So it was back to Switzerland for a week (7/11-15) before heading down to South America. Its odd coming back to Switzerland after being away for about 9 weeks. It doesn't really feel like home. Really just a room where I can crash for a few days, do laundry and repack before I head out again.
We flew through Miami (I didn't like the idea of stopping in Venezuela) to connect for La Paz. We had a horrible old plane from Miami to La Paz but one of the most unusual passengers. Patch Adams was on the flight to do some seminars and hospital visits in Bolivia. He looked the same from Chapel Hill all those years ago when they made the movie, just older. And he tends to dress like a clown, literally. He ended up staying in our hotel so I had a quick word with him and told him I enjoyed being an extra in the movie and all. Strange though.
The next week was a normal one of work. However I tried to use what Spanish I could to make it go easier. La Paz is always an interesting place, there always seemed to be fireworks going off and University students were practicing traditional dances in the plaza outside of our hotel... late into the night. One of the guys at work said you had to be careful with tthe fireworks, sometimes the locals would use sticks of dynmite instead!
We wandered around town when there was time and even managed to go to shopping by the Witches Market where there are souvenirs, bootleg clothes (North Face imitation jackets for about $50...), traditional trickets and totems (hence the name Witches Market) and other things.
Over the weekend we decided to go down the Death Road. I had done this last year and enjoyed it but I had to convince the oters it was better than sitting the car for hours going to see Lake Titicaca and some other sights. The Road was fun but different. It was really foggy and I think that covered up how much of a drop down it is. We also completed it faster than the group I went with last year. We did have a minor mishap when my collegue Juan was cutoff by a German kid goofing around and got sent flying over the end. Thankfully there was a slight outcropping just below so he only fell a few feet over... It could have easily been a thousand on the wrong part of the Road!
We had lunch at the bottom and relaxed and then headed back to the hotel. It was a long day but fun in the end. Sunday we just hung out, did a bit of shopping and rested. We had a tough week to finish as we went to visit some of the mines out in the middle of nowhere. We did a 2 day 2 mine visit drving for several hours up on small windy roads - very reminescent to the Death Road! All and all it was good and we got some valuable work done and even had some BBQ llama!
Zug is very nice in the summer though. It's warm and clear and you can go for a swim in the lake. It really is a beautiful place and enjoyable in the summer. I had a few brief days to do admin in the office, have a few beers lakeside with friends and even a gelato. Unfortunately all good things must end and it was off to Bolivia.
We flew through Miami (I didn't like the idea of stopping in Venezuela) to connect for La Paz. We had a horrible old plane from Miami to La Paz but one of the most unusual passengers. Patch Adams was on the flight to do some seminars and hospital visits in Bolivia. He looked the same from Chapel Hill all those years ago when they made the movie, just older. And he tends to dress like a clown, literally. He ended up staying in our hotel so I had a quick word with him and told him I enjoyed being an extra in the movie and all. Strange though.
The next week was a normal one of work. However I tried to use what Spanish I could to make it go easier. La Paz is always an interesting place, there always seemed to be fireworks going off and University students were practicing traditional dances in the plaza outside of our hotel... late into the night. One of the guys at work said you had to be careful with tthe fireworks, sometimes the locals would use sticks of dynmite instead!
We wandered around town when there was time and even managed to go to shopping by the Witches Market where there are souvenirs, bootleg clothes (North Face imitation jackets for about $50...), traditional trickets and totems (hence the name Witches Market) and other things. 
Over the weekend we decided to go down the Death Road. I had done this last year and enjoyed it but I had to convince the oters it was better than sitting the car for hours going to see Lake Titicaca and some other sights. The Road was fun but different. It was really foggy and I think that covered up how much of a drop down it is. We also completed it faster than the group I went with last year. We did have a minor mishap when my collegue Juan was cutoff by a German kid goofing around and got sent flying over the end. Thankfully there was a slight outcropping just below so he only fell a few feet over... It could have easily been a thousand on the wrong part of the Road!
We had lunch at the bottom and relaxed and then headed back to the hotel. It was a long day but fun in the end. Sunday we just hung out, did a bit of shopping and rested. We had a tough week to finish as we went to visit some of the mines out in the middle of nowhere. We did a 2 day 2 mine visit drving for several hours up on small windy roads - very reminescent to the Death Road! All and all it was good and we got some valuable work done and even had some BBQ llama!A few more days of work and finalizing the report and we were off. Patrick headed home to Switzerland and Juan and I were off to Argentina and then Peru. It was hard being in La Paz at times, the altitude is very noticeable, often leaving you short of breath, slight headache and just tired. The airport is about 4,100 meters, La Paz around 3,800 and our mines were even at about 4,000 meters. Dizzying heights, literally. La Paz was ok this go around. I saw some of the nicer side and meet some good people. Andres and Carlos Francisco showed us some nice restaurants and hang outs. Not bad at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment