A whirlwind of goodbyes

In Uyuni, all four of us first tried to buy train tickets, but the blockades between Uyuni and Oruro has stopped all trains from running because they blockaded the train tracks. So then we headed over to the bus station to buy tickets. But of course, it was 12:15 and it was already siesta time… TIB (This Is Bolivia). So Mansi and I went to use the internet, and sat on the nice outdoor mall in Uyuni, which was probably the only nice part in all of Uyuni. Finally, we walked back to the bus station at 2:30 which is when siesta is supposed to end, but of course, it was still siesta time… TIB (This is Bolivia). Finally, we found an open bus company and asked if they had seats to Oruro. They didn’t. But they did say they could put us in the aisle. We decided to keep looking. We couldn’t find anything. Other bus companies wouldn’t even put us in the aisle because it is completely illegal. So we headed back to the first bus company because we had to get back to Cochabamba, and one seat had opened up. We bought the one seat and the one seat in the aisle.

We then ate a quick lunch, and Mansi and I both called our mommies to say goodbye in case something happened to us because the bus company was a little sketch, we were doing something illegal, and we weren’t going to be using the normal route, and instead would be using the Salar to travel to Oruro where I was nervous the bus would fall through since under the salt are layers of water and more salt and more water. The bus ride to Oruro was the worst ride I have ever experience. While Mansi was absolutely amazing and stood up for the majority of the time since the aisle actually had 20 people in it instead of like 2 or 3, the people on the bus were just completely ridiculous. Specimen 1 = Old, fat, smelly man sitting on an arm of an aisle seat that refused to make room for us to stand on more than one foot. Specimen 2 = Stupid traveling Argentinean boy next to us who sang the entire ride and smoked and was lighting is lighter under the seat. So 10 hours of standing, sitting, Mansi on my lap, etc. was simply not was I call a fun ride. When we arrived in Oruro, we stuck with these girls we met on the bus that went to university in Cochabamba and got on a bus back to Cochabamba. This was a pretty nice bus, but it was also the coldest bus ride I had ever taken. However, it was 8:30 AM, and I was back in Cocha, so I was pretty happy.

I went home, and I was greeted by a screaming Laurita who jumped and hugged and kissed me! So Sunday, I rested, unpacked, relaxed, and also made a short trip to La Cancha with Karin and Laurita.

On Monday, I woke up early and spent the morning at La Cancha buying gifts for all my friends. Gifts consist of reversible hats, gloves that open, leg-warmers, sweaters, luggage, and some tapestries. In the afternoon, I bought presents for my family, and went to Mansi’s apartment to say goodbye to her host family. At night I went out for a combination Lucas’s birthday and me leaving. Karin, Julianne, Daniel, Becca, Mansi, Yudozca, Yudozca’s twin, Lucas, and a bunch of Lucas’s friends and family were there. In total there were probably between 15 and 20 people. We had so much fun, playing catcho and reminiscing about the past two and a half months. It was a really good last night Cocha with all my favorite people.

On Tuesday, I dropped Laurita off at school with Karin and then went to work with Karin. I hung out with her at her office until she had an inspection. Then I went out for a walk where I ran into Rodrigo from work. It was my last walk around Cochabamba’s centro. I walked through the familiar markets and streets and took in everything: the smell, the dirty ground, the women screaming at me to buy empanadas, the meat hanging from strings. After Karin’s inspection, she basically forced me to go get ice cream with her at Dumbo’s since it was 2 scoops for 1 day. I told her I wouldn’t be able to finish my lunch if I ate it, but she bought it for me anyhow. At lunch, we had all my favorites: pumpkin soup with beef, charque, hard-boiled egg, and chocle con queso. But, Karin unfortunately had filled me up with ice cream, so I couldn’t finish everything that was put in front of me. After lunch, I gave everyone their presents: perfume for Karin, photo and picture frame for my parents, and Guess Who? for Laurita. After lunch, I think I played Guess Who? for about two hours. Then, I finished packing and got ready to go see Laurita’s play where she was a conejo (bunny).

