The Big Trip

Right, it´s been a while since I´ve updated this so I´m going for the photo option rather than text!

Or first stop in Southern Bolivia was Potosi, claimed to be the highest city in the world and the site of Cerro Rico - the ´rich mountain´. Silver was discovered here in 1550 and promptly shipped back to Spain ... Potosi in it´s heyday was larger than both London and Paris. Now it´s a pretty colonial town and the mountain is mainly mined for tin, I declined the offer of a tour to go down there but the boys braved it.

Potosi miners at work

Next stop, Uyuni and the largest salt flats in the world. They weren´t lying, there´s a lot of salt! The area used to part of a giant lake, when this dried up it left behind around 4,000 square miles of salt.

A very bad optical illusion ...

We spent a couple of very cold days and nights around the salt flats and out in the Bolivian wilderness, the second night we slept in what can only be described as a shed - we were all in bed at 8pm as the holes in the windows were blowing a gale and we only had one candle between six. Had a great time though!

Probably the coldest I´ve ever been ...

Next stop, Northern Argentina and into Brazil.

After a few days in small towns, La Paz is a real assault on the senses - really busy and really loud with markets spilling out into the streets. Liked it though! We stayed pretty close to the Witches Market where you can pick up any potion or, should you need luck, a dead lllama foetus to bury under your doorstep. Pretty grim to look at, especially after a night on the cerveza.

Not a huge amount to do in and around La Paz apart from the mountain bike trip to ´Death Road´- apparently it is actually the world´s most dangerous road as a few buses have been known to go over. They´ve built a new road in the past few years though which means you only see the occasional car and a shed load of mountain bikers now. The road drops about 3600m over 64km with a tiny bit of uphill (hurts at 4000m though!) - the first bit was excellent as it´s paved and you can get a real speed up! The major bit is unpaved though and this is where it starts to really hurt the arms and the butt, I braked and swore pretty much most of the way down ... I stayed as close to the mountain as I could, wasn´t going anywhere near the edge as the drops were huge!

Us at the edge ...

Seems that everyone gets ill at some point during a trip to Bolivia and our group didn´t escape either - it kicked in the day before ´Death Road´... Rich made it through the day but was pretty sick on the uphill bit. Aww! All in all a good day though, we all made it down safely.

We needed a break from the cold nights in La Paz so booked a trip to Bolivia´s part of the Amazon. The 15-seater plane gave me a bit of a fright as the turbulence over the Andes gets quite bad ... 40 minutes later though we were landing on a grass runway in the jungle and it was hot hot hot, get in! We spent the next three days cruising up the river in the world´s most uncomfortable canoe - also turned out we were travelling with the host of Australian Big Brother ... a very nice lady, her face was a picture though when she found out about the 8-man dorms!

Loads of animals on the route, alligators, anacondas and pink river dolphins - we even to got to fish for piranhas and eat them that evening, not a lot of meat on those bad boys though! The mossies were also out in full force and I copped 96 bites at the last count. Winner was Sarah with 106, good on ya girl!

Travelling: a hard life!

After a couple of mountain free days and lots of basking in the heat, we headed back to La Paz before venturing further south.

Puno was our last destination in Peru before we crossed the border into Bolivia. We stopped briefly on the Uros Islands, on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, to have a gawp at the locals who live on man-made islands made from layers and layers of reeds.

They began living their floating lives to escape the Incas hundreds of years ago - sadly it now looks as though they stay there mainly for the benefit of us tourists. Apparently, if you have an argument or really dislike your neighbour it´s pretty easy to saw your island in half and float somewhere else to get rid, good ´ey!

Boarded the bus over to Copacabana in Bolivia the next day in time to experience Independendence Day celebrations - good fun but an absolutely manic place, two days was well enough! We joined in the local celebrations and hiked up the side of the mountain where they take minature objects to the top to be blessed and then sprayed with local beer (not sure why!) ... the search for the perfect photo led us around the side of the mountain where Keith promptly managed to stand in human poo. Cue lots of gagging ... gave us the perfect excuse to head back down and get the sympathy beers in!

A look back in disugust at the crime scene!

We planned our escape to Isla del Sol, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, and supposed birthplace of the Incas. Absolutely stunning views of snow-capped mountains and Lake Titicaca ... we had an excellent view from possibly the worst hostel we´ve stayed in so far!

View from window made up for the skanky room!

Killer steps to hostel - note to self, leave big bags back on mainland

Everything shuts down at approximately 9pm on the Island, so after a loooong nights sleep we took the bumpiest boat back to shore and jumped on the bus marked La Paz.