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Brenton Kovacs's Travels
29th Nov.
Today we are heading north of Putre with Flavio to explore some of the region no tourists have been to. The roads are some of the roughest we have been on. We climb to just above 5,000 metres above sea level. Oxygen is getting thin, but we seem to have acclimatised ok. The scenery is truly spectacular. From painted mountain sides to snow-capped volcanoes and amazing plant life thriving in the desert conditions.
We stop for lunch and take in the incredibly coloured mountain landscape, an amazing experience. We only see 2 other cars for the whole day. This is our last night in Putre.
30th Nov.
Today we are heading to La Paz, Bolivia. This involves a border crossing, so we are not sure what to expect. After breakfast Flavio takes us to wait for the bus on the main highway, the bus is meant to arrive between 11am and midday. While we wait we watch the police who have set up a road block to check trucks heading to the port of Arica (The main sea port for land-locked Bolivia). One bus goes by, another bus goes by, and still not bus for us. It's just gone past midday, and no bus. A policeman walks over to us and I think he asks us what we are waiting for (cannot understand Spanish). I show him our bus tickets as another bus drives past without stopping. It’s our bus! He frantically yells and whistles for the bus to stop. The bus does stop about 300 metres up the road. With bags in hand we walk quickly to the now reversing bus, load our bags and take our seats. Glad to be aboard, as I would hate to have missed the bus.
The drive is very scenic as we pass lakes and volcanoes, lamas, alpacas and more. As we approach the Chile side of the border crossing there would have been 2 to 3 kilometres of trucks, all parked up on the roadside waiting to cross. Luckily the tourist buses have a special lane (The wrong side of the road!). It’s slow going but we finally reach the check point where we are told to get off the bus and walk to the immigration office. Pretty straight forward; hand over our Chilean arrival/departure document, passport stamped, and back onto the bus. Very painless.
We drive for about 100 metres and are told to get off the bus with all our bags. We are the marched to a group of guards at a table in front of the bus to have our bags searched. This done we are then told to head into a rather old, dilapidated building to have our passports stamped to enter Bolivia. With this done we now try to find our bus which has crossed the border. Bags loaded we wait for all the passengers. Our driver is rather impatient, he sounds the horn continuously to try and get the rest of the passengers out of the shops and onto the bus. This takes about 15 minutes. With all on board we head to La Paz.
The buses in South America don’t allow you to see through the front window. The drivers compartment is closed with a divider which is covered with curtains. I think I know why they do this. Bolivia has one of the worst crash rates in South America involving buses and trucks. With so many slow going trucks heading from the port of Arica the buses spend more time on the wrong side of the road passing them while trying to avoid having a head-on with oncoming trucks. This must be why they don’t let you see through the front window.
Anyway we are well into the trip; the bus is passing slower trucks with ease. It’s not until we are nearly hit by an oncoming truck that you realise just how bad these drivers are. We are sitting at a window seat, and all we see is a truck missing us by mere millimetres. That one was close. I think we spend more time on the wrong side of the road than the right side. I just hope it’s not our day to die!
The roads in Bolivia are rubbish. The road we are on appears to have been under construction/improvement for a long time; so it is slow going and a rough ride. There are numerous check points along the way, adding time to the journey. The landscape is nothing special, until we start to get close to La Paz.
Snow capped peaks a sign we are close to La Paz. The outer districts of La Paz are some of the worst slums I have ever seen. It is an eye opener. The traffic is bumper to bumper. We cover about 1 kilometre in 15 minutes. You need a lot of patience to drive here, its horrendous. With the bus terminal in sight, it only takes about 15 minutes to drive 200 metres to get to the terminal. Patience is required.
With bags in had we walk into the main terminal to see if we can find a bus company that will take us to Puno via Copacabana, Lake Titicaca. Luckily there is a lots of English signage. The terminal is packed with people coming and going. There are over 40 operators offering bus services to destinations all over South America. It’s a mini Grand Central station. We find the right operator, and now to find a money exchange. Just at the front entrance to the terminal is a small money exchange. With money changed the next hurdle is a taxi. We are bombarded with taxi drivers offer us their service. I turn them away as i don’t like aggressive taxi drivers. I spot a taxi a few metres away just sitting patiently in his car. We walk over and give him the address. He knows where to go and tells me the cost.
I will use Australian dollars here to give you an idea on costs. The taxi ride is $3 to our apartment. Now our accommodation is another story. I had originally made a booking at a hotel, no deposit paid. Alan found a 3 bedroom apartment on airbnb in La Paz for $37 a night. So we booked that and cancelled the hotel. The taxi ride to the apartment was short and without any dramas. The driver would have to be the most courteous driver ever. He got us to our destination, opened the boot, and removed our bags and placed them on the footpath as if they were made of glass.
