15th - 18th May - La Paz

Caught another local bus at 10am for our trip to La Paz. Our group occupied the first half of the bus with others at the rear. Locals were alowed on the bus to try to sell us food, papers or whatever. Most exited before we set off but some stayed on until we reached the terminal gates where the driver stopped to pick up more passengers to fill the aisles. When the bus stopped at a checkpoint 8 women jumped on with trays of cooked food or drinks trying to sell us some of thier wares. Most of them managed to get off before we headed off again but 3 of them were stuck on, one of them had very smelly chicken. They eventually got off when the bus stopped 20km down the road. They were not very happy when they got off, not having sold anything but would most likely have picked up another bus in the other direction back to their stalls. The route was very steep and scenic over the mountains. The bus driver didn´t stop at all until Maren had Zaida request a toilet stop at around 1pm. He gave us 5 minutes for us all to use the 3 toilets available. Fran who has been sick for weeks was last back and the bus driver started to move off without her until Asher got up and made him stop. It was a very tough bus ride but luckily we did not feel the effects of the altitude this time having gone through it previously.
Around 4pm we hit a road blockade simillar to the one at Iguaçu Falls. But this time the driver decided to go overland. We followed small dirt tracks not meant for big buses. We passed other buses and trucks doing the same thing. We had one hairy moment when we got to a small hill but the conductor guided the driver in the right direction and we made it back to the road after about 30 min. We finally arrived in La Paz at night. La Paz is in a creater so we had a spectacular view of all the city lights as we drove in. When we arrived at the terminal we were advised to be on our guard as there are many thieves about. We transferred to a smaller bus, having our luggage put under the bus in the luggage compartment. We were just about to leave when the driver spotted someone taking one of the backpacks from the luggage hold. The guide chased them and they ended up dropping it and running. Luckily it was Simon's bag as he has a 95litre backpack which is very heavy. If it had have been mine or David's they would have had no trouble running with it. So after that bit of excitement they made sure they locked the luggage compartment and we set off up the very steep and crowded streets and made it safely to our hotel.

16th Spent the day wandering the streets looking at the witches markets and the tourist- artisan markets with Donna. The witches markets sell all sorts of potions and dead animals for luck, health and other things. We bought a jumper with llamas knitted into the pattern, a couple of benies, a small chess set where the white side is the Incas and the black side are the Spanish. We also walked passed San Francisco church and to some local markets where I managed to buy some more sun glasses as I managed to break the arm off the pair I had to buy in Canada.
Finished the day having our farewell dinner and Frans birthday at an asian restaraunt. The food was very ordinary but the company was excellent. Not sure why GAP tour leaders continue to take us to foreign restaraunts where the food is vastly inferior to the local cuisine.

17th We woke at 6am for a quick breakfast and were escorted to the tour office (too unsafe to walk the streets by ourselves at that time of the morning) of Downhill madness mountain biking. David and I along with Sandy, Asher, Max, Charles, Gui, Vicky, Maren and Laura had all signed on to ride the death road, one of the most dangerous roads in the world. We were fitted out with padded pants, a vest, full face helmet, and full finger gloves.

We set off with 7 others in 2 mini busses, through La Paz and out into the country side. There was heaps of traffic on the road as it was a carnival day and many people were heading into La Paz and to other towns around for the festivities. After an hours drive we disembarked from the vans and were matched up with our bikes. The bikes were top of the range Rocky Mountain soft tail bikes from BC. The suspension and the seats were excellent. The journey started at La Cumbre 4700m and we decended on the main road in single file spaced about a bus length apart. After a couple of kms we stopped and were put into a slow medium and fast groups. David and I were in the fast group so were toward the front. We had to pass quite a few trucks that had to travel very slowly on the very steep road. The scenery was amazing, massive mountains similar to the rockys in Canada. We had to stop and dismount to pass the checkpoint and then pay 24 Bol for the ride down the death road. At every stop we were given very detailed instructions on the conditions we were going to face in the section of the road we were riding on and how to ride defensively and safely. Once we were on the first part of the death road the decent was around 500m on gravel and dirt with very steep drop offs and narrow sections and tight corners. We had to be carful of the gravel and to stay on the tracks so as not to loose control. At one point the guy travelling down behind me lost control fell off onto the track and his bike went over the cliff. Luckily it was caught in a tree and they were able to retrieve it and he only had a few grazes. We passed a few points where many cars, buses and trucks had been lost over the edge. One corner had 70 vehicles lost over the edge. The whole of the ride down was awsome, scenery from top to bottom excellent and some of the best we have seen on a bike.We finished up with a beer at a little shop at the bottomand then off to Yolosa where we went to a hotel for lunch and a shower. The view from this hotel were excellent as well.Then a 3 and a half hour drive back to La Paz. David was in one van that drove back via the death road, (much more scary in a van in the dark than on the bike) and Cat in the second van that drove back via the new road. Even though it is relatively new it is in very bad condition due to rock falls etc. Arrived back at around 9pm to pick up our t-shirts and CD, very tired but exhillarated as well. We had to walk back to our hotel through a street procession. There were many bands and dance/marching groups dressed in colourful costumes.The parade started in the morning with locals standing and sitting in temporary grand stands along the street. It was an amazing spectacle. The locals had been drinking all day so a few were quite drunk. We made it safely back to our hotel.

