Bummin' it in Bolivia

Hola!  I'm gonna warn you right away that this post is going to be a bit boring because we were big lazy bums in Bolivia...

From Calama, Chile we got up at 5am for our 6am bus ride to Uyuni, Bolivia.  When we got to the bus that morning I immediately became nervous.  Every single passenger had big, huge, thick blankets with them.  It was freezing out, but I was hoping the bus would be heated.  Everyone else knew better.  By the time we got to Uyuni I thought I had for sure lost a couple fingers and toes to frost bite.   There was no road from Calama to Uyuni.  We just cruised through the desert, which to the dismay of our respiratory systems meant a lot of dust coming in the bus.  Shawn and I used our eye masks to cover our noses and mouths to try to keep from breathing in all the dust.  When we got off the bus in Bolivia we were covered from head to toe in dirt.

At the border of Chile and Bolivia the Bolivian immigration would not stamp us in because there was, yet again, another reciprocal fee.  This time it was $135 each.  For some reason they wouldn't take our money at the border and told us to get our visas in Uyuni.  Since Bolivians aren't concerned with time and/or business, we were illegal for like 3 days until the office decided to open.

Uyuni is a dead, dirty, and dusty little nothing town that I doubt anyone would visit if it wasn't for Salar de Uyuni- the worlds largest salt flat, which is about 25 km from the town.  We took a day tour of Salar de Uyuni, which was really cool, but after that we were quick to get out of town.

Ok, bear with me, in case someone comes across this post because they're reading about going between Uyuni and La Paz, or in case any of you visit Bolivia, please please do yourself a favor and do not take the bus between Uyuni and La Paz!!!!  It was, by far, the WORST bus ride of our 9 months on the road.  It was a 12 hr overnight bus ride, which we are very much used to, but for the first half of the trip we drove on rocks.  We were shaking in our seats so violently that I thought my brain was going to shake loose and start oozing out of my ears.  Sorry if that's a bit grotesque, but I'm not kidding.  It was so so bad.  Then the second half of the trip was so cold that sleeping was impossible-- and they even provided blankets.  Please, just take the train.  Take the train.  Take the train.

In La Paz we enjoyed a few days of getting winded zigzagging around the very steep cobblestone streets looking at all the cool handicrafts.  We also found this great restaurant that had a really amazing salad bar and so we ate there a couple times.  The 2nd time we were in, the owners (a father and son) were celebrating because their good friend was visiting from France.  They invited us to join them and since they were some of the first people we came across that knew quite a bit of English we were happy to join them and finally feel like we were getting to know some locals.  The whole group was really nice and incredibly generous with us.  The only weird thing is that the father kept going on and on about Shawn and I needing to immediately have kids and he also kept calling me Sacagawea...  But other than that it was a good time.  Just really quick... if you plan on traveling around South America, we would really recommend learning Spanish first.  Without being able to communicate, you can't really connect with the people which is really hard for us (although, so far a lot more people know some English in Peru!).

Anyway, from La Paz we went north a few hours to the small mountain town of Coroico.  We wanted a small, quaint, quiet, and peaceful town and heard Coroico would be the perfect place.  Of course, once we got there it happened to be the 200 year anniversary of the town and there was a non-stop celebration that didn't end until about our 3rd day there.

It was about 3 or 4 in the afternoon when we arrived in Coroico and already the men were passed out on the street and the women weren't far behind.  I don't think we've ever seen so many completely obliterated people.  Needless to say- it was a bit disturbing, so we walked about 20 minutes out of town to an amazing hostel, run by a couple of French expats, with an amazing room that had an amazing balcony with a breath taking view!!  Drunk Bolivians made us feel "on-edge" so we stayed out of town as much as possible until the celebration died down.  It was so nice and peaceful at our hostel that it was just too easy to stay.  There was a great couple from Austria that were staying next to us, and some nice hikes around Coroico, but really- we just spent the majority of our time relaxing and enjoying each other and the view.  I think we spent 6 or 7 nights there, but after that many days we were ready for a hot shower and internet.  Oh my gosh, I almost forgot.  One bad thing, Coroico was swarming with these things called sand flies (that's what the Austrian couple called them).  They completely devoured us and, let me tell you, I have never experienced anything as itchy as their bites.  Shawn had to swat my hands away because I was like a little kid who has no self-control and scratched and scratched until I drew blood.  We were so covered in bites that it looked like we had chicken pox...  Now I have huge gouges on my legs from the scratching...  I pray we don't run into them again, although we were warned that they're in Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia...

From Coroico we took a bus back to La Paz and then immediately boarded another bus to Copacabana which is a town situated on Lake Titicaca and right on the border of Peru.  We thought we had hit the jackpot when we found our hotel.  It was brand-spankin' new with huge rooms that each had a balcony looking over Lake Titicaca.  It also had wifi, hot water, AND breakfast was included!  It is seriously hard to find all these things in one place for a reasonable price.  Jackpot, right?  Wrong.

They neglected to tell us that the hotel was still under construction.  Bolivians are not very hygienic/sanitary so I was just getting over being sick from something I ate, plus I had this horrible headache that, for days, would not go away- and Shawn got sick as a dog right away in Copacabana from something he ate.  Up all night throwing up kind of sick.  SO, we both really needed to rest and get better but construction workers showed up every morning and pounded and pounded every day, all the live long day.  The wifi rarely worked.  The lady at breakfast would yell, "Uno pan!" ("One piece of bread!") and then she would walk over to the dish of cut up fruit and pick up each piece with her fingers and then set it back down in the dish (we ended up never eating the fruit because of this, which is why we wanted two pieces of bread!!)!!  It was just funny how disappointing it was when our first impressions were so good.

By the time we left Copacabana we were so ready to get out of Bolivia and into Peru.  One really cool thing about Bolivia, though, is that out of the countries we have been to- it is the least influenced by Westernization which was really refreshing.  People, especially the women, still dress very traditionally in shiny layered skirts, shawls, braids, and bowler hats.  They also usually carry big loads of stuff in colorful blankets on their backs.  They listen to their own music and live much of the same way as I imagine they lived a hundred years ago.  It was cool to see.  I have to say, though, they didn't really seem that happy.  Almost immediately upon entering Peru we could feel a big difference.  The people were nicer, more friendly, they smiled more, they were more helpful, etc.  Strange.

So....one reason we took our time in Bolivia and spent a lot of time relaxing is because our friend, Rob, is meeting us tomorrow and spending two weeks with us in Peru!!!!!  We are going to be very busy- going to Machu Picchu, into the Amazon for a few days, and traveling around the rest of Peru!  After Rob leaves we'll make our way up to Ecuador where our friend, Kevin, is meeting us!  We are very excited, but we will be busy busy so that is one reason why we took advantage of the opportunity to rest up before our upcoming adventures.  Another reason is because we're just plain TIRED!!!!!!!!

Oh- we bought our plane tickets home!  We're flying from Panama City to Miami on January 5th where we'll meet my parents and enjoy Florida together for about a week.  Then after a couple days in MN we'll head down to Iowa to see Shawn's family for a week and pick up Molly, our dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Very excited for the rest of our trip, but we will be so ready to go HOME!