Day 26 – Journey to La Paz
Checked out of the hotel at latest possible 1000 time since the only but to La Paz I was told departed at 1330 so I had some time to kill. Stowed my mochila and headed into the street where a man was shouting Sale La Paz, Sale La Paz. I flew back into place grabbed the backpack and gestured wildly that I wanted on that bus. He kept saying another at 1130 but no, there were still seats left, no time like the present. He opened the luggage hatch and told me to run around the otherside and board. As the bus obviously running late at 1010 started rolling I heard someon shouted ERRINNNNN down the calle. Que? It was the couple from Lonfg Island I was going to school with. Would have loved to catch up but hey all my life was rolling away in the belly of the bus so I waved and jumped on board.
The scenary between copa and La Paz was incredible once again. Fanatastic, views of Lake Titacaca from up high. The colors would change from emerald green in a narrow cove to carribean blue in the wide open. The lake has an odd quality of reflecting the sky and clouds even though it is not completely still, it is mirage like. At one point, the road descnded and everyone got off. Huh. Guess I should have read the guide book a little closer because I had no idea why the driver was gesturing me towards a ticket booth until he started rolling the bus on a rickety barge and cruising across the strait. So I bought a ticket, jumped on a boat with the rest of the bus pax and we rivaled the bus in a race across the water. At the other side, we jumped back on baord and continued on our way.
Only 5% of the road on Bolivia are paved. I am guessing the road we were on was considered on of them but that is a matter of opinion. At one point in its life, large roacks had been laid as a base but it had not been tarred since “Adam was a boy” (as my mother would say). The pathetic blacktop was worn and cracked ,broken unevenly at the edges and there were rather deep potholes. The driver overcame these obstacles by driving on the wrong side of the road for most of the trip to avoid the holes but was considerate enough to beep and warn traffic when going around blind curves. Yeah. Again a 3 hour ride for $2, one has no basis to complain.
Along the road, communities worked digging drainage ditches, presumably a public works projects to provide community work and improve the road. It is a strange sight to see women in layered petticoats and skirts wielding a pickax to dig trenches. While I am all for job equality, I am afraid these women did not rally on the forefront of breaking traditional job roles in Bolivia but rather are forced to participate in manual, backbreaking labor in order to bring some, whatever small, bit of food back to their families in the evening.
Entering La Paz, the pavement disappeared altogether and a dusty, one lane road becamea leap frog for buses and trucks to compete of who would go. I am hoping that was roadworks and not a permanent situation. The city sits in a depression of the mountains. From the highway at 4100 meters, we wound and descended into the bowels of the massive city. Houses and building as far as one could see form bottom to top of cliffs. It seems even bigger than NYC would be if you stuck it in a similar bowl. We were dropped in the middle of nowhere and I walked up to the tourist police to request a cab. His presence was a pleasant surprise until the women next to me stated that 2 english tourists were killed last month taking a non radio cab from the bus station so they stationed patrols. Alrightie then, I asked where the people next to me were going and informed them their hotel sounded as good as any and I would be cabbing along with them!
Tags: Travel
dunlewey
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