To La Paz
Trip Start
Oct 13, 2007
1
56
132
Trip End
Feb 15, 2008
La Paz, Bolivia
Monday, December 3, 2007
It took over an hour to clear the border into Bolivia and lder Jo had made a few of us paranoid with warnings about not carrying too much money in case the guards searched you and some disappeared but I donīt think any of us were searched (although our truck was). 20 mions from the border we got to Boliviaīs most significant archaeological site Tiahuanaco. Not much to see I must say! The museaum had a fantastic 7m tall monolith of a priest or something but that was pretty much all it had and you werenīt allowed to take pictures! The very low and truncated pyramid was mostly dirt covered (as in it looked like a v low hill) and I think we were all a bit worn on ruins (and these werenīt great!)
Finally left for the highest capital city in the world, La Paz, Bolivia (at 3660m). We stopped above the city to take in the gorgeous sight of La Paz sprawled between the mountqains, flilling the area like it was a bowl and climbing the walls of the canyon it was in. It was one of those wow moments! We got to the hotel 550 and Milke, Jo, Matt and I soon set off to go look for green (verde in Spanish, it took a while to pick thatup!) hair dye for Mike as Trudi (Aus) was leaving the tour after tonight and she was having a green themed party. It took about half an hour working our slow way through the crowded markets nearby (1.5m in this city but it seems a lot more crowded than bigger citys we have been in) before we got the hair dye and Mike, Jo and I returned to our room for Jo to apply it rto Mikeīs hair while Mike and I had a couple shots of rum (unfortunately, when Mike rinsed it out it pretty much rinsed it all out!) The party (5US each) was supposed to start at 730 but the guys looking for booze alley didnīt find it so they were late back so it was just a few of us with a spanish dj in this covered courtyard in the hotel for a while. He played lots of cheesy 70s and 80s at the start so I was happy and I didnīt mind when he switched to salsa and techno later on either. Boys with the booze arrived 8 with 1 10l bottle(looked more like a gas can) of rum and 2 10l of vodka plus mixers. Once everybody had a drink in their hand then the party really started. I should have danced to the 70s and 80s stuff but didnīt and after a few more drinks still didnīt (especially when the salsa was on, Kylie and I had a good bitch about that!) so lthough I had people to talk to I was sitting on the sidelines and smoking too much. Mike was in great form, very enthusiastic dancing even before he got drunk and he did a good job of salsa as well. Ellen and Mel were great as always and Nicole stands out as a great dancer to modern music. Only about 6 of us didnīt dance and I swear when I get back to Oz I need to learn some rhytm! The arrival of 4 giant pizzas for dinner was fun (one slice = 3 normal) but because I wasnīt into the whole dance thing (he had a strobe light nd a steam machine to add to teh magic) I had had enough by 1100. I had to unlock my door and leave it open while I went downstairs to give the key to Mike as the door canīt be left unlocked. Felt a little sick (ok, threw up a little), showered, bed 1130. Mike woke me at 0145 knocking on the door because he was too drunk to remember Iīd given him the key! Then Jo is knocking on the door 5 miutes later and heīs having a conversation with her in his jocks out in the hall so not to disturb me more (heīs a nice guy) but as one of the guys chasing Jo passed by it must have been embarrassing! Then after all that I couldnīt sleep and lay awake for hrs. Bugger.
