Cable Car

Today we decided to take the metro to the other side of town which connects to the cable car.

The cable car goes up the mountain surrounding the town where the slums are so that the people there can get a quick commute to the metro. Since the cable car can take you so far up the mountain, it has ironically also become a tourist attraction for people who want to get great views of the city.

The first cable car does not require any additional ticket; the fee is included in your purchase of a metro ticket which is great for the low income commuters. We were in a car with 5 other locals who must have thought we were nuts for taking so many pictures. As we climbed to the top of the hill, it was amazing to see just how many people were living up there. All of their homes had tin roofs that were held down with bricks and rocks. You could clearly tell that they didn't have much- there were no cars or stores and everyone was washing their laundry in buckets in their backyards. Seeing so much poverty really makes you appreciate what you have.

When we reached the top of the mountain, we boarded a second cable car that took you over the mountain to Parque Arvi on the other side. This was a beautiful national park where you could hike and see lots of animals etc. This second ride cost 3 times as much as the commuter cars and was clearly just for the tourists. It was a very long ride through the trees out to the park but it was beautiful.

When we reached the park, there were some shops set up selling food and jewelry. Alyssa and I decided to buy matching bracelets and officially look like backpackers. While we were bracelet shopping, we ran into the New York boys staying at our hostel (so random since there was practically no one else there and they were supposed to go to a water park). We decided to take a stroll through the park together.

The boys ended up hating the idea of walking and flagged down a pickup truck to drive us to the lake that they wanted to visit. We stopped before getting in the truck to sample a local desert. It turned out to be nougat that they pulled like taffy and put in a cup with peanuts, coconut and powdered milk- one bite was enough for me.

It was a long drive to the lake so its a good thing we didnt try to walk all the way there. When we got to the lake, it was surrounded by a gate and the park officials wanted $5,000 pesos to enter. That's only $2.50 USD but Alyssa and I didn't think we'd have very much fun hanging out at the lake since it looked like it was going to rain so we left the boys there and found a car to drive us back to the park.

Once back at the little shopping area, I decided to try an empanada which the locals are constantly eating. This one did not look greasy at all (they usually do) which is what persuaded me. It was actually delicious!

We headed back into the city since we wanted to catch the Colombia vs Ecuador game. We went into Zona Rosa and all of the bars and restaurants were open and packed with soccer watching patrons. We went to "Big Burger and Beer Bar" to get some dinner and watch the game. Colombia lost but I was not surprised since they were playing horribly.

We headed back to the hostel, got our things together and said our goodbyes to all our friends. It's strange when you only know people for a few days but they somehow become your temporary family in your hostel environment. We are always sad to leave our new friends but know we will meet more when we get to the next place. We headed down to the bus terminal at around 9:00pm to catch a 10:00pm bus to Bogota, Colombia. Luckily it was no problem that we hadn't booked a ticket in advance and we were able to get right on the bus. We chose Expresso Boliviano bus this time around because we had a friend who had taken that overnight bus the night before. We got on the bus and it looked similar to the one we had taken before (Expresso Brasilla) but the seats were obviously not as comfortable- there were no neck rests and the leg room was much shorter. As the drive began, it was clear there would be no sleep for us. The driver kept accelerating and then slamming on his breaks so that you had to constantly brace yourself to stay in your seat. Not a great night.

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