For those of you who had talked to me while I was in La Paz, or for those of you who have read my blog steadily, you know that the main reason why I loved La Paz so much really had nothing to do with the city itself... it had to do with the hostel I was staying in.
After I got back from the Death Road trip Monday night, the plan was to leave that night for a Salt Flats tour. A few new friends I had met were going to try and get me booked with them for the trip, but when I returned from biking, they told me that the bus had sold out and that I wouldn’t be able to join them.
I was both upset and thrilled at the same time. Upset because if I didn’t go with these friends, I would have to go by myself to the salt flats and would have to (hopefully) meet some new, fun people. Thrilled because I’d have at least one more night to
go out and one more day to say goodbye to the people I’d enjoyed so much over the past couple of weeks.
Tuesday morning, I woke up and went to the travel agency to see when I could catch the next bus to Uyuni for a salt flat tour. Apparently they book up way in advance and I couldn’t get on one that night either. I’d have to wait until Wednesday night.
And so began my last 2 days at Loki. I knew I would be leaving for certain Wednesday night at 9pm and that I would not be coming back again.
For most people, this is how a day goes in Loki: you wake up between 10am and 1pm, you force down some food from the bar (either breakfast or lunch depending on when you’ve rolled out of bed), you shower, you play some pool (or in my case, watch pool), watch a movie in the movie room, or play poker, you possibly take a nap, you eat dinner and start drinking, you drink at the massive Loki bar with everyone from 8pm - 1am when it closes, you pile into a cab and go out to a club or bar, you come home between 5am and 8am, and then go to bed. I tended to stay on the earlier side of things. Up until my last 24 hours in La Paz, I hadn’t once woken up after 10am or gone to bed after 3am.
That being said, I knew my last day had to be on par with my peers’ but I also wanted to feel like I had accomplished some things I had neglected all week. So that afternoon, I did all of the things that I had wanted to do in La Paz but hadn’t done yet. I grabbed a friend and went out to buy random stuff that I’d wanted and had been too lazy to get: a pair of converse trainers, string so I could make bracelets when I was bored, super glue, more socks, a pair of cheap earrings to replace the 2 pairs I had lost already, and nail polish so I could feel like a girl again. Within 3 hours, I had everything and had spent something like $60.
I got home around 6pm and realized I’d missed my opportunity to take a nap. I went to the bar and watched some pool as I drank a coke, and inquired about the evening’s plans. As usual, everyone said how tired they were and that they weren’t going out tonight.
“But it’s my last night! For real this time! And I can’t come back again!”
A few people promised that they would try and make it out. I decided that to kill some time, I’d make a bracelet for each of the brothers, Phil and Pete, who had been at Loki with me both the first and the second time I was there. (As an aside about how Loki can be a total time-suck, Phil and Pete had been at the hostel for so long that their tab was beyond high. Their bank wouldn’t let them take out enough money at one time to pay their tab and therefore they were forced to stay even longer, thus making their bill higher, and were going to start bartending the day after I left.) Neither one of them wore bracelets, unlike almost every other backpacker in South America, so I decided they needed one from me.
A few hours later, I was finished with the bracelets and everyone was in the bar starting to party. I joined them all for a few drinks and after a few drinking games and some poker, the Loki bar closed. Phil, Pete, and I went next door to another hostel’s bar to visit the bar manager who used to be a bartender at Loki. We were there until closing and stayed while the bar staff cleaned up, counted money, and put the stools up on the tables.
At around 3am, we all got into cabs to go to a club. The first club we got to was closed. The second club we got to was already on last call and wouldn’t let us in. The last ditch effort was a smaller club that was also already on last call, but the hostel bar manager convinced the door guy to let us in for closing. We all had our one beer before the music was turned off and the lights were turned on, and we reluctantly left.
Really bummed out because we had just spent money on a cab to drive us around but not having found a place to go, we left and went back to Loki where we thought we’d go up to the staff room to see who was awake and who wanted to hang out. As it turned out, all of the Loki staff had also tried to go out but found that everything was closed, just as we had.
So, on my last night at my favorite hostel, we sat on a wood floor, shot the shit and gossiped about whatever came up. Finally at 5:30am, people started to get up and leave the room and I knew I should do the same. I said good night to my Loki staff friends and went down two flights to my room. When I got into my room, I was careful to be really quiet as to not wake up my 7 roommates, slowly climbed up the bunk bed stairs, and went to get into bed. But wait, what is this? Oh, super, two naked people in my bed!
“Um, hi... you’re in my bed?”
" mumbling in Hebrew that I didn't understand"
Was I to make a scene? Start yelling and demand that the two naked people leave my bed so I could lay in it? Gross, no. Instead I climbed back down and went into Phil and Pete’s room. I yell-whispered to Pete and when he popped his head over his bed, I told him what had happened.
“There’s an extra bed in the staff room.”
“Seriously??”
“Yes.” He disappeared back onto his bed.
So, I went back up the the third floor, knocked on the door, and when Ryan the bartender opened the door I asked him if I could crash there due to two naked people being in my bed. After everyone in the staff room laughed, I was given the clean, extra bed in the room, and finally fell asleep around 6am.
The next afternoon when I woke up and went downstairs, the two naked people were gone along with the clothes of mine that had been on the foot of the bed. I spent an hour dealing with that before I could shower, pack my big backpack, and get online to post the Death Ride blog post.
Once I was done with all of that, it was nearly 6pm and I started making my rounds. I said goodbye to all of the friends I’d met at the pool table, the bartenders/new roommates, the front desk staff, Phil, Pete, and all of the other people I’d met while staying there. A huge part of me didn’t want to leave, but then I decided it’s better to be the one who leaves than to be the one who’s left.
8pm arrived and I gave one last hug and got into my cab. It was a sad ride to the bus station, but I knew that some time soon, I’d meet new, awesome friends to replace my Loki ones, and besides, I’m going to see Phil and Pete in SE Asia :)
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