Oct 24, Monday & Oct 25, Tuesday

Oct 25, Tuesday       

Early breakfast, packed, checked out of hotel, and headed to the Cuzco airport for my 10:30 flight to La Paz Bolivia.    10:30 came and went; no sign of our aircraft and no officials in the “international” flight zone to answer any questions.    At 11 am someone finally showed up, but instead of making a general announcement so that everyone could hear, he just went from one small group to the next, by passing a lot of people.   When he got close to the section I was sitting in I got up to listen in on what he was saying; the only thing I caught was that our plane was still sitting in La Paz and they had no idea when it would arrive in Cuzco.   It took them another ½ hour to marshal us back out of the international area and up to the second floor where we could purchase something to eat and drink.    I had started talking to a Peruvian lady from Lima (mineralogist or chemist, but definitely working for the mines) who was heading to Bolivia for a mining conference.   She is  somehow involved in the health issues of the miners, who aren’t necessarily provided with the proper equipment so that they don’t breath in all the crap that’s floating around in the mines (mineral and chemical dust).   Anyway, she joined me at my table at the restaurant and we continued our chat over lattes and croissants.     Whenever I talk about conversations I’ve had since I started travelling, apart from three times when I’ve met people who spoke English, every other conversation is in Spanish.   I’m living, breathing and dreaming in Spanish these days, even talking to myself in Spanish when I’m pissed off !   It’s really quite funny because I don’t know any Spanish swear words.    On TV, if the program is in English and there are Spanish subtitles, all the swear words or bad words are translated as “maldita”,  a very mild expletive.

Sorry, I got sidetracked, back to the airport;  the plane ended up being 3 hours late.  Only explanation was that the winds were extremely strong in La Paz and were hindering take offs.    If it was mechanical, they would not have told us, and we probably would not want to know.    I had a window seat and was able to catch glimpses of Lake Titicaca, both on the Peruvian and Bolivian side.  

As we approached La Paz, the scenery was of a vast flat high arid plain.   We started to see some of the urban sprawl and then I could see the terrain dropping off drastically into a big valley where most of La Paz is situated.    Very craggy mountain sides all around and just as I was thinking “Sh___ we have to land at the bottom of this valley !”  the plane did a complete circle and came back towards the high area, where we just cleared the houses and landed about 1 mile past the rim of the valley.   And there are beautiful snow covered mountain ranges visible from the city.  Two of them are Mount Chacaltaya and Cordillera Real.  La Paz is located at an elevation of 3,650 m (11,975 ft), making it the world’s highest "de facto" capital city, or administrative capital.  (The city of Sucre is actually its official Capital.)

The high part of the city is appropriately called El Alto, and the lower part simply “La Paz”.   The drive down the escarpment was quite spectacular , completing a huge U from one side of the upper level down to the other side of the valley.    The hotel I am staying at is called Hotel Rosario, on Avenida Illampu  (I-yampoo).  

  Hotel Rosario 3rd floor

  Hotel Rosario 2nd floor

  Patio at the back (2nd room will be the window to the right near the table)

 It used to be an old colonial mansion, which has now been converted to a hotel, with a more modern addition at the back providing the bulk of the rooms.    I’m lucky for these 2 first days since I’m in the old colonial portion.  Unfortunately I’m on the third floor, which is technically the fourth floor, with no elevator.     The hotel has a travel agency on site so before dinner I sat down with the young lady and plotted out what I would like to do while I’m here in Bolivia.   Wait till you see what she came up for me.   WOW !

  View from my window on the 4rth floor

   View from my window on the 4rth floor  with the mountain Illimani in the background

   Little decorative doll in my bathroom.  They are all over the hotel.  So cute.

The hotel has a great restaurant and since there does not seem to be a great selection nearby, I will avail myself of their delicious food while I am here.   Tonight I had some chicken (so safe when your body is rebelling) served with a soufflé of Quinoa (nice fluffy, buttery, with tiny bits of veggies no bigger than the quinoa grains) and some grilled veggies.   

   Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before I started eating

Went to bed intending to read, but went right to sleep instead.

Oct 24, Monday

Last day in Cuzco, and in Peru.    Spent the entire day in bed, reading and sleeping.  I could hear rain off and on throughout the day, as well as some thunder.    Really good day to finally stay  in bed and rest.  Although I was worried that I would not be able to sleep that night, I slept quite soundly. Hotel Rosario 3rd floor, which is actually the 4rth floor.