Where in the world is Sue???

It was quick through Bolivia and we went to find a collectivo to La Paz.  Easily done and an hour and a half later, we were in La Paz, dropped off near the black market.  This was nowhere near we wanted to be so it was another 20 minute walk towards the centre to find some accommodation.  We had met a Peruvian and an Argentinian by this stage and we set off to find some cheap accommodation.  It took us an hour and a half of walking (bad directions from locals) but we managed to add two more people we had met in Copacabana to our group.. We did find the cheap accommodation at 2 dollars a night, really nothing.

Our first day was spent wandering through the streets.  It is now rainy season in Bolivia so afternoons showers happen everyday.  We got soaked while looking for the witches market, again bad directions from the locals so we stopped for some lunch before trying again.  I don´t think that there is anything cultish about the witches market, they sell herbs and other things such as dried baby llamas and mules as offerings or remedies.  It pretty much rained all day so we headed to the coca museum to learn about the leaves we had been chewing on at altitude.  The history of the coca leaf is fascinating, and we were taken through its use as a recreational and pharmaceutical drug.  You will all be pleased to know that coca cola does not use the coca leaf in its soft drink anymore.  It is drug free.

Next day was our bike ride down the Death Road.  This road became famous when the US declared it the most dangerous road in the world due to the number of bus and car accidents.  It was an amazing ride.  The road was easily identifiable as horrendous for driving but the biking was awesome but fast.  There was no chance to stop for photos but our guides for the day took care of that and we were stopping every five minutes for pictures. 

My brakes broke on the bike, twice.  Pretty scary when you are hurtling downhill at a speed.  The guides fixed them and kept telling me "tranquile", who needs breaks anyway.  I slowed down after break failure, I had gotten a fright and wasn´t sure that they were completely fixed.  ´The last part of the ride was fantastic, it was off the Death Road and down towards the village where we were having lunch.  It was proper off road biking experience.  Lots of rocks, dips in the roads, sharp bends and by then  I had decided that my brakes were okay.  It was great, fast and I managed to stay on the bike at all times. Our biked back on the  bike, we headed to the hotel for a swim and shower before a buffet lunch which gave me a very bad stomach.

Next day, Jossie and I headed towards the Vallei De Luna.  It started raining just as we got out of the collectivo. Anyway, ponchos on, we slipped and slid our way through the mud.  This is a hillside maze of canyons and pinnacles and was fascinating.  We headed back to town but this time taking one of the local buses.  I held on for dear life as I was near the open door and the driving here can be interesting at times.

Adriana (Mexican) and I decided we were going to the Tiwanaka ruins the next day, so into a collectivo back towards the Peru border before we were dropped on the side of the road again.  A twenty minute walk later, we were at the ruins which pre-dates the Inca period.  Although they had been pretty much destroyed by the Spanish, there were still some monuments left and we thoroughly enjoyed our day.  Getting back to La Paz took some time, not only did we have to wait for our driver to fill the collective in a tiny town, but he then dropped us at the border of La Paz and we needed to find another collectivo to the centre.  He did give us some money back after some good arguing by Adriana.

I decided that my next stop was Cochabamba so I joined Rose in moving there.  We spent the morning shopping in La Paz, my backpack is bulging from a beautiful guitar case that I bought.  Not heavy but very bulky.