We arrive about 5am and take the first taxi over to the hostel The Point. Hostel is pretty nice. Slept for a few hours and got ready to explore a new country and a new city. There´s a huge different in scenery compared to Peru. At least in Cusco, thing´s seem to be much more organized. Traffic lights that cars actually follow is new to me. People actually waiting to cross the street is another one. Could be mostly tourist but people seem to be dressed a bit more modern as well. So far I´m approached much more often and asking for help isn´t so much of an issue to locals. The town itself is beautiful. Plaza areas with water fountains, green atmosphere, candle lit restaurants, and a sense of more calmness in the area. I´m liking this.

For lunch we´ve wandered pretty far to find something cheap and local. We end up in a place with no foreigners at all. Small with about six tables. I tried asking what they were serving but had no idea what this little girl was saying. Teresa asks if we can see the Menu and the little girl asks if we want two, we respond yes. Teresa didn´t realize what she actually ordered was the Menu of the day. The place was only serving a certain meal for the whole day which they call the menu. I was use to calling it that in Argentina. We had a surprise meal of a huge bowl of soup, chicken milenesa, rice, potatoes, and veggies. They had another spice similar to what Bolivia had in the middle of the table but this time it was green. Delicious food. We could hardly finish our food. The grand total of 6 Soles for two people which equals $2USD. NICE!

For most of our night we met a nice Australian girl and Texan guy. We all ended up sitting in a corner talking for hours just about random subjects.

I´m quite low on cash so I´ve been looking into working at a hostel at a beach before going home in Peru. I´ll keep this updated on where this goes.

As for my Italian Citizenship update. I´ll have to finish the paperwork when I get home. Shouldn´t be too long from now till I get home. Almost 10 months on the road now. Doesn´t really feel that long. I always get the ¨WOW¨when I tell someone it´s been 10 months. It doesn´t seem all that crazy though for some reason. It´s been an interesting journey and I know I´ve missed plenty of exciting days on this blog to write about but it´s simply impossible to always keep with what I do everyday. It´s all become so natural to do the things I do everyday traveling.

Inside the restaurant smelled delicious and its Indian flavored theme was very elegantly styled. It´s titled ¨British Indian Curry¨at the door. The table is candle lit and the service started phenomenally well. Most meals are priced 30 to 40 Bolivian. Reading the menu I see one curry that really sticks out called Vindaloo. The long description provided warnings for this meal. With over 35 chili peppers and a serving to feed a family, it was a big food challenge. The prize is a free tshirt and pride of finishing one of the worlds most dangerous Vindaloo’s.

Knowing how spicey its going to be, I decided to get it with a milkshake and a bowl of rice to make the curry more edible. The bowl is a little smaller then my palm and as deep as my pinky finger. With a mixer of rice, I go for my first bite. Flavor kicks in first and its quite good. Next the spice hits and surely its burning my mouth. Luckily I had the milkshake which made things much easier for me. A few bites in and my face feels a tingling sensation. My heart starts racing and I feel like I’m speeding. I could possibly run a marathon though it would be a painful run. Legs are jumping up and down. The spice gets worse for awhile and I’m already done with my milkshake and rice so I ordered a second of both. I start to get use to the spicey and now moved onto new problems, I’m full. I have about 25% left to go and I’m feeling sick. The tables around me all think I’m crazy and its already been an hour since we got there. I had to take a break and walk in circles to relax. Stomach is killing me and my body is telling me no more. I continue to take bites but every 10 minutes this time. Not sure how much more i can take of this. Every bite gets harder and harder to swallow. Cant recall ever feeling like this over a meal. The last 10% of my meal is left and I’m feeling closer to vomit then ever but somehow continue to push myself. I now have a total of 4 bites left. I must have been looking at the last bites for a good 30 minutes. It seemed impossible and I nearly gave up. I had to step outside for air every now and then. After about 2 hours with this meal, I had finally taken my last bite and I declared victory. I could hardly walk at this point and I´m fully expecting many restroom visits. Took a few videos and victory pictures. Im pretty sure i cant eat for the rest of the day. Stomach continues to hurt for the entire day and night. Well at least I got a free tshirt saying what I´ve done.

Conquering it all lately…

Today we get to La Paz. Getting a bus ticket to La Paz was somewhat of a pain but in Bolivia its normal. The line was long and there were many lines to different agency’s. Crowded with everything pushing and shoving. Some would try to cut the line but the Bolivians would start shouting “fila!” to let them know to get on the line. Most places was fully booked but thankfully i picked an agency that wasn’t and after an hour waiting on line, the next bus leaves in an hour. Perfect. 3 hour bus ride to La Paz from Oruro for 30 Bolivian each.

The bus wasn’t all that bad but my legs were still killing me. La Paz is even higher in altitude and i felt it as we went up. When we got to La Paz, we took the first taxi to our hostel. Were staying on Loki and from our first impression, its pretty nice. One of the nicest i’ve stayed in for awhile now.

As a side note – i found out that wordpress (the app i use to update my blog) has a iPhone app as well. So ive been writing on my iphone and publish my blog when i get wifi. My plug adapter blew in Buenos Aires on my last day so my laptop is done until i find one. Thankfully Teresa has her laptop. I like not being on the computer much so i can enjoy travel but i do love updating art of backpacking and nightlife vibe.

Front row meant we were in the middle of all the madness. During any break where there was a gap between the marches, there was an all out war. It was one side of the street against the other. Dozens of water balloons flying from across the street. Our only choice was to fight back which probably made it worse. Since we were in the front row, we were more prune to get hit and believe me we did. I’m soaked in water. What topped it all off was spray cans of foam. We were sprayed at a lot. We bought a few cans ourselves and got anyone in sight. What was funny is spraying someone from behind and as they turn around just put the can away and theyre covered in white foam and confusion. Its expected so much that most people buy panchos to not get their clothes wet. I had tons of fun throwing water balloons and foaming random people.

The dances, music, costumes, and of course the girls were all fantastic. The dances were very repetitive but it made sense with the music. Looked to be a traditional dance the Indianian of Bolivia would do. The music had a drummy tribal sound to it. All the bands played songs the locals knew. Chanting and singing from the beat as they all knew the lyrics to whatever song being played made for an amazing atmosphere. Though i didn’t know any of the lyrics, i clapped and got excited with them. We even talked to a few people sitting around us who most were from Bolivia. The costumes the dancers would wear were crazy. All custom made and beautiful. Their were costumes of devils, angels, strange animals, and who knows what else. I think my camera broke because it kept taking pictures of the girls dressed up. Hmm.

After several several beers, soaked, and covered in white – we couldn’t handle anymore. For hours it seemed more and more marches kept coming in never ending. Time to call it a day. These Bolivians take Carnaval to a whole different level you cant even imagine.