After breakfast I had a shower. The water was boiling as I lathered myself all over and then it went off. Terrific! I then had to use the freezing cold water to wash off the soap. We went out shopping and Jackie bought a bottle of Paco Rabanne eau de toilette for 500 Sucres. Today there are 385 Sucres to the $US dollar. I suspect it was counterfeit but it smelt OK.
We then went on a tour of the city’s bicycle shops. Jackie was looking for a new gear cog to cope with the steep climbs of the Andes. He ended up buying just a “Café de Columbia” cycling shirt which he was delighted with, yelling “Ooh ya bas”! and kissing it, much to the amusement of the locals.
We went on to the American Express office in an area where the expensive hotels, tourist shops and agencies were. It was sterile and modern, and we felt like scruffy intruders amongst the affluence.
We recrossed the central park where a couple of elderly lovers were hugging and kissing on the rockery. The riot police were out with their plastic shields at the ready by the Simón Bolívar monument.
In the old quarter we met a Bavarian bloke called Hannes and the two Swedish girls, Aneka and Anya. Together we went to a restaurant with a great “Menu de Hoy” for 200 Sucres. We chatted and demolished soup, steak, rice and beans, jelly and a chocolate cake.
Afterwards we went up to the Basilica del Voto Nacional but it was closed. Jackie decided to go off on a bike ride, so I went off to wander around the shops. I bought a small spiral-bound notebook and pondered over buying a new bag but decided against it.
There were a lot of Indians dozing by their stalls that were laden with toiletries, nylon wallets, digital watches and pens. One fellow was selling unmarked pharmaceutical drugs from a briefcase. As evening fell the streets got busy with people going home and the roads got saturated with buses, on which kids hung on to the outside for a free ride.
On the way back I passed a stall which was selling live crabs, cooked while you wait. Two old women were haggling over the price while the crabs twitched futilely against the string tethering their claws. Back at the hotel we had a coke and watched the Swedish girls playing cards.
Back in our room we relaxed, reading and writing. I bought some great postcards if Indian folk from the Post Office earlier today. It was very quiet apart from the shouts and chants of children playing in the street outside.
We ate at the hotel as usual and chatted with other travellers, but mainly with a New Yorker discussing music and favourite music bands. Time passed pleasantly and quickly until 23:00 hrs. when we went back to our bedroom to read for a bit before crashing out.
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