couple of days--the recent death of my battery combined with the fact
that there is no wireless here at the house means that it will probably
be a while before I'm able to get these things posted online.
Therefore, by the time you read this, I will probably have been in La
Paz for a couple of days. Left Cusco last night at about 10PM, and made
it here with only a couple of very minor hiccups along the way.
The story:
I bought a ticket with the company Ormeño in Cusco for a nonstop trip to
La Paz. When the time came to leave, however, I was evidently the only
passenger with a ticket on that bus, so they sent me with another bus
company--a Bolivian company, named (what else) Litoral. The bus ride
was pretty comfortable, though apparently Litoral doesn't provide
meals--this was one of the things I was paying a little extra for with
Ormeño. These bus rides are always longer than you think. It ends up
being about thirteen hours from Cusco to La Paz, broken up by a stop at
the border at Desaguadero.
Got a little bit of sleep on the bus (this was a pretty fancy "bus
cama," where the seats recline waaay back), and ultimately felt half
human when we arrived at the border. Bolivian government follows a
policy of "reciprocity" with US citizens, which means they charge us the
same $100 US that we charge them for a visa. The price goes up to about
$130 if you pay for it at the border (which I did). In a truly bizarre
twist, the Bolivian migrations officials will only accept the payment in
US dollars. Which was a problem for me, as I never carry US dollars,
even in the states. Of course, changing money at the border is not a
problem, but a little aggravating!
Delayed my bus a bit dealing with all this nonsense--a little
frustrating, when I'm secretly pretty sure that I could just waltz over
the border with nobody noticing. I have never yet had any authority
figure actually check to see if my passport was correctly stamped,
except when leaving a country, and as the Bolivian Migrations office
faces away from the crossing at Desaguadero... well... It's common
knowledge that a lot of smuggling goes on here. Not hard to imagine why.
In the end, at least I got a nifty-looking Bolivian visa sticker in my
passport.
In La Paz, we were all escorted of the bus, and taken to a medical
clinic inside the bus terminal, where we were all checked for Swine
Flu. Apparently, the Bolivian swine flu exam consists mostly of
standing in line for two hours, then taking your blood pressure and
giving unwanted medical advice. The doctor told the French gal in
front of me that she should stop smoking.
For the moment, I'm staying with a family in La Paz--folks Emily and I
stayed with back in '06. Feels like coming home--the family is open and
welcoming, and also every bit as neurotic as my own family. So it's a
good match.
I'll probably be here for a couple of days, before I head out to my
first Bolivian case study site, which is in the Yungas--the area north
of La Paz, getting down towards the Jungle. My only other errand in La
Paz is to try to get a new battery for my laptop. The old one died in
Cusco. There is a Mac authorized dealer here in town (and it's even
fairly close), so although it seems like a long shot, I'm hoping they're
going to have a battery in stock. Otherwise, I'll make do.
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