After the play, we returned home, and my host family gave me presents: natural perfume from Bolivia, artisan pajama pants, and a sweater my sister had knit for me as well as presents for my mom and dad. Then I went to bed for the last time (this year) in my bed of two and a half months.

Now it’s Wednesday, and I am sitting in an internet cafe in La Paz reminiscing about the past two and a half months. It’s hard to believe that I left my family this morning, all of us crying, and that in less than a day I will be back in the United States where I can drink from the tap, where I can take a shower with a shower curtain, and where the internet does not move at the speed of an ant. But I will also be back where my friends might not appreciate my love for Latin music, where my real mom won’t be able to make empanadas and canapés like my host mom, and where the atmosphere is not so “tranquilo.” From watching the World Cup in a South American country to traveling to such rural places where I can’t take a shower for 5 days to living with an amazing host family to learning more about development in one summer than I ever could have in a classroom, this summer has definitely been the most memorable and exciting ever.

I gotta feeling… that tonight’s gonna be a good night

Day 1: How do llamas and alpacas know not to hang out with each other?
The first day of our journey on the Salar tour, Mansi and I woke up in hopes of eating a delicious pancake breakfast. Unfortunately, the pancake store was not open. After all, it was 8 AM, and that is just too early for Bolivia. Instead we went to the local market and stocked up on pan, mandarinas, and this delicious deep fried dough smothered in honey. So we got to the tour agency, hopped in the back of the jeep, and we were off. The first day was a little boring. We stopped a few times to get some photos of the pretty scenery, but we were mostly just driving.

The other two people on our tour were Chris and Janice, a late twenties / early thirties couple from Sydney Australia. They helped make the experience way more fun. And so did our driver, Daniel. That night, Daniel came in asking for all the lyrics to “I gotta feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. So all five of us spent about 45 minutes listening to the song on repeat and copying down the lyrics for him in his notebook. I then continued by giving him pronunciation lessons on how to say “tonight”—which is actually a hard word because the ‘g’ is silent. Luckily I had taken a Spanish phonetics class and knew how to write it phonetically in Spanish “tu-nait.” Fun times singing… but it turns out that lyrics sheet might not have been the best idea… read on to understand.

Day 2: You can pee here. The volcano is inactive.
Day two was the day of the lagoons, volcanoes, a desert that inspired Dali, and thermal baths. Many of the lagoons reeked of sulfur, which I guess makes sense because of all the volcanoes in the area. We even saw some geysers that were created by the nearby volcanoes that were spurting out sulfuric gases. It probably was not the smartest idea when Mansi and I decided to run in between all the holes spewing up these gases, but we just tried to hold our breath. It didn’t really work though, and I think my mouth tasted like sulfur for about an hour.

In the morning at the first lagoon, Mansi and I decided to warm ourselves up by drinking some of our Singani. Yes, it was 10 AM and we were both extremely tipsy. But it was well worth it because I wasn’t cold anymore. Plus, it was essential to drink it at that moment because the bottle had started to leak and we just really didn’t want Singani to spill all over the Jeep. Therefore, it was absolutely essential to drink at 10 AM. You would have done the same thing.

In the afternoon, we ate lunch at the thermal baths where we all just stuck our feet in. None of us wanted to go all the way in because it was just too cold when we got out that we wouldn’t have been able to deal with it if it was our whole bodies.

Day two was also the day that I decided to be stupid and step in disgusting sulfuric mud not once, but two times! So not only was my right foot completely crusty, crumby, and dirty, but so was my left. My sneakers are still caked in mud, and I am thinking I will probably just wait until I get home to have my lovely mother take care of cleaning them. (I love you, Mom!)

We got to our hotel around 4 PM which was next to la Laguna Colorada which was a red colored lagoon with bright pink flamingos in it. Mansi and I headed down to the lagoon to read, but then we got bored so we decided to have a dance party. Songs of choice = Mi nina bonita (Chino & Nacho), Dynamite (Taio Cruz), Wavin’ Flag (K’naan & David Bisbal), and Waka Waka (Shakira).

