Ritz Apart Hotel La Paz

... la Luna is an extraordinary place. I don't know what the moon's surface looks like, but the Valle de la Luna definitely resembles it. My Bolivian guide tells me that there used to be a lake here, which is quite hard to believe as it's incredibly hot and dry. I cover my head with a pullover to protect it from the sun. If would be much easier if I had a hat, but I forget to take it from the hotel and now I just have ...

... afternoon and one day in La Paz. Spent most of it walking around. Went to a really cool park up on a hill (over 4,000 meters = 13,000+ feet) overlooking the city.

The city is HUGE! Over 1.6 million people and in a deep valley. And the air pollution is horrible! No need to smoke =) Old school buses bleching out smoke and the few private cars are usually old (20+ years). If ...

... tour operators and 2 cafeīs we finally managed to acquire a ticket on the tourist bus to Uyuni, for ease of use mainly, and because I donīt think either of us are ready for the chicken 13hr slog with no toilet just yet.. maybe on the return trip...

We spent most of yesterday wandering through dusty streets full of millions of stalls trying to track down the snack sellers that service the hungry bellies of the Andean masses. In a bid to discover how they all manage ...

... after and the main figure in the Independence of South America from Spain. He did not achieve his dream of a united Spanish speaking South America but had a good go.

There were more protests in the main street again today, they seem to be daily events for one party or another.

... down the valley is the better area of town where the climate is more moderated and thereīs more oxygen in the air. We have stayed mainly around the top of the valley and there is definitely a lot of vitality and authenticity up here. We will probably walk down the valley to see whatīs down there before we head off in the next day or so.

Still expanding those food boundaries - this time with llama ham. Yum - South America has so many cute and yummy animals

... We made our noodles, then watched Snakes on a Plane; I`d seen it before but it`s still funny. Brilliantly once the film had finished I started to feel okay, and then we went to bed because we were pretty exhausted.

August 18: More Medical Fun
Didn`t really do much today. We had to pack up our stuff to check out, and locked it away downstairs in the luggage room. The two receptionists were in the office next to our dorm and were sad that I was going; they`d taken quite a ...

... there was quite a bit of fog once we hit the dirt road, meaning that we couldn’t see the full extent of the sheer cliffs on the left of the road - but then perhaps we were fortunate otherwise we would have been too preoccupied with the views instead of the road! Everyone in our group made it safely to Coroico, and we enjoyed a good lunch before heading back to La Paz on the new, paved section of the world’s most dangerous road.

... burnt hole in the back of his jacket and all the stuffing coming out (nice puffa jacket ha ha). The wires had actually burnt right through it..thank gawd it was cold or that could've been his skin.

During the meal that night Phil took on a shade of grey and didn't want to eat anymore (that's when I know he's ill!) so we left the others to do the dishes and I shipped him home (I use that term lightly). The poor thing started shivering dramatically and got ...