Peter and I set out from Trinidad in the morning. Peter, who is a medical student from Belfast, Northern Ireland (but studying in Scotland), was concluding his time in South America and decided to do some traveling after finishing his summer internship with the health center at La Palmera. After spending a few hours flying from Trinidad via Cochabamba, Peter and I arrived at the La Paz airport, actually located in the nearby city of El Alto, which sits on a high plateau over 13,000 ft in elevation. It is the highest airport in the world with a runway 5 km in length due to the altitude. El Alto is also the fastest growing city in Bolivia, and probably one of the fastest growing in South America. After we had grabbed our bags we took a taxi the short 10 km drive to the city. Our driver after asking if it was our first time to La Paz stopped for us to get a nice view of the city . . .it was incredible!

We settled into our hotel and then decided to explore the city. We wandered along a pedestrian mall in the center of their main street, called the “Prado”. La Paz has interesting geography because it sits in a tight valley with the main street running at a slight slope at the bottom. All of the cross streets go up, so it’s really easy to find your bearings. We wandered up to the Plaza de San Francisco where we saw the Church of San Francisco as well as an interesting statue that we later read was devoted to the 3 cultural eras of Bolivia – Tiwanaku, Inca and Modern.


Church of San Francisco

After this, we went over to the Plaza de Murillo, where the Cathedral, Presidential Palace and Congressional building are all located. It was such a peaceful setting with pigeons in the plaza and people just hanging out reading, being with their families and other subtle activities. It was so hard to imagine about two months before the place was filled with angry protesters calling for then President Carlos Mesa to resign.

  
Plaza de Murillo                                                               Presidential Palace


Cathedral

Then, it all of the sudden began to rain and Peter and I decided to head towards our hotel. Along the way it got a little heavy, but quickly subsided. After it had all but stopped, we ran into a girl, who must have been in her late twenties/early thirties selling Spanish Bibles and Christian music. We both had a talk with her and found out that she was obviously a Christian, and decided to each buy a CD from her. It was so encouraging to see fellow Christians doing such simple but important work as that. For dinner, we went to Eli’s pizzeria, where they had about 8 different sizes, with the largest being called “interminable”. Peter and I had a good laugh over this and he got a photo of one of the cooks putting a giant pizza in the oven. After dinner, Peter and I wandered down to a bridge crossing a ravine near our hotel where we got a very impressive view of Illimani right at sunset. We both broke out our cameras for pictures. Then it was back to the hotel for some R&R.


Illimani at Sunset

Monday, August 8, 2005 – In La Paz
Monday we had a full day to spend in La Paz. We decided the first thing we wanted to do was to head out and see Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), this weird geological formation near the city that was an area of erosion and had formed interesting spires all over the place. To get there, we hopped on a microbus and rode for about 20 minutes. We spent the whole morning there, and even got to hear one of the rangers play traditional flute music (in costume). So wonderful.


Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley)


