Basket of Thoughts

Thoughts from my mind to the internet

July 14th, 2007 7:45 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 31, 2019

Well, going to Rurrenabaque today, and tomorrow I’m taking the pampas tour. I’m not happy with myself as I forgot my ATM card in the machine yesterday. That can really put me into a bind. I just have to have faith everything will turn out ok. I’m a bit tired now as I have taken some Ibuprofen and I think I will lay down for awhile.

I was still in La Paz, Bolivia at this point. I only mention that because I don’t ever seem to mention in my journal entries that I was still there, I just assumed you would know. Well, you know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of u and me. Heard that from my dad but it could have been relayed information. Thankfully not classified, as it is a pretty important piece of knowledge to become familiar with. So, there it is I was still in La Paz. I was taking Ibuprofen because I had gotten sick. It was a drudging down type of sick. Very similar to a cold and I felt drained and beat. In hindsight, it very well could have been altitude sickness as well. I know I was sick as a dog though. I was able to trek forth though. Now, let’s get to the more important issue of leaving the only card I could use in the ATM. I remember how excited and relieved I was to know that I had gotten that loan in my bank. I went down to the travel agent and booked the trip to the pampas. Later that night I went out to dinner with a fellow American that I had met. I would’ve been fucked if I waited another 12 years to try to tell this story as I may not be able to remember some of these subtle details that still remain. If I recall, his name was Will and he was from either Wyoming or Wisconsin. He had been living in South America for about 6 months or so. He had been a computer programmer, worked his ass off for 3 years, and decided to move down to South America for awhile. Other than those details I unfortunately don’t remember many other things we discussed. I do remember I found myself eating at the Hard Rock Cafe there. Again. It was familiar food and they had a killer brownie sundae. I’m a foolish glutton, guilty as charged. I remember getting the bill, opening my wallet and realizing my card wasn’t in the fold that I always put it in. Oh fuck, I immediately thought as I realized I never remembered to take the card out of the machine when I withdrew my money to pay for the pampas tour. In my excitement I didn’t wait for the machine to eject my card and I walked away like the damn fool I was. As odd as it was, I wasn’t worried about someone using it or trying to steal my identity. My concern was the fact that once my cash was out, I was done. Well, after paying for my dinner and having to pay my hostel there really wasn’t much but small coin left. Thankfully, I had a few days paid for coming up on my pampas tour… Or so I thought.

July 12th, 2007 8:02 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 30, 2019

Had a pleasant surprise this morning as I had received the loan I had applied for. Now, I need to conserve what I have while killing time. I think I am going to book a trip into the pampas. I may actually take the 3 day boat trip to kill some more time depending on the price. I know it would be $90 which would include round trip bus, shelter, food, and a 3 day 2 night tour of the pampas. If the boat trip is reasonable I’ll do it just to cut some time off my remaining 12 days. It would cut my time in half, actually, more than that. Let’s figure this out. If I left the 14th, that gives me 10 days. 3 days of touring in the pampas give me 4 days, one day to get back to La Paz. That’s 3 days and possibly 2 to get back to Lima, leaving one day. It would be tight but could work perfect if everything goes as planned, which obviously nothing has yet. Perhaps I should stay safe and take the bus. I’ll talk to the agent tomorrow and see what he thinks may work but it depends on how often the bus leaves to Lima. I hope it will gel either way. Oh, and I’m on my own again as Terra and Kim left to Uyuni tonight. It was nice meeting them and I hope to keep in contact with them in the future. Maybe we can all meet again in the future for another journey into South America.

Reading out the math on that entry doesn’t translate to sounding like reasonable sense. My flight home was on July 24th so that will help if you care to try to figure it out with the journal. If not, I don’t blame you, math sucks… just take my word for it. I was in financial survival mode as I had received the loan and it was for $300 so I wanted that to be the last of my financial woes. That was why I was trying to kill time so that I could try to idle out what I would have left and limp back home. Whatever could kill time and included food and shelter in the price seemed like my best option.

July 11th, 2007 8:38 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 29, 2019

Fixed my boo boo on my blog. Went back online about a 1/2 hour ago and my brother responded. He wanted me to level with him and asked if I was doing coke. I am not. Truth is I just haven’t been able to budget myself on this trip. Also, the fees they charge at the ATM’s is killing me. I tried to call him, both #’s but did not get a hold of him. I felt I needed to call someone so I called Steph. Shanna picked up and they seemed excited to hear from me. I had to cut the call short unfortunately as I was using my last Bolivianos. I now only have 6.50 in Bolivianos. I hope I can get funds quick because this trip is beginning to get out of hand. Dear God, please help me make it through, Amen.

