, this political party is to the right of front-runner Evo Morales’ Movemiento al Socialismo. All of the three major candidates are running on platforms that flirt with nationalizing the natural gas industry. This television show and its antics might all be funny if one of these guys wasn’t about to take the reins of a major country. I guess we’ll see what happens come December. (Update 1/3/06: Evo Morales won with over 50% of the vote giving him an outright majority in his new government.)
Posted by Peter Mork at 1:58 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 12, 2005
Exploring the Town
Today we started the day switching rooms at the hotel as it the great room we were in had been booked for Saturday night. They put us in another room in the main building. While not the suite it still worked out great.
In town we bought train tickets from a local travel agent to get from La Paz to Villazon, in essence the border with Argentina. We had heard from the German couple we had met that that there was a road blockade at the border but he told us that it had been resolved. As of now we’re leaving at on the 3:30pm train from Oruro, a town a few hours south east of La Paz.
In the afternoon, alongside Bolivians of all ages, we hiked up the mountain behind our hotel to a monument. It was another somewhat strenuous hike but we were rewarded with some more fabulous views of the lake. Interestingly, also at the top there were several people selling plastic houses and cars. I thought they were toys for kids but later in the night we would find out from the same German couple. They walked up right at dusk and when they reached the top people were blowing up the plastic houses and toys with fireworks. Supposedly, it was some sort of religious ceremony that was supposed to bring good luck (i.e. blow up a plastic house and it would help you get a real one).
After dinner we called it a night. Tomorrow it is off to La Paz.
Posted by Peter Mork at 1:52 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 11, 2005
Recovering in Copacabana
Today was a laid back day. We basically just enjoyed our nice hotel room with the view and explored the town a bit.
This morning I called home to let my mom know that we had made it to Bolivia. It was hilarious. As soon as I got in the phone booth I was joined by about seven five-year-olds. They stayed for the whole conversation and talked to each other about how the phone worked.
Back at the room we caught up on some writing. With all the traveling we have really fallen behind. Being sick doesn’t help either. Tonight for dinner we had fondue at the restaurant at the hotel. There was lots of food and only $10 for both of us. You can’t beat that. At dinner we also ran into the same German couple, Tilman and Iris, that we had hiked Huachu Picchu with. It seems like a lot of tourists are following same route through Peru and Bolivia, and everyone has their Lonely Planet.
The power went out as there was a huge lightning storm as we were going to bed. We stayed up for a bit with candles but eventually just called it a night as we watched lightening bolts strike all over the lake from our bed.
Posted by Peter Mork at 1:48 PM | Comments | TrackBack
November 10, 2005
A Long Ride Into Bolivia
We woke up as the bus was arriving in Puno. Soon we were off the bus and the agent was desperately trying to find us another bus to get us to Copacabana, Bolivia. After an hour or so she found one and we had our tickets in hand.
We reached the border at about 9:00 and it was easy enough. Border crossings are getting easier and easier. There were quite a few tourists who you could tell it was their first time. When we were getting our Bolivian stamps several people had to walk back into Peru to get an exit stamp because they didn’t know they needed one. Also, a girl with both a British and Australian passport had a fit because the immigration officer made her fill out a new form because she used her Australian passport but had put her nationality as British on all her original form. It didn’t seem like an outlandish request to me but she wasn’t happy.
It was only another 8km to Copacobana where we will be staying for at least the next 2 days. We picked out the best hotel in the Lonely Planet guide under the “Splurge!” section. We need it. I’ve also had a stomach virus for the last few days and I need some R&R time.
We walked up to the Cupula Hotel which sat at the base of a hill overlooking gigantic Lake Titicaca. It turned out the only room they had left was the honeymoon suite. When I asked how much it was the guy seemed embarrassed when he said it would be $32 a night. I understood why. On our way up to the hotel there were guys offering rooms for $5 a night. We said we wanted to take a look at it and decide. Behind us another couple had just arrived with backpacks and it was obvious they were going to take it if we turned it down.
Once we walked into the room we were was sold. The owner of the place happened to be there and he showed us around. Take a look at some of the pictures of the place on our photo page. There are huge stained glass windows looking directly out towards the lake. We also have a few hammocks and a table right outside. For $32 a night you couldn’t get a Motel 6 in the U.S. and looking at it like that we both decided it was a great deal.
He left the key and I headed out to a hammock to test it out. We are at such high elevation in Bolivia´s altiplano
We had dinner at the hotel tonight. It was the first thing I had eaten in 24 hours. Hopefully, I’ll start feeling better soon. After dinner we retired to our room and got a good night’s sleep.