Illimani

Then we headed back to the city. When we got back, we decided to go get some lunch. We ended up going to Dumbo’s, an “heladeria” or ice cream place that was also a restaurant. It had pretty decent food. In the afternoon, we wandered up to a street called Calle Linares, near the Church of San Francisco where there were all sorts of touristy shops. Peter bought an alpaca sweater and I got a few things as well. Then, I was feeling a bit tired, probably from the altitude, so I decided to wander back to the hotel. Peter continued to shop and then came back as well about an hour later. We decided at that point to go grab some empanadas from a nearby shop and then hang out for awhile before dinner. For dinner we found a place that looked pretty nice and we even got to look at the menu. But after we ordered, the waitress came back and in traditional Bolivian fashion reported that the kitchen was closed, apparently it was a lunch-only place. So, we had to settle for a fried chicken/hamburger place not too far away. Then we headed back to our hotel to shower and prepare for our next day’s journey to Cuzco, Peru.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005 – Into Peru
In the morning, we caught our flight from El Alto to Cuzco. Landing at about 10:15, the first thing we wanted to do was head to the train station to get our tickets for Machu Picchu since the office closed at noon. We didn’t leave the airport until about 10:45 though, since we had to go through customs, which was very slow. Immediately after clearing customs, all of these people in booths for area hotels and tour companies started yelling at me in Spanish. I quickly remembered what one of the guys back in Trinidad had told me, saying to just walk by them and not listen to any of them. Around the corner I found the money exchange booth and changed some dollars into soles, Peru’s currency. We hailed a cab and on the way to the train station, the driver said, “where are you staying?” We replied that we were planning to stay at the Hotel Royal Qosco, which we had read was very popular for tourists. He said that the hotel was full, but that he knew of a hostal nearby that was nice and had space. He gave us a flyer for it, it was called “Hostal California”. Just to clarify, there are 3 different ways to spell the city’s name. Cusco or Cuzco are correct Spanish spellings (usually depending on what type of Spanish you learned), and Qosco is the Quechua (Inca descendent) spelling. We thanked our driver for the hostal tip and then headed into the train station. After waiting for about 15 min (with our bags) we were led into a back office where a woman dressed professionally helped us to get our tickets. The plan was to head up the next morning and then hopefully come back the same night so we could head to Copacabana. However there was a slight problem and the way back was full not only the next day, but two days later as well. But, she said that two days later we could come back on the backpacker express as far as Ollantaytambo (Oh-yan-ty-tahm-boh) and then catch buses from there back to Cuzco. So we decided that was the best option, to head up the next day, spend the night in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes and then return Thursday to Cuzco and head back to Bolivia Thursday night.

After getting our train tickets squared away, we hailed a taxi to the Hostal California. As we pulled up, a lady said she didn’t think there was any room, which was a little strange since the taxi driver had told us otherwise. She went in to check and then led us upstairs to a room with 3 twin beds and a very shoddy double door that had a chain through it and was padlocked. It looked pretty nice except for the door, so we decided to go for it. We settled in and then went out to explore the city. The first order of business was to find lunch, we ended up going to a sandwich place on the main Plaza de Armas. Before that though, we went to the tourist office and asked about touring the Cathedral and the ruins near the city that had been recommended to us. We also asked about getting bus tickets since we didn’t want to be any later getting out of Cuzco than Thursday night. He said not to worry that there were plenty of buses to Bolivia and we could go to the bus station and reserve a spot. We found a nice line with a good departure and arrival time. Now, the only thing left was to figure out what to do with our stuff between when we checked out of our hostal and went to catch the bus two days later. We knew we could take stuff with us to our hotel at Aguas Calientes but didn’t want to haul it around for 5 hours when we got back. We asked the guy if he knew of anywhere we could leave bags. He said he didn’t know of anywhere, but after a few minutes said, “you know, I have a friend who runs a restaurant and he would be happy to watch your stuff for a few hours.” We negotiated a rendezvous time and place and got his phone number and then introduced ourselves. This guy’s name was Joan (pronounced Yo-ann). We thanked him and then headed off to lunch and then out to explore the city.


Cuzco - Plaza de Armas


Cuzco Cathedral

We went and bought our tickets for the ruins from this museum and then went to the cathedral. The inside of the cathedral was just as beautiful as the outside with many facades and altars. A lady that looked really bored came up to us and said, “do you speak Spanish”. She was obviously a tour guide for Spanish speaking people, but had only encountered non-Spanish speakers all day. Feeling a bit disoriented, we replied yes and then she asked if we would like a tour. We said yes again and then she gave us a tour. The cathedral was actually built at three different times. The main part was built second, and the part on the right side was built first and the part on the left built last. We also learned some interesting facts, that the Cusqueñans (people from Cuzco) worshiped an earthquake god to protect them from having their homes damaged, an example of one of many pagan rituals practiced throughout Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia that has been incorporated into their “Christian” religion.

