Arriving in La Paz

And so the Bolivian adventure begins! I felt the mixed feelings in my stomach of apprehension and excitement as I set off at midday on the underground to Heathrow for my 3pm flight to Miami. As I stared out over the ocean I felt myself reflecting that one day I’ll be rowing across the Atlantic rather than flying over it. I’ve taken Paulo Coelho’s “Like the Flowing River” with me and opened it to “How to Climb Mountains” – must be a good sign! He finishes with “Be an example to others. Tell everyone that it’s possible, and then others will find the courage to climb their own mountains”.

Arrived in Miami around 7pm (midnight UK time) and it was an absolute pain getting through passport control (nothing to do with the random array of stamps in my passport I’m sure!). Finally got on the next plane and promptly fell asleep before arriving at 6am to La Paz. A driver was waiting to take me to the hotel and I met a couple of the other guys on the expedition. At over 4,000m elevation the city was the highest I’d ever been to and felt thankful I hadn’t yet experienced any effects of altitude. After briefly unpacking and napping, we spent the afternoon wandering some local markets to aid acclimatisation. Met the two other guys on the trip in the afternoon, friends from Scotland, and we set about getting to all know each other over some local red wine and dinner (llama!) in a nearby restaurant. All looking forward to what lies ahead over the next two weeks...

#bolivia #lapaz