Pre-intermediate Unit 5 DVD Script
MP = Michael Palin W = Woman
MP: Twice a week, a railway service leaves Arica for the Bolivian capital, La Paz. This is going to take forever. Do you want a hand? Can I help? It’s just … it’s only two of you to do all this. It’s going to take two hours. OK. I’ve rarely felt quite as embarrassed at travelling with 45 cases.
Some passengers are local, some have come from countries far away. None have come quite as far as the train itself. We’re to cross the Andes on a rail bus built for the branch lines of Munich 30 years ago.
From the world’s tiniest galley, two of our three- man Bolivian crew produce the first of several hot dinners.
Three and a half hours after leaving the Pacific, we’re at 10,000 feet and still climbing. Where the air is thin and simple things suddenly become difficult.
MP: How are you feeling?
W: Terrible! Terrible!
MP: Is it the altitude?
W: It’s the air, it gives you the headache … nausea … and er … it’s hard to breathe. You start to wheeze.
MP: Six and a half hours and a few llamas after leaving Arica, we’ve reached the Bolivian border. We’re entering the poorest country in South America. Is it the journey of a lifetime?
W: It’s the journey of everyone’s dreams.
MP: A few hours later, the lights of La Paz twinkle below us. As you can see, we’ve got a right of way problem here. Um … this is the railway line and this is the road and er … our conductor is trying to get people to clear out of the way. That’s it! They’ve cleared them out so we can go on. Getting to La Paz is not easy.
To our enormous relief the lights are still on at La Paz station, when our heroic vehicle finally pulls in. We’ve crossed the Andes at 16.4 miles an hour.
PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2011 Pearson Longman
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