La Paz  2024-02-05

Since a few days ago, I have decided to cancel my trip. It is not with any joy that I do this, and you may be wondering why.

The loneliness, insecurity, and language barrier became too much for me this time.

I have previously cycled through three continents, Europe, Iran, through Central Asia, across the Pamirs, through China, Southeast Asia, Borneo and New Zealand but never felt the way I do now.

My joy has disappeared and I tried to get it back, but I couldn’t find it. No matter how I tried. The day before yesterday I bought a flight from La Paz and El Alto to Madrid with a stopover in Miami, Florida. So far so good!

Before I crawled into bed last night I checked that all the tickets and reservations were OK. Then I discover I forgot to fill in an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) till USA.

The US Authirization Application

I thought it was not necessary because it was only a stopover in Miami. You are able to fill in this document from the web (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/)

The procedur was quite easy, my name, age, nationality, passport number, my home address and so on. 7 pages to fill in.

On the page called Answer Eligibility there where two or three rows asking me If I since september 2001 (9/11) had visit Jemen, North Korea, Iran and Cuba.

For a few seconds, I hesitated between answering Yes or No. I knew that I had visited Cuba in July 2013 and Iran in July 2017.

I also knew that U.S. authorities have the ability to check almost everything. What happens if I write NO, and they have records showing that I’ve visited some of these countries?

So I decided to be honest. I filled in Iran July 2017 and Cuba July 2013 and also why I vistet these countries .

After filled in rest of the pages only thing left was to pay,  OK.  A few tens of seconds later I got a response….

TRAVEL NOT AUTHORIZED

ESTA stoped me, not even Authorized for an stopover in Miami for Europe.

I went completely blank in my head, It can´t be true? I checked again if I filled in something wrong, but no. Everything was OK.

The only explanation I could come up with was that I filled in that I had been to Cuba and Iran after 9/11.

What to do Now. My trip and flight was booked to february 7!  Time has past 12 pm, just wait until tomorrow morning.

First thing next morning i took a Taxi up to El Alto and international airport and visited the airline Avianca and heard if it was possible to rebook.
The answer was negative. Instead I had to book a new trip via Bogota to Madrid instead and this time no stopover in the US. The departure was on the 6th instead of the 8th.

My old ticket was now expired, no money back, 1500$ just fly away and my mental state was not at its best.

I took taxi back to my hostel and start preparing for the journey home. Now all I had to do was get all the stuff down to a checked luggage and not more than 23 kilos. Had to throw away a part that didn’t have much value. It barely succeeded.

I woke up in good time,  both with breakfast and a shower before the taxi showed up at 10 am. El Alto is only about 7 km from my hostel and the road there is steep and very busy.

La Paz is located in a valley at 3600 m.a.s.l. El Alto 4000 m

Check in que

The airport itself, on the other hand, is not particularly large. The check-in went well, my luggage that was to be checked in weighed 22.8 kg, i.e. 2 hg below allowed. The same applied through all other controls. Departure was 3.25 pm.

The plane made a stop in Cusco but we who were going to Bogota didn’t have to get off the plane which was convenient.

Just before 9 pm we landed in a pitch-black Bogota and after the usual check of baggage x-ray I looked up a bar for some coffee, beer and a hamburger.

While I’m sitting at the bar La Belleza, I also booked the flight home from Madrid to Arlanda. On the 9th at 10.15 am I on my way to Arlanda. I feel pretty mentally tired and it will probably feel good to come home after all.

See Yeah Later
// P-G,  The Global Cyclist 1726

Main street in La Paz         

I have to write down a few lines about street vending in Bolivia’s capital, Pa Paz. Street vendors are everywhere in South America, perhaps not so common in the parts of Argentina I passed. In Chile, you can find them in every slightly larger community, but nothing as tangible as in La Paz.

I had my hostel or backpackers hostel, CANOA in the immediate vicinity of the Witches Market, a tourist attraction like no other.