18th We finally met our new tour leader who had been held up in Lima after having lost his mobile and camera. We then set out into the streets again to find that there were still street parades going on.One of the ladies from this troupe gave me a little hat as she was walking past.It was very hot during the day and they were drinking and having fun. Spent a few hours updating the blog and uploading photos onto flickr.

13th - 14th May - Cochabamba

Our nightbus was the worst so far. There was no toilets on the bus and there were a group of locals camped up the back of the bus behind the last seats as well as in the aisles. We were seated toward the back of the bus and Sarah in the last seat had someone stroking her hair during the night. We started out on very winding bitumen roads but after our last stop at around 12am the road became dirt-gravel and it was very difficult to sleep on the very hilly, twisting roads. It was a slow journey and we arrived at 7am in Cochabamba.

13th We had a sleep for a couple of hours. We headed out for a walk around the dirty city. The footpaths were very uneven and broken and it was very easy to trip. We had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the hotel. The meals were huge and very reasonable in price. After lunch we walked to the lake which looked like a dodgy area so we left there pretty quickly and headed for the markets.The markets were huge, full of things for locals including traditional dresses, bowler hats, cattle heads and intestines, live produce that looked sick. We wound our way through the stalls and eventually found our way back out into the open air and headed back to the hotel. As we had lunch so late we did not end up going out to dinner but finished off our Pisco with Gui and Vicky.

14th David went for a run with Asher for 40min. They ran up and around a hill where they had a good view of the city.We went back to the same restaurant as yesterday for a huge breakfast. We then set out to find David a pair of shoes to replace an old pair he had brought. We ended up finding some at a shop by the main square. In the afternoon we took a city tour on an open topped double decker bus. There was both Spanish and English commentary so we were able to find out alot about Cochabamba and had a very enjoyable time. Finished the night having dinner with Gui and Vicky at Dumbos. Walked back to the hotel via some more market stalls and tried unsuccessfully to find some fruit for the bus journey the next day.

10th - 12th May - Sucre, Bolivia

10th Departed Potosi at 10am on a local bus. It was not as bad as we were expecting seats were quite comfortable. The road was good quality bitumen the whole way, which was a pleasant surprise after the last week of travelling on dirt-gravel roads. The scenery was spectacular, at one point we stopped off to take some pictures of a suspension bridge. We eventually made it to Sucre and were met by the local operator who gave us a huge selection of activities to do over the next 2 days. We had lunch-dinner at a small restaurant around the corner with Gui, Vicky, Fran and Sandy, a 3 course set menu for 30 Bolivianos ($4.00) and the food was very good.

11th Today we set off on a walk to see some rock paintings and an Inca trail. We set off with Gui, Vicky and our guide in a mini bus to the start of the hike a couple of Km outside Sucre. We drove through a large agricultural market that is held once a year over a week. There were donkeys, cattle, llamas and other live stock everywhere. It was very colourful and interesting. We also had to stop at a police checkpoint where they have a piece of rope strung across the road to stop at. When the toll has been paid they lower the rope for the trucks and cars to pass. The hike itself was tough as we were hiking at altitude of over 3,000m.We walked down to the first of the rock paintings where there was a man in traditional dress waiting to let us in as they have been fenced off.We then had to walk back up which was the hard part, and down again to the second larger rock paintings. The next part of the hike was a long walk back to the van where we took a short ride to the start of the Inca trail. This was a steep down hill walk which took its toll on David's knees. All up the walks took around 6-7hrs. On the way back into town we passed some dinosaur foot prints so the driver stopped for us to take some pictures. We finished the day very tired but happy.

