Returning from the Jungle
After several hot, muddy, mosquito infested days in Rurrenabaque and las pampas, Vlad and I flew back to La Paz today.
See, the bus to Rurre had taken about twenty hours on a winding one-lane road -- part of which is named the World's Most Dangerous Road becuase so many vehicles have plunged over the sheer cliffs at the side of it. The savings of bussing over flying was just not worth it.
We arrived with thirty-eight other tourists at the airline office promptly at 8AM to check in... and left for the airport an hour and a half later. Soon after our arrival, the sky opened up to allow bucket of water to dump on us, quickly swampifying the airstrip. Having read that people had been stuck in Rurre for a week because of rain, I tried not to worry.
After about fifteen minutes of rain, we were all piled into various buses and taxis for a 40 minute drive to Reyes, the next nearest airport, with a more reliable grass airstrip. On the way we watched the open truck drive by with all of our rain soaked, then dust encrusted bags in the back. Nice.
Finally around 12:30 we got into the plane, flown by the Bolivian Military, by the way. It was even scarier than the Russian plane we flew on when we left Japan. Yikes!
It was a surprisingly mellow flight, and we were even served cola and crackers before landing at the highest airport in the world, at 4,100 meters, outside La Paz. Huffing and puffing from lack of air as I exited the plane, I was greeted with a cloud covered sky and cool breeze. Ahhhh.
And tonight, Vlad and I are treating ourselves to a $40 room with a big bathroom, new towels and sheets, and cable TV. We deserve it after our week in the jungle.
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In case you can't tell, I just have not felt like writing much lately. Not to worry, though. I will soon catch up on the last month worth of activities. Just give me a few days. :)
Leave a comment in my New Journal
See, the bus to Rurre had taken about twenty hours on a winding one-lane road -- part of which is named the World's Most Dangerous Road becuase so many vehicles have plunged over the sheer cliffs at the side of it. The savings of bussing over flying was just not worth it.
We arrived with thirty-eight other tourists at the airline office promptly at 8AM to check in... and left for the airport an hour and a half later. Soon after our arrival, the sky opened up to allow bucket of water to dump on us, quickly swampifying the airstrip. Having read that people had been stuck in Rurre for a week because of rain, I tried not to worry.
After about fifteen minutes of rain, we were all piled into various buses and taxis for a 40 minute drive to Reyes, the next nearest airport, with a more reliable grass airstrip. On the way we watched the open truck drive by with all of our rain soaked, then dust encrusted bags in the back. Nice.
Finally around 12:30 we got into the plane, flown by the Bolivian Military, by the way. It was even scarier than the Russian plane we flew on when we left Japan. Yikes!
It was a surprisingly mellow flight, and we were even served cola and crackers before landing at the highest airport in the world, at 4,100 meters, outside La Paz. Huffing and puffing from lack of air as I exited the plane, I was greeted with a cloud covered sky and cool breeze. Ahhhh.
And tonight, Vlad and I are treating ourselves to a $40 room with a big bathroom, new towels and sheets, and cable TV. We deserve it after our week in the jungle.
---------------------------------------------------------
In case you can't tell, I just have not felt like writing much lately. Not to worry, though. I will soon catch up on the last month worth of activities. Just give me a few days. :)
Leave a comment in my New Journal