Coroico in the Clouds

We caught a minibus to Coroico through some really lovely scenery and after climbing a little we slowly descended until we were quite a lot lower than La Paz, and we both welcomed the increase in temperature. Coroico sits nestled on top of a hill surrounded by other hills all of which are densely covered in trees including a number of orange groves.

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Condors circle overhead and it is definitely a place to chill out for a few days.

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It is a popular weekend getaway for the residents of La Paz and when we turned up on Sunday afternoon there were still a number of people enjoying the time they had left.

After a scout about town we ended up staying at Hostel Kory which was perched right on the edge of the hill and had great views across the valley.

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Our room was right at the end and the little walkway outside was almost like having a balcony. There was also a pool but it was a slightly conspicuous green colour and for that reason not exactly inviting.

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Once we were settled in we had a late lunch of chicken and chips from a street stall on the plaza. Then we lazed around for the rest of day before popping out to pick up a pizza which was woodfired and really quite tasty.

The following day was highly unproductive. We were picking up a very weak internet signal from some unknown source and we struggled for the majority of the day as we tried to find out about flights. We searched all the airlines, general flight search engines and travel forums in case we were missing something but I think the fact of the matter is, there are no cheap flights from South to Central America. The cheapest ones we found were from Cartagena in the north of Colombia to Panama City which were about $200 each, one way. I did manage to get a couple of blogs online, so at least we achieved something.

The next day we had all the intentions of going for a walk but it didn't quite happen. I had a book that I was completely engrossed in and on the verge of finishing and was also a little apprehensive of putting my knees through anything too strenuous so soon after the procedure. Adam wanted to go downhill mountain biking which you actually can do from La Paz to Coroico on the “most dangerous road in the world,” so called because it is incredibly steep and bendy but it's pretty pricey. We didn't do it Coroico as I was a bit unsure about it and both of us were lacking a bit of get up and go/dinero.

When we were heading out for some lunch we walked past a guy and I knew I recognised him from somewhere. Adam then said, “that was Yuri wasn't it?” and I was not only impressed that he'd remembered where we knew him from but also that he knew his name. We both marvelled inwardly at the coincidence but thought little of it. We had quite a good almuerzo in a little restaurant which seemed popular with the locals. At this point we still appreciated the soup to start then meat and rice combination but soon would begin to feel slightly queasy at the thought.

In the early evening I heard a few people chatting on the walkway outside the second floor rooms and I stepped out to be social. One of them was Yuri, I asked him if he enjoyed the tour and clearly he suddenly realised where he remembered me from. That was the beginning of the conversation and Adam came out to join us. We chatted away for a while and decided to all get dinner together a bit later.

Adam and I were a little indecisive about where to go next. We were conscious of time, money and slightly sick of buses all of which was leading us to think of heading back to La Paz which was about 3 hours and then on to Copacabana about another 3 hours. The other option was to take a bus for about 17 hours into the jungle to a place called Rurrenabaque and do a tour there. The Dutch couple we'd met had been, although they flew from La Paz, a little out of our price range and said they'd really enjoyed it. Yuri had mentioned he was keen to go but as he was travelling alone he said that he would prefer to go there with some people he knew already and do the tour with them. Talking with him, someone who had been travelling for only six weeks and still had plentiful energy, reignited our interest a bit. Plus we hadn't travelled for any significant period of time with anyone else and I think we were both intrigued to see what it would be like.

As we ate dinner Yuri mentioned that he wanted to move to another hostel in Coroico further up the hill side, he had walked there today and said it was really peaceful. So in the end we decided we would go as well, spend one night there and then all head to Rurre the following day. We chatted a while longer and established that we were all pretty much on the same page and looking for similar experiences from travelling. Which mainly involved getting to know a country, experiencing different cultures and perhaps not so much of the drinking ourselves into oblivion in bars recommended by the lonely planet.

The next morning the sun was not shining and when we got up we discussed whether the move was worth it. In the end we came to the conclusion that a change of scenery would be good and packed up our stuff. We had a quick almuerzo before beginning the walk uphill which was quite tough with our full, heavy backpacks on.

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When we reached Sol y Luna Hostel it quickly became clear that it was a very peaceful spot.

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Tucked in amongst the trees on the hill side there was a number of buildings, some of which are nicely appointed private cabins, but we went for the cheaper option of a bright and airy room in the main building. Then Yuri took us on a little tour of the property which has many different areas. There was a beautiful garden full of all sorts of different and exotic plants, some nice spots with hammocks and a couple of swimming pools.

