Our last day in Rurrenabaque was perfect with more yummy pastries from the French bakery, good espresso and lots of relaxing hammock time. We were a bit piggy and even went back for seconds thinking we needed to stock up some food for our long bus ride ahead of us once we got to La Paz. After our mental 16 hour bus ride to Rurre we had booked tickets back to La Paz on the military airline TAM. Our flight left at 4.30pm and was supposed to arrive in La Paz a short while later so we thought we would have plenty of time to nip down to the bike company grab our photos then head to the bus station. I was being way too optimistic about this. With everything running on Bolivian time we didn't actually leave Rurre until 5.30-6ish and it cascaded from there.
The plane was larger then I expected and we even had security where they used the magic wand. The security guard only took a cursory glance in our bags which was lucky for us as we had everything your not supposed to have including a knife, scissors, heaps of liquids and
aerosols.
The runway was pretty far from the small airport and we got a bus to the plane through the mud. The other bus full of tourists weren't so lucky and had to walk a good five -ten minutes in pretty deep mud. I was surprised on the plane we were given refreshments and pastries (not very nice but it's the thought that counts). I was also surprised that there were people standing on the plane due to there being a shortage of seats. Given they were all military personal and the air hostess standing but it was still odd seeing people in the aisles on their phones as the plane took off.
Although the flight was short traffic was very heavy in La Paz by the time we got our taxi sorted and we also hadn't realized that the airport was on the other end of town from the bike company. After a good half hour in the taxi we gave up and got the driver to drop us of back at the adventure brew backpackers for another night in La Paz.
Traffic!! aerosols.
The runway was pretty far from the small airport and we got a bus to the plane through the mud. The other bus full of tourists weren't so lucky and had to walk a good five -ten minutes in pretty deep mud. I was surprised on the plane we were given refreshments and pastries (not very nice but it's the thought that counts). I was also surprised that there were people standing on the plane due to there being a shortage of seats. Given they were all military personal and the air hostess standing but it was still odd seeing people in the aisles on their phones as the plane took off.
Although the flight was short traffic was very heavy in La Paz by the time we got our taxi sorted and we also hadn't realized that the airport was on the other end of town from the bike company. After a good half hour in the taxi we gave up and got the driver to drop us of back at the adventure brew backpackers for another night in La Paz.
It is funny that when first arriving into La Paz we had both hated it and were ready to leave straight away but in the end we actually spend almost a week total there. It was a lot harder adjusting to the altitude this time coming from sea level to 3600meters. With my cold I woke up in the middle of the night freaking out because I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was quite a scary experience and I was ready to get out of La Paz there and then. After calming down and gulping some deep breaths of air I managed to get some ok sleep.
The next day we were back to crappy food options with chicken and chips, burgers and hot dogs. Staying the extra day did however let us pick up our death road photos, check out some shops and drop a few more bolivianos but I was glad to be in the bus terminal that night. This was our last night bus in Bolivia as our next few rides are all short and we will probably do during the day. It was not a pleasant experience and although funny now we look back on it I am glad we don't have any more left in Bolivia.
The next day we were back to crappy food options with chicken and chips, burgers and hot dogs. Staying the extra day did however let us pick up our death road photos, check out some shops and drop a few more bolivianos but I was glad to be in the bus terminal that night. This was our last night bus in Bolivia as our next few rides are all short and we will probably do during the day. It was not a pleasant experience and although funny now we look back on it I am glad we don't have any more left in Bolivia.
We had booked semi cama so we could lie back and get some rest but my seat was stuck up right. We managed to watch a whole movie on the ipad before we even left La Paz because the traffic was so bad. Our driver was the craziest driver we have had so far overtaking with zero space in front, tailgating so close that we actually crashed into the back of a truck before our bus driver took off again. We had been told there was a bathroom on board and there was but it was used to store luggage. Jake was also feeling the effects of either the altitude or the altitude pills and his tummy was not 100%. All this made for a pretty uncomfortable ride and little sleep. The only good thing was we were actually almost on time for once getting in to Sucre half an hour after they said we would. Luckily I had booked a hostel in Sucre with early check in so we arrived and crashed out for the morning.
Next stop: Wandering around the culture heritage city of Sucre.