After the tour we headed up the hill towards the ruins, which used to be the main Inca fortress in Cuzco. Cuzco was a major city during Inca times and many of the streets are still narrow with original cobblestone sides. We headed up towards the fortress, called Sacsayhuaman (Sack-say-wah-mahn). After the Spanish conquered the city in the 1500’s, the fortress was disassembled and the stones were used for constructing buildings in the city, but the largest ones (some weighing almost 300 tons!!) were left. So, as you can imagine it was pretty impressive seeing these large boulders forming a foundation. We climbed up the ruins where we got a magnificent view of the city and as we were doing so, I tried to picture what the fortress might have looked like.


Sacsayhuaman


Overlooking Plaza de Armas

After an hour or two of saturating ourselves with the fortress, we headed back down to our hostal. We dropped off our cameras and a few things we had bought along the way. We also decided to inquire if the hostal could watch our bags, that way we wouldn’t have to take them to Machu Picchu, and also because we felt they were more reliable than Joan. They said it was no problem, they would keep them in a locked room behind the main counter. We were very surprised upon returning to find our taxi driver from the morning was one of the owners of the hostal. We asked him for a non-touristy place for dinner and he told us about a great restaurant nearby that was pretty cheap. We went there and found only Peruvians . . .a good sign. The food ended up being excellent and cheap. Afterwards, it was getting late, so we went back and rearranged our bags so we would only have to take daypacks and then went to bed since we had to catch our train at 7 am.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 – Machu Picchu
We awoke very wearily at 6:00 to walk down to the San Pedro train station which was about 8 blocks from our hotel to catch our 7:00 train to Aguas Calientes – about a three and a half hour ride. Sitting with us in our train car was a tour group that appeared to be from Spain, but I’m not sure. Another young man sat down across from us and was very quiet. After about 45 min of going on switchbacks just to get out of Cuzco, we finally headed into the mountains and at this point we were served breakfast. After beginning to eat, the young man spoke up across from us and as we found out, he was from Moscow, Russia and he was visiting Peru with his Peruvian girlfriend who studied with him in Moscow. He knew very little English and even less Spanish, but his broken English was enough to communicate. We talked about all sorts of things - popular sports, where we were from, what we had been doing, etc. After a lengthy chat, we started to become entranced with the scenery out the windows. Very tall mountains with fertile valleys at the bottom surrounded the train and a small river ran along one side. After awhile we passed Nevado Veronica, a very high mountain, nearly 20,000 feet in elevation. Peter and I tried to take pictures as best we could between the back and forth motion of the train and trees blocking our views. Then, a short time later we finally arrived to Aguas Calientes, our final destination. From Aguas Calientes, we paid $12 to get a round trip bus fare to Machu Picchu itself. After doing that and inquiring about the bus frequency, it was obvious that they would be shuttling people all day, so we decided to unload our stuff at our hostal that we were staying at and get checked in.


Train at Aguas Calientes

Finally at about noon, we headed up to Machu Picchu on the bus. As the bus ascended up the steep mountainside, we were so inspired by the chasms that surrounded us nearly 2500 feet from valley floor to the level of Machu Picchu and some going another 1-2000 feet further up. It was very beautiful as these chasms went nearly straight down, not as bowl shaped as some canyons in North America. Upon arriving at the entrance to the Sanctuary, we found mobs of people in line to enter. We got in line and waited about 15 min before we finally entered. After wandering a short distance down the trail, we were finally able to see the ruins.


Machu Picchu

Peter and I were both for trying to escape the crowds, so we immediately went in our own direction. After taking in the surreal scenery and getting a few pictures, we decided to head up to the Hut of the Caretaker, a route recommended in our guidebook followed by hiking to the Inca drawbridge. The trail to the Inca drawbridge was so pretty and felt like hiking through the jungle, and ended about 50 yards from the bridge itself which was off limits to visitors (and the trail had a sheer drop off before just to make sure you didn’t try to go any farther).

