‘Long Way Up’ Recap: ‘Bolivia’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Long Way Up’.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked a lot about the nature of the road trip and its relationship to the AppleTV+ documentary series, Long Way Up, and there is good reason for that. Simply because this phenomenal show is in essence a dissection of this time honored tradition and it has done an incredible job of not only celebrating everything, we love about the road trip and why we crave them so, but it has also taken the time to remind us that sometimes they aren’t always a rosy experience. Since sadly, nature and the outright chaos that just permeates life, can make the road trip, difficult. And not shying away from that fact makes this series a refreshing one for certain and it just so happens that this particularly unfortunate aspect to the road trip is relevant to today’s discussion; since it is exactly what Ewan and Charley ran into, in this week’s leg of the journey.

For ‘Bolivia’ saw the lads dealing with some seriously tough terrain and other surprises as they made their way through the Bolivian landscape and that made for one intense tale at times. But before we dig too deeply into that, we need to take a moment and revisit the cliffhanger that came about during the last episode. Because the good news is, no one was hurt in that collision. Instead the Rivian took a beating and that’s great news since that is fixable. But once we got past that particularly relieving moment, the episode wasted no time in diving into the tough stuff. Because once Ewan and Charley hit the road again, all they ran into was treacherous landscape. For there was no pavement in this part of Bolivia, just dirt and tracks and grooves and soft earth beneath their wheels and that genuinely made for some dangerous riding. Because that created the potential for a nasty spill, and concerns over Charley’s past injuries; left both Ewan and the viewer worried about his overall safety. 

But thankfully, he was fine in the end, and only suffered a ding to the ribs from the one time his bike went down. But Dave’s Rivian? Well that’s a whole different story. Because the hand brake was toast on that particular truck and in the midst of a daily discussion, one where Dave stepped out of the truck for a moment; it rolled backwards and came to rest atop a nasty boulder. Which meant that everyone dropped what they were doing and pitched in to get the truck rolling again and boy did it need some major repairs after it was freed, and what’s truly incredible, is that the tough times didn’t end there. Because the team was basically driving/riding at 12,000-14,000 miles above sea level on a consistent basis, and eventually that can take its toll on someone’s health if they’re not used to breathing at high altitude. And at the end of this leg of the journey, poor Taylor was once again in need of oxygen and meds to function and even Ewan was starting to feel the impact of being this high up, to the point where the doctor checked in on him, as well. 

But while all of these elements made for one intense tale, the kind that surprisingly put you on the edge of your seat, there were still some bright moments to be found. After all, it was quite beautiful to see Ewan and Charley join UNICEF on one of their projects, where they are working to get the indigenous people of Bolivia a quality education. The kind that allows for them to learn their indigenous language while learning others, and this led to some heartwarming sequences where Ewan and Charley got to know the children and the families involved in this program, and it was just a treat to see this learning in action and how much this opportunity means to the children involved. And we were also able to enjoy the sheer majesty of this part of the world. For the Salt Flats were a breathtaking sight and truly, La Paz is a beautiful city, one that is rich in so much culture, and these are the things that make a rough ride worth one’s while when all is said and done.

Because we hit the road to learn about other places and experience everything they have to offer and being able to do that and take something away makes the moment that we run out of gas or get a flat seem insignificant for certain. But all of that aside, this was another incredible chapter in this outright fascinating journey. In large part because of the fact that Ewan and Charley and the team overcame some tough moments to reach this week’s destination and that takes guts when one considers what they were up against, and their struggle here, is one that just straight up inspires a viewer, period. Because it reminds people to never give up and push for your goals and that was an unexpected surprise to find in this particular tale. As was the fact that Ewan McGregor can play guitar and carry and tune and well… now that this leg of the journey is complete, all we can do is patiently wait for next Friday’s tale and all the wonder it is going to send our way. Until next time.  

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