TL #10 (Robert) 3 November 1981

Cochabamba, Bolivia

Buenas Noches! This will be a a few lines from me, Robert, again. We have now been travelling for almost five months, long enough to get a perspective, to look back, make comparisons. We are now very glad that we started in Central America and not in South America, because otherwise we would have been very disappointed in C.A. We certainly had a good time there, but in comparison to S.A. it is of little interest ­ with a few very nice exceptions, like Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, Utila in Honduras, and San Blas in Panama. In addition, the food culture is boring (that does obviously not apply to Mexico!), supplies are not nearly as abundant as in S.A., and it is much dirtier. There we always had to make sure that the hotel had running water! Actually, we have taken about 2 1/2 times as many pictures in S.A. as in C.A.

Our 2 1/2 months on this continent have certainly been very interesting and given us a lot. But there are more aspects to travelling. To tell you the truth, we are gradually getting very tired of Latin American mentality. Everywhere we meet nice and helpful people but they are, unfortunately, but a minority, so out irritation grows. Restaurant service in La Paz was really unbelievably bad! It is wearing us down to be on constant guard against thieves. We can't relax for a moment. We hardly did that in Cuzco, but still, as Surain has already described, some professional train robbers outsmarted us. Moreover, we are longing for really warm weather. The days are nice and warm enough in the highlands, but we are tired of having to put on warm socks and sweaters every night, tired of having to make sure that the hotel actually has hot showers. We want to dress in our almost forgotten shorts again, to swim, to regain our lost tans!

All these feelings have naturally not come overnight. It is a long and slow process. We spent 3 1/2 weeks in Ecuador and 6 1/2 weeks in Peru. For both countries it seemed too short, for there are so many things of interest. But with our crave for balmy nights, Bolivia is suffering. We can see that we in an earlier part of our journey would have enjoyed a much longer stay than we are giving it. In fact, entering Bolivia we enjoyed one of the most beautiful sights on this trip. The road climbed on brown, steep hills high above Lake Titicaca, with a water as deep blue as any mountain lake. For a while you forget that it is a lake 12500 feet (3850 meters) above sea level, because it looks like the ocean, being far too large to allow a view of the opposite shore. And then... all along the eastern horizon rises the Bolivian part of the Andes, a long row of high mountains (many above 20,000 feet) and all snow­covered.

But we had already made our decision. In La Paz (the world's highest capital in a beautiful setting at 12,000 feet) we mailed a package home of 8 kg (18 lbs.), mostly containing warm clothing like sweaters, long­johns, wool socks, etc. We are heading for hot weather, finally! Actually, here in Cochabamba 8 hours very comfortable train ride (without doubt he most comfortable surface transport we've enjoyed so far) from La Paz, it is already much warmer though we are still at 8,500 feet (2,550 meters): Late at night we wear no socks and only T­shirts. The eastern side of the Andes is much warmer than the western one, because there are no cooling cold ocean currents. But the day after tomorrow we are expecting highs of 90­100oF (32­37oC) and lows of 70oF (22oC) and high humidity. We will pray the hotel has really cold showers!

We had originally planned to go south from La Paz to cross into Argentina, but a Swiss traveller advised us otherwise. So now we hare heading east instead. We will cross into Brazil just a little north of Paraguay. This part of Brazil is the world's largest marsh area and is rich in wild life. Unfortunately, we don't have time to visit it properly in a boat, but if we are lucky, we'll see alligators from the train, that goes right through part of the marshes. Right now we are a little concerned about how we are going to handle the Portuguese language, of which we don't know a word ­ for a while we didn't think we'd hit Brazil at all.

We'll round Paraguay ­ first go north of it and then just east of it through Brazil down to Argentina. Our first stop is the water falls at Guaira on the Brazil­Paraguay border. The river Parana, 5 km wide above the falls, hurls itself down through the rocks ­ it is the largest amount of falling water in the world, twice as much as in Niagara. Unfortunately, this natural wonder will cease to exist in a a few years. On contract, a Swedish(!) company (ASEA) is building the world's largest hydroelectric plant there, which, when finished, will completely eliminate the falls.

Six hours by bus further south are the far more famous falls at Iguassu on the border between Brazil and Argentina and very close to Paraguay. They are said to be the grandest fall in the world with 275 falls, the falls being 2,470 meters (1 1/2 miles) wide and 60 meters (200 feet) high.

Our next stop of importance is the famous Argentina­Chile lake district, where we hope to spend two weeks hiking and sight­seeing. We'll first go to Buenos Aires, from where we'll catch a direct, 2­day train to the lake district. Summer is approaching rapidly down there, so the days should be nice and long. We'll finally head north through Chile; stopping in Santiago around December 1 to check poste restante (Lista de Correos), and making our last stop before Lima in the Atacama desert in northern Chile. This is the driest spot on earth; rain has never been recorded. But many travellers have witnessed about its beauty.

