Two Wheeled Touring, and Some Thievery as Well

Sucre, Bolivia. A whole different world from La Paz. The streets are much less chaotic, the markets remained contained in the market places and do not spill out onto the sidewalks, and the buildings have an understated beauty that differs from the hodgepodge charm of La Paz. Spent the first day in town just exploring, and the evening cooking the first homemade meal I´ve had in a while (beef roast, zuchinni, green beans, and diced potatoes). Started the next day at 10am for a mountain bike tour of the surrounding countryside.

The area outside Sucre is beautiful, and after a grueling 45 minute climb out of town with dusty busses and choking exhaust fumes, we were suddenly surrounded by green rolling hills. The climb was finally rewarded with a 3k downhill, a switchbacked road that snaked it´s way down a mountain. (Granted, we then had to climb UP the 3k on the way back, but I´ll be honest and admit that I walked about half of it.) About halfway down the road there was an option to do a jaunt of single track or to continue down the road. Of the 5 in our group, only me and one other guy opted for the off road route, and I´m glad I did. It was about half a mile drop of arm jarring, loose rocks, almost skidding off a mountainside fun. At the bottom of the hill we came to a country club house, where we left the bikes and set off on foot. After an hour or so of scrambling over rocks and shimmying along teeny ledges (this hike would definitely not be sanctioned in the US), we arrived at a beautiful and deserted little waterfall. The pool the waterfall emptied into was about 20ft deep, and so we all partook in a little cliff jumping. After some uncomfortably technical climbing to be doing in a bikini, I stood staring over the edge of the rock at the water about 20ft below and listening to the guide reassure me that it is plenty deep to dive off, depsite the fact that it was opaque and I couldn´t see anything. Besides the mildly serious case of swimmers ear that plagued me the whole way back, it was awesome.

What was not so awesome is what happened the next morning. Wanting to get an early start, I headed out to find an ATM to pay for my hostel. Stopping at the first one I found, I inserted my card. After the transaction, I ended up getting an error message, no cash, and no card. What?? The ATM machine just ate my card. Called the service number, no help. They told me to go to the bank. Went to the bank when it opened, no help. They told me I wouldn´t get my card back until Wednesday. Decided to cancel it and have a new one mailed to my parents, who I´ll be seeing in just over two weeks when they come down to Ecuador. On my walk to the internet cafe, I saw a cop and a Brinks man standing by the ATM that ate my card. I walked up, and told them my situation. The Brinks man says "Oh, is this your card?" My hopes soar. I look at the card. My hopes plummet. No. I continue on to the internet cafe where I call my parents and initiate the cancellation. On a conference call with my bank, I ask if any charges have been made that morning. Yes. $1900 worth. WHAT! Apparently the ATM machine was a fraud, and the theives used it to steal my card and pin, and then proceded to make over 8 withdrawls in the next 2 hours, totally nearly $2000. I don´t know why the bank didn´t think that 8 withdrawls in 2 hours in Bolivia wasn´t suspicious behavior, but it was allowed. A fraud affadivit has been submitted. In 10 business days the money will be temporarily replaced in my account, pending the results of the investigation. After 45 days I get to find whether or not they have determined it to be true fraud, and therefore get to be refunded the money. Hopefully this happens...otherwise that is one horribly horribly expensive life lesson about Bolivian ATMs.