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Unfortunately the weather had not improved and the boys got all ready for a swim but in the end chickened out, I didn't really blame them.

In the late afternoon we sat down and played a couple of games that Yuri explained. One of which being a dice game called Cricket and the second reminded me a little bit of Ludo, basically you have to get your counters around the board and to the safety of home. Both were amusing and it was good, clean fun! Then it was dinner time and we all felt slightly sorry for the one woman who seemed to have her hands completely full with four tables of people who all basically ordered at once. For this reason we had to wait quite a long time for our meal but when it arrived everything was very tasty. Then as we had a long bus journey ahead of the next day we all went to bed.

The following morning we had breakfast, leisurely packed up our things and headed down to town. A taxi was taking us to a junction at 12:30pm and the bus was meant to pass there sometime around 2pm. We had a quick bite to eat and rushed to meet the taxi. When we had been dumped at the junction, there ended up being a little group of us which included two girls from New Zealand, then there was Heles also from New Zealand but she had lived in Canada, New York and a bunch of other places and the lady she was travelling with at that point in time who was originally from Lithuania but now lived in Canada. The sun was baking hot and there was very little shade so we ended up huddled outside these little shack style shops that had put up a few parasols and some tarpaulin. We quickly established that the four of them were getting a different bus to the three of us and as we sat down at about 1pm we all began to wait. Having been told that our buses would be blue whenever we saw a blue bus in the distance we all got excited. This was then dampened when we saw the company name and license plate which we'd also been given.

We consumed various bits and bobs from the stores and Adam and I wondered whether the taxi drivers family had some vested interest and that was why we were here so damn early. Finally after a couple of hours of waiting the four lucky ladies boarded their bus and with slight jealousy we waved them off. We sat back down and all thought it cannot be much longer until our bus turns up. It was around this point that I started to feel a bit funny and despite the dust and dirt I had to lie down as I just couldn't get comfortable sitting up. We continued to wait. Then we waited some more and soon it was 3:30pm, then 4pm and at this point Yuri asked someone at one of the shops whether they knew when our bus would come. He told him they come til around 6pm, so we continued to be expectant. Finally though at around 5:30pm we had had enough and thankfully with Yuri being fluent in Spanish he could phone the bus company in La Paz (where the bus had come from) and find out what was going on. Even though we were listening to one side of a conversation, in a language we didn't speak, we got the gist that something had gone wrong. Yuri put down the receiver and explained that the woman said our bus should have gone past about 2pm and the driver must not have stopped, or he went a different way and bypassed the junction altogether, either way we were not going to Rurre.

Although we all felt slightly irritated, by this point the thought of getting on a bus to begin a 17 hour journey was not appealing. I felt like something was wrong with me and I wanted to lie down on a bed, another plus point was Adam had left his hoodie at the hostel so he could go and retrieve it now. We caught a taxi back up to town and decided to stay at Hostel Kory rather than further up the hill although Adam did have to walk there to get his jumper. I lay down for a little while and Yuri went out to get a couple of bottles of wine as we thought we deserved it. We managed to sort out the ticket with a lady at the companies office in Coroico, she apparently was very apologetic and said she would make sure there were no problems the following day.

We then sat on the walkway, chatted and shared the first bottle of wine. I had taken a few tablets and was beginning to feel better, I just hoped a good nights sleep would sort me out. Then we went out to find some dinner and we each had a steak cooked on the parrilla (bbq) which was really tasty. It was when we went back and the second bottle was opened that I began to feel really bad. In the end after just a few sips I had to excuse myself and go to bed. I managed to drop off for a little while but I soon woke up all hot and sweaty and running a temperature. It was a horrible night of tossing and turning. I had a bad stomach, a pounding headache, was hot then freezing and any sleep I did get was full of really bizarre, vivid dreams. Obviously it meant that Adam did have a good sleep either as I kept waking him up and by the time morning came neither of us felt rested, in fact I felt pretty much exhausted.

After the previous day being wasted though I knew that I had to get on the bus. Once I'd taken more pills the headache finally receded and my temperature lowered but my stomach continued to feel very odd and I had zero appetite. It was a good three or four days before I really felt like eating much at all. So I sipped a little bit of soup while the boys ate their lunch and then we headed down to the junction once again. Thankfully though our wait was significantly reduced and around 3pm we were on the bus to Rurre. With the window open and feeling completely exhausted from the night before it actually wasn't too bad for me although the road was certainly one of the worst we've been on in South America. As always we were all relieved when it was over and we had made it to the jungle.

More Soon,

Laura & Adam