12th Today was our big mountain biking day. Asher, Charles, Gui, Vicky, David and Catriona all headed off to the tour place at 9.15 to be fitted out with our bikes, helmets and gloves. Freddy, the guide headed off and we followed him through the busy traffic filled streets of Sucre. I (Cat) had trouble keeping up, as did Charles. We eventually caught up as we headed out of the city centre. Gui and Vicky where no where to be seen but they had our guide from the previous day with them. We headed in the same direction as our trip the previous day had taken us, out past the airport up hill and past the markets. I had trouble with my bike being too big as it had an extension on the post for the handle bars. Luckily for me Asher swapped bikes with me and I was able to ride a little better. Just after the markets we took a left turn and were out into the country side. We stopped at an excellent viewpoint for lunch,then it was off again on the trail heading back into town past many farms etc. We passed a boy and girl in school uniform in the middle of nowhere so David stopped and gave them both a pencil with Koalas and Kangaroos on them. We had problems with our bikes with gears slipping etc for most of the ride On the way home Ashers chain broke and Freddy did not have a chain breaker with him, so he swapped bikes with Asher and coasted down hills and David pushed him along the flats an small uphills until we reached the outskirts of Sucre where he was able to borrow a pair of pliers to fix the chain. It was a slow uphill ride back to the shop where we arrived exhausted..We found out later that the guy with Gui and Vicky had no idea where he was going and they ended up at the police check point before turning back. They ended up just riding back the same way they had come. Vicky's chain had also broken on the ride and their ¨guide¨ also didn't have a chain breaker so they had to push the bike back. A complete disappointment for them. We arrived back at around 2.30pm so we had time to explore the city. We stopped by the Cathedral, the Library and also the local produce markets. The fruit and vegetable displays were extremely colourful. Ended the day an early dinner and then the night bus ride to Cochabamba.

8th - 9th May Potosi

6 hour bus journey over very rough road. Our first chicken bus minus the chickens as it had been hired just for us.
Many places they were doing road works and it was only single lane with a sharp drop over the edge. Passed many little mud huts, some still in use others in ruin, also many llama heards. We stopped for lunch in a tiny village. The toilets were putrid, no flush. You had to get a scoop of water to do a manual flush. We arrived in Potosi around 4pm. Very steep, narrow roads. The city is situated on the sides of a few hills. It is the highest city of it's size in the world at 4000m above sea level. We were feeling the effects once again, the slight dizzyness and breathlessness. Went out to dinner together to a very nice restaurant. David and I both had a traditional Bolivian dish of meat, chicken, sausage, onion, egg, pepper and gravy over a bed of fried potato. A huge meal all for the princely sum of 32 Bolivianos less than $5 each. We ended up taking a doggy bag and finishing it off for lunch the next day.

9th Breakfast in the hotel included eggs, muesli and yoghurt, juice, tea or coffee and bread with meat and cheese. After a satisfying breakfast we set off with Gui, Vicky and Tanja to explore the City centre. Walked through the markets, similar to the one in Uyuni with cow parts etc. Walked down the boulevard which is full of shops. We also browsed through craft markets where Catriona purchased some little people earings, some long knitted socks, an alpaca scarf/shawl and a drink bottle holder, David purchased the brightest backpack (with typical South American designs) in the markets. All this for under 300 Bolivianos. Visited the main square and a large church where mass was being said. Have taken lots of photos of this pretty, colonial city. Spent the afternoon updating the blog and wandering the streets again. Dinner for Sarah's 23rd birthday at another nice restaurant.

5th - 7th May Salar Uyuni

We slept in today as we were to leave at 8am and woke at 7.05am. Quick breakfast, shower and pack and were ready with 5 minutes to spare even though Cat had left her shoes outside the room overnight and they had gone walkabout. Jumped into a van to take us to the Bolivian boarder. Our first stop was the Chilean boarder where we had troubles as our driver tried to queue jump. We eventually had our passports stamped for our exit but Laura had lost her visa (They are only peices of paper given to you as you enter the country and very easy to misplace). We were held up for about 30 minutes until the guard decided to let her through. Next we had a 30 minute ride to the freezing bolivian boarder. It was just a small hut in the middle of nowhere with no toilet facilities other than to squat behind a wreak of an old bus. No troubles here once we filled out our immigration forms. We transferred our bags to 4 Toyota Landcruisers which were our transport for the next 3 days. Zaida, Donna, Tanja, Catriona and David shared one of the landcruisers. All roads are dirt, some in better condition than others. We drove past huge mountains and volcanoes. Our first stop was the Laguna Verde or Green Lagoon. Amazing colours due to the copper content, looked similar in colour to a glacial lake. We stopped for lunch at a little place near a hot spring.

