Well that was odd, although not really

Sat at the hostel bar for a few hours on my own, starting about 6:30, my feelings of loserishness mitigated eventually by the sweet brown liquor. Then suddenly started meeting people, including oddly enough the Dutch owner of the Sol y Luna bar I saw in my guide book, although I haven't been there yet. Odd to find him down a competing bar. :-) One guy was very helpful in helping me plan out my onward trip to Lake Titicaca. Also met an Israeli guy (possibly my first ever) who showed me some very cool photos of live volcanoes in Guatemala.

Logic suggests I must have started behaving differently after a few beers, but it felt like it was just happening rather than me doing anything. This is hardly unprecedented, the same thing has happened in London, most notably down at the Eat & Drink, on occasion, and the hostel is practically an English-speaking outpost in the middle of La Paz so there are no language issues. But still, I am gratified.

Amazing what a difference that sort of thing makes. Before I got chatting to people I was continually dithering about having another beer and maybe being hungover or sick, afterwards I not only didn't care so much but felt more sober as well.

Perhaps against my better judgement I went out with a big group when the bar shut at 1am, as I was having too good a time to want to stop even if I was decidedly on the periphery of the groups involved. Ended up having a very decent chat with a couple of chaps (one from Northampton, the other from Dublin) from the hostel I hadn't met at the hostel bar down at (I believe) Mongo's and the three of us mutually agreed to ditch the night out and come back at about 2:30. Was cool to find I wasn't the only one who felt like that, I could have stayed out but it wasn't particularly great.

Feel pretty sober right now actually, I was vaguely careful despite all the above, due to the altitude and the fact that I only slept a couple of hours last night. Anyway, to bed.

PS Score! The beds here have a sort of quilt on instead of blankets. That's a welcome change after six weeks or so...

PPS You need to wear a wristband to gain admission to the hostel, although I can't say I noticed them checking when we came back tonight. Feels slightly odd to be sleeping in the thing, but no big deal.