Hut of the Caretaker

We wandered around several areas after that, including the temples, astronomical building, which included a seasonal sundial, and then headed over to bother the llamas that were at the far end of the grounds. It seemed to be a popular thing as many people were trying to get pictures with the llamas, who were cooperative with some and very uncooperative with others. And just as Peter and I were about to continue on a llama came right in front of us and began to relieve himself. We took that as our queue to continue on. It was nearly 2:30 and we still hadn’t had any food since breakfast, so I told Peter it was time for lunch that we could come back afterwards since the tickets were good for all day and included re-entry.


Central Terrace at Machu Picchu


Looking towards Hut of Caretaker                                      Llama poses regally

By the time we exited the ruins for lunch it was nearly 3:00. We tried to get some food from an outdoor café, but they had closed their grill already, so we then decided to go check out a buffet, only to find it was pretty expensive. We asked if there was a restaurant other than the buffet and were told the hotel had a place where we could by specific things. We went to the restaurant to find it completely deserted, justifiably so since it was 3pm. The staff was very accommodating though and welcomed us.

After eating a hearty meal, we returned to the ruins to find significantly less people around – many had departed on the afternoon train back to Cuzco. This was an opportune time to take lots of pictures as we could do it without people obstructing things. I got some great pictures of the ruins just before closing time at 5, when the sun was casting long shadows over everything. Alas, then it was time for us to depart and head back to our hostal.

 
View of Huayna Picchu                                Machu Picchu at Dusk

On the bus ride down, a young boy who obviously was a local raced the bus down the steep trail that went to town. He kept yelling “goooood – byyyyyye” and rolling his arms in a cheering motion. At every switchback he did this and later we found out he did this to try and collect money, by racing the bus and then boarding at the bottom to collect money. We were impressed, so Peter gave him a couple Soles, probably about $1 worth, it would buy him a drink or a small meal in town.

We went back to the hostal and relaxed for a bit, showering and just resting our very tired legs. Then, about 7, we decided to find a place to eat. We asked the staff for a recommendation and a young guy showed us a place off of the main plaza – away from the touristy part of town. Again, it was a good recommendation and we ended up ordering a pizza, which was a bit disappointing. How much I appreciate American pizza. On the way back, we realized that we hadn’t told Joan that we had made alternate arrangements for our bags. But, since we also didn’t want to seem suspicious or disrespectful, we decided to invite him to join us for dinner the next evening in Cuzco. Peter got a hold of him after I had gone to bed and was able to make arrangements to meet him the next evening back in the main Plaza.

Thursday, August 11, 2005 – Back to Cuzco
I woke up Thursday about 9 am to a very sore body from all the hiking we had done the last couple of days. Peter mentioned a couple of trains had passed by during the night on the tracks outside our hostal, but I had slept through them. He was impressed at how well I could stay asleep. After eating breakfast at the same restaurant that we had eaten dinner at, we decided to take a few pictures of the Plaza, which included a huge statue to Pachacutec, the believed constructer of Machu Picchu. We also found a nice Spanish style church which I took a picture of. After this we just rested on a nearby bench for about 20 min until it was time to board the train.


Statue of Pachacutec

Heading back on the train we met a foursome from Arizona and we had chatted about our adventures. You can have some really interesting conversations just talking about where you’ve been, what you’ve seen. They had come from Bolivia seeing the salt deserts in the Potosi region (largest in the world) and then Lake Titicaca and were on their way to Lima next. We told them we were headed to Copacabana and they gave us some recommendations about what to see. Then all of the sudden the train stopped and we began to sit. After about 15 min, one of the guys checked what was going on and it turned out to be problems with the engine. At first the staff told us to stay on the train, but after it was obvious it would be awhile they reluctantly let us get off and rest outside the train where it was a bit cooler. Finally, about an hour later, we were back on our way to Ollantaytambo and arrived right about 1:30. Upon arriving, we headed towards the center of town, since the train station was on the edge. We finally found the main plaza about 15 min later. Once we got there we found a place where microbuses were departing to Urubamba, a town about 1/3 of the way back, from where we found out we could get another bus to Cuzco. After asking about the frequency, they said it was every half hour, so we decided to grab some lunch. For lunch we ate at a restaurant on the plaza, where I had a grilled cheese sandwich and fresh squeezed lemonade.

