We arrived to El Alto (a city in the altiplano adjacent to La Paz) this morning around 7:30. No problems with the flight, other than a couple delays. In fact, I was amazed we weren’t selected for a “thorough” screening when we went through TSA at Lambert. That was the first time that’s happened since we got married.
Surprisingly we had no problems going through customs in Bolivia. Yoli filled out all her forms with her married name, and they accepted it. We have had a fear that the Bolivian government would not recognize her marriage since it occured outside Bolivia. We’ve heard of others to whom this has happened. So maybe there is a glimmer of hope for us.
The altiplano around El Alto is somewhat level with a few hills and mountain peaks in the distance. But La Paz is situated in a bowl in the altiplano. As we drove from the airport to La Paz we came to a point where we were on the “rim” of the bowl, looking down into it. It was an amazing sight.
We chose two hotels that sounded interesting in a travel book. Our first choice was available. Yoli says it’s really cheap (around $8 per night for us both). But the accomodations aren’t bad.. it has a bed, tv, shower, sink, closet, and best of all… toilet paper and towels (you don’t always find those at the inexpensive hotels).
Anyway we plan to spend this day sleeping (we are TIRED!) and adjusting to the higher altitude (3500m above sea level, we think). We’ll also eat with a girl who we encountered through this very website. She is engaged to an American, and we have talked with them often about our own experience.
Have a nice trip back to Bolivia and watch out for those scam guys. They are tricky.
We are in the states at this time in Colorado, on furlough. We’ll be back in June or July.
Dr Bruce