Elegance Hotel La Paz

... the name. The government finally built another major road, so now it has very limited traffic and tour companies send travellers flying down it on bikes. So, being good travellers we decided to embark on the mission. Apparently 20 something people have died over the years when their bikes have gone over the edge, but after rafting down the Zambezi in Zimbabwe and jumping out of a plane in Namibia, I thought this would be a good one to add to the list of stupid ...

... together since Rio and Buenos Aires and we're the newies to the group, but they are all making a good effort to get to know us and tell us about their past adventures in South America. Our tour guide is Roland who is from Cusco, he is a really nice guy who is very keen to teach us all about the areas we are travelling and the local cultures.

So we spent a bit of the day walking around, but then found that altitude sickness is very ...

La Paz is big. Really. From above it looks like a high lake, perched among the mountains. Inside it looks less impressive, dirty but not too ugly. Narrow non-parallel streets, mostly steep, no big building, with sometime snowcapped mountains in the background.
Problem is, it's high. So between the altitude and the the pollution, you are out of breath very easily. And the street are ...

... will percolate exactly at the same time we would be putting our selves to sleep back home. In my own way I enjoyed La Paz, I needed more time to appreciate it, but the same can be said for every city we have been to. Bolivia is interesting, its diverse, its beautiful, and horrible at the same time at different places and at different times and I cant wait to come back.

... We are successful in getting a table (no small feat), but the action is on the dance floor, where we carve our a 20% share of the floor and cut some rug first-world style. Things go rapidly downhill when Aaron and Fraser introduce some of their finer moves including the work and of special note - the Alison sandwich. I donñt think I need to elaborate further, I just wish I had had my camera at the ready!!

Mongo´s ...

... I decided to stay my first night at the world's highest microbrewery! It's also a hostel, though rather overpriced, but it was good to try some nice beer and great to be back in a bustling city again. I must mention that on my arrival in the city it was dark and the bus didn't go to the main bus station for some reason. However, there were some police around who helped me with my stuff, asked me where I was going, hailed me a licensed cab and negotiated a cheap fare for ...

... to the ring to come to a friend´s aid against one nefarious cheater or another. We whistled and jeered as “El Cobarde” (The Coward) begged for mercy before jumping the valiant Yolanda from behind with an empty 2 litre Coke bottle. We rushed from our seats in panic as “El Hombre de Lobo” (The Wolfman) charged the crowd in a blood frenzy (we assumed, it was difficult to read his plasticky features).

All in all, a cool experience ...

... a 64km stretch of downhill mayhem. The first half is tarmac and the second section, narrow gravel is statistically considered the worlds most dangerous road. the reason being that it is only wide enough for 1 vehicle, with passing points. And because it is notorious for drunken local bus drivers and mad bolivians after staying awake all night, flying down it at ridiculous speeds and dropping off the sides. Oh and did I mention that it is a mountain pass dropping from 4800m to ...

... are plenty of little resorts along the way.

Then we settled down to the business of getting to Bolivia. After the excellent journey from Piura with ITSSA it was always going to be downhill. The ormeno bus was quite tatty, we had no pillows or blankets, the water in the loos didn't work and there was no toilet roll. We did get fed though, and the food was fine, but, wait for this, the journey took 7 hours longer than anticipated, a total of 31 hours. So while I ...

... was kind enough to pile our stuff on her frail looking donkeys and hike it in for us. I felt like kind of a sissy having a woman leading our stuff in. She wasn't carrying anything, but still, I felt kind of weird about it. Caroline didn´t feel any better, as she came down with some 24 hour bug that messed with her stomach and gave her enough fatigue to just want lay down on the trail instead of walk. We finally made it to our windswept ...