EHT Sopocachi Apart Hotel La Paz

... Verder is er in Bolivia een yoyó rage. Dit jongetje probeert zijn eerste trucjes aan de rand van de straat.


Morgen gaan Kyra en Ninka naar de jungle en sluiten wij ons aan bij de fietsgroep. We hebben er allemaal veel zin in, maar we hebben het te leuk om afscheid te willen nemen. Dus vanavond nog een potje klaverjassen.... één duo wil graag revenge.

Hasta luago

... 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 ...

... and sniffed it, at which point I started laughing, but then they started opening all the zips in the bag, and we knew the money belt with all our usd, sterling etc was in there. lucky for us there are so many zips he didn't get round to the inside one, also, that they were a bit thick, it wasn't a systematic search it was 2 blokes taking a last opportunity to scam a couple of gringos. not this time matey.

Having said that, it was the first time anyone had tried ...

... kind of parade going on, not sure if it was a demonstration or friendly parade but it seemed pretty calm, lots of music and colourful banners, and a lot of police / army guys... anyway, we looked around the cathedral and then followed the parade down the hill... when they all turned off, we continued and there were more fiestas going on, I think something to do with freedom - although we werent really sure. Lots of stall, music ...

... then the roads - as there arn´t many just dirt tracks with whopping pot holes in them.....good fun in a bus after it´s been raining !!

Not much to do in La Paz apart from re-pack our bags oh and buy a hammock which i ( Charlotte) wanted. I now have to cart it about in my rucksack for another week before returning to the US and shipping it back. It was a Bargin at 9 pounds.

... some thicker coats for the Salt Flats tour which everyone said was the coldest place this side of Antarctica. We went from place to place trying all our negotiating tactics and finally found a jacket big enough for Leon (XXXL) for about $15 and a semi-stylish one for me for about the same. We saved about $10 in the end from where we started at our first shop and it took the better part of a couple of hours but it was hugely ...

... pointed out, 'if you make a mistake, you will die.' Nothing like being direct. Unfortunately, Ang did take one for the team and wiped pretty **********e point, mainly due to another group not following the rules, and had to have some roadside repairs done to nasty gashes on her shins and a wicked graze on her thigh.

It was amazing though and after a shower and a beer at the bottom, in a beautiful animal sanctuary, we felt great having ...

... it was a gastroinitis infection. Dont know how i picked it up but im over worst of it now thank god. On the Thursday we spent the day looking at the witches market where local women sell their goods and some even sell baby llama feotises that are meant to bring good luck which they bury in front of their houses!! Disgusting!! We ended up buying a hammock for home as they are really cheap here and we love lazing about on hammocks so why not ...

... again the day before departure. I hate cutting it fine, but some days it just cannot be helped.

We have met our new group, our only Englishman Ian, is a bike expert and has that great British wit and sarcasm, humor is almost a pre-requisite on an expedition.

We have a couple from Perth, Australia our newlyweds, Enricco and Tania who will be going two up on the one bike, they have a great sense of excitement and ...

... and offering a t-shirt to anyone who could eat it. Made with 30 chillies, a small sample convinced me that you would need no taste buds to ingest this dish!

So Saturday morning we left La Paz - regrettably I still never made the road of death trip to Coroico, even though most of the (dangerous) traffic has been re-routed to a newer safer road. Onwards to Copacabana now with my new passport, and the beginning of our encounter with Inca archaeology...