Day 24 Rurre

Our last day in Rurre.  Sigh.

We had debated whether or not we were going to fly or drive from Rurre to La Paz.  But seeing as the plane ride would take less than an hour while the bus ride would take 18 hours, we both voted to shell out the extra dough and fly.  Plus, we thought it would be pretty neat-o to try flying in a small 18-seat airplane.  We had purchased our tickets before going off to traipse in Madidi, so we got up early to pack our stuff and get to the airport.  We were meeting Jesus at 8:00 because he wanted to give Jo a necklace and we wanted to give him a tip.  After that the plan was to catch a motorcycle taxi to the small Rurre Airport, which was only twenty minutes or so outside of the city.

Well, it turns out that we got to the airport only to find out that our flight had been cancelled, and had been rescheduled for six hours later.  We were both kinda ticked off, since we had a ton of stuff that we had been planning to get done in La Paz.  Then again, it was probably our fault for not confirming the flight, like we had been told to do.

We ended up leaving our packs at the airport and catching a ride back with a man who grumbled the whole way back to Rurre about what a crappy airline Amazonas was, and how we should have gone with the military airline instead.  Lesson learned.

We ended up going back to our dear little hostel and reading and generally loafing around.  Then it was back to the airport for us.

This time the plane was on time.  As I've mentioned, it was a tiny little thing, with only eighteen seats.  We were both excited to see what if felt like flying on such a small plane.

Turns out the answer to "How does it feel to fly on a small 18 seat plane?" is "Awful."

Motion sickness is magnified tenfold, and both Jo and I were lucky to come away without vomiting all over each other.  Next time, I'll take the sixteen hour bus, thank you very much.

We ended up sharing a taxi from the airport to downtown La Paz with our new friend Holly.  She was so sweet.  We saw her off at the San Francisco Plaza.  She had months left on her adventure, and we were leaving the next day.  I won't lie: I was jealous.

We arrived back at the Alipazes shortly after, but we were in and out because we had shopping to do!  It was our last day in La Paz, and Jo wanted to make sure to get some things to bring back to the states.

But first, some food.  We stopped at a cafe and I ordered an iced soy mocha.  The girl at the counter seemed a little confused by what I was ordering, but she said that it could be done.  When my order arrived, Jo and I couldn't help but laugh because what they had done was brought me a cold latte with a hunk of chocolate sticking out of it, completely unmelted.  We weren't trying to be difficult, but we sent it back and explained that it wasn't what we had ordered.  They assured us they could fix it, and soon brought out another cold latte...this time with the chocolate bar on the side.  We just sighed and shook our heads, and took a picture to remember my ridiculous "mocha."  What can you do?

Next, we headed up town to hit the markets.  Jo knew exactly where to go to get the best spices.  I tried to absorb as many colors, smells and memories as possible on this, our last day.

At one point Jo and I separated so I could continue shopping while he went back downtown.  I successfully navigated the trufis, a feat I was very proud of.

As it got dark, there was one more order of business to attend to.  Jo had been craving a Bolivian dish called anticuchos, which is essentially skewered cow heart.  The are cooked over an open flame and often served with potatoes. Sounds nasty, but Jo assured me it was delicious.  When he saw an anticucho stand being set up, he hung around like a hungry street dog until they were ready.  I didn't get to try because they are most definitely not vegetarian, but judging by the moans of pleasure, Jo really enjoyed them.

That night, the Alipazes had planned a goodbye dinner for Jo.  A lot of the family came over and bade us farewell.  I thought it was sweet that they made such a big fuss, and enjoyed talking and laughing with everyone.

And then, after a long day, it was time to rest our weary heads and prepare ourselves for having to leave.