Uyuni was a bit of a tourist town, more expensive than i expected for a small town in Bolivia.
On arrival we thanked our driver who had driven us through the Andes and into Bolivia. he seemed like such an easy going fun loving person. that is generally the impression i get of Bolivians. just put a smile on and enjoy yourself. However there are those who think every white person is a dirty American and give you a big greasy. I find that interesting since they are surrounded by American media to an extent you would think not possible due to the language barrier. Their idea of true love and all that romantic shit is blown out of all proportion. but maybe they had that idea of love and happily ever after before any American influence and now it just seems to have a US twist.
The bus ride from Uyuni to La Paz was a bit of a nightmare. after two hours of the most extreme jolty bumpy ride imaginable you´d think it would stop and we´d get on to smooth bitumen. No, this is Bolivia and the entire trip consisted of me getting air off my seat after every bump and landing on the armrest or something.
Zac had some obnoxious twit sitting next to him the entire ride. he spread his little legs out as far as possible, a smug look on his face (even when he was sleeping). Supposedly they had a constant foot- leg space war. i was next to the window so that´s probably why i was able to drift off. The little man was a peculiar match for zac the bearding wild man.
When we arrived to La Paz we sat in the bus for 45m thinking we were moving due to some reason i now cannot remember. we were eventually confronted by the driver who gave us this weird as fuck look proceeded by him kicking us off the bus. fair nuff.
we walked out of the terminal in a daze - 7 am in the morning, hugely interrupted sleep thinking we were going to be abducted by dodgey taxi drivers. it only costs 10 bolivianos ($1.50 AU) to go anywhere in the city though you have to let the cab driver know that you´re on to it. not bad ey considering in melbs you´d get charge minimum 10-15 for relatively short trips.
Our first hostel was pretty average. When we checked out two days later they tried to charge us the fee of our entire dorm. people think you´re so fuckn dumb. you really need to look after your money here- these people are poor and if they see there´s money to be made they´ll take the opportunity. Hey, i´d do the same.
I was handed a fake 100 Bs note (around $15 AU) and didn´t realise until the taxi driver we were buying something from gave it back to me repeating the word ´falso´. the club i went to the other night had these two seedy barmaids. you would give them 100bs and they would give you 10bs back when all you asked for was a bottle of water (10bs). what the fuck, where´s my 90 change? the first time i said something and she showed me the apparent 20 note i gave her. ( she took some random 20bs note out of the cashier). now the 20 looks similar to the 100 when you´re pissed and there´s not much light in that club, so the first time i thought i was wrong and let it go. the second time however, i checked that shit 3 times to see if it was truly 100 bs. she pulled her dirty fuckn trick on my again. her little routine failed, i´m pretty awesome you know. she showed me the ´original´ 20 that i supposedly gave her. she couldn´t handle my threateningly james bond grill stare. she kept telling me it was a 20 i gave her over and over.
me: i´m not leaving until you give my fucking note back hoe bitch slut fatty.
her: estoy en serio amigo!!
me: FUCK UP GIVE ME MY MONEY.
her: que?!?!?
me: (just look at her for 2 minutes, not letting anyone else order drinks)
Finally she realises resistance is futile. What followed is me telling everyone how cool i was for not getting scammed by the barmaid. yeah man, that was quite admirable of you wasn´t it.
we rode down the self proclaimed ´world´s most dangerous road´ the other day on these dodgy bikes. should have got the full bike suspension. Half the time i have a budget mindset and the other half i´m a hedonistic roman orgy goer. it balances out ok, but only the bank statement will tell. [it did tell, i blew 2000 in 1 month in bolivia which is fucking rediculous seeing as everything is so cheap]
the bar at the wild rover hostel is awesome - hangover food and dope beers. A pilsener will fill nearly two schooners and cost you about 2 dollars. I haven´t tried the cocaine here but have been told it´s very average - serves them right for trying it, them devils. in fact one guy who took some said he was seeing devils, supposedly they mix it with crystal meth but i don´t see how that´s cost effective because meth is expensive. Well, they mix it with something, I didn´t know coke made you see demons.
We´re going to the San Pedro prison, the correctional facility the book ´Marching Powder´ made mildly famous, or infamous depending on who you ask. I recommend reading it. I´ve been emailing José, an inmate at the prison. definitely keen on meeting him. will report back on that.
all we´ve done here apart from the death road tour is drink, go out and drink more and finally drink a little bit more when we get back and then try to get to sleep. The day after a night out consists of me being depressed, a nature characterised by nihilistic angst. Some would call it a luxurious thought but I would add ´a fucking nightmare´ additionally.
I will discontinue my writing at this point due to 2 amazingly beautiful Swedish girls arriving in my room and being awfully distracting. peace!
the next post will be from the 27th of September.
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