Sorata

Notice the smile, kilometer 5, max.

24 kilometers, by foot.  Bolivian Independence day.  A failed hostel hike.  Rasta.  A new place to stay.   A Colombian.  Some wine in a box.  New moon (less pop-lit, more celestial).  Bats.  And a cave lake.  

Kilometer 1:
Talking.  Fresh: mind, body, soul and clothes.

Kilometer 2:
Downhill.  Easy, breezy, beautiful co...wait.

Kilometer 3:
Dreams dashed.  The promised book exchange/cafe/campground is full of M is for Murder [me] and an abundance of German pre-teen "literature" (which I imagine is a little like electronica, without the ecstasy).

Kilometer 4:
Getting hot.

Kilometer(s) 5-9:
Winding, dusty road peaks out over picturesque town sitting under 6000m high glacier.  Life sucks!

Kilometer10:
Lost.

Kilometer 11:
Found. (1)

Kilometer 12:
Civilization.  Kind of.  A cluster of shacks with a second cluster in the rear. Coca Cola signs beginning to distinguish their welcoming selves amongst the mountainous backdrop.

Kilometer 13:
Welcome to the grotto.  No, not home to a bunch of bunnies, but rather to a family of bats.  Avocado, tomato and pickled onion sandwiches for lunch, an underground cave-river, replete with underground cave-river paddle boats, and a well-lighted path greeted us in the depths of the grotto.  It was hot, humid and rocky.  It was a cave.  A pretty cave.

Welcome to the Bat Cave!

Kilometer 13.1
Coca Cola.  With real sugar!  We are becoming addicts.  Seriously.  We need an intervention.  Come down here and help us.  Quickly.

Kilometer(s) 13.2 - 15:
Uphill.  Mid-day.  Sunny day.  Shockingly rabid pace.  Key to success:  Played music trivia games.  Choose a word, then alternate turns with each person saying a song with the chosen word.  It was like 3 red bulls for a previously anemically lethargic Beth.  No stopping, just singing..."Save the AnnnnEeeeMals.".  Beth won, this time.

Kilometer 16/17:
No more games.  A bet.  Vickers' wager.  If Beth doesn't ask "how much longer" again, I'll piggy back her the last 50 yards.

Kilometer 18-20:
Five minute forced stops along the single lane road to watch all the buses with all the tourist--who infringed upon what was supposed to be our private grotto--get crated back to town, thus missing out on the beautiful self-inflicted dust-riddled (bus dust this time) walk.

Kilometer 21:
Getting closer.  Sore feet.  Nervous.  Piggy back rides are best in pools...with fresh legs.

Kilometer 22:
Beth getting anxious.  A big uphill to go.    No more games, just sun and sweat and tired legs.

Kilometer 23:
Winner!  2 minutes after pointing out that Beth hadn't asked 'how much longer' for at least 7km, she makes the fatal mistake.   Gloating.  Complaints of technicalities.  W-i-n-n-e-r!

Kilometer 24:
Nothing like finishing a hike by walking into a town in the midst of revelry.  Parades.  Flags.  Streamers.  Dancing.  Ice cream.  And Mexican food.  Sweet, Tex-mex fajitas.

Revelry.

The real winner: Bolivian Independence Day in Sorata.     

(1) the path is actually a road with the occasional taxi running through and filling our desolate trail with dusty ancient llama dung. Thank goodness because we hailed one of these dusters down to make sure the steep trail going off into the hills, which we bypassed for flatter ground, was not the correct path.

Index:
24 kilometers = Should be clear by now, but if not...a hike to a grotto beginning in the adventure town of Sorata, just 3 1/2 hours outside of La Paz.
Bolivian Independence day = I'll let wiki do the work here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_War_of_Independence?wasRedirected=true
A failed hostel hike = we walked about 1 1/2 kilometers outside of town only to find the hostel full.  An uphill battle back with our packs led us to...
Rasta = A new place to stay, Jamaican theme and the cheapest business in town.  No Bob Marley though.  I thought that was obligatory for all Rastas.
A Colombian and some wine in a box =  self-explanatory.
New moon (less pop-lit, more celestial) = a potential 2 day hike was derailed, in part, by the new moon.  Tourist are not supposed to hike up to a lake near Sorata the couple days proceeding a new moon as the natives are rumored to perform ceremonies during this time of the month, their time of the month.
Bats and a cave lake = there were bats and a cave lake in the grotto.  Perhaps I should call it a grotto lake, though it seemed more a cave than a grotto to me.