Its now 6.30pm and we are standing on the footpath with no real idea on just where the apartment is. The next minute a hear a voice calling out my name. It is Farina who has been waiting for us. We are shown around the huge apartment. We meet the whole family. Farina then takes us on a short walk to introduce us to the local shop keepers, so they know to look after us if we need anything. She then offers us a lift to the supermarket. What a host!.
Farina drops us a block from the supermarket, and gives us directions. On the way we come across a rather unique burger joint. As we have eaten all day we decide to have tea here. Cannot believe the prices, so cheap. We both order a Hamburgersa Sa Pin. It’s a meat patty on a plate of fries with lettuce, tomato, cheese, no bun. Also order a cappuccino. The bill comes to $6. Now its been a long and somewhat unexciting day. All this changes when I bite into the meat patty. The taste is amazing. This is the best burger we have ever had. While eating tea I watch the young girl make our coffee. She is so methodical in pouring the milk, adding the froth, then slowing adding the espresso, so not to disturb the froth. And what a coffee it is. One of the best.
Now with tea over with we try to find the supermarket. We gather a few items for breakfast and decide to walk back to the apartment. Well this didn’t work out as we kind of got lost, so we hail a cab, and for $2 he drops his at the apartment.
1st Dec.
Finally a decent nights sleep. There were some fireworks and a parade near the apartment last night, but this finished around midnight. Woke to a beautiful sunny day, and the noise of the city starting to become louder and louder. Now to see about getting so clothes washed.
After washing our clothes we load up the backpack and head out to visit the Plaza. The city is now getting into full swing. There are people and cars choking the streets. The fumes from the diesel vehicles are awful. A quick walk to the bus station to buy our Puno tickets. Outside the bus station there is a stall selling fruit salad in a cup covered with strawberry yogurt. We buy one is they are only $1, and really good.
On the way back to the apartment we come across a small little café full of local people. So this is where we have lunch. A bowl of cream of corn soup and a plate of rice, salad with chorizo sausage all for $1.50. Don’t know how they make money, but the food was great.
We return back to the apartment and have some coffee and cake. After we decide to visit a lookout that is only 600 metres from us. The walk takes half an hour as the climb is so very steep. The view was worth the effort. We stop and get some roast chicken and roast pork from a little shop. All the meat and vegetables was $7. So much food we could not eat it all. Well that’s it for today. La Paz is a place that does grow and you. It has load of character.
Today we are heading north of Putre with Flavio to explore some of the region no tourists have been to. The roads are some of the roughest we have been on. We climb to just above 5,000 metres above sea level. Oxygen is getting thin, but we seem to have acclimatised ok. The scenery is truly spectacular. From painted mountain sides to snow-capped volcanoes and amazing plant life thriving in the desert conditions.
We stop for lunch and take in the incredibly coloured mountain landscape, an amazing experience. We only see 2 other cars for the whole day. This is our last night in Putre.
30th Nov.
Today we are heading to La Paz, Bolivia. This involves a border crossing, so we are not sure what to expect. After breakfast Flavio takes us to wait for the bus on the main highway, the bus is meant to arrive between 11am and midday. While we wait we watch the police who have set up a road block to check trucks heading to the port of Arica (The main sea port for land-locked Bolivia). One bus goes by, another bus goes by, and still not bus for us. It's just gone past midday, and no bus. A policeman walks over to us and I think he asks us what we are waiting for (cannot understand Spanish). I show him our bus tickets as another bus drives past without stopping. It’s our bus! He frantically yells and whistles for the bus to stop. The bus does stop about 300 metres up the road. With bags in hand we walk quickly to the now reversing bus, load our bags and take our seats. Glad to be aboard, as I would hate to have missed the bus.
The drive is very scenic as we pass lakes and volcanoes, lamas, alpacas and more. As we approach the Chile side of the border crossing there would have been 2 to 3 kilometres of trucks, all parked up on the roadside waiting to cross. Luckily the tourist buses have a special lane (The wrong side of the road!). It’s slow going but we finally reach the check point where we are told to get off the bus and walk to the immigration office. Pretty straight forward; hand over our Chilean arrival/departure document, passport stamped, and back onto the bus. Very painless.
We drive for about 100 metres and are told to get off the bus with all our bags. We are the marched to a group of guards at a table in front of the bus to have our bags searched. This done we are then told to head into a rather old, dilapidated building to have our passports stamped to enter Bolivia. With this done we now try to find our bus which has crossed the border. Bags loaded we wait for all the passengers. Our driver is rather impatient, he sounds the horn continuously to try and get the rest of the passengers out of the shops and onto the bus. This takes about 15 minutes. With all on board we head to La Paz.
