Bolivia, La Paz

This entry covers 21 - 24 November

Day 1:

The entry into the city of La Paz is seriously impressive...located at the foot of a mountainous area the view from the 2nd level of the bus looking down on the city is something else...sadly there isn´t much more to write about this place other than it stinks to high heaven and is quite ugly. We had an absolute ripper of an evening with an Irish girl called Elbe who I met on the bus...celebrating her birthday with some friends in La Paz, the evening started in Loki Hostel and moved around the corner to their hostel which was hosting a pool evening. Some of Elbe´s guy friends negotiated a couple of free drinks for a rendition of the Full Monte on the bar counter. The joll got to a gallop in no time and after a pit stop in Ramjam, we made our way to this steamy underground pub called Route 34...I couldn`t help thinking I was in the cast of Human Traffic...a striking resemblance between the famous quote from this great movie....I got 70 quid in the back burner and I`m going to blow the lot...The bouncer kindly unlocked the door to a bustling street and very bright sunshine...needless to say the 22nd of November was a non-event for most who were on the joll.

Day 2: N/A

Day 3:

Theresa and I hit the walking tour of La Paz around midday which proved tougher than anticipated. At 3500m above sea level and certainly not flat, the walk was more of a trek through dirty streets with stray dogs sniffing each other for clues to where their next meal was coming from? We decided to buy some steamy matching sunnies in one of the local markets to hide our bloodshot eyes. The highlight of the tour was the witches market which sold everything from llama feuteses to potionts claiming to make you rich. We also decided to sign our lives away and booked onto the infamous `most dangerous road´ bicycle ride for the following day. This meant only a couple of drinks in the hostel before an somewhat early and nerve racking start in the morning.

Day 4:

The time had come to tackle the widely spoken about dangerous road...the bus picked us up around 7.30am for the 1 hour climb into the altiplano mountain range. After a couple of simple instructions we were set to go...the guide`s basic advise was that you`ll know everything you need to know after about 10 minutes on the bike...assuming you survive the first 10 minutes!

Some stats on the ride:
- drop in altitude: 4700m to 1100m
- distance: 60 km
- estimated time: 4 hours
- terrain: gravel roads wide enough for one vehicle at a time, 400 to 600m cliff faces

A slow and uncertain start quickly turned to aggressive angles and clenched teeth as the team flew down the gorge. We did stop every now and then where the road is considered really dodgy to prevent some adrenalin junkie from ramping into the abyss and on the whole it was a day filled with epic sights and tight corners. The only mishaps on route included a German girl careering into the gutter (on the non-dangerous side) and my chain snapped (luckily not on a corner as the wheels locked for an instant just before giving way). It was all over too quickly and we spent the afternoon taking it easy by the pool and in some place in the middle of nowhere. before an arduous 3 hour bus ride back to ¨reality¨. Without any interest in spending another day in La Paz, Theresa and I decided to try our luck in landing a bus ride to Uyuni which only heads that way 3 times a week and was fully booked that evening. We hung around in the reception until after the official departure time before being informed that there were 2 no-showers and we could jump on board....SUCCESS but only partial relief as the bus was making one pit stop to pick up some more passengers half way where we´d have to go through the same painful wait and see game for no-showers...fingers crossed at 2.30am hoping nobody takes `our` seats was almost as nerve racking as the most dangerous road...success...another bunch of no-showers. High 5`s all round (just Theresa and I) and we were safely secured on a 1st class bus ride to Uyuni. Being the poorest ecnonmy in South America means the country doesn´t exude the luxuries of asphalt highways and trying to sleep while being tossed around in your seat is near impossible...but we were on the bus and thats all that counted.

Lesson for the day: never dispair...it will always somehow work out!