Then we caught a micro to Urubamba, and ended up being on a bus with all locals, some of whom were speaking Quechua. After about 30 min, we arrived to Urubamba, where we shortly after caught a charter bus back to Cuzco. After feeling alone on the way to Urubamba, our charter bus was mostly tourists, likely in the same situation we were. We arrived back to Cuzco at about 5:00 and immediately took a taxi to the Plaza de Armas. Since we had some time before meeting Joan, we decided to do a bit of shopping. We wandered through several shops until about 6:50 when we headed to the Plaza to meet Joan. Joan showed up right about 7:00 and had his younger brother with him. He asked how Machu Picchu was and we told him we really liked it. He said he had been 15 times. After asking him where he wanted to go for dinner he said to us that it was he and his wife’s first anniversary, and they were having a small party for a few of their friends. He invited us to come and said they would cook for us and then we would go to a discoteca until we needed to leave for the bus. Peter and I were a bit surprised by the offer, but accepted and off we went to an apartment Joan had rented for the night. Upon arriving we met his wife, Soledad, his younger sister who was about 7 and a few of their friends from University. The food was very tasty, a marinated lomo (thin beef filet), rice, breaded cauliflower and a stuffed chili pepper. He also had bought huge bags of a Chee-toh like chip, as well as animal crackers and a couple of two liters of Fanta. After cleaning up, Soledad gave Joan her gift, a sketch of himself that she had drawn and it was very nice. Then it was off to the discoteca, where we were frisked and then allowed to enter. As we entered I noticed there was black light and then looked at my llama jacket which had white llamas on it. . .they were glowing and I muttered to myself, “the llamas are going dancing tonight!” Dancing was a rather awkward experience, there seemed to be about 2 or 3 small groups kind of all hanging out inside. Joan had brought a bunch of animal crackers and kept passing them out the way someone would pass drugs. It was hilarious. Soon enough though, it was time for me and Peter to go head to the bus station. We said our goodbyes to Joan’s friends and then he accompanied us to a small plaza near our hotel. At that point we parted ways and we all seemed confident that we’d keep in touch. We’ll see . . .

Friday, August 12, 2005 – Back to Bolivia
After a sleepless night of travel (mostly due to an annoying heater at my feet), we arrived about 5:30 AM at the small town of Puno, Peru, the last sizeable city before the Bolivian border. It sits on the shore of Lake Titicaca and is where most of the reed islands are located. We were told that they weren’t too interesting though and due to our tight schedule it was just as well. We went inside the bus station to wait for our connecting bus that would take us to Copacabana. After being told we had about an hour to wait, we decided to go eat at this restaurant inside and have breakfast since we didn’t know when we’d arrive to Copacabana. As we started to eat, an Israeli girl who was about our age asked if she could join us and we said that she could. We had an interesting conversation talking about our experiences thus far. She said that she didn’t really enjoy Peru very much, so we tried to tell her that Bolivia was much different and that we ourselves were excited to return to a much familiar culture. I also realized during this time one other thing. . . it was my birthday!!

Our bus arrived at the small border town of Kasani, which straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. The crossing went very smooth and we had finished on both sides in about 45 min. We even found a place that would change our Soles into Bolivianos so it was a relief to unload most of my remaining 90 sol ($30).

Finally, at noon, our bus pulled into Copacabana, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Peter and I got off, collected our bags and checked in at a nearby hostal that was recommended to us. It was nice too! It felt like a 4 star hotel, but was very cheap, costing us only 40 Bs for the night ($5). We inquired about taking a ferry to Isla del Sol and the woman said the next one was at 1:30, which was perfect since we still needed to eat. We went out to explore a little bit of Copacabana before eating. We found the main plaza just up the street where we saw the beautiful muslim style Cathedral with people in front performing a well known ritual called “bendicion de los mobilidades” (blessing of the mobilities), basically where people decorate their cars and have them blessed so that they will have good luck in driving. Then we went and found a nice lunch spot near our hostal.