Once the sun set, we headed in to eat dinner and called it an early night since it was just way too cold to not be underneath a mountain of blankets.

Day 3: Good thing we brought that Singani
The third day of our journey also happened to be Independence Day for Bolivia. We spent the day seeing a few more lagoons and driving through the national park. We also saw some cool rock formations. Supposedly one of them is supposed to be sacred because it looks like a tree… I guess they think that’s cool here. We climbed a bunch of rocks, and saw some more pretty scenery, and then… guess what? The day was over.

We ended early again today, and we unloaded our things for the last time at a salt hotel next to the Salar de Uyuni. Since no one was at the hotel, we asked Daniel where everyone was. He told us the whole village was at a party for Independence Day. Well, Mansi and I knew we wanted to be at that party. So we grabbed the rest of the Singani and we were on our way. We found the party—it wasn’t hard at all; only 12 families live in this village. We felt a little awkward crashing the party at first, but then an old man ushered us his way. He told us we both had to drink some beer (luckily it was Huari, my favorite). Then we presented him with our bottle of Singani, and everyone cheered. We were then immediately loved by all 12 families in this community. They kept pouring us more beer (also each time we got a new cup, we had to offer some to Pachamama, or mother earth, by pouring a little onto the ground), and soon we were both pretty chispada, or tipsy. We watched games, and Mansi even participated in a potato sack race. She purposefully lost, though, because she was supposed to represent the U.S., and we both wanted Bolivia to win on their Independence Day.

After the partying with the locals, we walked out to read near the Salar. Not much reading got done, though, because we began to write in the salt messages to our friends.

After playing on the salt flats, we headed back to take our first shower in days (this tour is not conducive to being clean since showers do not exist at the majority of the hotels on the tour). Finally I was clean, and I ate dinner, and once again, we called it an early night since we just needed to get under our covers.

Day 4: I gotta feel you (-ing)
The last day of the trip was one of the most fun. We had all gotten so close that we were not ready to leave each other. We woke up at 5 AM to watch the sun rise over the largest salt flats in the world.  After watching the sunrise, we headed to the Isla del Pescado (Fish Island, which looks like a fish when you see it from above). It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I’ve decided that if and when I come back to Bolivia, I want to spend a night or two on this “island” in the middle of the Salar.

After walking around the island and eating breakfast, we decided to play on the salt flats. We had lots of fun, and many interesting pictures were taken. Mansi and I even decided to dance on some tables made out of salt at the original salt hotel.

Finally, the tour was over. We were on our last leg of the journey heading to Uyuni. Daniel decided to play “I gotta feeling” one more time. This time, taking out the notebook with the lyrics in it to sing along. He had both hands off the wheel and he kept turning around to look at Mansi and I so that he could be in the video we were taking of him. All I can remember is Mansi and I laughing hysterically as Janice kept screaming for him to watch the road (probably because we kept driving off of it, but I thought that’s what four wheel drives were for). He dropped us off in Uyuni, we all exchanged e-mail addresses, and we said our goodbyes.

But it’s too dangerous for us to be out here alone

Well, Mansi and I have come to realize that this phrase works all the time. Mansi and I arrived in Tupiza at 3:30 AM, and went in search of a hostal to crash in for the night. None of them would answer their bells, though. So finally, when we arrived at a fairly nice hotel, someone answered, and we used the phrase again. He told us they did not have rooms available and that we would have to go elsewhere. We told him it would be too dangerous for us to go in search of another hotel when every single one we had tried wouldn’t answer. He let us in and let us sleep on the couches for the night. I’ve realized that this is a really good tactic when trying to save money.

