Martha gave Patty and me a ride to the Portland airport Wednesday morning for the next adventure of the TGC (Traveling Geriatric Circus).
That afternoon we flew United to Houston, arriving at 6:30 p.m. and stayed overnight at the Marriott Hotel at the airport. Thursday we checked out and went to the United Lounge at the airport to hang out until the daily 4:30 United flight to Lima, Peru. We arrived in Lima a little after 11:00 p.m., quickly cleared immigration and customs, and stayed at the Wyndham Costa del Sol hotel - it literally is across the driveway from the terminal. We got slightly more than six hours of sleep and headed to the airport to check in for our 9:05 LATAM flight to Santa Cruz and on to La Paz, Bolivia. We arrived around 3:15, quickly cleared immigration and customs, then waited with fellow FCH team members Pat and Terry for the FCH staff to pick us up. Because of the altitude of 13,200 feet at the airport, they had a Red Cross person with them to took our blood pressure and pulse before taking us to Hotel Sagarnaga, our home for the next 16 days. We met Megan and Jen at the hotel when we arrived - we know them from our Habitat build in Nepal in April 2011. We all went out for dinner at Layka Restaurant, just around the corner from our hotel - had a pleasant dinner as we begin to acclimate to the high altitude of La Paz (12,000 feet) and El Alto (13,200 feet) where we will be building for two weeks.
Saturday morning I went out for an early morning walk and to do some school work. I discovered the Cafe del Mundo which also runs the restaurant in Hotel Sagarnaga.
After the arrival of more team members, we met Fernando for a walk to the nearby San Francisco Monastery and Museum. It is a landmark for us when we are trying to navigate central La Paz, as it is at the foot of the hill which is Calle Sagarnaga and our hotel is just two blocks up hill from there. Our tour included seeing the museum, the courtyard (cloister) and the exterior of the areas where monks still live and work. Our tour included climbing up to the bell tower and then a walk on part of the roof with great views of the area.
After the tour, we went to a local restaurant for a lunch of saltiñas.
After lunch, we went to ride the cable cars or as they are called here, the Teleferico. They have been written about in many publications including the NY Times and Bloomberg News as a way to improve commuting to work and school. We were told that in less than 20 minutes travel through the air, you can cover the same distance as you would by car in an hour. There are now four lines in operation with two more to come. Of course, you have amazing views of the surrounding city and mountains, especially on the part that goes up to El Alto.
After we reached the upper end in El Alto, we walked around and took more photos and oohed and aahed at the views.
Sunday morning, a group of us went strolling through the market area two blocks from here - you can get anything you need, and we went through the section that had all of the food. We spent nearly two hours and went only a couple of blocks, and were only in one part of the market area. The streets were closed to car traffic and indigenous merchants set up movable stands on both sides of the streets as well as in the middle - and these were in addition to the permanent market stalls in the buildings that lined the streets. It is quite a spectacle.
Our group met at noon with Alex and Fernando from FCH Bolivia and they took us to a great restaurant for our welcome lunch. All fourteen of us spent nearly two hours consuming a feast at Kory Tiahuanacu. Patty, Laura and I each had different meals of lamb, trout and chicken.
On a walk to dinner, here are some of the bakery items we saw.
All things looked good as we began our adventures in Bolivia.
That afternoon we flew United to Houston, arriving at 6:30 p.m. and stayed overnight at the Marriott Hotel at the airport. Thursday we checked out and went to the United Lounge at the airport to hang out until the daily 4:30 United flight to Lima, Peru. We arrived in Lima a little after 11:00 p.m., quickly cleared immigration and customs, and stayed at the Wyndham Costa del Sol hotel - it literally is across the driveway from the terminal. We got slightly more than six hours of sleep and headed to the airport to check in for our 9:05 LATAM flight to Santa Cruz and on to La Paz, Bolivia. We arrived around 3:15, quickly cleared immigration and customs, then waited with fellow FCH team members Pat and Terry for the FCH staff to pick us up. Because of the altitude of 13,200 feet at the airport, they had a Red Cross person with them to took our blood pressure and pulse before taking us to Hotel Sagarnaga, our home for the next 16 days. We met Megan and Jen at the hotel when we arrived - we know them from our Habitat build in Nepal in April 2011. We all went out for dinner at Layka Restaurant, just around the corner from our hotel - had a pleasant dinner as we begin to acclimate to the high altitude of La Paz (12,000 feet) and El Alto (13,200 feet) where we will be building for two weeks.
Saturday morning I went out for an early morning walk and to do some school work. I discovered the Cafe del Mundo which also runs the restaurant in Hotel Sagarnaga.
After the arrival of more team members, we met Fernando for a walk to the nearby San Francisco Monastery and Museum. It is a landmark for us when we are trying to navigate central La Paz, as it is at the foot of the hill which is Calle Sagarnaga and our hotel is just two blocks up hill from there. Our tour included seeing the museum, the courtyard (cloister) and the exterior of the areas where monks still live and work. Our tour included climbing up to the bell tower and then a walk on part of the roof with great views of the area.
After the tour, we went to a local restaurant for a lunch of saltiñas.
After lunch, we went to ride the cable cars or as they are called here, the Teleferico. They have been written about in many publications including the NY Times and Bloomberg News as a way to improve commuting to work and school. We were told that in less than 20 minutes travel through the air, you can cover the same distance as you would by car in an hour. There are now four lines in operation with two more to come. Of course, you have amazing views of the surrounding city and mountains, especially on the part that goes up to El Alto.
 |
| Me, Fernando, Laura, Ramsay, Boots, Leslie, Patty, Jen, Dolly, Megan |
After we reached the upper end in El Alto, we walked around and took more photos and oohed and aahed at the views.
 |
| Even in Bolivia - we found many things from America |
Sunday morning, a group of us went strolling through the market area two blocks from here - you can get anything you need, and we went through the section that had all of the food. We spent nearly two hours and went only a couple of blocks, and were only in one part of the market area. The streets were closed to car traffic and indigenous merchants set up movable stands on both sides of the streets as well as in the middle - and these were in addition to the permanent market stalls in the buildings that lined the streets. It is quite a spectacle.
Our group met at noon with Alex and Fernando from FCH Bolivia and they took us to a great restaurant for our welcome lunch. All fourteen of us spent nearly two hours consuming a feast at Kory Tiahuanacu. Patty, Laura and I each had different meals of lamb, trout and chicken.
On a walk to dinner, here are some of the bakery items we saw.
All things looked good as we began our adventures in Bolivia.
No comments:
Post a Comment