Bolivia Part Three: Santa Cruz, Cochabamba and Oruro

I got to Santa Cruz and took a taxi to the centre. It looked like the wild west at first glance and was quite funky. The weather was hot, which was good and I was down from altitude for the first time in ages. It was a nice town, but there was nothing to do. After one hour there I had pretty much seen the whole place. Hmm there did not seem to be anywhere in Bolivia you could spend a lot of time as there was just nothing in any of the towns. It has the same feeling of being in Nicaragua. Now everyone says the women are the best in Santa Cruz. I disagree. I think they are better looking in Sucre, but sexier in Santa Cruz. Shows how much there was to do. Both cinemas had closed down and the highlight park was shut down. Nice. Spurs were on ESPN. Class. I watched us beat Man City 3-0 at home, outclass them and effectively get Mark Hughes sacked. The hostel staff watched it with me as well. I met Liz and we went to the Irish pub where I had an 'Irish breakfast'. Last time I checked that was an English breakfast, but as we are basically the same country I will let it go. Then we grabbed some drinks, I hung around the plaza a bit and turfed in.

At breakfast the hostel seemed to be populated with just English people. I got a job offer from Bogota British Council. Excellent. Normally you can't work for them without 2 years experience, so they must have liked my work. Lina said I could stay with her. Cool. Would be good to see her and everyone again. Then they pulled the plug as I was not in Colombia at that time. Shitty. Some things come and go too fast. I had walked out of a restaurant the day before, because all the staff stood around like lemons for 5 minutes and I was not being served. Then this day I had the same problem in a pastry shop. This country has without doubt the worst level of customer service I have ever seen anywhere and I have had to deal with Caribbean embassies. I wanted a cake. The first person would not serve me as they were taking ages to count a small amount of money. It was not the second guys jurisdiction and I would have to walk all the way to the other side to use that till. I had exact change. 'Just take my fucking money arsehole and give me the cake.' No it was too much for his brain to process so I stormed out. Then I walked to the bus station to get a ticket for Cochabamba the next morning. They would not sell me a ticket. What the fuck. Sell me a fucking ticket. One woman would for an extra charge. I said no. Then this other woman came to buy a ticket for the next day and was offered face value. I said why was she not paying a tax and she just smiled and shut the computer screen down. I could have smashed her face through the desk. They would only sell me tickets for the next day if I wanted an expensive bus, which I didn't. In the end only one company would let me travel on the cheap buses. Fuck these hawking bastards and screwing the tourists. I don't need a bus cama for a day trip. Also the hostel in Potosi fucked the Australian guy. They sold him a ticket for 35 Bolivianos to Sucre with apparently 10 commission. Yet according to Evo's own fare lisitings the maximum that can be charged for that trip is 18. Someone is fucking someone, but most likely everyone is fucking everyone. What a money grubbing dirty little system in everyway is Bolivia's bus system. I was so bored in the day I just decided. You know what, let's just go to Chile. Of course that's easier to type than to execute with this transport system. I met Liz and her Yankee boyfriend and we went to his place. He had rescued a dog in Guatemala and it had travelled with him everywhere and was now living with him down there. Quite cool. He also told some interesting stories about how shitty Aymara culture is. The richest families are elected to pay for all festivities and if they don't their children are shunned. One woman had a leg amputated and wanted to sell her land, but because she had missed meetings due to the amputation they wanted to fine her $100. Also the owners of the animal rescue centre where Johannes had been working weer corrupt. They had siphoned off $5,000 he had given them, were taking most of the money from the volunteers to fund their own lives and had even borken into another rescue centre, attempting to steal one of the bears there. Wow this country is awesome. How come both the two socialist countries (Venezuela and Bolivia) have so many money hunting grafters. Desperation breeds capitalism seemingly. That's one for Chavez and his black market to chew on. We then met one of Liz's friends and went out to some bars. First one noone was dancing. That's just not Latin America. Good music though. Second bar everyone was dancing, but the music was crap. Typical. Was also the same price for a coke and a beer. Bastards. What's the point of not being able to drink if it does not at least save you some money. Quite a lot of fit girls in the first bar though. The others bailed early and I snuck back to my room for a little bit of sleep before leaving.

