Pleasant Town? (or Rocky 6)
We have been on the altiplano for quite a long time. Finally, we are starting to descend. The altiplano is a flat plain that sits between 3500m and4500m in Bolivia. Yesterday we completed our drive to Tupiza, a supposedly ¨pleasant town¨, at about 3000m. We went from very dry desert to an almost lush valley. There are actually trees and a little bit of water in the river bed! The town is surrounded by red rocky cliffs, which are carved by wind and rain into hoodoo-like formations. Most people visit the town to horseback ride or take a jeep through these formations. We are not doing either of these things. Kevin is spending the day working on the brakes of the van, which started making nasty noises yesterday. I am in hunt of laundry and groceries, the never ending quests.
We are staying at a hotel, which seems okay. They do not have a garage, so we have to park the van in a private parking lot a block or so away. When we first tried to park the vehicle there, the garage was closed, but a hour or so later, when we were taking Mungo out for a pee, we saw the gates open. Kevin went back to get the van and I walked up to the garage owner, with Mungo, to ask him if we could park there. He said it was fine, and so we just waited for Kevin to return. As we were waiting, we were approached by a VERY drunk guy. He stood in front of me for quite a while, watching me, and then out of the blue, he hauled off and kicked Mungo in the gut! Mungo, the big brave hound, did nothing but give a little yelp, but I shoved the guy back and told him to get lost (I am pretty sure I didn´t even swear!). The garage guy intervened and tried to get the drunk to go home, but he just stood there and stared at us some more. Finally, he decided to push his luck just a little further and kicked Mungo again. This time I didn´t shove the guy, I punched him in the face 4 times!!! I gave him a bloody nose. I know my Mom is reading this and thinking, ¨ What kind of a young lady have I raised?¨ Sorry Mom, no one messes with my dog!!! In any case, that was the end of the altercation. Oh sure, the drunk had a few choice names for me, but a guy on the street, thought it best to get the drunk away from me and my precious dog. I knew that kick-boxing aerobic class would come in handy one day!
We aren´t terribly impressed with the ¨pleasant town¨. The choice of restaurant is as bleak as the last town. EVERY restaurant is a pizza place and EVERY place has the exact same, extensive menu. I mean exactly the same menu, same cover, same printing, EXACTLY!! The thing is though, that the menu is only a suggestion of what MIGHT be available. For lunch yesterday, we all thought we would order a simple sandwich, but the waitress told us that they didn´t have sandwiches, because they had no bread. After trying unsuccessfully to order something else, we went to another restaurant. They seemed to have everything we ordered, but then we saw them dash out at least 3 or 4 times and buy an ingredient that they were missing to fill our order, including bread!!! One more day…one more day… we hope to be out of Bolivia tomorrow. I hold high hopes that Argentina will be different, more civilized. Hopefully my boxing career ends here!
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February 21st, 2010 at 10:39 am
Way to go DANIELA!!!!!!!!!!!! how dare someone kick Mungo. Stupid buggar is very lucky that Mungo didn’t take a chunk out of him. I also would have kicked him in the nards really hard so the throbbing pain lasting days would remind him never to kick a dog. have a good time in Argentina.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:28 pm
oh hell yeah!!! nice work. Some people just don’t understand any other way. You should of broke his legs. I would have done the same, right after the first kick. There are lots of drunks over there, alot of muggers also. I would have to say Chile and Argentina are the better places down there. Brazil is ok but to messed up I think. Saying that they still are pretty crazy in some spots. You have to be extra careful in small towns and in big cities. Specially big cities, crazies all over, alot of thieves and muggers in some spots. Cops will not even go into some areas. Those are some super remote and poor areas you guys are in, I can only imagine. Its amazing some of those places exist. Hopefully there are more positive adventures ahead. You guys should make a section for the van and the trailer, van blog? I have never seen a trailer like that one. It looks like a tool chest.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I forgot to tell you there is some flooding going on in Argentina, its not normal, it should be gone by when you get there, i will find out some more and let you know.
February 21st, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Hilarious story (other than Mungo getting kicked). Didn’t realize you were such a goon Daniela.
February 21st, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Woo hoo Danielly, you tough women you! I wish Mungo was a little more scary so he could have taken some revenge as well. I hope your hand fells ok, I hear it hurts to punch someone. we having our Christmas Party(procrastination party) next saturday and Robs, wish you guys would be there.
Try not to get arrested for public violence please.
February 21st, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Bueno Aires is flooding, so you should be ok pretty far away.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:31 am
Way to go Daniela, you rock! LOL! 4 good jabs to the face and a kick to the jewels would have been nice to send him off on his way! How dare he pick on a Canuck!
February 24th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Add this latest altercation to the growing list of legal ‘infractions’ that you’ve been involved in over the past 9 months and soon you may not be be able to get back into Canada again!! Maybe Hilary Swank can play you in the made-for-tv movie… Take care, sis.
February 24th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
You go girl!!! You’re awesome!
February 25th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Daniela!!!!You’re my hero..Mungo should be proud of his Mom!!!!Take care!!!
February 25th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Wow, nothing like a little violence to get the comments flowing, eh??
February 27th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I haven’t read your posts in a few weeks, but was pleasantly surprised to come back to something so entertaining. Way to go, Daniela!
February 27th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
YA! I knew you’d be a good family for one of my babies! NO ONE messes with our Ridgebacks. I’m of the ‘nads for good luck after the nose’ school of punching.
Hope you missed the quake in nearby Chile … or just got a little shake …
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Hey Tamzin,
I was wondering if you were still reading. Yeah, no one messes with the dog, the kids…ok, but not the dog. We didn´t feel the quake in Chile, but I think it happened close to where we want to ship back from. Hope it is all fixed up in 3 months.