Return To The Capital

Monday 29 January

Woke up a bit late this morning as the alarm failed to go off!! But still ready in time to meet Karina and Julio to go to the airport. Our flight wasn’t due till just after 11.00, so we were there really early – I think they had only just opened when we arrived – but it filled up quickly. We told Karina not to wait with us, but she was back ten minutes later, to tell us that our plane was the second one out – the first was going to Cochabamba, further into the Andes!

The airport was chaotic – no signs to say which planes were landing or departing, when or to where they were going. Only one gate was being used, and just after 11.00 we made our way there and were allowed to go through to security and the small waiting area. People were still boarding the first plane, while our plane was slightly delayed, and didn’t touch down for another ten minutes – it was obviously going to be late taking off too. With the engines revving, passengers were still rushing to board the first plane, and when the ground staff did a count-up of the boarding slips, it appeared there were too many and they had to go and haul a couple of people off the plane! They were, in fact, wanting the La Paz flight! It’s a good job this is not a busy airport.

As soon as our plane had disgorged its passengers, we were urged to board quickly, and it wasn’t long before we took off. We had refused our little bag of eats – couldn’t face the stale croissant and cake again. As soon as we landed and were through the arrivals gate, we spotted our courier, Gloria, and we were soon retracing our path through La Paz to the hotel. We had a slight detour as the driver had forgotten his pass to be displayed in the car, so that the Police would let us through to the hotel – very strange. Once booked in, we were shown to a fabby room – a large, pale pink suite, with the sun streaming through windows that went all the way round the room, in a semi circle at the seating end. The bathroom was complete this time, although I poked my nose into the suite next door, and found that their bathroom set up was the same as in room 604, with the basin outside. Our room was much the best.

A worrying factor was that there were no messages from Ayca Tours, who were supposed to be collecting us tomorrow to take us to Arica in Chile by car. We decided to have lunch before making any telephone calls – it was only 13.30. Just before we left the room we had a text from Juz to say that they had had a serious fire at their house, which was very worrying, so we texted and sent emails back to her before doing anything else. We ate in the hotel again, and the food was great – chicken for me and the beef, tomato salsa and fried egg dish for Colin – he is getting quite brave with Bolivian food. We sat in the conservatory part of the restaurant soaking up the sunshine – it was another very warm day – the locals are wondering what has happened to the rain.

By 16.00 we were getting a “little” concerned, and asked the man in reception to phone Ayca Tours for us – no reply. He tried phoning the Lima office, but they washed their hands of it, and in the end we found a mobile number for the tour company where he could leave a message. We would just have to wait and see what happened tomorrow. This is our first real hiccup – every other place we have been, the information has been waiting for us, and we knew exactly what time we would be traveling.

For the rest of the afternoon, I blogged and published another five entries, checked emails and watched some television. About 19.30 the phone rang and it was Ayca Tours, saying they hadn’t been able to get hold of us before (bullshit – they could have left a message), but our driver and guide would pick us up at 07.15 in the morning. Another early start, but at least we knew in time to prepare. Supper tonight was soup for me and two desserts – a banana split and home-made custard for Colin – he is such a sweetie. We then watched a Russell Crowe film – back when he was yummy - while sorting our suitcases once more, and getting to bed around midnight.