Oruro - PART I


Oruro, Boliva - Look it up. The largest Carnival in Bolivia, and that is saying something. Carnival is the biggest holiday in South America. Bigger than Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, you name it.

Four and a half hour bus ride! Ok, let's stop here and talk about the bus ride there.
No bathroom.
After three hours the bus stops at over 14,000 feet. All the men get out and head for the nearest rocks. At least the more timid do. Most just step outside the bus and head for a tire.

For the women there is actually a bano. Joeline, who can wait for days,never got off the bus. So, it was up to me to check out the bano. I paid this little old lady 1 B (.15) and she gave me 5 individual sheets of TP - no more - and issued me in. IN is simply pulling open a door and stepping into this unbelievably horribly smelling "room". In the middle of it is a hole in the floor. No seat, no bench, no commode, no nothing. Our outhouses in Arkansas are like the 5 Star Hilton comparaed to this. Luckily I was only there for a look see as I had already visited a rock, so I quickly left.

When I got back to the bus they were serving us lunch. Our bus driver was walking up the isle with a bread bag in his hand. Each person reaches in an pulls out two slices of bread. Inside the two slices is a slice of cheese and a half slice of balogna (I guess that's what it was) - no mustard, mayo, lettuce, etc. I quickly scarfed mine down, it tasted great. We were on a dive trip about ten years ago, in the British Virgin Islands (Salt Island). At the mid-day break they served balogna sandwiches - tasted great then too.

Next came the drinks. A girl was pouring hot water into cups, the driver walked down the isle and handed out one of the two cups he carried to two people. Then he asked if they wanted tea or coffee. Next he produced a tea bag or an instant coffee pack out of his pocket for each. Then he walked back to the front of the bus and got two more cups. There were 40 people on the bus, so this took awhile. Joeline got frustrated and started running cups for everyone.

I got off the bus again and walked to where an old lady was selling - everything. I bought a coke, doled out about 15 B's to 15 different beggars and made it back to the bus.

Next stop, down the back side of the mountain to 12,158 feet to Oruro. Breathing will be much easier "down" there!!

Our trip started at 4AM, we arrived at the top of the mountain at daybreak, 7:30. Absolutely no heat of any kind on the bus and most of the windows did not close all the way. Joeline was wrapped up in her coat, my coat, the one change of clothes we each brought and was trying to get inside my t-shirt.

Did I mention that it was a lot of fun. Well, it was!