La Paz, canceling my journey and ESTA problem

Cuzco 2024-02-06

Sitting on the plane from La Paz to Bogota and then to Madrid, but not today but on the 7th early in the morning.
We have a stopover in Cuzco.

You might wonder why I’m sitting on a plane and not on my bike seat? The simple answer is that I have cancelled my cycling trip through South America.

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.

The last 3 weeks I’ve been feeling bad mentally and had a big lump in my stomach every day. In addition, sleep has suffered and appetite has decreased.  I didn’t see any other solution than to cancel my grand dream but health always comes first.

Something that is typical of these countries, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, is the inefficiency when you want to get something done. THEY are in no hurry.

At the border checkpoint between Chile and Bolivia, Pisigia, it took 6 hours to get through. There were 6 slots for control but only 2 were active and only 1 official at each. In addition, all luggage must be screened. The queue was huge.

I arrived in La Paz just after 22 in the evening and the first thing I did was to get a taxi that took me to the  which is located quite in the middle of town.
Being a taxi driver in this city has to be a person with nerves. A traffic chaos like no other and everyone has to get there first.

I got room 218, a three bed room which was anything but fresh. But the bedding looked clean and I had to be alone.
Unpacked and then out on the street to search for a bar. 25 meters from the hostel i found one.

Everything had been planned in advance: to fly home to Europe and Sweden from El Alto Airport in La Paz, with a layover in Miami.

If I didn’t feel bad before, it didn’t get better with this answer. I thought I was going to crash completely, and I didn’t have anyone to consult either.

I took a taxi to EL Alto airport, La Paz 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

From Madrid, it is no problem to get a low-cost flight home to Arlanda and Sweden. After all, Madrid is located in Europe and within the EU.

I had to take a new taxi through La Paz’s huge traffic chaos 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 and he 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.

The airport itself, on the other hand, is not particularly large. The check-in went well and my baggage that was to be checked in weighed 22.8 kg, i.e. 2 hg below allowed. The same goes for getting through all the checks. Deaparture was 3:25 p.m.

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 book the flight home from Madrid to Arlanda. On the 8th at 10.15 am I’m on my way to Arlanda. I feel pretty mentally tired and it will probably feel good to come home after all.

See yeah
P-G
// The Global Cyclist 1726