I went to the station in the morning and they finally sold me a ticket. Bout time. Then some woman in the internet place fucked with me. Cost was 1 Boliviano. I gave her a 50. She gave me 48 back. I said it was short. She said there was a charge of 1 Boliviano to break a big note. Ah go fuck yourself. I called her a 'puta' and got very abusive. I had finally snapped. She got offended and very surprised. I continued the tirade and that visibly shook her. Good. Fuck her. It had been awhile since I let fly with invective, but I can be very cutting. This country was putting me over the edge. There was no space for my bag so I shoved it down the bus. I was not feeling charitable. I got to Cochabamba and the piece of shit bus broke down short of the bus station. Oh well at least it made it to town. Its a bit of a poohole. Checked into a hotel with CNN and went for a walk around. Not much to see here either and by this point I did not care. Was going to make the run for Uyuni tomorrow. Noone to go out with so I went and watched Avatar in Spanish in a funky crumbling old theatre. Quite enjoyed the film, though I am sure I missed some of the details again.

I woke up and caught the end of Heartbreakers. Not a bad film from memory. Liverpool lost 2-0 to Portsmouth. Hah they suck. I watched us beat Blackburn 2-0 away on ESPN. Good result and we are back on track. Villa, Arsenal and Man City won, but Man Utd lost and Chelsea drew. Funny season this one. Very open. Then Mark Hughes was sacked. Put my laundry in and they promised it to me for 2pm as I had to take a bus to make the Uyuni connection. I got there at 2pm and they said come back in half an hour. So I came back in half an hour. They said come back in half an hour more. Fuck these retards. They promised me a time. I exploded again. The guy stood there smiling. I assured him this was no joke, I wanted a discount and I wanted my clothes. Where were they. He said could I recognise them. I said he should be able to as he took the order. They had sent my clothes to another place to be washed. I could have done that myself. Three parts were here though. Odd. I leapt the counter and walked into his shop, picked up my stuff, told him these were mine and where were the others and I wanted them now. He stopped smiling. He almost shit himself. I was livid. What the fuck is wrong with service in this country. He left the shop unattended to find my stuff and then very rapidly pressed them all. He was so fast I felt sorry for him and thought I may pay afterall. He was moving like lightning. Hmm. American service does not come from the work ethic of the people, but the demands of the clients. You can't deliver shit service if your customers demand more and it snaps them into line. Maybe the Bolivians need to take some pride in themselves and their country and force the service levels higher. He had weighed it wrong earlier and it should have cost 36 Bolivianos but he only charged me 10 Bolivianos. Nice. Getting fiery can really save you something, but I was genuinely pissed off. They had made me snap twice in two days. I went off to Oruro hoping to make Uyuni, but the laundryman's delays meant I missed andy connection and when I got there it was absolutely smashing it down. Got drenched and the streets were rivers of water as there is no drainage. Most hotels wanted exhorbitant amounts of money but one eventually gave me a room. The Saints lost their unbeaten record after being blitzed early on to the Cowboys 24-17. Shitty. Still they can hopefully go on and lift their first superbowl.

Laundryman had cost me a night's accomodation, but thankfully it meant I would not have to set foot on a bus again in this country. I got up and got a quote for a bus to Uyuni. 35 Bolivianos. If it was even close for the train I was going to go by train. I walked through town. Its a bit of a shithole Oruro. Sucre or Santa Cruz is hands down the best city in Bolivia. Train was 40 Bolivianos and so I bought a ticket. Just the salt plains tour to go and I should be in Chile. Should be no problems as I imagine that tour is first class. Just got to think if I should draw out some dollars to cover me into Chile in case there are any problems. Not sure if there is an ATM in Uyuni and the one in San Pedro de Atacama is unreliable. I have somewhere between 700 and 800 Bolivianos and it may not be enough. I then decided to sit and write as this town is bullshit and my train goes in 3 hours. Can't imagine anything too exciting will happen from now until then. Looks like the Patriots and Cardinals are heading to the postseason.