7am: I still feel like shit, but a tiny bit better. Today, we take the bus to Sajama, the volcanic area in Bolivia that has the highest peaks of the country (~6,500m). We pack our bags and leave the hotel. Based on the information we received, we should take 2 buses: 1 bus to Patacamaya (1h), then a second bus to Sajama (3h).
8:30am: our taxi pick us up and takes us to the Bus Terminal. Breakfast at the terminal (cake and tea)
9:30am: the bus leaves the terminal and takes FOREVER to leave La Paz. Traffic is really bad, and the driver doesn't seem in a hurry and stops for 15min to go shopping.
11:45am: we FINALLY arrive at Patacamaya. The first leg of the journey took 2h15 instead of 1h. We are starting to understand that the concept of time isn't the same around here!
12pm: we find the 12am bus to Sajama, which only left at 12:45pm (again, different concept of time). That gave us time to go to a local restaurant to get the lunch special: a very very hearty soup with beans, meat etc... and a big plate of chicken and rice. I only ate the soup, I don't have much appetite. Cost: 8 Bolivianos per person, so about $1.2 USD.
12:45pm: the mini-bus leaves town, and we are on our merry way to Sajama. 3 hours to kill and I'm still sick. I get to sit at the front next to the driver were there's more space. Max and Camille aren't so lucky and are packed at the back with 15 other people, sitting on really old seats with basically no back support.
4pm: We made it to Sajama. We were expecting a nice little town, but we only see a ghost village. There are alpagas grazing around the village, but no one to be seen. The location is amazing though, just at the foot of some of the highest volcans of the country. One of the ladies from the bus offers us a room and takes us back to her place. The room is pretty awful: sand on the floor, very old beds made of rice bags. The nail in the coffin is the outhouse. You have to step over alpaga skins drying in the sun to get in, and it feels like you'll catch some medieval disease just by touching the door handle. We decide to move away from this place. Max and Camille go on a recon mission to find a better place, while I rest on the rice bags.
5pm: Max and Camille are back with a new place in mind. They met a nice lady at a lodge called Pachamama who offered a little cottage for basically the same price as the other place. We move our stuff asap.
6pm: we play UNO at the dinner table
7pm: dinner is served by the Pachamama lady: tasty vegetable soup (with french fries in it... odd!) and a plate of mushed potatoes and beef. It was pretty good, but not as good as the "Rillettes de Canard" brought back from France by Camille and Max. We offered some to the nice lady and her husband, they seem to really like it.
8:30pm: we are in bed, tired, ready to sleep.
8:30am: our taxi pick us up and takes us to the Bus Terminal. Breakfast at the terminal (cake and tea)
9:30am: the bus leaves the terminal and takes FOREVER to leave La Paz. Traffic is really bad, and the driver doesn't seem in a hurry and stops for 15min to go shopping.
11:45am: we FINALLY arrive at Patacamaya. The first leg of the journey took 2h15 instead of 1h. We are starting to understand that the concept of time isn't the same around here!
12pm: we find the 12am bus to Sajama, which only left at 12:45pm (again, different concept of time). That gave us time to go to a local restaurant to get the lunch special: a very very hearty soup with beans, meat etc... and a big plate of chicken and rice. I only ate the soup, I don't have much appetite. Cost: 8 Bolivianos per person, so about $1.2 USD.
12:45pm: the mini-bus leaves town, and we are on our merry way to Sajama. 3 hours to kill and I'm still sick. I get to sit at the front next to the driver were there's more space. Max and Camille aren't so lucky and are packed at the back with 15 other people, sitting on really old seats with basically no back support.
4pm: We made it to Sajama. We were expecting a nice little town, but we only see a ghost village. There are alpagas grazing around the village, but no one to be seen. The location is amazing though, just at the foot of some of the highest volcans of the country. One of the ladies from the bus offers us a room and takes us back to her place. The room is pretty awful: sand on the floor, very old beds made of rice bags. The nail in the coffin is the outhouse. You have to step over alpaga skins drying in the sun to get in, and it feels like you'll catch some medieval disease just by touching the door handle. We decide to move away from this place. Max and Camille go on a recon mission to find a better place, while I rest on the rice bags.
5pm: Max and Camille are back with a new place in mind. They met a nice lady at a lodge called Pachamama who offered a little cottage for basically the same price as the other place. We move our stuff asap.
6pm: we play UNO at the dinner table
7pm: dinner is served by the Pachamama lady: tasty vegetable soup (with french fries in it... odd!) and a plate of mushed potatoes and beef. It was pretty good, but not as good as the "Rillettes de Canard" brought back from France by Camille and Max. We offered some to the nice lady and her husband, they seem to really like it.
8:30pm: we are in bed, tired, ready to sleep.
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