Arrequippa for some peace and quiet

I made it to Arrequippa at 7 am after taking an overnight bus. Once again these things are a bit hellish: bumpy, a kid puked on my shoe (not the first time) and the bus driver assumes he is Jeff Gordon on the Indie 500.

A kid of about 8 years old appeared to be the manager of the hostel. He let me in and gave me the most bitchin room in the hostel for about 5 bucks. Queen size bed, a hot shower, and a view from my window of snowy peaks looming in the distance. Ha, and people thought the Rockie Mountains were spectacular. Backtracking a bit: my whole plan was to go from Qusco to Arrequippa. Outside my window loomed the snow-capped peak called misty. The peak is about 18,000 feet. I came to Arrequippa to do this peak, nothing more. After all of my adventures with my father and mother through the Rockie Mountains of COlorado I felt as though I had to carry on the tradition of scaling massive peaks of the world. As a kid I was prone to altitude sickness. Now Im 24 and in the works of becoming a bona-fide stud. Seriously, you only live once.

Anyway, they wanted 65 bucks for a 2 day trek including a guide. I was planning on heading to BOlivia after Peru. Soafter a bit of contemplation and figurering out my finances, I decided to skip this mountain called "Misty" and head to BOlivia to attempt a 6200 meter peak. I know I wont die, so dont worry mom. If I get altitude sickness, I will simply turn around. If you do the math though this peak is about 20,000 feet and it is right outside the capital city of La Paz, Bolivia. I crashed out early in Arrequippa after striking up some conversation with some Europeans

The whole educational system in the United States, at least for universities, is totally out of wack. After talking to them they py 1/8 the amount of money I pay for university and many of their universities actually pay them about 600 Euros a month just to attend university to earn a Bachelors degree. They also only need one year to earn a masters degree. It could depend on the country, but I met this dude who was no brain-wave by any means and the dude got a bachelors degree in 2 and a half years and a masters in a year and a half.

I am in Bolivia right now staying at Lake Titticaca. The lake has a mystical, surreal feel to it. Old wooden boats row through various inlets and coves, as oldl men decked out in tradtional Charlie Chaplin Hats, row the boats along.

Since I am from the United States I had to pay 135 dollars just to enter Bolivia. The great thing is though is that Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. In 2 weeks time that 135 dollars will definitely even itself out.

The nights are freakin cold, like around 45 degrees, with no heater in the room. Lets just say Im wearing every article of clothing on my bad, including my grandpas underwear.

written by  kipmaddog on September 30, 2009 from Copacabana, Bolivia
from the travel blog: adventures from down south
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