Cat went in but David decided to give it a miss. Lunch was cucumber, tomato, cabbage, onion, meat and bread. They even provided sweet rice cakes for Cat. A few of the group started to feel the effects of the altitude with dizzyness and headache. We had reached 5000m but dropped back down to 4800. After lunch we stopped off at some geysers,
stopped to take pictures of an active volcano and at another stop to take pictures of some llamas. We arrived at our overnight accommodation at 4pm. We were right in front of Laguna colorado, a red lake due to alge and plankton. Gui, David and Cat went for a walk to a viewpoint over the lake. The colours were remarkable and well worth the exhausting walk. We saw a flock of pink and white flamingos. David was feeling the altitude and did not feel well on the walk back, we took it very easy and slowly. Pasta bolegnese for dinner tonight. Catriona had some rice spaghetti with her and was able to eat as well. Headed to bed early as the solar powered lights went out at 8pm. Before bed David went out to have a look into the sky. The stars were amazing, very clear and bright as there were no lights from the settlement to obscure the view. Everyone had a really bad nights sleep. David had a headache, trouble breathing and sleeping and woke in the morning with diarrhea. Catriona also had a headache and nausea. Both of us didn't sleep much. Most people said it was a night where they wondered what they were doing here and wanted to go home.
6th Couldn't stomach breakfast and David took 2 Immodium for the trip. Spent the day criss crossing the desert tracks viewing rock fromations(the tree stones),
lakes (laguna onda) to view more flamingos. We also passed many llamas,
sheep, vicuña. The scenery was always amazing. We stopped for lunch overlooking the blue lagoon.
David gave them our can opener to open the tins of tuna. They were amazed by it, showing it to one another and were very grateful. One of the drivers came up and shook Davids hand and said "Muchos Gracias Amigos". Catriona still not feeling well so had small amount of rice and a couple of panadol. Our night stop was San Juan village where we were able to have showers and shared a room with 6 others. Dinner was Chicken, chips and rice and everyone was feeling much better as they had aclimatised to the altitude. 3 kids from the village came and put on a show for us.
The older boy played the pan pipes and the two girls danced. Very cute. Early to bed again as solar powered lights out early.
7th Everyone had a much better sleep and feeling good. Today we crossed the salt flats of Uyuni. Our first stop was Isla Incahuasi, an island in the middle of the salt flats. It is a coral island and covered in cacti. We had an 1 1/2 hours to explore the island before setting off over the salt flats, stopping in the middle of nowhere to take some photos.
Wilma, our cook found a hole in the salt, where from the water just below the surface she dug out some of the salt crystals. The shapes were amazing. Lunch was at the salt hotel, amazing. We then headed to see the process of salt mining and production at a little local operator. There were a few stalls of handcrafts where we bought a beanie each and a man and lady bolivian finger puppet. Last stop was the locomotive graveyard just outside Uyuni. We arrived in Uyuni in the early afternoon, checked into our hotel and set out to see the town.
Walked through the markets where we saw a steers head on the ground and pieces of the steer hanging up. Many little stalls selling everything from safety pins to traditional clothing to hair dye. We passed a funeral procession for a small child. The little white coffin was being pushed along in a makeshift trolley and many women and children followed along behind carying flowers. We headed back towards our hotel, stopping to buy a llama finger puppet along the way. (Guess what the llama is saying) We decided to have an easy dinner at the pizza restaurant in the hotel. They made a nachos with some pizza toppings for Catriona. Showered and early to bed again as they only had one channel in Spanish on the TV.

3rd - 4th May San Pedro de Atacama

Spent most of the 3rd on the night bus. We passed through very mountainous desert, with little or no vegitation. We were able to get off and stretch our legs at a couple of major bus terminals along the route. We arrived in San Pedro at 3pm, found our hostel, had showers and set off to explore the tiny town, full of young backpackers. We visited the main square and the very old church where we were able to take a few photos. All the buildings were adobe (made from mud and sticks). We went out to dinner for Laura's 26th birthday at the Adobe bar and after dinner went for drinks at a small bar, where we played drinking games.

4th Today we walked around the town visiting the old church again for a photo of the outside, the cemetary where there were many small graves, the futbol field and around the outside of the town where we saw the irrigation channels, some in use others not. In the afternoon we did a tour of the Valle del La Luna (Moon Valley) we saw the three Marias which were rock formations, Death Valley- Nothing lives there due to the acidity of the soil, and finally to view sunset over the Andes. Zaida brought up some red wine and chocolates for us to farewell Chile. Everyone had a great time. We ended the day having dinner at a little restaurant with Gui and Vicky.