La Paz, La Paz, La Paz

This post isn't actually at all about La Paz, although the picture above is. The thing is it happens to be where I spent most of my time in Bolivia and it's also the central point for pretty much going everywhere. Bolivia is not one of the most developed countries in the world so it helps to be in a central place which is well connected to many remote corners of the country.

Since I wanted to make my stay in Bolivia brief, I decided to get going pretty soon after I arrived in La Paz. Rikki & I set out for Sorata, the hiking capital of Bolivia, with another friend we had met earlier in Cusco. I was told that this was a place not to be missed, so like a good girl I made sure to put it in my itinerary. The road there had some really great views of mountains

and that was pretty much the only redeeming quality of the hot and bumpy ride, at the end of which I had a most unsettled stomach. Welcome to travelling in Bolivia. The roads are horrible, the buses packed and uncomfortable. The smells are nauseating, the hygiene nonexistant. Why did I come here again?

But I exaggerate. I had much worse times in La Paz than in Sorata. :)) We arrived late and made hiking plans for the following day. Rikki opted to go for a high-altitude 3 day hike with our friend Chaim while I only had 1 day to spare, so I got myself a private guide. That night we went to the Bayit Hayehudi which we had heard wonderful things about. I can only add to the praise. This wonderful young couple, with their 2 adorable kids, live amonst all the greenery seen above and have the warmest house in Bolivia. And I'm not just referring to their fireplace. :)

What is that bowl by the fireplace, you say? Well I'm glad you asked. It was a little sad to leave Rikki behind since it meant that we would separate for over a week this time. So I decided to be nice and made the two of them some bread for their hiking trip as a parting gift. I know, so selfless of me. :P It was so exciting to touch dough again after almost 2 months of being away from a kitchen!!

I had scared my guide about not being able to climb so he had told me our hike would take about 4 hours. Somehow I managed to breathe however and we did the whole thing in 2.5 hours instead. On our way down we even ran into Rikki & Chaim who had just begun climbing up. Since I still had a whole day ahead of me, I decided to go ahead and do another hike, this time on my own.

The hike was supposed to be straightforward enough. Which didn't prevent me from getting lost. Twice. In my defense, all I was doing was following the signs, which is what the guide had told me to do. The path started off on the dirt road and at some point veered off into the mountains. Then the signs ended and it was kind of assumed that one would follow the path, which looked clear enough. Except it wasn't. I eventually came to the edge of a steep hill with moss on it and the only way to pass it was by holding on to the wet, mushy thing since the path was impossibly narrow and muddy. I was happy to have passed it since I assumed it would be the only time I would need to do it. However, a few minutes later the path kind of ended and the only way forward was by walking over a 2 meter long, thick pipe that connected the 2 sides and was suspended above a steep cliff. While I was standing there, contemplating (not too keenly) whether I should attempt the acrobatics across, I noticed that there was a fire on the other side of the path.

I took this as a sign that I should head back and reluctantly turned around. Over the mossy patch again and straight ahead. Except I wasn't getting nearer the road. So I had to backtrack once more until I finally found the path back and moved ahead really quickly since I had been lost now for about 2 hours and I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it to the last bus to La Paz. I'm assuming that this was the path when the trail was originally created, but over time it changed and no one bothered to change the signs. Bolivia... At any rate, I made it to the road and hoped against hope that I would find a cab coming in my direction. Quite miraculously a cab appeared just when I needed it and the family in it were nice enough to give me a ride back to the city.

The ride back to La Paz was thankfully much easier this time and I was lucky enough to listen to a comedy show that was all about making fun of the Argentinians. My Spanish wasn't yet advanced enough to understand it all, but the people on the bus seemed to enjoy it tremendously. For my part, I was glad to be spared the horrendous cumbia music that is generally blasted on Peruvian and Bolivian buses. Seriously, some people should be banned from making music.