| May 8, 2006 - La Paz, Bolivia (for the 3rd time)
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 | | show all 5 | | The "airport" (landing strip) of Rurrenabaque | | Our luggage awaiting the plane | | The plane arrives | | |
| As I explained when describing my fiasco trying to get to Rurrenabaque, flying into the area is far from a sure thing. First off, the major airline only flies in and out on Mondays. There is also the military airline that will take passengers, but this too is limited service to one or two days a week. The other big issue is weather. As you can see in the pictures the Rurrenabaque "airport" is actually just one large grassy field. So any major rain fall, which believe it or not happens a lot in an area bordering the rain forest, can halt all activity for days. Then of course there was my situation when trying to find a fligt on the way down, in which they were out of planes because one of them hit a bird and needed to be repaired.
So all this did not leave me totally confident that I would get out of there when I woke up on Monday morning. In between my jungle and pampas tours I had bought a ticket for a morning departure, and it was a beautifully sunny day so my hopes were high. Silly me. I got to the TAM office, where we take a shuttle to the airport, and found out the first two flights of the day, those before mine, had yet to leave. The entire day would be delayed and they could make no guarantees, nor expanations, as to what would happen. So it became a lazy day of waiting around, writing in the journal, sipping coffee in outdoor cafes, etc. I met up with Ruth and Mary at one point and sat with them while they had brunch (it was a late night the night before). Long story short, we finally were told we would be leaving, only about 4-5 hours after the originially planned takeoff. We got our shuttle, were amazed by the conditions of the, er, airport, and then flew back to La Paz with the same group I had been with on the jeep ride down. The plane was small, and there was some scary turbulence at times, but a consistently great view.
It was a weird sensation stepping out of the plane only 45 minutes later. In that short time I had gone from sea level to over 4,000m (13,000+ft) in altitude. I could immediately feel the effects and lack of oxygen in the air, and a headache kicked in a couple hours later. We took cabs back to the old reliable El Solario hostel (same as my last two times in La Paz), and then all got started making our different plans for the rest of the trip. At this point I still didn't know if I was going to go trekking in Bolivia for one last nature experience in the mountains around Sorata, or if I would check out some of Peru that I didn't get to see the first time through, such as the southern city of Arequips or the northern city of Cajamarca. I could also take the 25-hour bus ride that Dan and Carmin took to Lima, then stay there or continue right away further north. Once north I could go to the northern Peruvian coast which I skipped in November, get some final surfing in, and maybe continue up the Ecuadorian coast which I heard was so nice. But I knew I also wanted to re-visit Cuenca where my whole trip started so had to figure that in somehow as well. These and more were all the options going through my head. That night though I just went out to a nice steak dinner with Will, and got to sleep early.
The following day was a productive business day and final walk-around in La Paz. I bought my bus ticket to go straight to Lima, deciding that I had so much ground to cover and might as well get started, and then would decide there. If I wanted nature there would still be volcanoes to climb in Ecuador when I got there, and I was feeling more inclined for beach and surfing to end the trip than hiking and roughing it.
I went back and had my final smoothie at Lucy's, and finally stopped to check out the merchandise they hock on the streets here that I normally just walked straight past. It was my last day in Bolivia and wanted to take advantage of some prices if I could. Man, I came away with a lot of crap, but it was fun. I wrote it down so I'll share with you: a Daddy Yankee CD, a carribeaner (had lost mine), packaging tape, sunglasses & case(mine broke), headphones, and an alarm clock calculator. All that cost about $12.
I also went to the San Pedro Prison one last time to see if there was any chance of something crazy happening, maybe bribing my in to get a tour, or whatever. If you don't know what I'm talking about I described this insane place a bit in my last La Paz entry, and I still urge everyone to go out and read Marching Powder. I spoke to some of the guards, and it seemed like if I was really determined and had some time I actually would have been able to get inside over the next few days. At one point one of the prisoners inside the gates caught my eye and sent me a note. It left me a number to call him at in the prison if I wanted to try and get in, and asked for gifts in the moment. At another time in my trip I would have loved to pursue this, and hang around for a while to see what would happen. But time was short and I had my ticket, and didn't seem like something to be chasing. Though I did call a few times throughout the day to see if anything could be done for that evening, with no luck. Next time I guess.
The rest of the evning and night was simple and quiet. I spent some time on the internet and writing in my journal. At this point I still didn't know what to do once I got to Lima, but I would have over 24 hours to think about that. An email I wrote that night said, "I may not even spend a day there but get back on a bus to head further north in Peru. I am hoping to stop either on the northern coast of Peru, or on the coast of Ecuador (both places I did not get to see the first time around), and have a final day or two of surfing up there. Then I will revisit the city of Cuenca for a few days, and get to Quito a few days before my flight."
Either way, it was time for another bus journey, and to say goodbye to another country on the list. |
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