Free fall of 4000m

After a light and cold breakfast on the top floor of the hotel I leave to find the car (yesterday I probably found all parking lots, estacionamientos, around the hotel as they were all full). It's still there and I manage to get it out of the tight parking lot and to maneuver it to the hotel. The streets are completely empty on Sunday morning so there is no rush to pack the car.
The way out of Oruro is nice (highway level) and slightly climbing till it gets steeper and higher. Every 100 m there's a dog sitting at the side of the road. It still makes me wonder how they survive at these altitudes where there is basically nothing. The “summit” of the road is at 4500m! The views on the mountain chains are fabulous as the weather is good. It is amazing how people seem to be able to survive at the conditions here – freezing at night and decently cool during the day.
We kill some 2000 m to Cochabamba where we drive to the plaza to check if Mrs. Sakurai's cousin is at her shop (Cosmos pharmacy). By look I see someone slipping in so we knock on the metal curtains. We leave Mrs. Sakurai and Aya with the cousin and split up to meet again in an hour. Mr. Sakurai goes to the market with his son, and I take the girls for a stroll and an ice-cream around the plaza. At exactly 15.30h we meet again and depart for Villa Tunari which should be close now.
However, it's an uphill drive a first (to 2700m) where we meet the clouds again and we dive into the jungle as we know it from the book. At the same time the road gets really bad again. The traffic is heavy especially with heavy trucks crawling up or downhill. Additional delay is caused by trucks that have broken down and are being left right where they stopped working. There are also two accidents where trucks have slided off the road or simply tipped over and left their load on heaps. And finally it is getting dark which makes the drive even harder as the visibility in general and in the dust specifically is not the best. We need to descent another 2000m to our destination at 300m over sea. At some point the breaks start to fail on the car because they overheat and for some time we use second gear to slow down.
Eventually we pass the gate of Villa Tunari. There are more hotels and restaurants than I remembered from two years ago. We check out two or three but they are on the expensive side and not all really that great, so I suggest to go to El Puente which is outside but in the middle of the jungle. The place is deserted as all guests had left to go back to work on Monday and there is no problem getting a cabin.
We make a quick drive back to the village for dinner (as I feel hungry again) before we hit the sack in a surrounding of those sounds of wilderness.