Finally a Fun Hostel

November 30, 2005
Day 63

Today I took a bus to Iquique, which is about four hours by bus south of Arica on the coast. After doing some asking around at the bus station, I was able to find a great hostel that lots of backpackers stay at. This was a good change of… Read More »

Viewing the Whole City

November 29, 2005
Day 62

Today I took a walk up to the Morro of Arica, a huge hill that overlooks the whole city. The walk up was very steep, but, being at sea level, it wasn't very difficult. I might even dare to say that it was enjoyable.

At the… Read More »

Major Culture Shock

November 28, 2005
Day 61

Today I wanted to leave Sajama and the only bus out of town left at 6:30 in the morning. I got up really early and waited in the freezing cold with the other tourists and a bunch of locals for the microbus to arrive. Finally it showed up, we… Read More »

A Long Day of Walking

November 27, 2005
Day 60

I had only been in Sajama for a little more than a day, yet I had already exhausted almost all of my options for stuff to do. I couldn't attempt to climb a mountain because it's spring here, which means that the snow and ice aren't solid enough to… Read More »

What Does a Geyser Look Like?

November 26, 2005
Day 59

When you travel long-term, there are bound to be good days and bad ones. This was one of the bad ones.

I ate breakfast at a local man's house. Afterwards, he asked me what I was going to do today. I told him that I was thinking of visiting… Read More »

Sajama Is Reachable Somehow I'm Sure

November 25, 2005
Day 58

After vegging out for a few days in Oruro, I was ready to move on to the Sajama National Park this morning. I had no trouble finding a bus to Patacamaya because it is on the way to La Paz, the biggest city in the country. The bus was… Read More »

Questions Answered, Part II

A few weeks ago, I answered some of the questions you had asked me about my travels. Several people told me that they enjoyed it, so I decided to put together part two of "Questions Answered." Here goes:

Concerns:

1. Why are you still in Bolivia? Aren't you worried about the elections and the riots… Read More »

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2005
Day 57

The main thing I did today was work on the last week's blog entries. I'm finally caught up after falling way behind. Also, it was Thanksgiving in the US, so I figured I should have a decent meal for supper. I haven't seen a restaurant serving turkey yet (although… Read More »

Oruro Museum and Zoo

November 23, 2005
Day 56

I wanted to do some sightseeing today, so I got a map of the city from the front desk at my hotel. For the first time since getting here two days ago, I found out that I was in the southeastern corner of the city. The first place I… Read More »

More Relaxing

November 22, 2005
Day 55

I didn't do much of anything today. TV can be a very dangerous thing because you can waste your whole day watching it. Almost none of the places I've stayed at so far have had TV, so I hadn't watched any in almost a month. My current hotel room,… Read More »