That was a legitimate prayer. I was really quite worried and I said it before but you find faith when nothing else is there. I also noticed that I worded things a bit wrong in regards to my brother’s interrogation. He thought I was blowing money on coke which I was not. I did partake about a handful of times during my trip but that was only when I was hanging with some generous people. I never purchased any and never attempted to especially after my incident back in Barranco. That set the tone for me early to not even risk it. I mention calling Steph. Shortly, before my trip I had befriended a trio of girls that I hung out with pretty frequently at the time. Angela, Steph, and Shanna or better known at the time as the ASS crew. They were 3 girls that were friends and lived together for awhile and they would have parties. That was how we became friends. It’s funny how much changes over time as I haven’t spoken with them in years. That’s how life is sometimes. Not all the characters you meet in your life stay in the story forever. As you grow, so does the world around you and sometimes that means people exit stage left. Before I close on my reflections on this entry I want to touch base on the prayer I made because in all sincerity, I probably should be more religious. Why you may ask? Well, because that prayer was answered the next day.

July 11th, 2007 1:24 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 29, 2019

I’ve really dug a hole this time. I am negative $6.66 in my account. I sent an outcry on Myspace and I hope it works. I just realized that I forgot to give everyone the name of my bank. Stupid me! I feel so fucked right now. Someone needs to come through. If not, then it is going to be a long hard road back home, by land hitch hiking. I cant afford any lodging right now. I can’t afford food. I’m not worried about food but I am worried about paying the hostel. I’m in a worse predicament then when I was in Cuzco. I only have 13 days till my scheduled flight home. I’d rather be home and deal with the debt I owe than be here completely uncertain if I will get home at all. This trip has been a roller coaster. When I’ve had funds it has been high times but times when I have none, like now, it has been painfully low. Something has to give. I refuse to believe I will be stuck here. Someone has to help me. All I can do is literally pray right now that everything is going to be ok. I need to get back online and let them know my bank is Bank of America. This is an emergency so I’m gonna do it now.

So much for pride. When I saw the red numbers displaying what I was hoping would be a balance and not a debt I hit full blow panic mode. The other thing that hit me to the core, was the number. I can’t make that shit up. Now, I’m not overly religious but I do know some things about the Bible. They say that 666 is the number of the beast, devil, Satan, whatever you want to call him. It was almost as if it was a sign telling me the only way out was to sell my soul to him. That’s what I did, or at least that’s how it felt, having to make a plea publicly on Myspace for financial assistance. I felt like a beaten, whimpering, dog begging to come inside from the cold. The outcry garnished concern and speculation from home…

For the Generous

Donations accepted but not required

$0.50

July 11th, 2007 10:47 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 29, 2019

Terra and Kim went off for the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” this morning. They should be back by around 9 tonight. I have to check and see if I have money in the bank today. I hope I do, then I can plan my next move. I may try to go on a jungle trek somewhere. Either Rurrenabaque or The Pampas. Whichever is closest to La Paz I guess. I don’t want to get into a bind trying to get back home. I want to be able to stop at a couple places on the way back as well so I’m not bus jumping constantly. Yesterday I went for quite a walk around the city. I went with Terra, Kim, and Rafael. Rafael is a guy that Terra and Kim befriended on their Macchu Picchu hike. He is a pretty cool guy. He is Asian but lives in Brazil. He knows a good amount of Spanish so it helped with finding certain places around town. We found a park way up on one of the mountains. It was like a kid’s playground but it was fun for us as well. They had a huge concrete slide. Terra, Rafael, and I all went down it twice. Another slide was one with a crocodile. You slid down its open mouth and went out it’s butt. It was pretty funny seeing a slide like that. The park also gave a great panoramic view of the city. I took pictures of course. Well, I suppose I should see if I have some money yet. Let’s cross our fingers.

Above photos taken from park.

I mention above in the entry about either Rurrenabaque or The Pampas. That’s an error on my part. Rurrenabaque, or Rurre in short was really just a small town that served as a hub to access different tours. You could take one that brought you into the jungle or one that took you out to what was considered The Pampas which was a wetland savanna. I wanted to do the pampas tour over the jungle tour. While researching them it was stated that the best option for seeing wildlife was the pampas tour and that was what I wanted. I wanted to see some wildlife. I’ve always been intrigued with it and to see it firsthand was a real desire. Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s move on.