Travelling in Brazil­Argentina­Chile differs in many aspects from travelling in the Andean countries. Most important, people are much friendlier and thieves are unheard of. This will really be a nice change. Further, the countries are much better organized and communications much like we are used to from our home country. They are also off "the gringo trail". Very few tourists go there. We won't mind that, too many travellers always seems to make locals less friendly to them! And of course the wines in Chile­Argentina and the steaks in Argentina... Argentina used to be a very expensive country, but fortunately they've recently devalued heavily. Less than a a year ago you got 1,800 pesos for one dollar; now you get 8,000!

Friday ­ 6 November 1981 ­ Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Surain)

Evidence that we are once again in "tropical" climate: cockroaches in the "banÜos". Wearing my sandals again .. and immediately some little biting bugs have found my feet .. tops, bottoms, and ankles. Ah! But it's so nice to have our heavy clothes tucked away .. wearing only a t­shirt and light weight pants or a skirt.

With the change in climate also comes a change in the culture. No more of the colorful Indians .. they seem to stay to the higher, cooler elevations. Some fairer­skinned people, even an occasional red­head .. and some blacks now, too. Music is louder .. and more rock. We've been hearing quite a lot of South American music with nice wind instruments used, folk music .. We like very much. Have bought a record and a cassette.

Was surprised yesterday to see a couple who looked like they'd just stepped out of the old "farmer and his wife" picture. He wore overalls and a straw hat .. tall, thin, and blonde. She wore a bonnet like from the days of the covered wagons. Her hair was entirely covered by a black scarf. Her dress was calico and ultra conservative .. below the knees .. and white stockings covering all the legs. Not the typical tourist, I thought to myself. Since then, have seen several men around town similar to this man. Believe there must be a religious settlement nearby .. somewhere I think I've heard something about Mennonites. Don't know what their language was.

There are lots of missionaries in South America. Different religions .. and from different countries. We've sometimes discussed this with other travellers .. and find mixed feelings. Some missionaries come with medical and technical help. Most feel that that's pretty good, especially the medical aid. The technical aid is a debatable aid .. with changes in tech nology, the culture will eventually change. Is that good or not? Everyone has their own opinion. We met a Mormon missionary in Cuzco, Peru. He says that they (there are about 750 Mormon missionaries in Peru alone) spend their days visiting people and "helping them to understand religion". He says there are now about 5000 Mormons in Cuzco (population about 200,000).

Another observance as we move from the highlands to the lowlands .. something we also witnessed in Peru: Coca leaves are quite commonly used by the Indians in the highlands. They chew on the leaves or make a tea of them "to overcome the pangs of hunger, the weariness of work, the hard effects of altitude". It was often recommended to us, but we haven't indulged. Believe the effect is minimal from the leaves as such .. But from coca leaves, cocaine is made. And there is a very active illegal trade in that, as we know. We never did ascertain just whether or not the leaves are legal in the highlands or just tolerated. We did witness numerous searches on the buses leaving the highlands, however. One time a dog was even used. And they always seemed to find some, much to our amazement. As the officials carried one bag of coca leaves away, a young woman ran after, did a little coaxing, and re­boarded the bus at the last minute with her leaves. At the next checkpoint, again her bag was found and taken away .. and again she "coerced" it back. Someone said to us that it was only a "small amount for her own use" (each bag is about one cubic foot of tightly packed leaves) and therefore "overlooked".

On another bus trip, however, the people weren't so lucky. We had four different checks. Two bags found on the first check, one on the second, and the third time they tore open sacks of potatoes and dumped them out .. a bag of coca leaves hidden in the center of each! On the fourth check, they were again "picking on" one nicely dressed young man who'd lost a bag of leaves on the second check. He bribed one official successfully. But a few minutes later, another searcher came around and asked him to open his bags. That was too much! A middle­aged woman sitting nearby now stood up and shrieked that he'd already paid his bribe and he should be left alone. It took some persuasion, but he was eventually left alone. They never seem to do anything to the people involved .. only confiscate the leaves. And they never have searched any of the "gringos" that we know of.

They may not have coca leaves in the lowlands, but they do have fruit. We're getting back to the cheap fruits and vegetables! We had a pile of cucumbers (7 big ones) for dinner the other night .. cost about 30c/. Ten bananas for 6c/! Etc. Lots of Brazil nuts (paranötter)! We've found them for as little as 80c//lb .. already shelled! We enjoy them, perhaps treating ourselves a bit more than necessary. They probably cost G5­6/lb in the States .. still in the shell!

