Fear and Loathing in Cochabamba
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2009
1
19
28
Trip End
Jun 05, 2010
Cochabamba, Bolivia
Saturday, January 16, 2010
I lost my credit card in La Paz on Friday night and needed to get out of the city if I was going to survive off of the ten dollars in my pocket untill the bank office opened on Monday. I set my sights for Torotoro National Park, world renowned for its miles of spectacular caves and dinosaur remains. I took off by bus for the lowland city of Cochabamba with a nice girl from Copenhagen. When we arrived in the humid and polluted metropolis, we were informed that the roads to the park had been closed due to mudslides. I spent the day looking for a charrango, and sitting in the plaza, drinking fresh squeezed orange juice and reading The Alchemist; the book would give me invaluable guidance through the trying days to come.
I returned to my home in La Paz with a new travel companion, a parasite I have named, ĻEl Pintor.Ļ I spent the next days plastered to my bed, gasping for oxygen to hold back the nausea. The cookpot next to my cot was filled with thick brown vomit, reminiscent in color and texture with the parasites other product which filled the toilet bowl. I stumbled to the bank to retrieve my credit card and, with my funds in hand, proceeded to the best doctor I could find. He prescribed some pills which I took with a foul tasting tea that the bruja down the street brewed for me... Bruja Brew.
I donīt know which remedy expelled the parasite but I am feeling much better. My time in bed gave me some much needed reflection and inspiration. It is nothing like the hard times, to make make life after feel like its going swimmingly. All things really do pass. My brief diversion from the isolation of the jungle also allotted me some much needed time to communicate with my family and friends at home. I never doubted, even in the most blinding pain, that I was kept in La Paz for a reason. The hand that writes our stories, is the same that writes all of history. And while Hope is precious, Trust is far more valuable.
Tomorrow morning, I board a bus for a 20 hour ride into the jungle where I will work on a WOOFF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers) to spend some time with the Earth. I wanted to give my appreciation before I go to all of my family back home. While I have found great company with locals and other world travelers during my time here, my true savior from loneliness has been the incredible loving energy received from my family across the globe and my folks in beautiful Berkeley, California. I extend my deepest gratitude for all of you who have thought to keep up with the blog. Receiving emails, comments, and messages, and knowing that my friends are stopping by to keep my parents company keeps my heart warm through the cold Andean nights. For those of you who find joy living vicariously through my adventure, know that I am a composite of all of your influences, and you walk with me in my bones. And donīt ever think that you are too old, or too broke, or too busy to keep a little adventure in your life. I have now traveled over 10,000 KM and have yet to find a place more beautiful than Northern California.
Comments
Will,
You are quite the world traveler! Just be safe! Your journey sounds fascinating and frankly, a bit scary.
Good luck-
Aunt Ellen
Will,
I love reading tales of your adventures in far off lands. You are living the ADVANCED life lesson crash course. These experiences will carry you to heights you may have never dreamed of....to become a MAN amoung the MEN & WOMEN who will & do make the world a better place for all beings!!
Of course, these expierences do have their price...your fellow traveler.
Dan
miss you hella much bro. and yes perhaps i have been living vicariously through your adventures but its only cuz i wish i was there soooo much more than cold snowy New England. so glad u got to read the alchemist. i read it like the second week of freshman year here and it honestly helped me sooooo much with all the unknowing and chaos of freshman year. thinkin bout u always fam. stay safe and keep the posts coming, they prolly help me as much as they do you.
will, i woke this morning and read your blog for the first time. you warm my heart. i look forward to seeing you soon, at home in berkeley. i remember back to our conversations there and am filled up with love at how much you are living your destiny. g