My hotel street

In this area, there are so many street vendors that it is difficult to get around and it is not helped by the fact that at the same time there is a traffic chaos that beats most people.

Traffic Chaos

This market is located on Calle  Jiminez and Linares between Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz in, it’s impossible to miss the Witches’ Market of La Paz, Bolivia, which is found right in a lively tourist area. Dozens of vendors line the streets to sell a number of strange and fascinating products and the raw ingredients used in rituals to call on the spirits that populate the Aymara world.

When you walk on these streets, you are almost shocked by all the color around. You could almost believe that the rainbow got its origin from here.

It was colorful fabrics everywhere

Hard work to a vendor in La Paz

They sell everything from beautiful handicrafts and hand-woven rugs, tablecloths, sweaters, hats to magazines, drinks, food and everything you could wish for. Much of what is sold is also cheap junk and unnecessary. Cheap replicas of branded products can also be found in this area.

Everyting is for sales. This sales stand sells chemicals that perhaps keeps insects away

Yatiri women selling amulets and talismans perhaps to keep the ’evil away

The name ”Witch Market” comes from the fact that they also sell medicinal plants, such as coca leaves or khat, herbs but also something that resembled dried amphibians.Of course, there will also be dried llama foetuses to buy.

Dried llama foetus, I didn’t stay long at these stalls, felt unpleasant.

The dried llama fetuses are the most prominent product available at the market. These animals are fairly large and are used throughout the country, buried in the foundations of new buildings as an offering to the goddess Pachamama.

It is believed that the buried llama fetuses keep construction workers safe, but these are only used by poor Bolivians.

If you are a wealthy Bolivian you sacrifice a living llama to Pachamama instead.

The people selling this are usually slightly older women in weird round, brown or black hats.

It can’t be easy being a street vendor in La Paz. Most people open up their colorful stalls around nine or ten o’clock in the morning and close late in the evenings.

The vast majority of street vendors are women, young and old, and they sit at their stalls and knit, sew or otherwise try to make something that can be sold. From me they got nothing.

Many of these have their small children with them and they play, laugh and cry and in between they sleep. The mothers usually eat at their stalls and hope that someone is willing to buy their produce. Without knowing, I don’t think these street-selling women have such a high level of education and they are probably struggling to make ends meet.

Strong man

Many times here in Sweden you hear complaining from those who are allowed to work longer than 8 hours a day. These women probably work 11-12 hours a day and even weekends

Determined Yatiri woman, maybe on her way home for dinner

Not many free squares meters, every meter is occupied. Streets are both narrow and steep. To be a driver in La Paz most be hell, especially for taxidrivers, rescue vehicles, ambulances and police cars. Traffic jam most of the time

La Paz is located in the valley where river Choqueyapu River floats through approximately 3,600 meters above sea level and has  large elevation differences. El Alto lies on the very top . Highest altitud abot 4000 m.a.s.l.

Narrow and steep streets, power lines hanging everywhere and in any way

La Paz from hostel. El Alto at the very top

Traffic Chaos

Before I started this jourmey I been told that coca leaves can help agasinst altitude sickness. The feared altitude sickness didn’t happen this time. I remember my reaction in Tajikistan, 4560 m. a.s.l, so to be on the safe side, I went to a stall and bought coca leaves for 8  Bolivianos (BOB) (about 13 SEK).

It doesn’t taste good, a bit bitter and you have to chew it for a long time. The best way is to make tea from the leaves. Which I did!

The coca leaf in its natural form has nothing to do with cocaine. It is a mild stimulant, similar to coffee, which the people of the Andes have chewed or drunk as tea for thousands of years.

A woman sells coca leaves in La Paz, Bolivia, where the plant has traditionally had medicinal purposes.

But don’t take the leaves with you on the flight back to Europe,  because coca is classified as a narcotic in the EU.

Keep fighting
P-G
// The Global Cyclist 1726