Hate to sound over dramatic, but it was indeed one of the worst nights of my life. We got to Uyuni after the 3 day tour of the lagunas and salt flats (and being stranded in the desert), and I jumped on the bus to La Paz. It was a 12 hour journey, no heating in the bus, over bumpy rocky roads for about 8 hours of it. The temperature outside was about 0 degrees. I was wearing my filthy clothes from sprawling in the salt and mud trying to dig up the jeep. Not to mention the state of me and my hair. I was an ugly ugly sight.
On the bus, I had a window seat, the window next to me rattled continuously from the bumpy road and would slide open gradually, letting in the icy air. Every 20 minutes or so I had to claw it shut with my nails (the panel was crooked and didn´t shut properly).
For the most of the night I held onto my legs and shivered, trying to keep as far away as possible from the window and cold air coming through it.
Worst still, there was no toilet on the bus, and no light either so I couldn´t read to distract myself. The bus was full to the brimm, there were people sitting and lying in the aisle. The seats themselves was cramped with about 20 cms of leg space.
So I didn´t sleep at all that night, although I would nod off at times, the cold or cramped spaces would wake me.
The last few hours were particularly miserable because it was coldest just before sunrise. I counted the minutes till we arrive La Paz, and when we did, I found the closest hostel with hot water and had my first hot shower in a week. Then I ate salteñas and slept. It was good sleep.
