Backpacking South America

So life has certainly been an adventure for us over these past few months and I feel even more so since we arrived to Bolivia. We spent so much time in Argentina and Chile that it started to feel extremely comfortable and very familiar. Bolivia – well, that’s a whole new world.

Bolivia has been, in most ways, less developed. We have had a wonderful time visiting this country and getting a better understanding of this culture, but things don’t seem to be as simple or straightforward. Life is a bit harder here. One way that this is evident is that it always takes a little bit longer to get from point A to point B, mostly because there are very few paved roads. The roads are never straight because they pass through mountains and are made much more dangerous by the fact that they are about 1.5 car-widths wide. So going around any corner means risking your life.

Before entering this country, we heard so many different stories about the transportation system: it’s dangerous; don’t travel at night; people will try to steal from you; the buses break down for hours; they drive out of control; and just the other week there was a 4 day strike by bus drivers and truck drivers for the mere fact that new legislation had been passed that if they were stopped and found driving under the influence, their license would be revoked for life. Hmmmm…

However, we have survived this country and we have survived the multiple different bus rides we have had to take. Our lives in this country have been nothing but adventurous. Our first bus ride was during the day and it was a large bus, that never met a paved road. In fact, I’m not even sure we were driving on roads. It was the bumpiest bus ride I have ever been on and we were literally flying out of our seats. However, the majority of bus rides have been night buses and I must say, from there on out, we got really lucky. Either we just got use to it, or the route got better, but the following buses we were actually able to get some sleep on, despite the fact on one of the buses our window kept bouncing open (but there were bathroom breaks – 18 hours).

But our recent adventure entailed a 10 year old boy throwing up out the window and yelling at his mother who was pushing his head out the window, “It’s my life!” Yes, dear, but for the sake of the rest of us on the bus, please aim outside the bus. Gross.

However, that wasn’t as stressful as our ride from Sucre to La Paz, when our backpacks found their way onto another bus, different from the bus we were taking. It wasn’t a good night.

We purchased our bus tickets downtown in Sucre and went to the bus terminal office to redeem our tickets since we only received a voucher. We were heading to Copacabana, but had to take a bus to La Paz first. When we approached the desk they told us to leave our backpacks there and they promised to load them on the bus. We both looked at each other and were a bit skeptical. Up until this point we had not heard anything good about the buses going to Copacabana. In fact, the one recommended bus company (which we did not take) recently had been suspended for insufficiently compensating passengers for lost luggage. Seriously, these backpacks are our lives – it’s all we have right now. Granted, we always carry our valuables onto the bus with us (medicine, computer, camera, etc.). So, I kindly asked if we could load our backpacks onto the bus ourselves and they said yes. This way we were sure our bags were on the bus. Brilliant, right?

Our bus was set to leave at 7:15PM; we got down to the platform at 7, and loaded our bags with the rest of the people. Apparently there was another bus leaving at 7:00PM, same company, same destination, same platform. Unfortunately, after we loaded our bags, another traveler asked us which bus we were on and we realized the bus that now had our bags was not our bus, but an earlier bus. It was chaos. Everybody was confused

One problem is that they don’t check your ticket before you get on; in fact, when we did get on the right bus, they never actually checked our ticket. We’ve learned, from past experiences, to always double check with the driver that this is our bus. This time, we were just anxious to get going. It was extremely chaotic and that life lesson seemed to escape our minds in the heat of the moment.

Not long after we realized that our bags weren’t on our bus, I approached the driver and asked him which bus this was and he quickly told me the one leaving at 7:00PM. I then began to tell him, my ticket says 7:15PM and my backpack is on this bus. He hopped on the bus and started the engine. I told the bag boy that he needs to get me my backpack. It’s on the wrong bus. Please, stop. At this point, the guy upstairs in the office is yelling something off the balcony and I’m yelling back that they need to stop and then a police officer comes over to see what’s going on. I try to kindly explain to him that that bus which is leaving the station has my backpack on it, but it’s not my bus. My bus leaves 15 minutes later. He tells me to go, run after it and tell him. I said, I already told him and he won’t stop for me. Please come with him. He kept pointing at the bus as if I could do something. I explained they won’t listen to me. He told me to follow him.

Well, at this point, there goes our backpacks down the street; obviously the bus isn’t going to stop. So, how are we going to retrieve them?Now all of our concerns with “lost” luggage were being realized. At least with this company, we had a ticket for our luggage (usually not the case in Bolivia) and we had no idea as to the reputation of this company. Maybe it wasn’t all bad. The other bus started to pull in and Jared and I decided to split up. He stayed by the bus to make sure it didn’t leave without us, while I went to plead our case with both the police and bus company (in Spanish). The policemen were very nice and made sure I felt comfortable with the answers I received from the bus company. The bus company pretty much told me not to worry. The bus is the same company, going to the same place and will arrive 15 minutes before our bus. Our luggage will be in the office waiting to be reclaimed. Yeah right. I looked at the woman and asked her if she was “sure.” She seemed so at least. I had my doubts.

So as we boarded our bus, we were both rather skeptical as to whether this was all going to work out. “No matter what happens, I love you.” We were in this thing together. With a few little prayers, we had 13 hours to figure out what to do next. While Jared sat thinking about how we might get stuck in La Paz and not make our connection by finding same day tickets to Copacabana because of lost luggage; he thought about how we’ll have to go on a shopping spree to find clothes to wear for the rest of our trip. While, I on the other hand, sat thinking about how tired I was about losing things, thinking that if we lost “everything” we’re going home. So we got some shut eye and arrived in La Paz.

When we arrived in La Paz, despite the high altitude (4,500 meters), we busted off the bus and ran from one bus to the next bus, trying to find the bus with our bags. There were about 6 from the same company in the station. We thought, if this bus arrived 15 minutes earlier than ours, it might be possible that they are still unloading it. With a few huffs and puffs, we were out of luck. We couldn’t seem to find the bus. We entered the terminal and found the bus office and asked where we could retrieve our luggage. They pointed us down the street, outside the terminal. Defeated and still skeptical that it will actually be there, we proceeded to leave the bus terminal to find out how this story was going to end.

Just as we were exiting the terminal, another bus was entering with the same company name. We then proceeded to run after it, thinking that just maybe we arrived first. Wouldn’t you know, it was the bus carrying our backpacks. As soon as the bagboy hopped off the bus, we locked eyes and he smiled. We were both flabbergasted that it all worked out in the end.

I thought, after all, we’re really going to make it in this world.