Copacabana Cathedral (with Bendicion de los Mobilidades in foreground)

After lunch it was time to head out to Isla del Sol. The ferry ride was an hour and a half and I did a little napping on the way out since I was so tired from the bus ride. Upon arriving, we got a magnificent view of Isla de la Luna and also Illampu, a 21,000 ft (6420 meters) mountain in the distance.


Illampu and Isla de la Luna


Illampu

We walked up the Inca stairway and were greeted by some vendors selling all sorts of things. Having only an hour, Peter and I went pretty fast to try and see as much as possible. The water of the lake was an incredible color, sapphire blue, and so clean. It was unbelievable. Justafiably so, we wished we could have had more time in the end, but managed to see enough to feel like the trip out to the island was worth it. We boarded back onto the boat and then made a brief stop at some pretty tiny ruins that paled in comparison to Machu Picchu. They were charging 10 Bs to look at this unimpressive shack, so I passed and stayed in the boat. After about 20 min, we headed on back to Copacabana. Upon returning to Copacabana, Peter and I decided to hike up a nearby hill to watch the sunset over the lake as it was about that time. Hiking for nearly 20 min up the side of the mountain, we were rewarded with a magnificent view of the town and the islands. The sunset was magnificent and I got several good pictures of it.


Looking towards Isla Del Sol at Sunset


Sunset

Now it was time for a special birthday treat, “trucha criolla” (creole trout), a specialty of Lake Titicaca. We went to the same spot as lunch. Peter ordered trout with a picante sauce and I ordered a buttered trout. Both were very tasty. After dinner, we decided to head back to the hostal and pack up everything since we had to catch an early morning bus back to La Paz.

Saturday, August 13, 2005 – On to Sucre
Peter and I awoke wearily at 5:45 AM to head off to catch our microbus back to La Paz. We headed up to the Plaza, the point of rendezvous. We found the bus no problem, and the driver loaded our stuff and we got in. He said it cost 17 Bs each ($2), a great deal we thought for a 3 hour drive. After sitting a few minutes though, it was obvious no one else was coming, so the driver said either we would have to go later, or pay for the unused seats (making it 200 Bs total). Peter and I needed to get to La Paz by 10 and since we were 3 hours away, we had no choice but to pay the 200 Bs (still only $25) since the next bus wasn’t until 9. It was initially a little annoying, but after thinking about it awhile, we realized that the driver had to cover the gas expenses to make the trip worth it. The drive over was beautiful as we crossed a narrow portion of Lake Titicaca on a ferry and then got to see the sunrise over the Andes. After a couple of hours we saw Illimani and knew we were close to La Paz. Since we were the only ones traveling, Peter and I inquired if we could just be dropped off at the airport, since we would pass right by it, rather than in the city where we would have to get a taxi (another 50 Bs) back to the airport. The driver said no problem, but that due to the airport fees he would charge an extra 10 Bs. We said no problem, and so off we headed to the El Alto airport. We arrived about 9 AM and got ourselves checked into our flight, ate breakfast, got some more money and boarded our flight to Sucre.

We arrived to Sucre about noon. It was very beautiful and much smaller than La Paz or Cuzco. Like Cochabamba, it sits near some mountains. It is Bolivia's other capital city, where the judicial branch and Supreme Court reside. It is a colonial town with lots of history, so all of the buildings are painted in traditional fashion with whitewash and Spanish style roofs. After checking into our hostal, we decided to eat lunch at a restaurant on the plaza, where we had Picante de Pollo (spicy chicken), which was a specialty to Sucre.


