One day we did a walk around various parts of La Paz. There were lots of markets selling all manner of bizzare things, from jeans to dead dried up cat (or that's what it looked like).
We also visited the Instrument museum (how could we not?) which was full of wierd and wonderful musical instruments.
We also came across the military band and numerous men in uniforms with big guns standing along a red carpet. After waiting some time, the man who we assumed to be the President of Bolivia came out of a building, they played the national anthem, the President got in a car and drove off. That was it. We wondered if all this has to happen every time the poor bloke wants to leave his office. We almost got into trouble when the national anthem started. Not knowing it was the national anthem, we kept moving around trying to get a better look. We sort of noticed everyone around us had stopped moving but it didn't twig even then. It took a man with a big gun to get it through our thick skulls that we had to stop still until the song finished.
We had planned leaving La Paz the next day to start heading south. Dylan wasn't getting much better and we were both thinking he might have a chest infection and would therefore need some antibiotics. Not wanting to leave it to the last minute, we waited until around 6pm to find a doctor. Thanks to the Lonely Planet, we met the "gregarious English speaking" Dr Ebert Jordan.
About one hour and and two x-rays later, we were given strict instructions to leave La Paz for a lower altitude for around 4-5 days. Dylan had bronchitis. Normally this would not be too much of an issue but because we were at high altitude, it can cause some swelling in the lungs (not so good). The x-ray showed some swelling had started so we had to "go down" for a bit while the bronchitis was killed off with antibiotics.
Dr Jordan was great and very funny. He even drove us in his own car back to our hostel, oxygen bottle in tow.
I then went to find a chemist - chemists in South America appear to stay open all hours so it was easy to find one open at 10pm. The chemist refused to give me the 10 antibiotic tablets the doctor had prescribed, telling me it was too much. Taking the doctor's word over the chemist, the next morning I went to a different chemist and asked for 4 more, which he gave me.
So now we find ourselves in Corioco. Coroico is at just below 2000m altitude so is a good place for Dylan to recover. It is a lovely little place and we found a fab hotel. For the equivalent of 4 pounds each a night, we have got a 2 storey room looking out over the mountains, a pool, sauna, videos to watch, etc etc. The weather is much warmer down here too (so yes Faith, it is time finally for flip flops and sarongs). Dylan is improving which is great and we're making the most of this relative luxury. We'll deal with insurance claims and re-scheduling flights when back in La Paz.
So that's our little excitement for the week. Very happy with the excitable Dr Jordan and even more happy with our "home" for the next few days.
We hope to head back to La Paz on Monday, Dylan's health permitting. Right now however, I think I might just stare at the mountains a bit longer.
A word must be said about our journey down to Coroico. The only way to Coroico from La Paz is via the Yungas Rd, better known as the "World's Most Dangerous Road" (it's ok mum, we made it). Unfortunately, we managed to pick the world's most dangerous minivan to take us.
Dylan writes: For the first 5 miles of so we became aware that there was a shaggy dog sat at every 50 metres or so, surely not an omen of the road to come. The minivan that we had was amazing, all of the shocks were shot and the steering wheel turned a quarter turn before anything happened. I was terrified for the first hour, and after that I think my senses just shut down and I spent the rest of the 3 hour trip staring straight into the pit of the valley, a 900 metre vertical drop below us as if we were flying through the clouds.
The driver was great though, he made us feel much better by driving one handed, whilst eating his lunch with the other hand and occasionally getting into the passenger seat to find the rest of his epic lunch. That was ok though because at times we couldn't see the driver through the dust that filled the van. Of course it's dust track all the way and just about wide enough for a bike in places (which is why they offer mountain bike trips down this road, now there's an idea).
Kat (and Dylan)
