Waiting for Galapagos

It was our last day in La Paz. We had done pretty much all we had planned. Our flight to Quito wasn't until 5:15PM. We had hours to kill, but not enough to do anything significant.

We found a roof top cafe on Ave. 16 de Julio, drank beverages, ate lunch and played cards. I had purchased the Marching Powder book on Kindle last night. We each took turns to read the book out loud to each other. It is a really gripping book and helped to pass the time for sure.

Since we had a great experience with the minibus yesterday, we decided to take it to the airport. Big mistake! At 4 bolivianos (0.60 USD), it sure was much cheaper than a taxi. With our big packs, we made our way next to the San Francisco museum where all the minibuses seemed to gather. It was pure chaos. People and cars weaved in and out, hop on and off amongst traffic. We flagged one down. But we were signaled to get on a bit further up the street. We ran up to the minibus in a panic. The handler I called him, is the guy who gets the customers and collects the money. The handler grabbed our bags and hurled them on top of the minibus without strapping them down at all. We were very concerned that the bags would fall off, but he assured us it was no problem.

We were shoved into the bus just as the police came over to tell the bus to move it along. We settled into our seats and I noticed I was missing a bag, a bag contained 7 chullo hats we bought a few hours ago as gifts for friends. I hate losing things even if it was 105 bolivianos (15 USD) worth of hats. I instantly regretted the decision to take minibus. There are just certain experiences I don't need to experience no matter how interesting or cheap it is.

The ride itself was smooth and it only stopped two or three times. We were at the airport in 30 minutes with our luggage intact.We had to pay 25 USD airport tariff (for international flight) each.

I enjoyed my time in Peru and Bolivia. But I am looking forward to some warm weather and ocean breeze. Tomorrow we will be in paradise and I am excited!

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