So, we made it through our 9 hour bus ride this morning, and are now in Chile…but we realized that we couldn´t get a bus to San Pedro de Atacama for another two days, and since neither of us were willing to wait, we just bought tickets to Santiago for tomorrow morning….28 hours of bus rides, but what can you do….should be cool!
Chile in itself is another world…definitely has a lot more money than the other countries we have been in, and far less indigenous people….we are in a town now that has a Pearl Street equivelent, only at the beach (it is called Arica) Unfortunately, the prices match, and stuff is definitely a lot more expensive than it has been…..oh well, I suppose!
So, I forgot to tell everyone about the poker tournament on Saturday in Bolivia. We were hanging out with the English kids again on Friday night and we saw a sign for the Bolivian National Poker Tournament. Of course, the guys all thought it was a great idea to enroll and play, so Louisa and I spend 6 1/2 hours on Saturday watching Steve, Andrew, Jeremy, Shaya, and Lisa play poker. Of course, I could´ve played too, but what the hell do I know about poker?!! They actually all did really well. It started with 12 tables of 10 people, and Lisa made it to the semifinals from there, having finished in the top two at her table. Andrew and Jeremy both got third at their tables. Shaya and Steve didn´t make it to the semifinals from their first tables, but they both bought back in and made it to semifinals that way. I´ll have to show everyone this stupid picture I took of Steve–he actually dominated his second buy in table, and I have this photo of him holding almost the entire tables´worth of chips while everyone else just kinda had nothing…pretty sweet. He ended up finishing third at his semi final table, so no finals, but it was still a random way to spend a Saturday in La Paz!
We did do the mountain biking thing yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. Lots of crosses down the road for where all sorts of people have died, particularly around the area called “Death Corners.” It started raining like crazy about half way through, so the four of us spent the rest of the ride absolutely sopping wet…..my clothes still haven´t dried, and I think I may have ruined my pants from all of the mud, but it was still a wonderful time! (that´s what all these pictures are of)
I also wanted to mention another “unique” thing about La Paz–the robber shoeshine boys! Lots of guys dress up like this photo and go to work everyday, shining travelers´shoes to support their families. Unfortunately, it is considered such a low line of work that they have to wear these masks to protect their identities….but if you think about it, it probably just scares off the tourists! (By the way, this is not my photo…I found it online and the source was unknown….still a good one though!)
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