Bolivia: Landlocked in South America

It feels so good to be finished with work for the school year, and now I can begin my travels. I've been anticipating this trip for months now that it has become a reality. Bolivia has always been a one of my dream destinations... and I got mixed responses from people when I shared my plans. Most were of the "Bolivia? What's there?" nature. The other camp of responses were from people who have already traveled there. Unanimously they said that Bolivia is very poor but extremely beautiful. Now, you may has asked yourself "Why would that ever be a dream destination?" Well, when I was growing up, my mom recorded what-seems-like dozens of VHS tapes with Disney programs. On one of these tapes, Donald Duck travels to Lake Titicaca and this captured both my attention and imagination:

The actual cartoon segment is much longer than this brief clip, but it makes me feel like a kid again to view it, nonetheless.

I booked my flight from Quito for a steal ($550 incl. taxes!) for a ten-day adventure through this majestic land. On my list of musts included:

Exploring La Paz, the highest-altitude, kind-of-national-capital of the world (technically Quito is if you consider Sucre the capital of Bolivia... if Tibet were an official nation, Lhasa would be the highest capital);
Touring Uyuni National Park, the world's largest salt flats;
Lake Titicaca + Isla del Sol, the largest lake in South America and world's highest lake;
and biking down Yungas Road, the world's most dangerous road

Much like my travels up and down the coast + Panama, I am splitting up my experiences into multiple posts because... this was such an insane trip even though it was only for ten days.

Part 1: Getting to the Airport

Pope Francis was visiting South America. Out of the last four popes, Ecuador has only been visited one time. Bolivia has been skipped over. However, Pope Francis's itinerary only included three of the poorest countries here: Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Coincidentally, he would be in both Quito and La Paz the same dates that I planned. The security detail, as a result, forced specific areas and roads to basically shut down, cancel or delay certain flights, and attract visitors from Peru and Colombia. I was very concerned about my chances of getting to the new airport on time, let alone actually have my fight for this highly anticipated trip.

El Papa Francisco visita Quito!

Of everything, my biggest concern was if I was actually going to get to Bolivia. I booked my flight a couple of months in advance and found an amazing deal. However, the weekend prior to the pope's visit, I couldn't trace any record of my purchase except for my confirmation emails. I sent the airline an email and waited all day for a response. During the 4th of July gathering I attended, this was the only thing I could really think or talk about because THE POPE WAS FOLLOWING ME AND RUINING MY LIFE. Thankfully, when I returned home, an email was waiting for me that confirmed I still had a flight. Next challenges were to get to the airport (because there were some major road closures) and obtaining a visa for entry into the country (which gives me a ten year period where I can enter the country without renewing the visa!).

Before leaving though, I would need to move all of my stuff to my new apartment AND say goodbye to Piazza Borghesse.

All of my possessions in one pile.

Goodbye, old apartment

Getting to the airport was surprisingly easy. David had to pick up a friend, who was arriving to Quito right after I left so we went together. We took a bus down Eloy Alfaro to Rio Coca (25¢), bus from Rio Coca to Cayambe (35¢), and a last bus from Cayambe to the airport ($1.50). In total, it only took 1h40m and we had several hours to spare before anything else was happening. I exchanged as much money as I could into Bolivianos because I knew I would likely need a taxi, and the hostel I booked for the first night would only accept payments in Bolivianos. After passing through migración, I approached the gate and tried finding out what was wrong with my being able to access my itinerary and it turned out the flight was overbooked. El Papa was continuing to hover a black flag over my vacation. I began journaling in a notebook. (NOTE: the final day of work for teachers, 3rd of July, we had basically a field day. I won a notebook as a prize for being on the winning dodgeball team!). The stress of not knowing the fate of my near-future flight plans, traveling to a foreign country completely alone, and a couple other things I finally had time to reflect upon had me near in tears. I was officially having doubts about my trip and if I should actually go through with it all. The journaling process made me really process things for the first time in a long time, and I knew I would be okay. I boarded my flight, got to Lima, boarded my second flight of the night to La Paz and felt relief. Briefly. This flight foreshadowed the rest of my time in Bolivia.

I was thankful when I got this boarding pass because I was worried I would be forced to get a hotel room in Lima and have my plans messed up for Bolivia. I would later come to eat my words....

