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| I thought I had a nightmare losing three days getting to and
from the border but the worst was yet to come... The road to Paraguay goes through the Chaco which in the wet season is impassable, luckily we weren't quite there yet and it was still just red dust...until the morning I left...The day of reckoning had come, this time there was no turning back... I woke up to the rain coming down like never before! No problem they told me, roads fine, vegetarian meals ordered, everythings good. Pedro and I had to say our goodbyes again and everyone on the bus saw the tears, that combined with being the only gringa on the bus made me instantly recognisable for the rest of the journey. As soon as we left we got our food, inevitably (it was to be only the start) it had a big chunk of meat on it and I left the whole thing later throwing it out to a dog on the street. At about 5am I awoke realising we were stopped in the middle of the road along with 100 other vehicles. The hold up it turned out was a bus which had got stuck in the mud and everyone else was slowly, very slowly snaking their way around it. After a good two hours we passed by and I was relieved to be back on the move. However after this, seriously not exaggerating here, every 5-10 minutes we would stop for another 30 minutes, sometimes an hour trying to pass a certain point or for some reason or another. We had only had breakfast at this point of chocolate milk and a cookie and finally at 4pm we arrived in Camiri where the road was paved and again I was relieved. Should be plain sailing from here I thought. Lunched...well everyone else did, I still didnt want meat and meanwhile I checked my book to realise that we were only halfway out of Bolivia! we should nearly be there by now! Anyway at about 6pm we finally crossed the border and immigration. This time I nearly had trouble again as the pig head in Quijarro had put a bloody great black line through the 90 day stamp on my green slip that I had to fill out when I entered the country. I had to explain EVERYTHING very slowly and intricately to the guy and finally after much umming and ahhing he let me out. The immigration office in Paraguay isnt until where the tarmac road starts near Asuncion so till that point there are just a series of military checkpoints and the first one we came across in Paraguay wouldnt let us pass telling us the road was bad and we had to spend the night there. dinner was coffee with bread...brilliant The next day the driver woke up at about 4am and left immediately getting stuck in the mud before we’d even left the military checkpoint! We backed and forthed loads and finally he got out, phew! Then just half an hour later we came across a bus and a camion blocking the road and waited for ages while someone woke up and tried to move the bus...getting it stuck in the mud totally blocking us in! So everyone slept again and waited till sun up when the guys got off and started digging and helping get the bus out. Then we could pass. That was when I began talking to the guy next to me who was really nice,he was from Potosi and in the end we were laughing and the best of friends. We continued on without breakfast and finally at about midday, infallibly we got stuck, but not just stuck....STUCK soooo deep. Everyone got off and hummed and hahhed for a good long while and started digging. Meanwhile the bus behind had also got stuck a little further back. While this was being sorted out the women started cooking the emergency supplies and talking about how they had been stuck there for a week, others 10 days, someone 8 days...my flight was now in only 5 days! Finally the bus behind was freed and came to help us pulling us out of the mud, we finished eating (not me...meat again!) and put all the pots and pans away, just as the bus in front died!. So we then had to push it out of the way and get in front and attach it in order to pull it with us. We finally left that place at about 3pm. With the extra weight of the other bus we naturally got stuck again although not too badly this time and it only took about an hour to get out. We carried on happily and soon enough with the heat of the day and the weight of two buses our engine began overheating. So we left their bus there taking only the passengers which was better for us as before we had been travelling at less than 5 mph! We were on the way again and the road was improving no end...until we reached a diversion with 4 exits down onto a horrible dirt muddy road...of course the driver chose the worst exit and we got stuck...again. By now it was dark and the driver didnt want to do anything despite the fact that all the guys wereout digging as best they could. He was a fat lazy sod. Dinner was meat soup. A tractor came early in the morning to help us out. From then it really was plain sailing and we made it to tarmac, I had to give a little cheer when we got there. After numerous drugs checks, literally every 50 metres at one point we made it to Asuncion and after a big fat mess, to Ciudad del Este, the border town with Brazil. We arrived at 2am (I was still with 2 guys from the bus who were also going to sao paolo) and we found a hotel where we all bundled into the same room and crashed out on a very tacky circular bed, one of the guys wanted to know if there was a heart shaped one!!! After crossing to Brazil and still not having eaten we jumped on a 16 hour bus to Sao Paolo arriving at noon the day before my flight! The guys took me to a hotel before leaving me to meet their friends and I walked in realising after a few questions I couldnt pay till the next day so I had to leave a signed travellers cheque and my passport as insurance with the receptionist and went straight to bed. The next day on the metro to get to town to get money I very nearly passed out due to not having eaten in so long and was there for an hour in the medics part after the security guard found me sitting down on the platform! After all this (believe me I've shortened it and cut bits out for the sake of your email accounts!) I went to the airport at 1pm 'just in case'!!!Finally, the final leg of my journey, the flight and it was the funniest thing! I was well happy having the two seats next to me free and having a window seat so I thought ‘brilliant’ I can have a nice stretch out and enjoy the flight. 10 minutes into the flight some big tallold Dutch guy comes along and sits in the aisle seat. Not a problem, I thought, still got the middle seat. However, just after the food had been cleared away, Dutchman took his chance and immediately stretched out across not only his seat and the middle seat...he has his legs over mine!!! I couldnt believe it, I was gobsmacked so I tried to snatch back a little bit of space on the middle seat and in doing that he had to move back a little, therefore falling a bit and in an attempt to save himself he grabbed hold of my legs and wouldnt go! This was a little too weird for me and I couldnt sleep so I watched TV a bit and then went to the loo looking for another seat but when I came back he had woken up and was sitting upright again. However the entire flight he was trying to steal the middle seat and when he could mine too, just before landing he finally went back to his own bloody seat leaving me a big grin! BRILLIANT! From there I got a train home where I surprised the life out of my Dad for what he said later was the best birthday he’d ever had! Its good to be home. Thats it...the end of my travels (although I'm off to Ireland on Monday to get started on my new pub... anyone for a Guiness?) love you allllllllllllllll Ems _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail |
