BootsnAll Travel Network
Add this blog to: MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines, RSS


Playing with water and foam

March 22nd, 2006

I called Elvis from the bus station…he had been waiting around in a nearby market since 6:00 and said he would be there in 5 minutes…and he was.  He offered that I could stay at his house, which was great, would save me more money, and would also give me a chance to see what a house looks like in Bolivia.  He lived in a neighborhood that was a good ways out of town…I was definitely the only foreigner around.  His “house” was one room…a whole bunch of rooms surrounding a courtyard with a shared bathroom.  There was also a communal kitchen, but Elvis said he didn’t have access to it.  I don’t think he knows how to cook, anyway.  There was also a communal flower garden and corn patch in the courtyard. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | No Comments »

Tags: ,

What the hell is a bus terminal usage fee?

March 21st, 2006

I waited until 1:00 for Alejandro, but he never showed up so I went into the city myself.  Santa Cruz seemed much richer and cosmopolitan than anything I’d seen for a while…the houses were larger, fenced in, people drove Land Rover-type SUVs, and there were shops like GAP and Victoria’s Secret (Secretos de Victoria).  The city was cute, but was almost a bit much…the differences between the rich and the poor were striking.  There were your traditional women with apron and skirt, long braided hair, but also your typical urban material-loving faction, the latter owning the heart of the city. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | 1 Comment »

Tags: ,

Little Happy Clapping Den

March 20th, 2006

I woke up the next morning with the feeling that we were in the home stretch…I was told we would arrive sometime that night, which would prove interesting since the port was a ways away from town and, supposedly, getting a taxi or some sort of mobility (as it was called) would be difficult, if not impossible at night.  I had breakfast and went back to my hammock, where I was stung five times by some sort of hornet or wasp…once in the foot, twice in the boob, and twice in the stomach.  Dammit!  Agh!  At least it was sunny again…I laid and slept in my hammock most of the morning and rinsed out some clothes in the river in the afternoon, the sun drying them quicker than you can imagine. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | No Comments »

Tags: ,

Still on the boat…

March 19th, 2006

Somehow we managed to avoid rain the whole night.  Breakfast was fritos (fried flour and cheese) and coffee.  Around 10am, it started raining…first it was just a little…tarp maintenance was pretty important.  Since the rain accumulates on the tarp, you have to use a stick or some sort of implement and poke the rain off.  So, we stood there, under our tarps, maintaining them for a while.  I watched one guy, Rodney, fill his cup from the tarp run-off and drink it (I later found out this is where our drinking water came from…I was told it was better than the water from the river).  Then came the wind.  A huge gust of wind blew nearly all the tarps from their secure positions…mine ripped down the middle as I was trying to get the water off of it.  People started running to shelter on the main boat, children, cushions, clothes in hand…it was crazy. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | 1 Comment »

Tags: ,

Settling in to my new life on a cargo boat

March 18th, 2006

On the boat, I staked out a spot under a truck…it was a low-rider, and would prove to be interesting. Valentin offered to go buy me a tarp, but everything was closed for lunch. The boat didn’t leave for a few hours, and we eventually found a place that was open, so I did get some tarp. On the boat, Valentin and my new neighbor, Miller, helped me hang it up…I scrapped the under-the-truck idea and found an open area to hang my hammock, with tarp overhead, and extension of a row of tarp. This would be my little home for the next 6 days, rain or shine. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | No Comments »

Tags: ,

Bolivia, you are everything I ever wanted in a travel partner

March 16th, 2006

So, I was extremely nervous to go to Bolivia…weird. I reluctantly walked to the dock and bought my ticket to cross the river into Bolivia. The boat pulled right up, I got on, and we crossed. A man exchanging money waved me over and told me to sit. I sat, thanking him, probably in Portuguese. He asked here I was from, and I answered, all the time fumbling through my Spanish/Portuguese mix. He was extremely nice…answered all my questions about where the immigration office was and how I could get out of Guayaramirim, all while complementing my Spanish (hilarious, but nice words of encouragement). I thanked him as he shook my hand and pointed me in the direction of immigration. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Bolivia | 1 Comment »

Tags: ,

A few last notes on Brazil

March 16th, 2006

I was headed back to Porto Velho. We stopped in the next big town and I was told we had 20 minutes, so I got off to grab a bite to eat. As I was standing there, our bus pulled off, so I ran after it, but they waved over in some direction, as if to indicate everything is ok. I assumed the bus was getting cleaned, but then got nervous when the bus never came back and everyone started to get on another bus. I had pretty much come to terms with the fact that I had lost everything I had (except the important stuff, which I had on me), and thought, well, maybe this is a good thing…I don’t need all that stuff anyway. However, I was quite relieved to find out everything had been transferred to the new bus. Why go with nothing if you don’t need to? Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Brazil | No Comments »

Tags: ,

A sizeable gash…and a heartbreaker

March 15th, 2006

The night ended soon after my Big Bang. We all filed downstairs to our hammocks, and Fábio gave me his blanket to sleep with, which I tried to resist, to no avail. The next morning, I laid in my hammock forever, before finally getting up to go to the bathroom. There was a line, but I took a minute to look in the mirror. Ah! The gauze was completely full of blood! No wonder everyone was looking at me really freaked-out like. I went back to my hammock, brought out my trusty first aid kit and cleaned myself up with a nice, clean gauze, much smaller than the last one. I also got a good look, for the first time. Ick. It was pretty ugly…split open right on the bottom of my chin, nice and swollen – a sizeable gash. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Brazil | No Comments »

Tags: ,

A boat ride that ends with a BANG

March 14th, 2006

I had gotten to the boat a little later than I wanted…there were a good amount of hammocks already up, but not nearly as many as there would be.  I wanted to find a space where I was not really landing on top of anyone – even though it’s common practice, I’d rather not be the one to initiate it.  I did find one good spot, slung up my hammock, and sat in it to read until we left.  The dock was kicking, playing all sorts of great Brazilian hits (it’s not hard to learn them all), and I heard a song that I liked, so I started up a conversation with the guy next to me to ask what the song was.  This was Fábio. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Brazil | No Comments »

Tags: ,

Warm Belly Water

March 13th, 2006

I made it back to the hotel without any spewing-in-cab incidents, which is always a good thing.  Soon after arriving, though, I came to realize that the Sprite I drank in an effort to calm my stomach did not do the trick, but was glad to be throwing up in the comfort of my own hotel now.  I found on my bed a note from Vanessa, telling me that my police buddy showed up that morning and was slow to leave, even with her refusal to speak Portuguese to him.  He also drew me a map of the Amazon river with the three main cities along the river (trust me, this was the most generic map you’ve ever seen…like drawing a map of the States, labeling New York, Chicago, and LA, as if that explains everything).  I turned the lights off (for once, glad for no windows in a hotel room), and tried to sleep. Continue reading this entry »

Posted in Brazil, Travel | No Comments »

Tags: , ,
« Previous Page — « Previous Entries
Next Entries » — Next Page »