La Paz is known as a party city in Bolivia so I knew I wanted to get here to celebrate my birthday but I had a little mishap...
Mishap:
I didn't want to spend my birthday riding the 12 hour bus so I opted for the 50 minute flight. I hadn't known there there two airports in Sucre on the map so when I asked the taxi driver to take me to the airport I just assumed that there was only one. When he stopped for gas, I checked my map to see how much further I was and it turned out we were going the opposite way, to the international airport. My ticket said 'Sucre Airport' so I told him to go to the other airport even though he insisted that he was going the right way. I kept arguing that the one he was taking me to was the international one and I was only flying domestic to La Paz. So he made a u-turn and when we go to the Sucre Airport, it turned out to only be a military airport and the international one was the only one that actually flew commercial aircrafts. But by this time it was already too late to catch my flight since it was going to be another 50 minutes to help back down. However, I just bit the bullet and headed to the airport since I didn't have any other options. I was just going to have to buy another ticket. The next one was leaving in about 5 hours for about $65 so not the end of the world. The good part was that the bathrooms in the airport were the best I've seen in Bolivia, with marble counters, clean toilets, had toilet paper, didn't charge a fee, and automatic faucets (I know what a wild birthday). Now we're back on track and heading to La Laz!
Dinner
When I arrived and was heading into town, I got a view of the entire city since the airport was much higher in altitude. I was finally ready to celebrate my birthday. I went to Wild Rover Hostel, a well known hostel chain in Bolivia and Peru for a great time. I met my friends Alex and Doug there and went for a nice dinner. We went to a French restaurant that was so cheap for what we paid for but more expensive than I would spend on a meal. We shared a duck pate appetizer and a bottle of red wine. I ordered a delicious duck entree and everything was only about $17 USD. Insane!! A meal like that back home would have been like $80.
Party Time
Wild Rover throws a massive party in their bar every night then they head to a club. There were sooo many people in the bar by the time we got ready. The music was going and lights were on and people were drinking so the night was on full swing. I got drinks bought from both Doug and Alex and the bartender gave me 4 shots for free. I had to get on the bar, dance a bit and drink my shots as people sang me Happy Birthday.
By 2am, we were all at a decent level and since the bar was closing we headed out to this famous bar in La Paz but it was closed that weekend for some reason. So we headed to the club that the rest of the hostel was at - Glamp. I browned in and out the rest of the night so I can't retell exactly what I did BUT I do remember having a good time then trying to head to the famous bar again but of course it was closed. Funnily enough we went to Club Plan B and stayed there for awhile until we were all too tired. We left Doug with a girl though and it made sense at the time to leave him there, which of course wasn't because he didn't have his phone or any idea how to get back. But I swear we saw him dancing with a girl and didn't want to disturb.
Overall it was a really good night and couldn't have asked for a better 23 birthday! TY La Paz & Bolivia!
