Week Four: The Yungas

This past weekend I headed out with some fellow Canadians to a tourist town called Coroico in the Yungas region of Bolivia, which is about three hours northeast of La Paz. The climate in the Yungas is much warmer than in La Paz as it is located between the highlands and the forests to the east of the Andes. It was a very nice place to go to relax and warm up a bit. On Saturday we took a trip out of town to visit some waterfalls, but unfortunately it is the end of the dry season and so only one of the three waterfalls actually had water falling from it. It was still a very nice excursion and the scenery was amazing.

When we got back to the hotel, we took full advantage of the pool and sauna. At night we went out for a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant and I had some incredible chicken enchiladas. I feel bad saying this, but it was easily the best dish I´ve had in Bolivia to date. After that we headed out to a karaoke bar for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we just kicked around the pool for the morning and the early afternoon and then it was back to the city to get ready for the workweek.

Even the bus ride to and from Coroico was amazing. The bus passed through the clouds atop the mountain range and wounds its way down the mountainside, giving us a great view of the deep valleys and lush vegetation below. We took the new road connecting La Paz and the Yungas, aptly called the ‘New Road’, instead of the old road nicknamed ‘Death Road’. It is called this because it is an unpaved road on the edge of an incredibly steep cliff and there is hardly enough space for two vehicles to pass one another.

So, I have been thinking that I might start to do some ‘feature posts’ instead of simply describing what I’ve been up during the week. I thought it would be good to focus on some of the different aspects of Bolivia such as architecture, plants, animals, vehicles and food. If anyone has any suggestions of themes that they would like to know more about, please advise me and I will do my best to include them.

***Interesting Fact: Because there is so much pressure in the air in La Paz, it is extremely difficult to pour beer into a glass without getting a lot of foam. For this reason, very few bars have beer on tap.***

[The view from the hotel room]

Week Three: Huffing and Puffing

This past week has been relatively quiet for me and this has allowed me to nicely settle into life in Bolivia. I joined a gym, began Spanish lessons and did a whole heck of a lot of walking. Well, I shouldn´t say that I did that much walking, but at this altitude it really hits you quickly. By the time I walk from work to the gym, which is a 10-minute walk uphill, I feel as though I’ve already had my workout and I’m ready to call it a day. Right now my goal is to break a sweat. Because the air is so thin at this altitude, your heart and lungs are required to work overtime and I find myself out of breath and ready to pass out before my body even starts to perspire.

On Friday I celebrated my 28^th birthday and I would like to thank everyone for all the very nice birthday wishes that I received from back home. At the end of the work day, my colleagues and I sat in my office and ate the single-biggest pizza I´ve ever laid eyes on. No joke, this thing was massive!!!

When I returned home from work, my 9-year old sister, Jimena, gave me two cards and two little presents. She must have been trying to compensate for the fact that I was thousands of kilometers away from my family and friends on my birthday.

On Saturday, my Bolivian family and I went to the soccer stadium in La Paz. Although the semi-professional players did not produce the most awe-inspiring performance, the experience was still quite entertaining. While I wouldn´t call it unnecessary or excessive, there was definitely a plethora of firecrackers at the game (It´s just too bad I can´t say the same about the number of people in attendance). We just sat there in the stands together, watching the game and eating an ice cream. If it sounds very wholesome, it’s because it was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to finish the ice cream. I don´t want to knock Bolivian ice cream or anything, but I probably would not recommend the cinnamon flavour to anyone.

The political situation here appears to have calmed down since last week, with the two sides agreeing to sit down and try to reach an agreement. Last week a governor in the region where the 30 deaths occurred was arrested for allegedly ordering an ambush that killed 16 peasants. Today, thousands of government supporters were expected to arrive in Santa Cruz armed with slings, clubs, pistols, shotguns and dynamite after a 10 day march to the city (Santa Cruz is the city where anti-government protestors took over government-owned business a couple of weeks ago). So, although I said that it appears for now that things have calmed down, deep divisions still exist and I don’t think it would take much to spark further confrontations between pro- and anti-government supporters.

"Long Live High Altitude Sports" from inside the La Paz soccer stadium

***Interesting Fact: In May, 2007, Fifa banned international soccer matches from being played at altitudes over 2,500 meters above sea level. This means that, in addition to many other Andean cities, international games cannot be played in the capital cities of Bolivia, Ecuador or Columbia (La Paz – 3,600m, Quito – 2,800m, Bogota – 2640m). Fifa claims that the ban was put into place due to health concerns for players unaccustomed to the thin air. Bolivians view Fifa´s decision as discriminatory because they cannot play where they were born.***

[A picture of my office building]