There was something magical about that park on the outskirts of town. It also may have been the thin air from the altitude, either way the park morphed us from young adults into children as we laughed and played. Among the slides mentioned there were also a couple little mushroom houses and a swing set that we swung on. It over looked the city which made it thrilling as you would swing higher and higher. It was a nice day spent with some great people.

July 10th, 2007 2:15 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 28, 2019

Do you recall earlier in this experience when I mentioned that it seems that many travelers follow the same routes down in South America? If you don’t, you’ll need to refresh from the early stages of this journey where I introduce the first people I encountered at the hostel I stayed at in Barranco, Peru. One of them was an Irish guy and I couldn’t recall his name at the time I had written that entry. It’s not a spoiler for me to tell you that I actually do know his name because I never mention it in my personal journal. I also fail to mention the fact that I appeared to be following his same trail. I first met him in Barranco, Peru. I also bumped into him at the Point Hostel in Cuzco, Peru. Lo and Behold! we cross paths again at the same hostel in La Paz, Bolivia. It was time for proper introductions. The other encounter in Cuzco seemed more of an acknowledgement of recognition that we’d seen each other. No real words exchanged to speak of more of a nod, a smile, and a wave. On the third and final encounter in La Paz, he happened to walk into the lounge while I was there and this time we exchanged names. His name was Patrick. Even though that reflection has absolutely nothing to do with the journal entry you are going to read I felt it proper to put in this story as a whole. It’s something that I still recall after all these years but failed to mention in my journal. A personal memory that I now make public. I think if it still is in my memories after all this time it still deems noting. Let’s get to our entry now, shall we?

If everything goes well I should have about $300 in the bank by tomorrow. I’m not looking forward to the debt I’m going to have to pay when I get home. Nonetheless, money can not buy the people I’ve met or the experiences I’ve had. I went shopping yesterday and got some souvenirs for friends and family back home. I still should get a few more though to make sure I get mostly everybody. Perhaps I can just frame a picture when I get home to serve as a souvenir. I bought myself a hat that I like very much and look forward to wearing it back home. I don’t think I will be able to bike down the mountain as I don’t have the funds yet. I could go by myself with another group but was looking forward to doing it with Terra and Kim. I may go on a 3 day hike that is around here. It’s a hike that doesn’t require a guide and is quite cheap I guess. I just have to go out and try it I guess, take up some time and conserve money at the same time. If I do that, after I may just head towards Arequipa (Peru) then to Huacachina then back to Lima and head home. I guess I can only see what will happen.

I still have the hat I bought in Bolivia. I don’t wear ever wear it these days. I’d stick out like the blue ass of a baboon. I’m not sure why I even care to be honest. I have moved on well beyond my 25 year old self. I think that’s what makes the whole tale so interesting now, to see the growth over 12 years. One thing that has remained the same though is my pride. Despite being low on funds my very last option was to ever ask for any money from back home. I usually try to refrain from asking for any help of any kind for some reason. So much so that it’s to the point where I will have my hands full of stuff and I’ll try to open a door and people near by say ” Hey let me get that for you!” I always reply “No, it’s okay, I can get it.” I have a weird mentality that it puts people out of their way and that’s something I don’t want to do. It’s a selfish thing though because I don’t want to be put out of my way. Ya know what I’m sayin?

In Bolivia eating a sandwich. The real focus despite the focus being shaky is the hat shown is the hat I refer to in my journal.

July 8th, 2007 8:26 P.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 28, 2019

It was an interesting trip to La Paz today. It consisted of a bus change in Copacabana (Bolivia). We had to wait for about an hour or so till it arrived, so I walked around the town for a bit with Terra. It was a nice little place to be honest and may have been nice to stay for a night, but oh well. La Paz is pretty neat. It’s like a New York City inside a crater in a way. The city is surrounded by mountains and it’s a BIG city too. We had dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe here. We decided we had to go seeing how we weren’t expecting it. Things are definitely cheaper here which is good. I’m trying to see if I can get another internet loan but it’s not looking good at the moment. I’m unable to fax anything so I need one that just transfers money into my account. I think I can make it if I can get 300-400 more dollars. May have to ask for help from home. I need it within the next couple days if I am going on the bike trip down “The World’s Most Dangerous Road” which I really want to do. 16 more days until I fly back home. I need to not only get some more money but figure out my time in getting back towards Lima as well. I’ll figure it out somehow.