The buses in South America don’t allow you to see through the front window. The drivers compartment is closed with a divider which is covered with curtains. I think I know why they do this. Bolivia has one of the worst crash rates in South America involving buses and trucks. With so many slow going trucks heading from the port of Arica the buses spend more time on the wrong side of the road passing them while trying to avoid having a head-on with oncoming trucks. This must be why they don’t let you see through the front window.
Anyway we are well into the trip; the bus is passing slower trucks with ease. It’s not until we are nearly hit by an oncoming truck that you realise just how bad these drivers are. We are sitting at a window seat, and all we see is a truck missing us by mere millimetres. That one was close. I think we spend more time on the wrong side of the road than the right side. I just hope it’s not our day to die!
The roads in Bolivia are rubbish. The road we are on appears to have been under construction/improvement for a long time; so it is slow going and a rough ride. There are numerous check points along the way, adding time to the journey. The landscape is nothing special, until we start to get close to La Paz.
Snow capped peaks a sign we are close to La Paz. The outer districts of La Paz are some of the worst slums I have ever seen. It is an eye opener. The traffic is bumper to bumper. We cover about 1 kilometre in 15 minutes. You need a lot of patience to drive here, its horrendous. With the bus terminal in sight, it only takes about 15 minutes to drive 200 metres to get to the terminal. Patience is required.
With bags in had we walk into the main terminal to see if we can find a bus company that will take us to Puno via Copacabana, Lake Titicaca. Luckily there is a lots of English signage. The terminal is packed with people coming and going. There are over 40 operators offering bus services to destinations all over South America. It’s a mini Grand Central station. We find the right operator, and now to find a money exchange. Just at the front entrance to the terminal is a small money exchange. With money changed the next hurdle is a taxi. We are bombarded with taxi drivers offer us their service. I turn them away as i don’t like aggressive taxi drivers. I spot a taxi a few metres away just sitting patiently in his car. We walk over and give him the address. He knows where to go and tells me the cost.
I will use Australian dollars here to give you an idea on costs. The taxi ride is $3 to our apartment. Now our accommodation is another story. I had originally made a booking at a hotel, no deposit paid. Alan found a 3 bedroom apartment on airbnb in La Paz for $37 a night. So we booked that and cancelled the hotel. The taxi ride to the apartment was short and without any dramas. The driver would have to be the most courteous driver ever. He got us to our destination, opened the boot, and removed our bags and placed them on the footpath as if they were made of glass.
Its now 6.30pm and we are standing on the footpath with no real idea on just where the apartment is. The next minute a hear a voice calling out my name. It is Farina who has been waiting for us. We are shown around the huge apartment. We meet the whole family. Farina then takes us on a short walk to introduce us to the local shop keepers, so they know to look after us if we need anything. She then offers us a lift to the supermarket. What a host!.
Farina drops us a block from the supermarket, and gives us directions. On the way we come across a rather unique burger joint. As we have eaten all day we decide to have tea here. Cannot believe the prices, so cheap. We both order a Hamburgersa Sa Pin. It’s a meat patty on a plate of fries with lettuce, tomato, cheese, no bun. Also order a cappuccino. The bill comes to $6. Now its been a long and somewhat unexciting day. All this changes when I bite into the meat patty. The taste is amazing. This is the best burger we have ever had. While eating tea I watch the young girl make our coffee. She is so methodical in pouring the milk, adding the froth, then slowing adding the espresso, so not to disturb the froth. And what a coffee it is. One of the best.
Now with tea over with we try to find the supermarket. We gather a few items for breakfast and decide to walk back to the apartment. Well this didn’t work out as we kind of got lost, so we hail a cab, and for $2 he drops his at the apartment.
1st Dec.
Finally a decent nights sleep. There were some fireworks and a parade near the apartment last night, but this finished around midnight. Woke to a beautiful sunny day, and the noise of the city starting to become louder and louder. Now to see about getting so clothes washed.
After washing our clothes we load up the backpack and head out to visit the Plaza. The city is now getting into full swing. There are people and cars choking the streets. The fumes from the diesel vehicles are awful. A quick walk to the bus station to buy our Puno tickets. Outside the bus station there is a stall selling fruit salad in a cup covered with strawberry yogurt. We buy one is they are only $1, and really good.
On the way back to the apartment we come across a small little café full of local people. So this is where we have lunch. A bowl of cream of corn soup and a plate of rice, salad with chorizo sausage all for $1.50. Don’t know how they make money, but the food was great.
We return back to the apartment and have some coffee and cake. After we decide to visit a lookout that is only 600 metres from us. The walk takes half an hour as the climb is so very steep. The view was worth the effort. We stop and get some roast chicken and roast pork from a little shop. All the meat and vegetables was $7. So much food we could not eat it all. Well that’s it for today. La Paz is a place that does grow and you. It has load of character.
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