Better than the Ngorongoro Crater
I remember the first time I peered over the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. Yes, I thought it was great... but, it didn´t have the same effect on me as my first site of La Paz. Bolivia´s capitol drops down off the planes into a crater-like landscape. But, instead of animals and landrovers, this crater comprises brick and stone buildings built up from the city base to the rim, a range of honking cars and micro-buses, and people bustling about getting to work. The road circles the inside wall of La Paz, descending from just over 4,000m to the center of the city at 3,592m, giving you a great view of the whole city and of the 6000m snow covered peak in the distance.
But wait... back to the beginning...
After my expected mad-panic day in Vancouver on Monday, arriving back from Montreal late Sunday night and leaving early Tuesday morning out of the country, I was ready (or at least at the airport) for a 23 hour journey down to Bolivia. My route took me through LA and Miami, before getting on the red-eye flight to La Paz, Bolivia.
The airport for La Paz, Bolivia´s capitol, is in El Alto, just outside the city on the ¨Altiplano¨ - the high planes. Since I fly quite a bit, I didn´t think much of the flight into Bolivia. That is, until someone on the plane mentioned they were nervous about landing at such a high altitude.
Of course, my scientific brain took over. I had flashbacks to my aerodynamics courses at university. Then, I read in my guide book: ¨because of the thin air, the runway is 5 miles long to accomodate planes that have to land at twice the normal landing speed and have a harder time slowing down... ¨ Hum... But, despite the obvious speed on the runway when we landed, it was one of the best landings I had.
Despite the traveling and being tired from the busy 3 week lead up to my departure, I was awake and very aware that I was now in Bolivia. And, surprisingly, this was the first trip I´ve had where I found myself apprenhensive instead of excited at what layed ahead. My biggest concern of the moment: how was I going to communicate with my elementary level of Spanish!
Well... I learnt quite quickly: with laughter - the universal language.
I was picked up from the airport by Edwardo, one of the employees working in La Paz with the NGO I´ll be working with in Potosi. After he asked how I was doing, and I responded with ¨I´m tired¨, he then asked me what my husband´s name was. When I then said I didn´t have a husband, he looked confused for 5 seconds before busting in laughter. This was my first of many informal spanish lessons I´ve had over the last 2 days. I had said ¨estoy CAsada¨... which means ¨I´m married¨, instead of ¨estoy CANsada¨ (I´m tired).
Either way, that kicked off a great 30 minute broken conversation in spanish, as I was caught in the middle of learning as much as I could from Edwardo and wanting to check out the sites around me.
And with that introduction to Bolivia, the familiar feelings returned of arriving in a new country... ¨Woohooooo!!! I´m here!¨
The last two days have since been a blur. I´m coping with flying directly into such a high altitude by drinking ¨mate de coca¨ - tea from coca leaves and by taking a few naps here and there. I´m realizing I have nothing to be embarassed about from being out of breath after climbing only a set of stairs, since it is no different with the locals.
What I read is true: there is no heat in any building and they stay at a cool temperture 24 hours a day in the low single digits. You would not believe how excited I was when I realized ¨c¨ on the tap of BOTH the sink and the shower meant ¨caliente¨ (hot) and not ¨cold¨. And, I have a new appreciation for llamas, after being toasty warm sleeping under 4 llama wool blankets.
That being said, despite having put on face cream with SPF to deal with the dryness of the air this morning, I still got a sunburn on my face today. I wonder if I´ll be able to find a toque with a brim on it in one of the markets here!
So, with a combination of being jetlagged, worn out from trying to interpret spanish, sunburnt, cold, and a little loopy from the high altitude, I´m off to bed... with the excitement about the days to come...
But wait... back to the beginning...
After my expected mad-panic day in Vancouver on Monday, arriving back from Montreal late Sunday night and leaving early Tuesday morning out of the country, I was ready (or at least at the airport) for a 23 hour journey down to Bolivia. My route took me through LA and Miami, before getting on the red-eye flight to La Paz, Bolivia.
The airport for La Paz, Bolivia´s capitol, is in El Alto, just outside the city on the ¨Altiplano¨ - the high planes. Since I fly quite a bit, I didn´t think much of the flight into Bolivia. That is, until someone on the plane mentioned they were nervous about landing at such a high altitude.
Of course, my scientific brain took over. I had flashbacks to my aerodynamics courses at university. Then, I read in my guide book: ¨because of the thin air, the runway is 5 miles long to accomodate planes that have to land at twice the normal landing speed and have a harder time slowing down... ¨ Hum... But, despite the obvious speed on the runway when we landed, it was one of the best landings I had.
Despite the traveling and being tired from the busy 3 week lead up to my departure, I was awake and very aware that I was now in Bolivia. And, surprisingly, this was the first trip I´ve had where I found myself apprenhensive instead of excited at what layed ahead. My biggest concern of the moment: how was I going to communicate with my elementary level of Spanish!
Well... I learnt quite quickly: with laughter - the universal language.
I was picked up from the airport by Edwardo, one of the employees working in La Paz with the NGO I´ll be working with in Potosi. After he asked how I was doing, and I responded with ¨I´m tired¨, he then asked me what my husband´s name was. When I then said I didn´t have a husband, he looked confused for 5 seconds before busting in laughter. This was my first of many informal spanish lessons I´ve had over the last 2 days. I had said ¨estoy CAsada¨... which means ¨I´m married¨, instead of ¨estoy CANsada¨ (I´m tired).
Either way, that kicked off a great 30 minute broken conversation in spanish, as I was caught in the middle of learning as much as I could from Edwardo and wanting to check out the sites around me.
And with that introduction to Bolivia, the familiar feelings returned of arriving in a new country... ¨Woohooooo!!! I´m here!¨
The last two days have since been a blur. I´m coping with flying directly into such a high altitude by drinking ¨mate de coca¨ - tea from coca leaves and by taking a few naps here and there. I´m realizing I have nothing to be embarassed about from being out of breath after climbing only a set of stairs, since it is no different with the locals.
What I read is true: there is no heat in any building and they stay at a cool temperture 24 hours a day in the low single digits. You would not believe how excited I was when I realized ¨c¨ on the tap of BOTH the sink and the shower meant ¨caliente¨ (hot) and not ¨cold¨. And, I have a new appreciation for llamas, after being toasty warm sleeping under 4 llama wool blankets.
That being said, despite having put on face cream with SPF to deal with the dryness of the air this morning, I still got a sunburn on my face today. I wonder if I´ll be able to find a toque with a brim on it in one of the markets here!
So, with a combination of being jetlagged, worn out from trying to interpret spanish, sunburnt, cold, and a little loopy from the high altitude, I´m off to bed... with the excitement about the days to come...
posted by Sandra @ 7:02 PM
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