The bus teters back and forth along an extremely narrow and winding road. To the right is a sheer, unforgiving rock face. To the left, a 1,000 foot drop into the river below. The only thing seperating the passengers of this bus from certain death is approximately 12 inches of unstable gravel road.
The bus driver--who based on our current speed only consumed cocaine during our lunch break--forces the bus into third gear as we tear down the road. At times he slams on the brakes, throws the bus into reverse, and corrects his approach into a curve.
A salesman in the front of the bus attempts to sell us a miracle drink that will, according to him, prevent prostate cancer. A teenager across the aisle blasts ¨Girls Just Want to Have Fun¨ from his mobile sterio. And I hold my breath and play Tetris to keep myself from completely
losing my shit.
This, my friends, is bus travel in Bolivia.
But to be fair, this is not your average bus ride. The road connecting La Paz to
Rurrenebeque is nicknamed ¨death road¨ due to the number of accidents that occur during the rainy season. During the dry season--which is right now--the road is relatively safe.
In other words, no, I have not completely lost my mind.
The vast majority of tourists pay around $100 to fly to our current desination, to bypass this grueling 18 hour journey. Only the most adventurous--or poorest--gringos take the bus.
The view leaving La Paz is absolutely spectacular. We first drive by 14,000 foot snow-capped mountains, passing vast moonscapes of multi-colored rock, dipping in and out of massive cloud banks. Slowly we start our decent into the jungle, carefully navigating through waterfalls and passing by miniscule towns along the way. During this process, the elevation drops over 3,000 meters. In a matter of hours the climate changes from bitterly cold with biting wind to the thick, humid warmth of the jungle.
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| Swimming in the jungle |
Rurrenebeque reminds me of a typical small village in southeast Asia. The city hums with the sound of motorbikes, which serve as the primary source of transportation. Bananas hang heavy from trees that flourish on the side of the road. Stray dogs and chickens roam in the streets freely. Leaning inside the doorways of bars, locals eye tourists curiously.
Rurre is famous for being the entrance point to Madid National Park, which boasts the most diverse ecosystem in the world. The rainforest canopy here is exquisite; thick and lush, alive with the sounds of birds and monkeys. While here we see pink dolphins, capybara, wild pigs, tarantulas, mackaws, and a plethora of very friendly monkeys (who stole our breakfast on one occasion). We swim in the river, search for anaconda, and fish for piranhas using little more than a chunk of meat and a string. Our tour guide shows us a variety of plant life, and identifies about 100 different trees that can be used as ¨natural Viagra¨. I think he has some sort of complex...
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| I caught a pirhana and ATE IT! |
The down side to our six day jungle trip was two fold. One, you are required to take a tour to enter the jungle. I dislike tours, as I feel they are almost always boring and a waste of money (this one reaffirmed my belief). And two, the weather changed dramatically halfway through our trip. Did you know that it can get, like,
really cold in the jungle? I'm talking 45 degrees and rainy. Well, this was news to me. Luckily Johanna and I had each other to cuddle with, along with a combined 20 blankets we stole from our campsite.
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