Another Continent Off the List

Annnnd I'm in South America. The flights were long but actually went by rather quickly. I slept almost the whole way to Newark, hopped off and immediately on to another flight where I watched a couple movies, had a quick nap and arrived in Lima, where I had a questionable plate of spaghetti and my first Pisco Sour, a local drink made of tequila, rum, lime, and egg white. At least those are the ingredients I recognized him pour in, there could have been others. 

I landed in La Paz at 3am, and immediately noticed the effects of the altitude. The airport is above 4000m, and it starts to hit you before you're out of the plane. I was noticeably lightheaded, and my heart was beating fast from just walking into the terminal. Fortunately downtown La Paz, where my hostel is, is around 3400m, so all I'm feeling right now is a slight headache.

I arrived at my hostel around 4am, the street deserted. The entrance was a giant, locked wooden door. The taxi driver buzzed the intercom for me, and an unknown voice told me to open the door. I pushed the heavy door and stepped inside, closing it behind me. I was in a giant stone room with a faint light coming from a room high above. It felt like being in an old spooky cathedral, something out of a horror movie. I dug out my flashlight to look around just as the hostel worker opened a door above and beckoned me up a set of stone stairs. I checked in and went to sleep in a room right off the main road, completely ignoring the loud vehicles passing by below.

And here I am, just finishing a rudimentary breakfast, ready to explore La Paz.