We drove straight to Oruro, relishing the return to paved road once we got to the Altiplano.  In Oruro, we went to the bus terminal plaza and had a surprisingly good lunch at a restaurant called El Fogon.  After lunch, we headed north toward La Paz, pulling into El Alto around 3:45. We went to the Sunday feria to buy some travel bags for the samples.  I found 3 good bags for 75B’s (at 6.65/$).  I also got a Bolivian flag for 8 B’s. One highlight of the late afternoon occurred when my toiletry kit bag which I had hung on the mirror, pulled the mirror off the wall with a resounding crash that sent glass everywhere.  The hotel staff kindly cleaned it up.

We drove down the long grade to the Hotel España where we met Peter DeCelles, Nadine McQueary, and Andrew Leier, from the U. of Arizona, as planned.  We went out to dinner at Mongo’s where we met John Pelletier and Jason Barnes, also from the U. of A.

Mongo’s is the geologist/climber bar in La Paz.  It was started by a geologist and has a large geological map of Bolivia on the wall.  I spent most of the time talking with Pete, Nadine, and Andrew.  They are very interested in the Sierras Subandinas.

Afterward, we hiked up to the Café de la Ciudad for a nightcap.  I talked with John about geomorphology for most of the time there.  We headed back to the hotel around 11:30 and hit the sack.