The next day, Tuesday, Mansi and I booked a Salar Tour for the next four days. We had originally wanted a three day tour, but we weren’t sure when the strike in Potosi was going to be over. Also, we had heard the strike had expanded to Oruro, so there was really no hurry. Also, with the same company, “La Torre Tours,” we booked a horse-back riding adventure for that day. At 11 AM, we started our three hour ride through the beautiful Tupiza surroundings. It probably was the prettiest place I have ever ridden a horse. We saw places like “La Puerta del Diablo” (the Devil’s door), “El Valle de los Hombres” (the Valley of the Men), and others. When I come back to Bolivia, I would definitely want to do a longer horse-back riding adventure, possibly even an overnight camping trip.

 
When we got back, we finalized our salar trip for the next day and then went shopping for all the essentials for during our trip—water, oranges, chocolate, cards, and, of course, Singani! When we went into the liquor store, we weren’t quite sure which brand of Singani we wanted, so, naturally, the owner poured us shots of all the different types so we could taste the different. Really, there was no difference, so we just went for the cheapest. After that, it was time to shower since there would be no shower for a couple days, and then we went out to eat. It was our first real meal in probably two days. We then called it a night and headed back to our 20 Bs a night (> $3) hostal to watch some Entourage, read, and then sleep.

-- I’m going to get married here. -- To whom? -- I don’t know…

Upon arriving in Tarija, Mansi and I headed to the bus terminal to buy our tickets for Tupiza. There were only 3 bus companies that drove there, and two of them didn’t even have tickets until two days later. Finally, we checked out the last bus company, and they had tickets for that day at 7:30. We bought the tickets and then headed to the central plaza to check it out and try to find a taxi that would take us to the wine vineyards. But everything was closed. It was around 2 PM, and we realized just how seriously Bolivians take their siesta. We found a place to grab a snack, and then searched for some more taxis. Luckily, after about 7 tries, we found a cab willing to take us to our favorite wine vineyard, Kohlberg. Well, just in case, we got the cab driver’s phone number so he could come back and pick us up to take us to the bus station. However, as soon as we got out of the cab, we met one of the owners of the vineyard. He told the cab driver he would drive us back into town and then he gave us a private tour of the vineyard. It was amazing to be given a private tour by the owner, and, on top of that, it was absolutely gorgeous. He then opened a bottle of white wine, which we all shared while overlooking the vineyard.

 
He then took Mansi and I to the factory where the wine is made and gave us another private tour of the factory and the packaging place. Finally, he drove us back into town and dropped Mansi and I off at a café on the plaza principal. We had a coffee, and then headed to the bus station. The night was spent on the bus to Tupiza.

It really does taste different

So Saturday morning, we arrived in Sucre at 5:30 AM. The journey took 10 hours instead of 12 hours which is what we had been told. We decided to go to the hostal we had a reservation at and just sit on the couches until things opened a couple hours later. When we got there, the cab dropped us off and we rang the bell. The owner told us we could not come in! I told him it was too dangerous for us to be out at 5:30 on the streets alone. He told us to go to another hostal and began to shut the door. I begged and said it was too dangerous for us to be walking around Sucre in search of a hostal at 5:30 AM. Grumbling, he let us in and let us sit on the couches. Around 8, we left and visited La Glorieta. Well, this palace was supposed to open for visitors at 8:30, but no one was there, so we waited outside for someone to arrive. This was the moment where my portable speakers came in handy. Listening to Wavin’ Flag, Waka Waka, and California Girls was perfect for getting all the military guys’ attention. They started dancing with us, and it was great. Finally we got in to the palace grounds. This palace was owned as a vacation home for rich ambassadors in Sucre in the late 1800s. This couple couldn’t have kids on their own, so they opened several orphanages. The palace was a mixture of every popular European architectural style: Rococo, Baroque, Greek, etc, and was completely ridiculous; however, in the 1950s, the Bolivian army invaded the palace and destroyed parts of it and took all the furniture.

