Upon arriving in La Paz, I immediately hated the city. It is a loud, polluted, crowded city. Sam, Rochelle, Gabe (a newbie to our group from Alaska), and I got settled into a hostel and took a nap because none of us really got much sleep on the overnight bus trip from Sucre. After sleeping most of the afternoon, we got up and started to explore the city. Even after finding some good restaurants and some nice shopping, I was still itching to get out of La Paz as soon as possible. I think because I hated it so much, that was the reason I got stuck there.
The next day, after having a delicious breakfast of french toast and fruit with real maple syrup, I got sick. We had just signed up for a bike trip down the most dangerous road and were clearing up all the details and I had to make my way back to the hostel where I stayed in bed for the rest of the day, making frequent trips to the bathroom. I had been sick several times already in Bolivia and I figured that this time would be a one day problem like all the others. Unfortunately, it wasn´t and I think part of it was because I was in stinky, dirty, smelly La Paz and not in some other beautiful city I would much rather be in.
At about midnight that night, I started having everything I had eaten from probably the whole week before come out both ends... sometimes at the same time. I was so sick, but I thought I would still be able to go on the bike ride the next day, even after the first hour. After the second hour, I knew I couldn´t go on the bike ride. After the third hour, I just stayed in the bathroom without even going back to my room and after the forth and fifth hours, when I couldn´t even stand up anymore because I was so dehydrated, I decided I should go to the hospital. I woke up Sam and Rochelle to ask them to help me and the hostel called a private doctor who spoke english. They sent me to a private clinic and lucky for me, Sam came with me.
Upon arriving in the clinic, I had to be hooked up to an IV because I was really dehydrated and I had a really high fever. I passed out right after they took the blood sample. I ended up being stuck there for about 30 hours while they kept me hooked up to an IV, putting antibiotics, antinausea and antidiarrhea medcations in me. I was lucky I was there, because I had heard stories of other hospitals in La Paz that were absolutely terrible. Sam told me that he went wandering around the area outside the hospital and decided that this was the Beverly Hills of La Paz. Apparently, there were tons of nice houses and fancy cars all over the place. He was actually happy about staying at the hospital with me because they made him meals and there was cable TV so he could watch the French Open all day.
After finally leaving the clinic, Sam and I stayed in La Paz for a couple of extra days eating only white rice and drinking tons of water the whole time trying to at least feel a little better. On the second day of being out of the hospital, we took the bike ride down the ¨Most Dangerous Road in the World¨!
