Learning to love La Paz

I have come to realize that like many new cities, it just takes some time to discover the charms of La Paz. I have now been here for 5 days and feel like I know the city backwards and forwards. I know how to cross the crazy streets without getting run over by one of the cartoon like short buses, I know which mango lady has the best prices and I know which streets to avoid once the sun goes down.

Last night Nikki, Anna and I found a middle eastern restaurant where were got hummus and pita, a chicken kabob and coca cola all for about $5. This was the first meal I had had since being in the city, the only food I could find that looked apetizing! After dinner we went to Luna & Sol where we had amazing hot chocolate and listened to live Bolivian music.

Today we wandered the streets and markets one more time and shopped around the hundreds of tour agencies trying to find the best price on a jungle Pampas tour.

We ended up booking a tour, leaving tomorrow, which will take us on a three day adventure up the amazon to Rurrenabaque. We leave at 11am tomorrow to begin our 16-19 hour bus ride. If it were up to me I would be flying, their are flights for only $190 roundtrip. But, this is one of the pitfalls of traveling with a group...you must compromise. So, we will take a bus up to the jungle and fly back. After the 16 hour journey we will head even deeper into the jungle on a 3 hour 4x4 ride then a 3 hour canoe trip up the river Beni. After 2 nights and 3 days in the mosquito infested jungle we will return to the town of Rurrenabaque for a day. I am beyond excited for this trip. I hope to see monkeys, anacondas and many other Amazonian animals. I will admit, I am very nervous about the bus ride, being rainy season it is common for roads to be flooded, buses to break down, etc. But I think the excitment of what lies beyond the bus trip will make the 16 hours a bit more bearable than my last bus experience!

So, goodbye for now. Will talk to you after this jungle adventure!