La Paz, Bolivia

Dear Mom and Dad,

From Arequipa, we bused to Puno, and stayed the night in a hostel located in the bus terminal. It was a little more expensive ($15) then if we would have walked around and searched for the best priced one, but we were exhausted after all that traveling. I was ready for a hot shower and a bed. We arrived in Puno at 8:00pm, so it was dark, rainy, and cold. Puno is the brownest town that I have ever seen, and will not be winning any beauty awards anytime soon. The temperature was 55 degrees, which was a big change. Our hostel in the bus terminal was perfect with our own private bathroom, shower (choices of water were scalding hot dripping slowly or freezing cold blasting full force), restaurants in station, internet, wide selection of desserts, and the option to call home. Mom, I hope you remembered to call Wendy for us!

Our bus to La Paz left at 7:30am, and we still didn't have an alarm clock. I was really nervous about missing our bus because we already paid for our tickets, and once again they were non-refundable. Charlie's easy going attitude was to do like the Indians did and drink a bunch of water. This way he would be able to keep getting up to go to the bathroom and check the time. I didn't rely on this method, which lead to a poor night's rest. We did make our bus with enough time to eat breakfast at one of the restaurants. Dinner and breakfast cost about $5 a person. Super cheap for two meals!

The border crossing to La Paz was hellish or just down right hell. We started our border crossing in Yunguyo, Peru. First, no one told us we needed $135 a person. The visa price was annoying, but we still would have paid it to go to Bolivia. (Americans are the only people who have to pay this visa because the president here doesn't like the U.S. president. A kind Bolivian man explained this to us today over a glass of fresh squeezed O.J.) The bus companies and tour guides rarely warn Americans of this visa cost because they feel it would stop us from coming. Another small piece of information we later learned from talking to fellow travelers. Anyways, there were no atm's to use to take out money and luckly Charlie and I already had about $100 cash with us. We also had soles (peruvian money) that we exchanged back for american dollars. We finally had exactly enough money plus $19. Well, the border guard didn't want to take one of our $20 bills because there was as SLIGHT rip in it. (People here are so picky on money because there is so much counterfeit bills circulating.) After begging him, he finally accepted the money and let us cross. Before we were allowed to cross, we needed to give him copies of our passports. Not a problem you would think because we made copies before we left. Charlie's passport copy had already been destroyed by water, so he needed to make a copy. One copy cost one bolivian dollar. This should seeme easy enough, but the only places to exchange American money were little stands that wanted at least money in increments of $20. As stated before, we only had $19. Charlie says to the little boy "I'll be right back; un momento" and never returned. Sad. I know. We aren't proud of this either.

Our troubles didn't stop there. We waited to switch buses in the town Copacabana, Bolivia. We had a hour to kill, and we were starving. First things first, we needed to exchange money or take money out of an ATM. No ATMs that worked here. Surprise. Surprise. Exchanging money was our only hope to eating. Here the people would only exchange money in increments of $5. They wouldn't take $1 bills though, only $5 bills. Of our $19, we had ONE $5 bill. We exchanged that for $30 bolivianos, which is a horrible exchange rate because we should have gotten $34 bolivianos. We didn't care, hungry had set in. We found a restaurant that we each could eat at for $15 bolivianos a piece, so we had exactly enough money for two meals. (Tipping is not required here and only recommended in finer dinning establishments.) Think our problems were over? Nope.

Once on the bus we thought we would make it to La Paz, find an ATM, and all our troubles would be over. Well, again no one informed us of another small little price. The bus has to be ferried across Lake Titicaca, and the passengers have to pay for a seperate ferry ride costing $1.50 (bolivianos) per person. This is a small price less then 25 cents a person. Well, remember we have NO money except the american dollars that are useless here. Again no ATMs at this location. After begging and pleading with the bus guys, they let us sneak on the bus and hide on it to ride across the lake without paying any money. Thank goodness for good people. Once we reached La Paz, we found an ATM and our money worries were finally over.Charlie and I snapped at each other from lack of sleep and stress, but once we got to La Paz, smiles were back on our faces and we couldn't help but hug each other.

Our first hostel we stayed at was amazing. It cost a little more then the one we are at now, but had a lot of nice ammenities. Free internet, pancake breakfast (no syrup, they use jelly, butter, sugar, and a weird chocolate cream here), the best hot shower and cleanest toliet you could imagine, one free beer a night, and a safe party for New Years. Adventure Brew Hostel brews their own beer, and it was excellent. I'm not a fan of beer but their amber tasting beer was fruity enough that I enjoyed it! Charlie enjoyed the dark bock as well. Our plan was to celebrate New Years at the hostel. They have a rooftop bar that accomodates all the hostel guests. From there, we would be able to view the fireworks and a 360 degree view of the city. Our plan was to drink the two for one beers and not worry about getting home, theif, or any other concerns one might have. Great plan, huh? We were both asleep by 10:00pm due  to a number of things. Charlie's IBS was acting up, and I think he was dealing with slight food poisoning. I felt nauseous from the high elevation (11,000 feet.) Earlier in the day, we did buy a watch with an alarm clock, so we set an alarm at 11:55pm and had our New Years kiss at midnight, sober, in a sleep daze, toasting with a glass of water. How romantic.

We have purchased a new camera. It was a little expense $160 US dollars, but we didn't want to risk buying one off the street and it not working. It's 12 megapixels with other cool features that Charlie keeps raving about. Pictures will now be flooding the blog. :) Here we are wet, cold, and trying to warm up from being outside. It's 54 degrees here during the day and 40 degrees during the night. No summer dress for me.

Tomorrow we are going on the "World's Most Dangerous Bike Ride" aka "Death Rode." Guess who's idea that was? Here's a link with information about it. http://www.gravitybolivia.com/index.php?mod=tempview1&id=1251406369 Gravity Assisted Mountain Biking company is one of the most expensive ($105 U.S.), but it is the most reputable. They have the top of the line bikes and guides here in La Paz. I'm freaking out because the last thing we need is for one of us to get hurt before our Inca trip, but Charlie is dead set on doing this. We get a free t-shirt if we survive. The guy at the juice stand today told us 10 people die a year, but they don't tell you that when signing up. Great. I made Charlie promise that he would go nice and slow. There is a 60% chance that it will rain tomorrow with a high of 54 degrees. What am I getting myself into? This isn't my kind of fun. I'm the warm weather, beach kind of girl. My goal is to take at least one picture of me smiling tomorrow.

Our plans afterwards are to take a bus Tuesday morning to Oruro, Bolivia. Then that afternoon take a train to Uyuni. In Uyuni, there are supposed to be the most incredible salt bed flats. Charlie wants to take a three day tour and then head back to La Paz and directly to Cusco getting to Cusco no later then the 11th. The three day overnight tour in Uyuni isn't my ideal type of fun either. Some nights, it gets below freezing. We might compromise and only do a day trip or two. I'm already risking my life for a bike ride and camping out on the Inca trails during the rainy season. These are our plans and not set in stone. So far, none of our plans have gone according to plan, so we will keep you updated.

Love and miss you,

Matti Jo and Charles Dale