(Photos above I took of Copacabana, Bolivia)

Once again, I need to clarify things using my memory because I failed to detail properly in my personal journal. I don’t really describe the true feelings I had on why the bus trip was interesting. The bus change wasn’t the interesting part, it was the part where we had to cross over a small body of water. I believe it may have even been a small outlet of Lake Titicaca and to get across we had to get off the bus, the bus would get ferried across, and all the passengers boarded a separate boat to catch the bus on the other side. It seemed like a really odd way to do it but I guess that’s the way things are done down there. Going through border patrol was a bit nerve racking due to the language barrier but thankfully no incidents or encounters with corrupt officials happened. I do recall Copacabana being a pleasant but very brief visit. It was a town right on the border of Lake Titicaca and had great views. It was a town that seemed to be designed perfectly for the location with all the buildings set so that there didn’t seemed to be a place without a view of the lake. That’s what made it desirable for me to want to stay a night there as it seemed like a place that really would cut loose at night while being engulfed in the pure beauty of the area. Hell, I can’t say that Barry Manilow was referring to this Copacabana, but I can’t say he was wasn’t either. If it was, I could see why he sang a song about it.

July 8th, 2007 12:28 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 21, 2019

The photos above I had taken when I took my tour on Lake Titicaca. The photos are of Island Uros an island on the lake. It’s not your usual island either as it is all man built by reed and it floats on the lake. There are some people that live on the island and it’s not very big but they find a way to maintain some sort of life out there. They use reed for just about everything on the island. They even had some fishing holes in the island which is how they would catch fish for food. It was an interesting sight to see for me. This was the first destination of two on the Lake Titicaca tour. The second was Island Tequile which was your typical island made of land. It was more of a small mountain and the tour group was served lunch at the top of the Island. The photos below were taken from Island Tequile. One is a view from a rooftop on top of the island and the other is a 25 year old version of myself on the rooftop of which the previous photo was taken.

I just happened to notice the time on the time stamp of the photos and it is clearly wrong. The date is right but for some reason the time was off. Not sure why, but the important thing is I was able to get some pictures to show to you. I also wanted to start off by filling in details that I didn’t mention in my journal. You would think I would have mentioned something about it but nope. I was a relatively piss poor journalist it seems. Thankfully, I have some photos to show for it. The tour overall wasn’t a bad experience but it made me think of an adult field trip in a way. You get herded together with your group while the guide explains things. Island Uros captivated my attention more as that was something unique seeing how it was all built with reeds and just floating out in the lake. Island Tequile was more of a hike up one side of the island, lunch at the top, and then the descent down the other side of the island to where we departed. It was about 2 hours from the port of Puno out to Island Tequile so it was a lengthy trip. I suppose being caught up in the moment made me fail to detail anything about it in my journal. Speaking of that, let’s get to it.

Well, I did bump into the girls on Island Tequile and we went out for some drinks tonight. I just got back into my room after around 20 minutes of searching for the hostel itself and about ten minutes fucking with the key to get myself back into the room. I think I’m gonna change my plans and head to La Paz with the girls. We are thinking about biking the “World’s Most Dangerous Road” it should be intense but nonetheless an experience. I played around a bit and for some reason began to act gay. I put on Kim’s white wool gloves and talked with a lisp. A few drinks in me and I can do some crazy stuff. They gave me a good compliment though and said I should be an actor. It’s funny cuz that’s one of the things I wanted to do when I was younger. I’m only 25 now so I guess anything is possible. Well gotta get up early to catch the bus so this is all for tonight.

Terra and I. This is was taken when I was acting like a fool. Notice the white gloves.

I really don’t know what drives me to do some of the shit I do. I think it’s strictly just for some attention or some sort of adulation. I’m for the most part a pretty quiet guy but if I sense I am entertaining even the slightest, my brain hits overdrive and I do what I can to keep whoever is entertained engaged. I play in a band and when I know people are into it, I play so much better I feel. I’m really not one for showmanship on the stage but I want it to sound good so I play like my life depends on it when I notice some bodies moving in the crowd. I recently had reached out to Terra to let her know what I was doing with this journal and to let her know that I had some pictures of us I’d like to post and to be sure she was ok with that. She sounded excited and stated that the trip to South America was one of her most favorite trips. She said she was interested in reading the blog too. I hope she does and I hope she, along with anyone else who reads it enjoys it as well. Oh, I want to touch base on something. I seem to have the worst sense of direction when I am somewhere new. If you read one of the previous entries I got lost trying to meet up with Terra and Kim to plan our trip to Puno. Yes, same thing happened after I left the bar that night. Thankfully, I found the hostel but I remember being panic stricken when it took forever to get into the room because the key was a piece of shit. It also could have been operator error as well because I was pretty loaded. It’s irrelevant now as I was able to get in obviously but I wasn’t impressed at the time. I stated I may change my plans and go to La Paz, Bolivia with Terra and Kim but to be honest I’m not sure what my original plan was. I think I may have had another night booked in Puno and all I did was cut that stay short. That wasn’t going to hurt my feelings much, plus Terra and Kim were good company.

