Hola Amigos,
Went to the Sunday markets in el alto. Was our first experience with catching buses in bolivia. A guy in a bus or minibus hangs out from the door yelling place names as it drives along slowly. The idea is to give a wave and jump in for the ride. Worked for us. The bus filled and filled the closer it got to the destination as more people were picked up. Eventually there were so many people that the door couldn´t close. The last person was an old lady with a baby slung on her back and it was outside of the confines of the bus body. Just waiting for it to drop out. Oh yes. Picture and old green 1970s bus... that was us. Why didn´t we get up and give her the seat? picture sardines in a tin and trying to get the middle one without opening the can.
Only had a vague idea where we were going but figured the locals were also going to the BIG MARKET. Yes BIG. 5km square full of everything you could imagine. Took about 1hr to get there and 45 minutes to leave. Why? Vanessa got dirt thrown into her face and her shoulder bag slashed. The guide book didn´t explicitly state that the markets were dangerous but did say don´t take anything of value. Now we know why! The thief didn´t get anything much of value. Vanessa had the camera hidden under her vest and US$100 in a hidden pocket so sucked in loser thief. We got out of the market area very quickily after the incident.
Next day went to Coroico in the Yungas along the world´s most dangerous road. We saw worse in Ecuador but the title is for number of deaths per year with is 100+. Coroico was pleasant but uninspiring so we jumped back on the bus after a quick look around and headed back onto the death road. So not really worth it. 6hrs round trip for 1hr visit. We did get to see some remarkable roads along steep mountains and pass through a 2km tunnel.
Finally got some shopping done. A lot of almost tears from both of us along the way with all the choices and procrastination. Shopping is not my favourite pasttime. Went to DHL and got a quote for 10kg. How does US$330 sound? pretty bad to me. We opted for sea mail with bolivia post where three cheery lovely old post office ladies helped us pack and sewed our parcel together. The cost of postage was US$100 for 8.4kg in the end. Don´t get too excited. Most of the weight is stuff we have discarded from our packs. Yes more almost tears.
There was a guy trying to flog off a fossil to us. He approached us each day and eventually the count got to double digits. Even "No mas senor!" couldn´t deter him. Aluminium saucepans maybe...
Leaving la paz soon (pronounced la pas).
Adios,
David & Vanessa