Talking about food, yesterday we had the best meal we've had in almost 5 months (it was for me, anyway)! For G2.00 .. first course bread and salad (tomato and beet in a sauce with lettuce and a cold, spiced ground beef patty); second course a delicious vegetable soup; third course was a large platter of vegetables for both of us (green beans, pinto beans, 2 kinds of squash, potato, yam, cooked cabbage, and a leafy spinach­like vegetable .. all delicious) plus rice ­­ served with steak! .. real steak! .. chewable, edible steak! .. still red in the middle! and oh, so good!; and then the fourth course of two bananas for dessert. Wow! We hadn't meant to splurge so .. and just happened into this unimposing little "snack bar". The waiter liked to serve with a nice flair .. so unusual for South America. And the cook must have enjoyed cooking, too! We're going back for lunch again today .. That way we don't need any dinner!

We want to thank everyone for all the welcome mail we got in La Paz. Mom sent us copies of some of our pictures and that was really exciting! One very early picture shows how our clothes have faded, our cheeks thinned out, and our hair has grown! What memories .. and so many more pictures to look at at home .. and sort them into groups so we can show you without (hopefully) boring you too much.

Is this really November? The month of Thanksgiving .. and our anniver sary? It just doesn't seem like it can be November.

All for now. Will mail this tomorrow from Brazil!

next day ­ Corumba', Brazil

If this is the next day, this must be Brazil. I didn't sleep much on the train last night. It's hot and humid out here in this marshland. Now fighting to stay awake.

For a while we were seriously concerned that we would not be in Brazil this afternoon. From the train, the only way to get to the border was with taxi. (One suspects that this is their solution to the unemployment problem ­­ create a need for taxi drivers.) In La Paz, we'd had our passports stamped, giving official permission to leave the country on a certain date. (We've never heard of this being necessary in any other country.) So we'd expected no problem when we arrived at the border. Robert went from desk to desk, eventually being processed out. I went from desk to desk, and there got stopped. "Where's your visa for Brazil?" No ­ our little travel book says it's not necessary. But the man shows us an official document dated 1978 showing the requirement that U.S. citizens must have a visa for Brazil. We questioned that his info was current enough. And we had good underlying reason to fight for it, too. It would mean another long, 18­hour, train trip back to Santa Cruz to a consulate, plus a wait until Monday, and another miserable, 18­hour overnight trip back again. Valuable time, and money. It also would present some question as to the validity of the exit stamps we'd had to get in La Paz. And Robert had already been processed through and out. Could he enter and exit again without great hassles? (We never had to find out the answers to those questions, thank goodness.) We argued; and the man finally said we could go ask the officials on the Brazilian side. So we continued on .. me without proper exit completion from Bolivia. Now, usually the border stations are 100 yards or so apart. But now we were urged into another taxi, stop for search of our bags, back in the taxi, next country and another search of luggage, and continue on then about 10 km into town. Here we were referred to the train station. The men working there had a stamp they could put in our passports. They did it and nothing was ever said about a visa. Needless to say, we didn't bother returning to the frontier for proper exit from Bolivia. As long as I don't try to enter Bolivia again with this passport, it shouldn't be any problem.

In our first few hours here, we've met a number of extremely nice people. Here near the border, the people speak both Spanish and Portuguese, but the rest of Brazil will be all Portuguese for us. Help! It's so difficult to remember to say "Obregato" instead of "Gracias". And we must learn new "where is", "lunch", menu items, etc.

I did so much want to share a bit more about Bolivia with you. We'd heard, and found it to be true, that supplies of almost everything are available in Bolivia. Just in looking at the street vendors, we saw great selections of whiskies (at low prices!), even kleenex, potato chips, all kinds of nuts, very good quality shoes and clothing .. everything one might want .. We even saw Pop Rocks for sale!

It seems strange to us that Bolivia is supposedly unstable. It holds the incredible statistic of the greatest number of turnovers of government of any country in the world. For something like over 100 years, they have averaged no more than 10 months for any one power to stay in control. It appears to be a relatively wealthy country. We saw poverty, as we have throughout Latin America; but in our short observation, it seems to be of lesser degree here. The cities are clean and quite modern. Supplies of everything appear abundant. This must be a country that persists despite the government. We would guess that the turnovers must not result from citizen unrest but from the grandeurs and lust for power among a few people.

Well, now, I will close and hope to find the post office open this afternoon.

Ciao! (Portuguese, too!) Surain

Travelling with a half­illegal wife .. well, we didn't plan to return to Bolivia anyway!

Hasta luego ­ Robert

[Letter 10]