problems with leaving La Paz

I was supposed to be already in Tupiza (south of Bolivia), but it is not that simple, there are lots of strikes all over Bolivia. It´s amazing I saw a protest of  grandmas ! they were protesting about cuts of pensions, another day there was a strike of disabled people that came on their wheel chairs from the cities 100km away from La Paz to fight for their rights! There are also road barricades, especially of the highway south of La Paz ( which is exactly where I am going).

Bolivians, that I got to know, call themselves " the nation of protesters" and they do not pay much attention to it, as there are always strikes and crowds of police on streets. They say it is save, so does touristic police, so does everybody else. I talked with dangerous-looking policemen who instead of warning me about any potential threads, were lauthing and wanted me to take the picture of them ! Here you go :

They are very proud when they can show off on their cool-looking motorbikes :)

The only warning thing about it is that if I am going to leave today ( as I plan, because this is a "permanent strike" so nobody has any idea when it stops) I can get stuck for more than 24 h on a bus ( the travel itself takes 18h, so even an hour in plus makes a difference to my poor ass)
We´ll see, I am going to find out the news at the bus station now, and if I don´t post anything else tonight that means I am on a bus and you have to be patient in order to receive more updates.

p.s. I still have to tell you about theatres, Africa, Zebras and Bolivian Shamans, remind me if I forget !

biking on the Death Road, theatres and African music workshops with bolivian indigenous people - that was to be expected - wasn't it ? :)

So - I did not write anything these days as there were too many things going on around me.

First of all, unfortunately just couple of hours after posting my last post ( where I was proud of my organism to be so strong) I did experience some altitude sickness syndromes. I woke up in the middle of the night with my head heavier than ever and lack of ability to move it. I had to take some coca pills to kill the pain, it came back though in the morning - so I was systematically taking these red and white pills ( patriotic ones :) ) and I am glad to announce they do help !

                                                    

That is why after two days of acclimatization I decided to bike the most dangerous road in the world ( at least that is what tourist office says:) ) It started on 4700 m and finished on 1180m, which gives you app 3500m of downhill. The first part was rather easy, you are biking together with buses,cars etc. on the road that cuts the mountains, the landscapes are just amazing, and the fact that you are overtakng cars and trucks on your way, riding with a speed of 60-70km/h is quite bizarre...but the path I wouldn't call dengarous unless you are drank ( like the last victim of the death road - adult American...bravo) The path gets harder which makes you less convinient when the asphalt road turns into muddy one, it starts to rain and your visibility drops to 4m ....yes, at that point one can get spooked, the positive thing is that you actually are not able to see that the road leads just by the edge of the cliff, and one false move equals free fall of approx. 200m. At some places the road was very narrow ( 2-3m) and slippery thanks to the rain, luckily the rain stopped after 30min and we were once again riding with sun and scary visibility.

                                     

Nope, my mother wouldn't like it :) But mom, of course I wasn't there on my own, we had a guide that was giving us advices, even if they were a bit weird  - such as stick to the left ( which meant closer to the edge). I was also equipped with a high class, expensive Iron Horse downhill bike with gooooooooood hydraulic breaks. So - as you can see - I survived ! :)

I think that I have to leave the african part for the next post as I am running out of time....big kiss cheers  and love you all!

I AM IN BOLIVIA !

Today I finally reached "peace" in La Paz, which is actually the capital closest to "the heavenly peace" :)  ( the airport is situeted on 4100m !)  Nice place - a mixture of traditional and modern life ( see the pic above) , but still the tradition wins - which I find really great!


So far - so good, no altitude disease, beautiful weather, nice colorful people, good, stomach-friendly food and delicious juices made out of fruits which existance was hidden from me all my life - and I love the fact it is changing :)

This post is a short one as within the last 40 h I had sth like 5h of sleep ( and o a plane)

It is just to inform you - I am ok - and I AM IN BOLIVIA ! :)

...yesterday morning - baguette in Paris, yesterday evening - frites in Brussel, today - lunch in Madrid, tommorow - dinner in Miami and FINALLY the day after tommorow desayuno en LA PAZ :)

that is indeed a little bit peripathetic lifestyle...but it is all on my way to LA PAZ - which means PEACE :)
After couple of days in Belgium, Justyna decided that if this is supposed to be the last weekend of mine in Europe ( at least for some time) it should be special - it should be in Paris ! And it WAS really special :)

and ....as I am having my flight from Madrid  (as it is much less expensive that way) I decided to use the opportunity to visit a friend of mine whom I haven´t seen for ages - so here I am, another European capital on my way to South America :)

Tomorrow morning I have my flight, through Miami to finally reach "peace" on wednesday morning.

NO ME LO CREO - PERO ME VOY DE VERDAD ! :)

the very first post

I'm in Belgium now, with my best friend Justyna - who happens to be absolutely the biggest fan of my South American dream ... the plan was to take a flight  from here to las Canarias and than to find a sail boat that would take me to Carribean, this plan failed though...it's too "hard core" for me...so - here I am, with another Ryanair ticket in my pocket  - this time to Madrid, from where I am flying to La Paz ...Bolivia...very soon...excited and a little bit spooked ... wish me luck :)