Cathedral in Sucre

After lunch we went to the Casa de la Libertad, where the Bolivian Declaration of Independence was signed on August 6, 1825. It was before that a chapel, and it still has the choir chambers and a place for the organ. As we learned, Bolivia was part of Peru (called Upper Peru at the time) and Peru was liberated in 1824 by Simon Bolivar. A year later, Bolivia declared it’s independence under the name “Bolivar”, but the Peruvians resisted and fought to keep Bolivia until 1841. We found out it was a year later, a politician suggested the name be changed to Bolivia. At the Casa, there were three portraits of Antonio Jose de Sucre, Bolivia’s 1st President, Simon Bolivar and Ballivian. The Casa had an original sword of Antonio Jose de Sucre, as well as the original Argentinian flag, which was interestingly enough white-blue-white, rather than the blue-white-blue of the current flag. We inquired about that, and were told by our tour guide that Argentinians were fighting in Bolivia with the Bolivians and it was the flag their General had with them. However, back in Argentina, the President had proposed a new one - the blue-white-blue. Incidentally, we learned that the colors were chosen because it was the colors of the Bourbon family of Spain. The tour guide also said that kids in school however are taught that the blue is for the skies and the white is for the snow, which is not true. The flag is located in Sucre because it was found near there and it is too fragile to move to Argentina. It was so neat to learn about some Bolivian/Argentinian history, as it is one area of the world I don’t know much about historically.


Casa de la Libertad

After a nice visit to the Casa de la Libertad, we headed off to the Museum of Indigenous Art. It was rather interesting and it was shocking how many pagan rituals the people near Sucre still practice, giving me a very creepy feeling as I looked through everything there. It made me so sad to see how people living in the midst of Christianity don’t accept the peace and truth of the Bible. After we had saturated ourselves with art, we went shopping a bit and then went back to the hostal to rest. Then we had dinner at a nice pizza place, probably the closest to American pizza I had tasted. Immediately after dinner, we decided to go watch Los 4 Fantasticos (Fantastic Four) at the movie theater next door. It was an interesting experience as it felt like being home since the movie was in English with Spanish subtitles, and then the movie ended and we walked out and were still in Bolivia. After the movie, we went to a chocolate shop, something Sucre is well known for. The chocolate was very good and we ate it while writing email at the internet café. Then we decided to head back to the hotel and go to bed and enjoy a nice restful night of sleeping in, the first in about 3 nights.

Sunday, August 14, 2005 – Cochabamba at last
After sleeping in and getting some much needed rest, Peter and I awoke and went off to find some breakfast, which ended up being a place on the plaza, where I had eggs and toast. Then we decided to go down to the Parque Bolivar (City Park) and do a Bible study, since it was the Lord’s day. We decided to discuss a few chapters of a book we were reading together. It was a nice discussion. After that we went and saught out some lunch at a Chinese place.

After eating, we made another trip to the Sucre chocolate shop, where we got some more chocolate for ourselves and some gift boxes as well. Then we checked our email briefly one more time and then headed to the airport. We boarded the plane about an hour and a half later and our pilot comes on and says, “Welcome aboard Flight XXX to Santa Cruz”. Santa Cruz! Ok, no problem we thought, maybe there was a connecting flight we were supposed to make to Cochabamba. We arrived at the Santa Cruz airport and discovered that it was in fact a mistake because about 15 other people were in the same boat as us, expecting to go to Cochabamba first. LAB apparently cancelled the direct flight to Cochabamba minutes before we took off. Fortunately, there was a flight to Cochabamba from Santa Cruz later that night, but it meant spending some unexpected time in the Viru Viru airport.

Monday, August 15, 2005
Well, it was hard to believe but the day had arrived for me and Peter to part ways. Before that sad time though, we spent the morning over at Mike’s house, a friend of mine, downloading our photos and then later went over to another of my friend’s houses, Therese, who had recently married a Bolivian and had her wedding in her home country of Canada. We decided to just hang out. I had already been to Cristo de la Concordia, the only major attraction in Cochabamba, so I was content to just hang out. It was so nice having lunch with Therese and her husband, “Negro” (Juan Carlos). I had many fond memories of Therese and Negro from spending the summer with them in 2003 along with the rest of the team. We had a good time catching up with each other about who was up to what and I brought her up to speed on the goings on in Trinidad. Then, after lunch it was time to head to the airport and back to Trinidad.