Copacabana...
Across the Bolivian-Peruvian border is the scenic town of Copacabana. It is situated on the land-locked country’s only beach, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca.
We had only about an hour in the place, enough time to have lunch and a little walk, as we wanted to get to La Paz to see how Bolivians celebrate Halloween. At lunch we shared travel stories with Sylvester, and he told us all about his escapades in Colombia. He got us really excited to go there, but visa complications may mean we’ll have to wait to go there. It does sound like paradise, though.
La Paz…
We reached the Bolivian capital just prior to nightfall on Halloween. It was freezing, and I suddenly felt really sick and went to bed for 16 hours. Apparently, Halloween isn’t such a big deal in La Paz, so I didn’t miss much. The next evening, we went to see the new Exorcist movie with Silvo, a Swiss guy, and 2 Americans (one non-voter). We made our own Halloween.
Robberies…
The next day, we were going for breakfast with Silvo when he suddenly decided he had to go back to the hostel. 10 minutes after leaving us, and a mere 10 metres from the hostel, Silvo was approached by a man posing as a policeman, who then pulled out a gun and jabbed it into Silvo´s back, demanding he get in a cab with him. Obviously, Silvo obliged, as the man went through his backpack, taking his nice digital camera, along with about 300 photos from his trip through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia!
Later, Silvo introduced us to another friend of his who was also robbed in La Paz, one of 7 tourists from one hostel to be robbed in one week. This guy had everything taken from him. Angry, he headed to the Black Market in La Paz to try and locate his stuff. He actually found the guy who robbed him, along with his passport, camera, etcetera. The thief offered to sell the stuff back to him for 700 Bolivianos (about $US100). When the guy refused, he was blindfolded, thrown into a taxi, and taken to a house in El Alto, a house loaded with cocaine, machine guns, and bazookas. He then said he wouldn’t mind paying to have his stuff back. Except, for 700Bs, he only ended up receiving his passport back – well, his life, too.
We went to the Black Market with Silvo, but couldn’t find his digital camera. Maybe that’s a good thing…
The World’s Most Dangerous Road…
Silvo was feeling bad, so we decided to leave La Paz ASAP. We moved to another hostel with a TV, so I could watch 94 million stupid American elect GW Bush for the first time until 2 am. But the next day, we decided to put the stupid world behind us and go mountain biking down “the world’s most dangerous road.”
It’s called that because, every year, 180 people die on it, usually because of the drivers on 16 hour benders or trucks backing off the cliff’s side to let another truck pass. It is much safer to take a mountain bike down the road due to the fact that YOU are in control, not some sleep-deprived lunatic.
So the road is about a 7 hour trip, almost entirely downhill. It goes from outside La Paz, La Cumbre (4900m), to Yolosa (1900m), from snowy mountain peaks to the humid Yungas valley, near the Bolivian grasslands and the country’s share of the Amazon. It was so cool to cruise at 60km/hr down asphalt and to later ride under waterfalls on a rocky road. At its most shallow, the cliff we could have fallen off of was a 300m drop, at its deepest it was 1000m. It was scary but pretty awesome.
Coroico…
At the end of the dangerous road, we ended up at the Hotel Esmeralda, in Coroico. It’s practically a resort, complete with a swimming pool, sauna, hammocks, a buffet, and a gorgeous view of the valley below. The best part is the price: $5 per night. Needless to say, while Jess and Silvo have gone off to the Pampas to swim with piranhas for a few days, I’ve elected to relax at Esmeralda’s before meeting up with them again in La Paz on Tuesday. So the news from Coroico is nothing because I’ve been doing nothing at all besides updating this journal… Cheers to that!
Later,
Mike
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