After La Glorieta, we went to a supermarket, and bought some food to cook in the hostal kitchen, where we ate lunch. For me it was then nap time. After waking up, Mansi and I headed into the plaza with our new friend Lauren from England where we ate some truffles at Para Ti and shopped around at a market and finally sat at an ethnic restaurant where we all ate much needed ethnic food. At night, I was so tired that I had to sleep early, and couldn’t go to a discoteca.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and went to the famous market in Tarabuco. Unfortunately, it was not quite as amazing as I thought it would be. There were hordes of tourists, and the prices were way higher than anywhere in Cochabamba. Luckily anywhere I wanted to buy anything, I just explained to the vendors that I was a poor student volunteering in Cochabamba and didn’t have much money. It worked every time, and I got everything I wanted at a pretty good discount. I bought some sweaters, some tapestry weavings, and a holder for my iPod woven in a typical Tarabuco pattern.

Saturday night, Mansi and I went to a show called “Origenes” which featured about 15 different dances. Each dance was a typical dance from a department or region of Bolivia. Afterward, we met four other travelers: one from the U.S., one from Canada, one from Spain, and one from France. We hung out with them at night for a while after the show and even found a “hot” dance spot a few blocks from the central plaza. After dancing, we walked back to the hostal, and Mansi and I stayed up pretty late in the courtyard hanging out and chatting.

On Monday morning we woke up, and learned that the strike in Potosi had gotten worse. We had heard about the strike the night before and how there were blockades along the road, but that it was possible to walk and take a taxi between the road blocks. However, Monday, it got worse. There was no way to get to Potosi. There was also no way to get to Uyuni. Potosi was our next stop, and we were planning to go to Uyuni for the Salar Tour.  I took out a map, and figured out that we could fly from Sucre to Tarija. From Tarija, we could take a bus to Tupiza where other Salar tours begin. We had also heard that the Salar tours from Tupiza were actually much better and had better scenery than those from Uyuni. So we packed our stuff up and went to the airport to buy our tickets for the one flight they had that day. The plane left at 11:30, and we managed to get to the airport by 10:40. Unfortunately neither Mansi nor I had enough cash on us for the tickets, and the company did not take credit cards! We were told by our hostal that there was an ATM at the airport, but there wasn’t one. We ran out and got a cab and asked him to take us to the closest ATM and have us back by 11:00 which is when we had to buy the tickets. It was extremely nerve wracking because it was the only fight of the day to Tarija and we needed to get on it. It was 25 minutes of nervous fretting, but we ended up getting back to the airport at 11:05, and they sold us the tickets.  Finally we were on our way to Tarija.

Working next to a prison has its perks

On Wednesday, the Internet at work was just so incredibly horrible, that Esteban and I decided to go to a café where there was wi-fi. Esteban walked out a minute or two before me, and when I walked out of the office, I didn’t see him, so I looked around and heard someone shouting my name to run just as a brick went flying past my head… so I did just that, I ran! I ran towards the 20 or so policemen standing next to the Plaza holding plastic shields above their heads. When I was safely out of reach of the flying bricks and burning sticks flying from the sky, I turned around to see what was going on. CADEPIA is situated right next to the prison in Cochabamba, even sharing a wall, and the prisoners had all broke loose of their cells and climbed onto the roof. They were throwing whatever they could find off the roof onto cars, towards pedestrians, and especially towards the policemen. They were even tearing their own clothes off their backs, burning them, and throwing them off the roof. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but then again, TIB (This Is Bolivia). So after about 30 minutes of watching the riot ensue, Esteban and I… no, we did not leave, we saw my boss walk out of the building. He saw us and laughed and stood with us for about another 15 minutes just watching the burning, the attempts at jumping off the roof to escape, and the policemen doing absolutely nothing. So I guess we finally made it to an internet café where we did manage to get a little done on the website. Then I left a little early to do a little shopping for my trip where I got all the essentials: sunglasses, suitcase, and $10 speakers which function both as portable speakers as well as fabulous disco lights. Then after lunch, I got a call from work telling me that we were ordered by the police to not come to work since the riot had worsened and it was too dangerous for anyone to be in the building.

