Bolivia by bus: also known as get in the *%* bus and pray!

So, we had to make a detour through Bolivia in order to try to keep to our crazy schedule, but as cool as Bolivia may be, we did not do it justice. Shall we say 32 hours on a bus, then one day rest, then 15 more hours? Ouch. So, I saw Bolivia from a window. And my pictures? Yep, from the window of a bus. But, they are still fun, if you take into account the movement and dirty windows.
Here you go, my Bolivian experience:

This is from our second bus ride, the first was a horrible overnight from Salta to the border. It is amusing how you end up congregating with gringos here. When we got off the bus that morning, an Israeli guy latched onto us, then we collected 2 more Norwegan girls. The odd thing was, I had the best spanish of the group! Odd. But, we caught a taxi to the border, crossed, and started the theme of the week: catch a bus and pray! Especially this first bus in Bolivia, as we got on we noticed something very odd: the tires looked like they belonged on a 4WD or tank or something. Lordy did we find out why. We litterally spent half of that trip with our buts flying 6 inches above the seats! OUCH!
We stopped at one point on the second bus, from the border to somewhere in the center. They said we had 20 minutes, so we crammed our faces with food (Bolivian food, though it would have gotten old after a while, was a nice change, at restaurants you get the menu: soup and a segundo. often fried chicken, rice and a potato). After eating so fast it hurt, we found out that the bus blew a tire and they had to change it. took an amazing amount of guys to do it, but we got a chance to wander through the town. It was having a fruit festival which was kind of fun. If you look closely, you can see the giant hole on the wheel
Our first stop was in the town of Cochabamba, where I had heard rumor of my plant. Indeed, it was there, if the water was a little gross!

It was nice to stop for a while, just to get off the bus. Oh, and another lovely tidbit to add to our enjoyment of the country, we had no book, no information whatsoever, except for rumors of my plant. So, we had no idea what we were getting into, at all. But we found some good stuff. Some crazy stuff as well. Practicing my spanish though! The elevation also was fun, boy do you feel like a wimp when climbing one flight of stairs totally takes your breath away (and you are only 26 and supposedly healthy!)
Bolivia is a country of smells. Katie had a very hard time, I found it interesting. The people have a very distinctive smell, and I do have to admit, there isnt much deliniation between bathroom and public space, peew!
I did really enjoy seeing the people here. It may be poor (and consequently VERY cheap for us), but it is very distinctly indian, foreigners stood out like a sore thumb. People still dress very traditionally, eat their own foods, and seem a lot less distracted by the need for western junk as other countries I have seen. It was nice.
Back on the bus:




We passed through La Paz, literally staying there only 30 minutes between buses. It was a wild city. It coated the walls of this steep canyon, I couldnt believe how all of it didnt just slide into the river. And it was huge! Just house apon house apon house!
We ended our stay in Bolivia in a refreshingly small town on the border of Lake Titicaca. Copacabana (not the famous one) was adorable. And, it is situated 4810 meters above sea level. That is more or less 12,000 feet for those of you who who dont think in meters, higher than most of the snow capped mountains at home!
Love the clothes of the women here Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca Me, pretending to work, look at the color of the water! We did have a rough day though. We took a walk, sort of looking for my plant, sort of looking for a mellow stroll to stretch our legs after all the buses and get used to the altitude. We walked out to the point past town, didnt find my plant, ate lunch, and walked back. By the time we made it, we were pleasantly tired, a bit suntoasted, and ready for a nap. Then, I realized that, like a doofus (or really a much stronger word than that!), I had forgotten my glasses on a rock where we had lunch! I can not function without them. So, we knew we wouldnt be able to walk all the way there and back, again... but I found these two wonderful men who loaned us bikes. Now, we wont talk about the quality of those bikes, and the resulting state of our butts, because that really saved us. We did actually find my glasses, nothing short of a miracle, and found our way back, to a much needed bed.
The next morning, we were much more successful in the search for my plant. We went to this little bay The water was SOOOO stinking cold! Copacabana from the midst of totora The kidlets in the hostel where we stayed
Bolivia was an adventure. We really didnt give it a chance to show us its beauty, and I must admit, we were very glad to get out (mostly to be off the bolivian buses), but, it was a lovely place.