| 17th Finally end up in the slammer... La Paz is set in a valley with mountians on all sides. It is pretty built up and there is some of the town all the way up the hills. The richer folk live near the bottom as the air is thicker! Its around 3700m here and you certainly feel the difference in oxygen levels here as opposed to Potosi! It looks quite colonial in places and has the usual permanent traffic jams and narrow streets I have grown to love here. The buses are small people carriers with a guy sticking his head thru the window shouting the bus route. People can stop it anywhere. I may as well fill you in on my new S America wardrobe - well, I have Llama jacket and hat. A new pair of trousars that double for shorts and the ultimate gringo trail item, a Che Guuvera tshirt. (not forgetting the blue monkey!) After checking in, we went for brekkie and met three new guys joining us...boy, did we tell them some stories! Then we walked thru the witches market. Its a market that sells potions and occult stuff. They also sell Llama foetues and dead ones. So I got the obligatory foto kissing one...I ran away from the group and headed further into town as they were too slow. Got down to the main plaza here, and there was a massive protest going down. (I think it was about the economy) there were heaps of guards/police/soldiers and traffic wardens about in full riot gear...something was going down. There was several loud bangs from fireworks and guns reverbrating round town. So I follwowed the protest round for a bit and got some great fotos of the army dudes. The main Morillo Plaza here is really nice, with the presidential palace, Congress and Cathedral on three sides of it. I bumped into some of the others and SAS for some lunch before the hail storm started. We were all surprised, it was really wet but warm! In La Paz there is a prison where the inmates conduct the tour round it, so I met some other folks and we went there. There was 15 of us overall (safety in numbers). Nick from SAS negotiated with one of the prisoners for about 8 quid in. We sat around till 3 thinking what a stupaid idea it is to walk into a Bolivian prison, vountarily. But we did... Met the "tour guide", an Bolivan born but NY educated guy who was serving 8 yrs for smuggling 4 tons of coke into NY, and then deported back here. We had three "bodyguards" as well and the number 1 man in the jail accompaining us. So we saw the prison quarters where they spend there time and live. Money is king there - cells are rented or bought for about $150-500 a month, and some cells have computers, saunas, cell fones and TV�s. Its crazy, but the richest guy there and the most powerful (he got caught smuggling 25 tons) built himself a penthouse overlooking the jail with all mod cons! You can arrange for women stay overnite for $30, anything you want can be got! We could have bought 5 grams of coke and the guards are told not to search us on the way in or out! The guards are only there by the gates, otherwise the prisoners run the prison thru committes and the top 7 men there (one from each section there). They don�t eat prison food as the govt puts tranquillisers in it to make the prisoners more docile - they all know about it though so they choose to eat in one of many restaruants there or cook for themselves by buying food there (there are better shops there, than on the outside!) The number one man hands out punishments as well, but mainly to rapists whom they humilate and beat. He was moved prisons for a bit, and the rapes increased. But then the judges wanted to lower it, so they brought him back to the min security jail where rapists would be dealt with. The rape numbers soon fell, and there is almost none here! There were tons of Coca Cola advertising there - seemingly Coke sponsors the jail for $10k yearly,so the only drink drunk there is coke (apart from raw alcohol) Strange. Some prisoners run internet businesses from inside there and are making fortunes! There was a uni there, where you could study anything for dollars. Being good at football meant that you got a "scholarship" - free accommadation, free food and other perks. Those poor enough not to be able to afford to buy their own cell (which you are given a deed for) live in dorms or share rooms with others, but are treated like slaves! We paid the guy some money (about $50) and then headed thru the jail. We were all slightly scared initally, but it was great, I recommend it! He was a star as well, funny, clever and a great guide. I am sure there is heaps that I have forgotton about that as there was so much to take in. Finally, the jail has families there, we saw tons of kids and women there (there is about 300 kids out of 1400 prisoners, but they leave at 8am to go school outside the jail) Monica works in journalism and she is thinking of doing an article/documentary on this guy as he is such a star! Who says that crime doesn�t pay! After that we were totally buzzing so we had to sit for a bit and have some coke (cola, silly!) and chill for a bit. Some of us were going out for dinner with the new folks to a place called Mungo�s (a gringo hangout). There was tons of people there, mainly SAS but also Kumuka. Sat and chatted with SAS for a while, then the girls...it was great to hear all the truck gossip! Really nice meal there and tons to drink - ended up staying there till 2am as I could not dance anymore! 18th La Pax After another bracing shower, headed onto internet to catch up before going to see how many Big macs I can eat. I picked up my laundry this morning, so I have some semi-clean clothes now. Tomorrow we go on the truck which is out, to Lake Titicaca on the Bolivia and Peru border. The truck finally made it after snapping several winches and 5 days in the salt! The authourities have banned trucks from driving across the salt plains now and there is a 20m by 10m hole in the salt...our work is done here! Gron and Phil are here now...full squad! Headed into McDonalds for Llama�burgers and bumped into Michelle and Katie (2 new girls). All roads lead to McDonalds. Popped into the central market - full of butchers and fruit stalls and then there is tons of stalls selling chicken type soup and some sort of meat. iT was incredily busy and also full of soldiers. When I turned the corner, they all turned and stared at me...rather funny, I felt like a giant! The whole city is one big market with stalls everywhere - on street corners, on the the roads and on the quietest streets. They sell all manner of crap - but food is vrey popular, esp the cheese empanadas (cheese puffs!) Drinks are a big attraction as well There is a lot of disparity between the rich and poor here, like most places, its just the poor are really poor. There are heaps of beggers as well, instead of kids (like London, its old women!) I am off to Tiahuanaco museam soon, which has all about that culture and is set in an impressive looking building! Catch u later! Met some others for a meal then headed back after stopping for a Mcflurry! The others had been cycling down the most dangerous, steepest road in the world. It starts at 5500m and is downhill for 100kms until 2000m when it opens out into the jungle. They were all pretty chattered! Peru Friday 19th Chaotic scenes at border crossing to Peru! Well, now we have crossed the most hectic border ever between Bolivia and Peru. We are in Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca (the world�s highest naviagble lake!) Here for some food and beers tonite then in the morning we spend the day on some islands with some ruins on then. In the evening we are staying with local families - so that should be an interesting experience! Today we left La Paz, bound for here. We intially started to travel in convey with SAS. We decided to pelt their truck with eggs (and suffer the revenge attacks later!)...so as we were driving past them, we pelted the truckk with heaps of eggs - it was covered! A few even went in the truck and smashed over people...I got hit by friendly fire by someone (Neil!) so smelt of eggs all day! On Sunday we arrive in Cusco to rest up for the day in preparation for the Inca trail over the following 4 days. The trail is between 2500m and 4000m. Everybody is slightly concerned over it as at altitude its really hard work. We have porters for the bulk of our gear, but my camera, sleeping bag and vodka bottle weighs a ton! Went out for dinner at a pizza place (where the owner was greek and extremly drunk and stoned!), had a nice feed, fresh pizza, apple pie and beer! We all then went next door to a bar for some more drinks and to meet some SAS folks - had many drinks there. The G&T� s were huge measures, so it wasn� long b4 I was saliling high. Danced the nite away and it proved to a very funny nite - Ann�s fleece caught on fire over a candle and there was a lot of breakdancing going on. I was chatting to Kym from SAS - she really scares me, esp as she knows that I was throwing eggs at her! I had to be escorted home at 2am! We have left the truck in truck park till Monday. The truck contains all the camping gear, spare parts, chairs, cooking utensils, tools and food. Mostly in outside compartments but also underneath the floor boards. It also weights about 13 tons. Thought u may be interested... |