So Wednesday afternoon, I went to TAM airlines with Mansi to buy plane tickets to Sucre (15 minutes-$30), but they were full, so we decided to take the bus on Friday night (10 hours-$7). Then after, we walked to La Recoleta to get some artisan ice cream. Well, I got a frozen drink thing, and there was a promotion, so they gave me two. I went home with a frozen drink in each hand in a cab—one was for my niece. Well, as soon as I got into the cab, I could tell from the questions he was asking me that he was interested. First he wanted to go on a date on Saturday, and then he wanted to go on a date on Friday, and then he wanted to know where in Brazil I was from… I wasn’t even aware I looked Brazilian. As I got out of the cab, my drink spilled all over my crotch, so luckily this wonderful cab driver was there to hold the door open for me from the front seat as I tried to scootch out of the cab. As I was managing my drinks and myself, the cab driver made me feel more awkward than I have felt in a long time, he said to me, “que lindos pechos tienes.” Well, translate it for yourself if you don’t speak Spanish.  It was an end to an eventful day, and there were just two days of work left!

The next day, work was pretty boring because the web developer had not been working like he said he would. We didn’t have much to do, but Esteban did tell me why the prisoners were rioting. They were mad at the people running the prison because they weren’t giving them any respect and were randomly not allowing family to visit, etc. for no apparent reason. After work, I went out with Mansi and Natalia to get some margaritas at Paprika. Esteban met us just as we were heading to Tirana to dance. Natalia wanted to go home, so Mansi and I took her home and went back to Tirana where we met Yudozca and her sister. We danced for a good while and then headed home around 1AM so that I could prepare for my last day of work.

On Friday morning, Yudozca took Esteban and me with her on a field trip. Her project was to work with 18-26 year olds who wanted to learn how to sew and then set them up to work with CADEPIA’s affiliates in the sewing industry. We went to one of the affiliates factories where the affiliate, Beatriz taught me how to use a sewing machine! It’s surprisingly similar to driving a car, and I was actually not bad. Then we visited a school and then I went home for lunch. After lunch, I went to Dumbo’s to buy a cake for the office since it was my last day. Turns out my boss bought us all drinks and Esteban bought my favorite, chocolate milk!!! We had two hours of reminiscing… about Richard, about Esteban’s nagging, about Beren, etc. It was a great way to say goodbye, and I still can’t believe it’s all over.

On Friday night, Mansi and I boarded the bus at around 7:30 to head to Sucre. It was an uneventful ending to an eventful week. But my Bolivian trip and adventure was at my fingertips and just about to begin!

"No ve?" vs. "YYYYYYYYYYYyyiii?"

So Thursday night, Lucas, Mansi, and I boarded our bus cama to Santa Cruz around 10PM. Although there was some confusion about which bus we were supposed to board and some scrambling around to find the right bus, we ended up getting to our correct bus and our right seats. Almost immediately we were on our way and fast asleep in our luxuriously wide bus cama seats. Well the trip was supposed to take about 10 hours, but we were on the bus for about 14 hours due to some unexpected cocaine checks by the cops with canines.

Finally when we arrived, we made our way to Jodanga's Backpacker's Hostal. We had made reservations for Saturday night, but couldn't for Friday, so we decided to check it out in person to see if they had any space. Turns out, they did not. Well, we looked through the books and the recommendations in the front lobby for what to do for the rest of the day, the night, and the next day until we could come back to the hostal. We settled on spending the afternoon at the Cabanas 20 minutes from Santa Cruz near the river, and the night and next day in Samaipata about 2.5 hours west of Santa Cruz in the cloud forests of the Bolivian lower mountains. At the Cabanas, we had a delicious fish lunch (Surubi... mmmm), and then Lucas and I drove around on some 4-wheelers in the dust and dirt.

