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answered, 'but maybe when you want to come back, you could do so by river.'

Karl sketched a map on a notebook he had in his pack. He charted rivers, mountains, villages, towns, and mining camps. We were impressed by his knowledge. Kevin seemed satisfied but wanted to see a published map of the region. Karl promised to get one for him.

'OK, I'm in,' Kevin declared. 'I'll tell my parents that I'll be home for Christmas instead.'

'I'm going too,' I said, though I had never doubted that I would.

'I wanted to do some more travelling with Annick,' Marcus said regretfully, 'but I guess this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm with you too.'

Only Itzik held back.

Karl smiled at the lot of us, and we arranged to meet him that evening at the Rosario. Marcus left to find Annick, and Kevin, Itzik, and I walked back from the square. On a side street we found an ice-cream vendor. A small cone cost five bolivianos; a large cone, seven. I ordered large cones for us all.

We looked around for a place to sit and chose the steps of a nearby shop, only to discover it was the entrance to a coffin maker. There were boxes of every description, including one covered in blue vinyl and trimmed with gold buttons, and another sized for a baby. We sat on the steps and licked our ice cream.