Sunday, 17 April 2011

Getting lost in La Paz ...

So we got back to cold La Paz thursday at around 6pm. Our flight was delayed! How enjoyable it was hanging out in the sweltering heat waiting for the plane to come! We actually had time to go back to the hostel and tour office in Rurre, because Liv lost her camera! :-(   No we didn´t find it!  I think I may have given her my disease of loosing everything!
We got back to our hostel and Liv who was already ill with a bad cough, started having an asthma attack. I ran to buy an inhaler from the pharmacy but she wasn´t getting any better after about 30 min - 1 h, soPaul who is a doctor back in Australia said we should take her to the hostpital. It was a pretty gross place but the service was pretty perfect. Firstly, they were going to turn us away but when they saw her, they took her in. She was seen almost immediately, given an oxygen mask, a drip and blood tests. We stayed there for about 5 hours until she was feeling better. They wanted to keep her in for 24 hours but we decided it would  be better to go back to the hostal. I doubt she would have slept comfortably in that place. There were no more beds left and the toilet was discusting, with pans of blood lying on the floor. Besides the service they offered, it seemed like a 1950s hostpital. Most of the equipement was really old but working. She had an x-ray done. She had to stand up against this wooden board and the guy pulled the x-ray out from a draw on the side of the machine and then went into this dark room to get it printed and came out and hung it up in a large box to dry! As for all the medecine she needed, they don´t get it for you. No! I had to run around the hospital each time she needed something. They would give me a paper with the name of the stuff each time and I would have to run to the pharmacy in the hospital, pay for it in one window and collect the medecine in another. At one point I was running around with a massive bottle of glucose for her drip and 5 needles. Good thing I´m not a druggy ey!! She is much better now but taking it easy. I think it was a combination of altitude sickness, her cough, stress and exhaustion! Poor Livy!
Friday night was another epic night out.. pretty much a blur.. as is the rest of my stay in La Paz! The trap that is La Paz! It is so easy to stay here for weeks on end! But after extended our stay for 2 weeks, its about time we left! I´m getting out while I still can!
We´re going to try and visit the San Pedro Prison now or maybe watch the Cholita wrestling in El Alto, before leaving for Potosi tonight.Liv and I are on our own again as of tonight. The guys are going other places for now. How sad! We´ve formed a little family and I´ll miss them loads! But we may meet up with Michael in a week to go to Patagonia!

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Alors on est rentre a La Paz jeudi soir vers 18 h.  Notre vol a été retardé! Que c´était confortable de rester dans la chaleur de Rurrenabaque pendant 2 heures! On a meme eu le temps de retourner a l´hostal car Liv a perdu son appareil photo. Malheureusement on ne l´a pas retrouvé! Je pense que je lui ai donné ma maladie de perdre tout!
On est rentré a notre hostal et Liv qui était déja malade avec une toux, a commencé a avoir une crise d´asthme. Je suis allée vite a la pharmacie pour acheter un inhalateur (ca se dit comme ca en francais?), mais apres 30 min - 1h, elle n´allait pas mieux donc Paul qui est medecin en Australie, nous a dit de l´emmener a l´hopital. En arrivant, ils n´allaient pas nous laisser entrer mais une fois qu´ils l´ont vu, ils l´ont accepté. Les medecins l´ont vu pratiquement de suite et lui on donné un masque d´oxygene, une perfusion intraveineuse et des tests sanguins. On est resté environ 5 heures jusqu´a ce qu´elle se sentait mieux. Ils voulaient la garder pendant 24 heures mais on a décidé que ca serait mieux de rentrer a l´hostal. Je ne pense pas qu´elle aurait été tres confortable la bas. Il n´y avait plus de lit disponibles et les toilettes étaient déguelasses avec des bacs de sang par terre. A part pour le service qu´ils lui ont offert, on aurait dit qu´on était dans un hopital des années 50. Les machines étaient super vieux mais ils marchaient. Ils lui ont fait une radio des poumons. Elle a du resté debout devant une plance en bois et apres le mec a sorti sa radio d´un tirroir sur le coté. Apres il est allé dans une salle noire pour l´imprimer et quand il est sorti, il l´a accrochée dans une grosse boite pour la faire secher! En ce qui concerne tous les medicaments dont elle avait besoin, ce n´est pas les medecins qui lui ont apporté... Non, c´est moi qui a du courrir dans l´hopital a chaque fois qu´elle avait besoin de quelque chose. A chaque fois, on me donnait un morceau de papier avec le nom des médicaments, que je devait mener a la pharmacie de l´hopital. Ensuite, il fallait payer par une fenetre et récuperer les médicaments dans une autre. A un moment, je me balladais avec un grande bouteille de glucose pour la perfusion intraveineuse et 5 aiguilles. Heureusement que je ne suis pas une droguée hein!! Elle va beaucoup mieux maintenant, mais elle y va doucement. Je pense que c´était un mélange de l´altitude, sa toux, le stress et la fatigue! Pauvre Livy!
Vendredi soir était une autre soirée de fou... un peu flou... comme le reste de mon séjour a La Paz! La Paz est un piege! C´est tres facile de rester ici pendant des semaines sans fin! Mais avoir prolongé mon sejour pendant 2 semaines, je pense qu´il est temps de continuer l´aventure autre part! On quitte cette ville lorsqu´on peut!!
On va essayé de visiter la prison de San Pedro ou alors voir les Cholitas a El Alto (google!), avant d´aller a Potosi ce soir. Liv et moi sont seules a partir de ce soir! Les garcons vont autres part pour l´instant. Que c´est triste! On a formé une vraie petite famille et ils vont vraiment me manquer! Mais on va surement retrouver Michael dans une semaine et aller en Patagonie!