Part 2: Arriving in La Paz

La Paz at night, from the sky

We departed Lima about 11:05 P.M. with an expected travel time of 2h20m. With Bolivia being one timezone over, this meant for a 1:25 A.M. arrival and then I would have to go through customs, find my hostel, and get a brief night sleep before booking tours and sightseeing. Mind you I cannot sleep on an airplane to save my life. I am not a nervous flyer, I just cannot get comfortable even though the long day had already worn on me. Everything was fine and dandy, and then:

1:05 A.M. We make our descent to El Alto International Airport. La Paz is stunning at nighttime, as the lights show how the combination between natural erosion and architecture-infrastructure shows how the city is built in a prehistoric river bed. We do this really weird landing for a second before taking off and the pilot makes an announcement that the weather wasn't good enough to land.
2:00 A.M. After circling La Paz for an hour, the pilot makes one more announcement. This time it is that the conditions have not improved so we need to fly to Cochabamba to refuel and wait until we can officially arrive.
2:20 A.M. We land in Cochabamba. The plane just sits there but some people stand up to stretch their legs.
2:30 A.M. The captain announces that we will wait on the tarmac for 30 minutes before attempting to go to La Paz again. It will also give the plane a chance to refuel. To please us, they played the movie "Home." You know, that dumb, alien-kids movie.
2:45 A.M. A gas truck appears. At this point, I would be awake in a few hours anyway so there's no real point in trying to get any sleep.
3:25 A.M. The gas truck has been attached to the plane for 40 minutes and it is finally retracting the hose. I am going absolutely insane at this point, and I wrote in my journal at this time "I should start saying my goodbyes because I feel like I am going to take my life." The plane had three seats on each side of the aisle, and I was in a window seat. In addition to the two people sitting next to me being in deep sleep, they also had an unusual amount of possessions in their laps so I was essentially trapped. The movie "Home" was still playing.
6:45 A.M. We are still in Cochabamba, and the plane hasn't moved an inch in five hours. I managed to sleep for maybe 45 minutes but I was delusional at this point, because I am still convinced the pilot said, "For your safety, keep your seatbelts off." A few minutes later, he announces that we need to disembark the plane with all of our hand luggage. Nothing else. Are we going to get on a different plane? Are we going to have to take a bus to La Paz? As we are walking out of the plane, I notice (1) it is freezing and (2) the mountains surrounding this valley are stunning.

Leaving Cochabamba
7:45 A.M. We have been sitting in an unfinished international arrival depot for one hour. I feel like Tom Hanks in "The Terminal" or an actual prisoner. Nobody is sharing any information with any of us.
8:05 A.M. A new crew is walking to the plane. Does this mean we are leaving soon? I write in my journal, "Yo temo esta vacación"
8:25 A.M. Some airport official walks in and tells us that we are going to re-board the plane in 15 minutes. After he is done telling us this, a woman walks up, TEARS STREAMING FROM HER FACE, and starts yelling at him that her son hasn't eaten anything in 8 hours. Yes, we have all not eaten anything since maybe an hour into the flight and I more than understand her frustration.
8:37 A.M. "Cinco minutos más." I cannot wait to get back to Ecuador, hopefully in one piece.
8:45 A.M. "Cinco minutos más." Everything is five more minutes.
9:00 A.M. We are all boarded on the plane and waiting for take-off.
9:17 A.M. We take off. The expected flight time, they say, is 35 minutes.
10:00 A.M. We officially land in La Paz and everyone claps and cheers. This has been a nightmare of a flight flight.

I love the Andes

I quickly make my way to migration and wait to get my visa. My prior research said that the visa would cost me $160, I would need proof of having a place to stay, and proof of being in good financial status (cash, credit cards, and/or bank statement). The man who processed my application flipped through my passport, focused a little longer on my visas for Ecuador, and processed everything within a minute without asking me any questions. I heard horror stories of U.S. citizens having a terrible experience trying to enter Bolivia but my visas must have streamlined the process.

Flying into El Alto Int'l Airport

La Paz is gorgeous from the sky. It looks like a huge plateau that just seamlessly transitions into snow-capped mountains. The city is nestled into a deep valley, completely lined with brick buildings, at a greater density than in Quito. There are also many tall buildings... much taller than in Quito. Roads were already sectioned off for the Pope's visit the following day-- signaling me that I need to get out of La Paz right away to avoid being stuck. Every 50 meters down the main highway revealed identical billboards welcoming the pope, emphasizing JUSTICE, EQUALITY, SOCIAL INCLUSIVITY. The city also seems crazily clean.

La Paz from the sky

After getting into my cab to go to my hostel, I felt much better and assumed that the rest of my trip would go smoothly. But you know what happens when you assume something???

You make an ASS out of U and ME.

Stay tuned for the next portion of my experience... this was a trip like no other.

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