For the Generous

Donations graciously accepted but not required.

$1.00

July 7th, 2007 5:50 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 20, 2019

Just arrived in Puno and am now at the hostel at which I am staying. I have heard through the grapevine that Puno is a shit hole. It’s too dark to see it with my own eyes but according to my nose it seems quite possible. It surely does smell like shit. I’m getting picked up at 6:40 A.M. to go tour the floating islands on Lake Titicaca. Should be interesting. I’m hoping I may bump into Terra and Kim on the docks, that would be cool. According to “Lonely Planet” most people aren’t satisfied with the tours on the islands. I hope that I may be able to find something special in it. I’m not one for tour guides anyways but maybe it will be good. The bus trip here wasn’t bad, a little bit chilly but not too bad. It is pretty cold here right now though as it is still dark. I can hear the roosters going crazy so hopefully the sun will come up soon and bring it’s warmth over the land. It’s funny how much of an impact of being with people can change one’s attitude. I was just skimming through this journal and I feel the complete opposite as before. I’m starting to love this journey. Part of my increased spirit is because I had received some money through an internet loan. The second was switching my lodging back to The Point hostel where it is very easy to meet people. The other hostel was just too isolated and lonely for me. I just looked out the window as the sun is starting to make it’s light and it looks and smells official that Puno is indeed a shit hole. Well, I think I may close my eyes for a short bit before I go on the island tour.

Well, reading back on that I’m sure that it is triggering for some people. My intention is not to offend anyone in regards to my sentiments on Puno, Peru. This was 12 years ago and Puno may not be the same as it was then. I’m also going to be honest with how I feel about things and if anything, I think you can respect my honesty. How else would you describe a place that literally smelled liked sewage and most of the buildings were dilapidated? I guess I could be less brazen and say it was stinky and unappealing. Please, let’s be real. 2007 was a much different time than it is today. Either way, I don’t know why I’m defending myself for sharing my personal thoughts from my journal from 12 years ago. So with that I’ll stop trying to. You have your own thoughts and hopefully thus far you don’t get the vibe I’m an asshole. I will now change topics and bring up the Point. The Point is actually a chain of hostels in Peru. As of 2007 they had 3 hostels in Peru. I ended up staying in all 3 of them. They had one in Barranco, one in Cuzco and one in… Well, I’ll let my journal tell you that as it’s a little further along in this crazy adventure and it also signals that the journey is getting near it’s end as it was the last hostel I stayed at before going back to fly home out of Lima.

July 6th, 2007 11:30 A.M.

Nathan Smith

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December 19, 2019

Well, booked a trip to Puno for tonight. I just hope the travel agent isn’t bullshitting me about the strike ending last night. If all goes well, I will be able to meet up with Terra and Kim. I’m looking forward to seeing new things and taking a lot more pictures than I have been. I feel guilty not taking a lot of them. It’s time to cut loos with it and stop being worried about my camera getting kifed. I haven’t had any problems thus far, knock on wood. As long as you pay attention to your stuff and remain aware I don’t think anyone is willing to attempt stealing. I’m just going to hang around today and maybe go into town and take some pics. I met a crew of cool Irish guys at this hostel. Justin, Kevin, Bernard, and Conor. There are 2 more but I don’t know their names. We all went out to dinner last night. I had some fantastic tenderloin tips. It was a bit of splurge but it was worth it. It truly is amazing how many people you can meet when you travel abroad. It’s been good.

I had a great time with those Irish dudes. I love the Irish truth be told. Very fun people to be around. I hung out with them in their room for awhile. We smoked a joint and they turned me on to a British t.v. show that night that forever stuck in my brain. It was fucking hysterical and we watched a couple of episodes together. I was saddened that we didn’t have it back home and thought that I’d never see it again. Thankfully, it wasn’t too long until Netflix started to stream tons of content. I happened to come across it on there one day. I couldn’t believe my eyes and a wave of nostalgia crept over me from this very moment in this hostel room in Cuzco, Peru with those guys. There it was, “Peepshow” a show that I thought I would never get to fully enjoy and it had all the seasons. I wasted no time in indulging into it and the humor still translated over. It is probably the funniest show I have ever seen. I even referred it to a good friend of mine who is a fan of British t.v. and he loved it as well. So, there you go. If you have never seen “Peepshow” give it a go. If it doesn’t make you laugh than I don’t know what will.

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