Bolivian Madness

So we had booked our 3 day tour to Uyuni from San Pedro. We found a company ´Pamela Tours´recommended in Lonely ´Líar´Planet, and the price seemed reasonable so we booked it. Big mistake! We were taken to the Bolivian border where we were to meet our driver and the 4x4 jeep that would be our mode of transport for the next three days.

As we arrived at the border we saw a lots of jeeps waiting. We parked next to a lovely red one, the driver was just polishing the sides, and we prayed this was our jeep. Then we looked to the other side and saw a battered old grey one, 2 bald tyres at the front and a 15 year old for a driver. And you can guess which one we got. We reluctantly got in but not without first kicking up a fuss about the tyres. We were assured that they would be changed when we got to our first accommodation.

The driver couldn´t speak any English, but luckily there was a french couple in our group who could speak Spanish. The next 3 days were like a rollercoaster - we had the best time visiting the beautiful lakes (with lots of flamingos!), and of course the salt flats - but it was also probably the scariest 3 days so far. We´d heard lots of horror stories about drivers getting drunk and falling asleep at the wheel which worried us (even though our driver probably wasn´t even old enough to drink!), and to make things worse Carnival was on during those days, which is basically just a massive piss up. Plus the whole bald tyres issue was always on our minds. The driver did change one of them the first day, but then the next day we got a puncture, so he had to put the bald one back on! Also, Rob managed to pick up a bout of diarrhoea, so that made things fun.


The second night we stayed in a salt hotel, which was really cool, although Lucy did find a beetle in her bed as she was getting in and refused to sleep in it, so we both had to squeeze into Rob´s single bed. When we arrived at this hotel, the owner was already pissed (it was about 5pm) and all the staff spent the night getting wasted celebrating Carnival. They had only one song - Jamelia, Superstar that they played over and over... The next morning we had to leave a 5am to make sunrise at the salt flats, and the hotel owner was still stumbling around, bloodshot eyes, stinking of booze, mumbling to himself. We had all taken showers, for which we were supposed to pay 5 bolivianos each, but because he was so pissed we told him we hadn´t actually taken showers and he believed us. Mug!

The town of Uyuni at the end of the trip was a bit of a dump, so we just stayed one night before we planned to go to Sucre. We booked our bus tickets with a company called 'Diana Tours' - 2nd big mistake! We must learn not to book tickets through companies named after women... The bus was supposed to take us to Potosi first (7 hours) and then on to Sucre (3 more hours). After 7 hours on a very bumpy road on a shitty, decrepid bus designed for 20 people, but carrying around 45, and with Rob still suffering in the toilet department (God bless Imodium), and a kid puking up behind us, we arrived at Potosi. Everyone got off the bus except us. Then the driver decided that he didn't fancy driving to Sucre and told us to get off and find our own way there. After we protested in broken Spanish that we had paid the fare to Sucre, he agreed to find us another bus. We found one that was leaving in 5 minutes, and we had to get on with all of our luggage on our laps. In the confusion, Rob left his guitar that he had bought in Buenos Aires on the 1st bus. Bastards. Anyway, if you come to Bolivia do not book anything with Diana Tours!!

We were completely shattered when we finally arrived in Sucre, and had just about had enough of Bolivia, when our knight in shining armour appeared - La Dolce Vita hostel in Sucre. This place was by far the best place we stayed in Bolivia (maybe even the whole trip so far). The room was huge, and the showers fantastic (after 4/5 days of cold, shite showers that was a godsend), and the icing on the cake was the amazing breakfasts they prepared for us which cost only 2 quid! Eggs, bacon, toast, yoghurt, fruit salad, coffee and fresh orange juice. Danny Chapman take note! Sucre was a lovely city, very pretty, much nicer than Uyuni and we were sad to go when we left for La Paz.

In La Paz we stayed in a brewery. Seriously. The hostel brewed their own beer and everyone got a free beer each night, and it wasn't bad! Rob became a stout drinker. The hostel was fun, organising fun things to do each night (we won the quiz night!), and we also made a trip to the highest curry house in the world, although the chicken tikka masala wasn't a patch on the Green Spice. We were a bit wary in La Paz, although we had no trouble whatsoever. Even so, we didn't flash the camera about in public. We visited the witches market, and although we were tempted by the llama foetuses, we thought we might have a few problems getting through customs. We also visited the site of Tiwanaku, which is apparently much more important archaeologically than any of the Inca sites, but no-one's really heard about it. Lucy wanted to do the bike ride down the world's most dangerous road, but Rob was too chicken. Fact. We also wanted to pay a visit to San Pedro prison, where you can enter and visit the prisoners who apparently govern themselves, but after talking to people in our hostel, we heard that they weren't letting people in at that time for some reason.

From La Paz we travelled to Copacabana which is on the border with Peru and is also on the shore of Lake Titicaca, which we'd heard is the highest navigable lake in the world, but in fact that's just a myth. We booked a boat tour to see the Isla del Sol, and after climbing the steps to the top of the island, we realised that we are both incredibly unfit and that we should really be worried about the Inca Trail, which was due to start in exactly 5 days. Oh dear.

See some of our Bolivia photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=220215&id=629140108&l=b85e011b5c