Crossing the border

Trip Start Sep 01, 2006

Trip End Jan 06, 2007

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Where I stayed

Adventure Brew Hostel La Paz

(La Paz hotels)

Flag of Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Puno was our last stop in Peru, so we left early and arrived at the bus station by 7am to catch the bus to La Paz. When we arrived at the bus station, not only was there no bus, but also no clerk behind the counter to process our tickets and take our baggage. We waited a good hour before someone deigned to show up and allow us on board.

Bus stations in Peru are an interesting experience. Competing ticket vendors shriek the names of various destinations from behind their desks, hoping that someone will show up and want to purchase an international ticket 2 minutes prior to departure. We could only assume that in Peru, there must be a real trend for packing your bags, hot footing it down to the local bus station, and purchasing a ticket on the spur of the moment to whichever destination takes your fancy on the day.

At long last we arrived at the border. I was quite excited about this - no one really gives a rats about borders in the EU anymore and borders aren�t something you consider living in Australia. The border, however, consisted of a �thankyou for visiting Peru� sign, a �welcome to Bolivia� sign, and a piece of rope strung between two poles (presumably to aid in crowd control, though I�m not certain how).

We got through unscathed, no body searches etc, and entered Bolivia...

We arrived in La Paz a couple of hours later, and are now staying at the �Adventure Brew Hostel�, which prides itself on how many free and/or cheap beers it can get into you at one sitting. Luckily James and Alex were all but over illness by this stage, and were able to fully partake.

We�ve also checked out the San Pedro prison (the weirdest prison in the world, where, according to the book Marching Powder, prisoners are apparently required to purchase their own cells and food), and the Witches Market (more on this later).