Melissa and Katie's Excellent Adventure

After Machu Picchu we returned late to Cuzco completely exhausted and when we lazily woke the next morning we decided we wanted to go white water rafting. Since we were late to get started, the tours had all already left. We finagled our way in though by taking a taxi to some town to meet up with the bus that had already taken off. We made it just in time for another gorgeous adventure on the Urubamba River.

 

After rafting, we overnight bussed to Copacabana, Bolivia, a tiny town on the shore of Lake Titicaca. We stayed at a quaint little hotel right on the water with a great view. We took this time to relax and enjoy the cheap local trout. I could see how this could be a great summer destination, however, we arrived there when a cold, rainy front hit, making it less desirable. We wanted to head out to Isla del Sol, the supposed creation sight of the Incas, but when we woke up, the pelting rain made the open seas look very uninviting and we shied away, opting instead to meet back up with Sam and Damian (our Machu Picchu buddies) and head to La Paz earlier. The bus from Copacabana to La Paz requires you to cross a lake. We got off the bus and took a dingy across (don’t worry, it was inspected in 2005) as we watched our bus load precariously onto a floating piece of wood to cross. Ah South America, you never cease to impress me.

 

Upon arrival in La Paz, we decided to test our fates by biking down the most dangerous road in the world. Until 2006 it was the only road connecting Coroico to La Paz and supposedly 200 people died driving on it per year. Geared up in sweet looking fits complete with elbow- and kneepads, we biked downhill for 64 km (40 miles) and descended a total of 3,500m. There was zero uphill and very little pedaling required in our trip – but we went quite fast on the rocky terrain and it was an adrenaline rush. At the top we were freezing in the icy wind and there was snow not far away. At the bottom we were roasting in a humid jungle. Throughout the ride we had gorgeous views of the green valleys, waterfalls, and cliffs. At times the clouds obstructed the drop-off cliff into the abyss below, but for the most part we got lucky with a sunny day. Since 2006 they have opened up a new road, on which we drove back to La Paz. We found the drive back much more dangerous than the bike ride on the “Death Road.”

 

After the bike ride, Melissa and I sadly parted ways with the rest of the crew who had no intentions of heading to Paraguay. The two of us decided to hit the streets and contribute to the Bolivian economy. We shopped around for all kinds of incredibly cheap souvenirs. Then to close our Christmas Eve, we went to the “Witches Market” where we saw an absurd number of llama fetuses.

 

Melissa and I were told that everything in La Paz would be closed on Christmas except one tour of Chacaltaya, a mountain offering good views of the city. So we opted for the tour rather than just hanging out at our hostel. We awoke to a stockingless Christmas morning but once we started the tour we were pleasantly surprised with the first white Chirstmas of our lives! A bus with no chains took up us the mountain (possibly even more dangerous than the alternate Death Road) where it was snowing quite heavily even though it was supposedly “summer” in this hemisphere. It was not the tour we expected but it was very fun since it was Christmas morning.

 

After, we headed Valle de la Luna to see some cool geologic formations before rounding off our Christmas with some movie-watching… at the airport. Melissa and I showed up to the airport to sort out our return flight to Paraguay and ended up discovering a private movie-watching room. Continuing with my recent tradition of Subway sandwiches in airports for holidays, I shared a turkey sandwich with Melissa. It was nice to at least have one family member with me for this feast.

 

We faced some complications with our return to Paraguay and I came back to Asuncion sans the most important thing: Melissa. She had trouble getting a Paraguayan visa (it turns out you get them at the border, plus all of the embassies were closed due to the Christmas holiday) so she wasn’t allowed on our flight from Bolivia to Paraguay.

After Argentina, I had returned to Paraguay thinking it was very undeveloped and recognizing all of the things the country lacked. After Peru and Bolivia, I returned to Paraguay thinking it was very developed and recognizing all of the things the country did actually have. I guess it’s all relative. Paraguay still has zero tourism, mostly unpaved roads, no highways, and a ton of corruption. But it also has modern technology, newly imported cars, and big shopping malls. Also upon my return, I realized that Paraguay is changing right before my very eyes. The street that I live on was paved with asphalt! Now we don’t have to drive under 5 mph for 10 blocks! The change is very dramatic and now there is a lot more traffic on our street/stray dogs getting hit by cars. Also, Pepsi was introduced to Paraguay for the first time. Coca-cola has already infiltrated every nook and cranny of the country and everyone drinks it more than water. Now there are Pepsi signs everywhere and people are trying it out (though my family hates it and thinks it tastes like medicine – they’re sticking with Coke). At the rate things are changing, it will be interesting to come back and visit Paraguay and see how things have developed and changed (I’ve already promised my sisters I’ll come back for their weddings as well as other random visits).

 

Melissa finally made it to Asuncion after a big ordeal of papers, pictures, and flight rearranging (she is now well practiced for when we one day go on The Amazing Race together). Unfortunately, she arrived at 8pm and her flight out was at 8am the next morning…only 10 hours  (of darkness) for me to show her the gist of everything… The whole family headed over to Tia Chely’s house for a big family dinner where Melissa got to meet a lot of my host aunts, uncles, and cousins. My host sisters immediately loved Melissa and we were all super sad that she couldn’t stay longer. It was a very hot night and our house only has one room with air conditioning: the parents’ room. So all 6 of us sisters dragged our mattresses into their room and covered the floor. We had a nice cool slumber party for the minimal hours we slept before taking Meliss back to the airport at sunrise. Though we faced a lot of hiccups in our trip together, it was nice to have my faithful sister as my travel companion. Back in the day when I dreamed of coming and living down in South America, Melissa was in the original plans. I’m bummed that didn’t actually work out, but a visit was much better than nothing, so I’ll take it.

 

And suddenly 2011 was already at its end. Two of my host sisters went up to Concepcion for the holiday, so we had a small family dinner with just the parents and my other two host sisters here in Asuncion. Janine and I were headed out to a New Years party at her friend’s house. Little did I know that the party didn’t start until 2am. I had been all ready to go at 9pm and was very confused when none of the festivities were starting. Dinner started at 11:30pm and we ended in time to go outside for midnight. We toasted in the new year with champagne and cider to neighborhood fireworks going off all around. I took a quick siesta after the midnight celebration and we left for the party at 3am. We had a blast dancing, swimming, and having foam fights until almost 9am (4am California time, so probably around the time people at home stopped celebrating too). Quite the different schedule but they certainly know how to party.

New Year’s day we had a big family lunch. I insisted that we do the Chinese tradition of eating long noodles for longevity. Supposedly the tradition here is to eat 12 grapes, though we never followed through on that. I left early the next morning for Buenos Aires again to meet my next travel buddies: my parents. Non-stop traveling with minor layovers in Paraguay seems to be my new thing. It’s a rough life…