In my last post I was off to Uruguay, but for one reason or another I didn´t make it but instead spent a few days 6 hours south of Buenos Aires in Mar Del Plata. Despite it raining I had a really enjoyable few days relaxing with some Swedish friends I´d met along the way. We then all went back to the capital where I partied for a week more before finally dragging my heels and heading off!
So I finally got myself away from the nightlife, culture, food, climate and everything else that Buenos Aires has to offer by jumping on a bus to La Paz.
When I arrived at the bus terminal I was hoping for only a few things from the bus given that it was a 48 hour journey....air conditioning, reclinining chairs for a sleep and a little leg room. As the bus chugged in at 5pm making this thing look like royalty, I wasn´t hopeful. And my lack of hope was substantiated as I jumped on the bus for two days without air conditioning and the ability to get a decent nights kip. That said however, it wasn´t unbearable and with a couple of books and an appropriaetd pillow from the last hostel I managed to do the journey without much hassle....just.
Anyway, arriving into La Paz and the city is nothing like I´ve ever seen before. It literally takes your breath away (its highest point being 4058km above sea level) and once you manage to overcome the initial effects of the altitude what lays before you is certainly one of the most unique city´s you can come accross. It is sandwiched between two huge mountain faces and thousands upon thousands of houses cascade down these mountains eventually ending up with a flattish centre. It is almost like a supersized football stadium that has been turned into a city.
With not much time in La Paz I set myself a full itinery for the two days that I was there. Unsuprisingly the first days plans where in the bin after I got dragged out all night on my first night there. However, the second day was one I won´t forget.
The day started with a trip to the Coca Musuem. It is a small little building located just behind one of the main Plaza´s in La Paz. An educational and informative tour, it left me with a few suprising (or perhaps not) facts about the history of the Coca leaf. What many people don´t realise about the Coca Leaf is that it has been used for centuries by the Andean people as a method of curing a variety of ills and also improving prouductivity in the workforce.
A quick word on the eradication of the Coca leaf. America has lead the way for its eradication yet it is Western (including American scientists) who first developed its derivative Cocaine and also Coca Cola for years used the leaf as its secret ingredient. Ironically, a stat given in the museum states that America, which makes up 5% of the worlds population, consumes 50% of the total Cocaine intake each year.
Anyway, this isn´t a manifesto either way on the Coca leaf, but I think it is important to know some facts that aren´t always put forward.
So I wandered around La Paz for a bit and then made a trip to a place that I will never forget in a long time. Partially made famous by the book Marching Powder, San Pedro Prison is one of the strangest places I have ever been to. It is an unofficial tour of the "prison" and the way in is to approach a South African couple outside who seem to have used their entrepreneurial skills to set up a "tourist attraction". Anyway, after spending a significant amount of money to get in what I saw was simply unbelievable. We were assigned a guide and a few bodyguard inmates and to say I was shit scared when walking past the guards with automatic rifles is a huge understatement.
Anyway, we were given a tour of the place and it really is unique. It has a restaurant, bar, pool tables and many other amenities that would compliment a small town. Even stranger is the fact that different areas of the prison are referred to as mini boroughs - our guide would often say "this is a poor/rich area of the prison". Perhaps most strikingly though is that inmates wives and children are permitted to live with their husbands in their cells. When I say cells, it is doing their living quarters a disservice as included in what they have is cable TV where one of the young boys was watching Arsenal when I was wandering round. I sat down next to him, watched the second half and his mum brought us some cake to eat. As I said, it was bloody surreal. I´m actually laughing now as I type at how ridiculous the whole situation was. To top it off there are Coca Cola signs printed everywhere around the prison. I guess Capitalism knows no bounds. This link to an old BBC report gives a few pictures and a bit more info on the place (if you look at picture 4 you can see the Coca Cola signs I´m talking about).
Feeling slightly confused and with my eyes firmly open, I spent one more night in La Paz before heading to Cuzco in Peru. No hassles with border control this time (I´d learnt my lesson). On the way to the Cuzco I was actually thinking about how lucky I´d been not to have been ill this whole six months....sure enough after the first meal I eat I felt awful and for the next couple of days I felt pretty rough. Anyway, I spent it in this English pub watching all the weekends football and was well enough on the Monday to go and visit Machu Pichu. A really amazing place, where is is believe the Incas inhabited between 1460 and departed around 100 years later.
The next day I set off for Lima on what was supposed to be a relatively easy 20 hour journey. Things started well when the bus turned up and looked pretty good. I spent the first few hours watching a couple of films before nodding off to sleep at around 9pm. Anyway, I woke up at 2am to a load of shouting and commotion and not being in the mood to get involved went back to sleep. Imagine my suprise when I woke up at 11am to find we were still in EXACTLY the same place. Apparently the bus had broken down during the night and the next bus was to come pick us up at 7pm that evening. An enjoyable 19 hour delay ensued in the middle of nowhere. That said the view was amazing and I took a load of pictures to remind myself. However, beautiful scenery can only pass so much time on a 19 hour delay.
So I´m in Lima now, feeling slightly better but taking it easy. I have a flight to Medallin in Colombia tomorrow and I am seriously excited. It´s meant to be an extroadinary place and everyone I´ve spoke to says I´m in for a treat.
By the way, if you´re looking for something to read over xmas I´ve just finished this book on Medallin´s most famous son, Pablo Escobar. It will amaze you at the state of the place between the mid 80´s and early 90´s when he was king.
Anyway, I hope everyone is well back home and looking forward to Xmas.
Take care and I´ll be in touch soon!
Friday, 12 December 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
