Note: this is taken from emails sent in 2001. Hemi
hola amigos (hi friends)
i am now in la paz after a slight delay –
my journey started on wednesday morning .
i had to take 4 flights to get to la paz and prayed for only one thing – no
delays.
of course my first flight to brussekls with el-al was delayed for one hour.
lucky for me the flight from brussels to new york was also delyed due to a
strike fo the catering workers. (2 hours).
i did not worry because in new york i had to wait 4 hrs anyway for the
connection to miami.
when i got new york i waited and waited and 30 minute before borading to
miami – guess what ?
a mechanical failure – new plane – 2 hour delay.
this was bad because the connection to la paz from miami was tight.
i was lied to by the airline representatives – we will fly faster they said.
anyway the 2 hr delay became a 4 delay so i got to miami after my flight had
left to bolivia – in spanish we say mierda (shit).
so they gave me a hotel in the airport and vouchers for meals and told me
that next noon there is a flight with LAB (bolivian airlines – what a
scare).
i proceeded to obtain my muchila (suitcase) which of course had got lost.
after talking to the manager and 2 hours waiting – they found it!!!
but then i saw another problem – the new flight ticket was for noon but not
tommorow – only the day after.
this was a breaking point – i had not slept in 36 hours and now this.
there was no representative at the airport – so i called the 1-800 # of
American Airlines and though we had a nice 30 minute talk nothing could be
done.
I went to my crappy room in the hotel (i cant believe it cost 140 dollars a
night toi put me there) and took a shower ( i had some bad BO after running
around all day).
at 5am i went to the AA counter which opened up and after wasting another 2
hours finally got a seat on the same flight that i originally planned but
plus 24 hours.
i had the whole day ahead of me so i planned to visit the miami downtown
area. unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs – “tropical storm barry”
hit the area.
so i stayed in the hotel eating shitting and sleeping.
inbetween i watched the spanish channels on tv and practiced my accent and
vocabulary.
miami is amazing – at leat the airport – the first language spoken is
spanish not english!
miami is a hub to latin america and it is well felt.
back to the flight – finally i got on the flight to lapaz and to my pleasure
i got upgraded to business class!
just before takeoff at midnight i was reviewing the wine list and menu for
the dinner but the complementary champagne as we boarded the plane kind of
knocked me dead. i slept thru most of the flight – with lots of leg room. we
landed in la paz at dawn and the view was spectacular.
la paz is cold in the mirning 0 degrees centigrade. i had a warm hat and
fleece jacket so i did well.
i am staying todaY IN HOTEL MILTON. 13 bucks a night. looks ok. great view
of the city from the roof.
i almost joined a trek 30 minutes after i arrived but deciced to take it
easy for a day or 2 to get accustomed to the high altitude (la paz is at
4000meters very high.
ive been walking around town for the past 2 hours and am getting hungry.
so bye for now,
Hemi