"Before we had airplanes and astronauts, we really thought that there was an actual place beyond the clouds, somewhere over the rainbow. There was an actual place, and we could go above the clouds and find it there" - Barbara Waters
This weekend we visited Coroico, a cozy little town just above the Amazonian basin. Coroico is the end of the infamous Death Road in Bolivia, which is basically a tiny little path through the cliffs where many people die every year. Needless to say, we took the new and safer road to Coroico, which was finished only recently. The road to Coroico from La Paz took our driver about three hours, but the scenery was unbelievable. We drove up to about 5,000 meters above sea level where we stopped and took some pictures. I could barely breathe at that altitude (the fact that I was sick earlier that day did not help at all). Then, we went down, down, down through the cloud forest (yes, we were actually in the clouds) to Coroico, which is about 2,000 meters above sea level. The weather in Coroico was much more pleasant than in La Paz, obviously. We arrived in Coroico in the late afternoon and, after checking into our hotel, went out to eat dinner. We had to walk around the main plaza for some time searching for an open restaurant because most places only open late in the evenings. Finally, we found a place to eat. After dinner we lingered in the plaza and took in the quiet atmosphere of the tropical scenery. I went to sleep early that evening to be ready for the long and dusty hike to the waterfall the next morning.
The next morning I woke up early, hoping that the ancient shower in my room would have hot water. No such luck; however, the early morning had its rewards. Because Coroico is just a little higher and just a little colder than the jungle, the clouds form below the town, and in the morning the view is spectacular. I felt like I was in paradise with palm trees, tropical flower scents, and clouds below my feet. When everybody else woke up, we went to the plaza to have breakfast and meet our Bolivian friend for the waterfall hike. We started walking down the unpaved, dusty road around 11 in the morning. Everytime a car passed by us, we got covered in dust from head to toes. All the plants on the sides of the road were grey, instead of green. After walking for a while, we found an orange tree grove with really delicious oranges; we took some with us for the road. We finally reached the waterfalls after two hours of walking the treacherous mountain trails. The water was frigid, but I got in the river anyway. We played around in the water for a few hours and then walked back to the bridge. Most of the people choose to take a taxi, but I decided to climb back up the mountain with a friend as a personal challenge. I think that if I knew how difficult it was going to be, I would have taken a taxi. Nah, probably not. The worst part was the tiny, vertical trail that rose about 1000 meters in altitude. We had to stop frequently and desperately gulp the diminishing supply of oxygen. After we got through that part of the journey (in about 45 minutes), the rest of the road was a piece of cake. We got back to Coroico and joined the rest of our friends for dinner. Needless to say, we were starving after the intense workout we put our bodies through. After dinner we went back to the hotel because we were all exhausted and needed a good night's sleep. The next morning we bid a sad farewell to Coroico and headed back up to the cold and polluted La Paz.
