Travel Day

Tuesday November 2.

Today was a good old fashioned travel day. Up at the crack of dawn to be picked up by Trans Andes (the company that I booked this tour through) and taken to the bus station. Loaded on the bus no problem, but there were some problems somewhere because we didn't leave for an hour. Uneventful ride. Couldn't take any pictures as I had a blocked window view. Arrived at the Bolivian border by 10:00. Had to get off the bus and go to the customs area. Very different border crossing than in Canada, check the photos. I told you my Peru immigration card was accidently left in Cusco, on Olivier's desk when he scanned my passport. I phoned him from Puno when I discovered the loss, and he scanned it and faxed it to me. But, of course that wasn't good enough for the Peruvian immigration. It had to be original. So, I had to pay $5 for a replacement, fill it out and then watch him discard it onto a pile that will probably never be looked at again.

Then we had to walk across the border to the Bolivian immigration side and fill out more forms. Meanwhile the bus drove slowly across the border and picked us up on the other side. The two pictures of the border are from the no mans land inbetween, but look at all of what is going on there.

The rest of the ride was boring. When I arrived in La Paz, I had to wait 20 minutes for my rep to find me in the station and take me to my hotel. Then another rep from Trans Andes came to my hotel and told me all of the things I would be doing in the next few days. They also helped me change the last of my Peruvian money into Bolivian. We went to a street vendor money changer. I gave her 100 soles and she gave me 240 Bolivianos. Gotta love that exchange.

The rest of the day I spent catching up with e-mails, and phoning family and friends. Had a nice dinner in the restaurant here on the ground floor of the hotel. Pumpkin soup and a beef, onion and peppers grilled sandwich.

Since I didn't take many pictures today, I've included a couple of good ones from earlier that I didn't post before. One is of the whole group that I did the Inca Trail with (Ali the guide is to my right). Then there is a picture of my mama and papa, myself and the Dutch couple who shared the homestay with me, taken at the fiesta. The last picture is a nice shot of a woman in the main square of Isla Taquila.