Bolivian Blockades

WE ARE ALIVE!

01Blockade 1

The last couple of days have been a bit stressful and long considering our bus trip heading back to Cochabamba. Now the old route that was allegedly taken by our rouge bus company through the back streets which should've taken a few more hours actually ended up being a long and strenuous rollercoaster ride.

After a night of bumpy roads and relatively bad sleep we emerged from our slumber to a peaceful morning only to be abruptly stopped at 7am in the middle of nowhere with another 8 vehicles ahead stationed on the side of the road. On closer inspection we found out that the other vehicles buses, private cars and utes full of cows have been here for at least two hours and encountered a road with reasonably sized rocks on the road blocking the path. There was a lot of commotion with the protesters and vehicle owners about time that the blockade was supposed to be lifted and a lot of pleading from the ladies for us to pass. By the end of it the protesters (30 odd) allowed the big transport buses to pass after the women removed the rocks, which happened after 2 more hours of delegations. Only to have traveled for less than 10 minutes did we encounter another blockade which seemed a bit more organised and impenetrable as to the amount of rocks on the road and the fact that the protesters had higher ground and on approach started throwing rocks at us. An owner of a vehicle thought it to be funny to taunt them and we witnessed a lot rocks being thrown his way, all missing him by less than 20 centimeters. After another long hour and a half we were allowed to pass again only to hit another blockade at 10am in the morning this time with around 30 taxis and 15 mini vans. However they were stern and tough and laid out there terms "No one passes until 5pm". So we were forced to get to know the countryside and find shade wherever it was possible. Some macho men from the bus decided to walk the rest of the way but considering that we had our backpacks, each 20 kgs, and the distance, 58 klms, we decided against it. Time passed slowly and at 5pm our driver tooted his horn and slowly progressed as the sea of taxi's parted. With only 30 metres to go, a group of people jumped in front of the bus with rocks waiting in hands and stared down the driver, unfortunately they weren't told of the decision by the other protesters, and started pelting rocks at the front windscreen. *bang* *bang* They hit the glass and in a flurry of activity which lasted for around 15 seconds our bus was being bombarded by rocks, luckily for us 9/10 hit the front windscreen. The poor driver had to jump out of the bus leaving us behind. The drunken macho men demanded an explanation and when one was given they decided to extend the time frame for another half an hour. What the hell does half and hour make? Seriously. Anyhow that time passed and the worst was over. After the shocking experience we encountered our 4th blockade which we took a detour through the outskirts of Cochabamba and only for our bus driver to stop at the 5th one and finally give up, 4 kilometres from the bus terminal. We then commandeered a taxi driver and his ride (thankfully not all were protesting) and caught a ride to our 6th blockade from where we walked through some dimly lit streets with a couple of locals who were on the same bus ride and finally arrived at our hostal tired, fed up and hungry. We started at 1700 for which was delayed till 1900 and we arrived in town at 2030. Moral of the story....... don't try and escape the blockades and enjoy where you are from the comfort of your room watching it live on cable TV.

02 Negotiations

The protests are still live and should be resolved by tomorrow night, hopefully. Otherwise we will be stuck here for a very long time, well at least we got a room with cable. I hope all is well on your side of the world.

03 Blockade 2

04

05 The protesters

06 The bus driver

07 Blockade number 3

08 Amber and some young hotties

09 Our new students

10 How many rocks got thrown at us again?