After the 4-wheeling, we caught a cab back to the taxi station to Samaipata and were immediately off winding through the mountains near Santa Cruz to our Friday-night destination. Around 7PM, we were dropped off in the Plaza Principal of Samaipata, which was absolutely gorgeous. We took a seat on a bench and read my guide book to figure out where we were going to stay. As Lucas was reading off the options, I am pretty sure I heard the word "view," and I immediately said, "YES! Let's go there!" So we were off to Hostal Posada del Sol. So when we arrived, we were shown a suite with 2 bedrooms, a private bathroom, a kitchen area, a sofa, a single bed in the living area, and a double bed in the main bedroom. Well, Mansi and I could definitely share a bed, but we were nervous about how pricey it would be. Turns out, it was only about $8.50 per person to stay there! We were so excited that we had a clean and beautiful place to stay with the most amazingly beautiful night sky and stars above us. We showered and then headed into town to book our hiking tour into Parque Amboro for the next day and eat some dinner. We ate at a beautiful place called Latina Cafe that made me feel like I was nestled in a stone cottage in the middle of the French Alps. 

 

We had yummy pasta and delicious red wine. After dinner, we met some American and Hungarian travelers and bar hopped with them. Turns out there are really only 3 bars in Samaipata, so we bar hopped between the three. I would definitely say that Che Wilson was probably the most "hopping" of the three, but still nothing compared to Cochabamba. Anyhow, we had some skunked beer and then called it a night since we had to wake up early for our hike.

In the morning, we ate our included breakfast with the amazing view shown above in the background. Home-made jam, fresh warm bread, tea, and papaya juice with lemon really hit the spot. We then gathered our things, stored them in a luggage room, and headed off into town to meet up with Javier, our guide for the hike into the park. 

Javier was absolutely great. The hike, on the other hand, was an absolute adventure. Well the cloud forest is a very very humid place. Recently however, some very cold winds from Patagonia in Chile and Argentina called el "Surazo" came into the cloud forest and made the branches and leaves freeze. The last time this happened was 30 years ago, so we were in for an unexpected treat that only happens every few decades. The trees and leaves had basically exploded because of this phenomenon, since when water freezes inside things it explodes. Therefore, the entire forest was basically on the ground.

Well, it was definitely a tough hike up the mountain. Good thing Javier had his handy machete... well, actually Lucas had it most of the time since Javier didn't really feel like wasting the energy cutting things and Lucas was all for it. I fell a few times, and I was completely dirty, and I had some ants in my pants (just at the ankle part which is now swollen with ant bites), but the view from the top after 7 hours of hiking was absolutely magnificent. We were extremely exhausted, but we rested for 30 minutes to an hour at the top before heading back down.

After arriving back in Samaipata, we picked up our things, and hired a private cab back to Santa Cruz. We slept since we were totally burnt out, and we knew we wanted to go out and experience Santa Cruz's night life. We ate at a place on the Plaza Principal, and then headed to Equipatrol for some night clubs. We wanted to go into this place that my host sister had said was good, but it was closed for a birthday party. As we were walking away though, the guards said, "ok, ok, 10 Bs." So for 10 Bs, we entered a private birthday party. We danced the night away and then Mansi and I headed back to the hostal around 2:30AM while Lucas stayed out.

California Girls, we're unforgettable, daisy dukes, bikinis on top!!!! (-Cab dancing)

We talked with the night guard at the hostal for a while and got his number. We shared our peanuts and chocolates with him, and he was very happy. Then we went to bed... I think Lucas came in a couple hours after that. We are still not sure what happened with him that night. The next morning we headed to Alexander's with our new friend Magella from Ireland, but living in Australia. We might even meet up with her in el Salar to do the Uyuni trip with her.

After cake at Alexander's we went to the artisan market, bought some bracelets (for Eva... you better be happy), and then sat on the Plaza Principal. Then it was time for Mexican food and the trip back to Cochabamba. The trip back actually was a little smoother. 

 

Certainly there were cops searching for cocaine, but they only found that our ayudante (the helper, not the driver) was drunk. Oh well, they kicked him off, and we were back on the road. 5:30 AM, and we were back in Cochabamba. I was ready for a quick nap, and then a full day at work. Today will probably be spent finishing the enlgish portion of the website that I started yesterday, as well as planning Mansi and my fabulous ending trip in Bolivia to Sucre, Potosi, and the Salar.