5 comments:

  1. Oooh I want to hear about the prison!
    Glad your friend is better and that it wasn't serious... the hospital experience sounds like an adventure in itself!
    We haven't seen pictures in a long time!!
    xxx

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  2. we didnt manage to get into the prison.. the guard told us it wasnt aloud anymore by immigration.. apparently inside is like a little city.. families live in there and there r children too.. Shops and lots more..
    its a shame we couldnt get in but i dnt want to get deported either! oh well...
    im uploading pics now but its taking for ever!! i may stab the pc! x

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  3. Hey Angelique and Liv

    Pleased to hear you made a good recovery Liv. No fun when one is miles from anywhere and in a foreign country needing treatment. Happened to me in India many years ago. Got amoebic dysentery and the hospital was a stable, not even a clean stable. In the end an Indian chap gave me a pill which did the trick but it took me months to put the weight back on. Anyway, loved your commentary from Barranaque Angelique, you're quite the intrepid reporter. Guess you must've been lucky with Frederico or he knew Papa would come after him with a vengeance and a tomahawk had he given you a nibble! I find myself siding with Emma-Jane. Your reports are absorbing but haven't seen any new photos in a while. I know that with travel, eating, washing your clothes, stomping the night away in nightclubs and whatever else fills your time that photographs must be an arduous task. At least we'll all know it's you filing the reports and not some Pulitzer Prize winner. Easter approaches and everyone is looking forward to the two long weekends, Easter and the Royal wedding a week later. Me too, am exhausted reading of your trials and tribulations. Young chaps here have eyes of eagles, one spotted your blog on my screen and they all began to howl "where are the girls". I was going to tell them you'd been lunch for Frederico but they would've beaten me to death.
    You appear to have a fan club here. Quite a novelty really as none of the guys think I know any young people. So much to learn in life!!!
    Noted your comment about visiting Patagonia. Think I read somewhere way back in my long history that there's a Welsh population there. If you hear singing when you get there you'll know it's true. All the best for your next bout of travel. Will log on again next week.
    You girls take care and keep your eyes peeled for El Dorado although I think that much fabled city is buried somewhere deep in Brazil!
    lotsa love to you both
    Brian

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  4. Sitting outside in the dark with my lap top on my laps, where else, and a torch in my left hand. I feel a bit like a circus artist! As long as I don't get charged by a wild boar, it's OK.
    Happy birthday for Friday, Liv. Keep well and prepare for your first french lesson.
    I have put a jumper on but next time I'll have to put on socks and long johns too. A bit cold in the south of France at 10.30.
    The trip to the Beni river sounds really exciting. Enjoy the last few days in Bolivia and stay safe.
    Seen the picture of King Arthur?? Handsome,hey!
    Lots of xxxxxxx

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  5. Hi to you both, I really enjoy reading about your travels and adventures, and everyone else seems to have said all that I would have said! Happy birthday Liv. Here's hoping that you can find a nice drink (that doesn't give you an awful hangover) and a good birthday cake to celebrate your special day.
    Mary and Del xx

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