Hi everyone.

We are at Uyuni now, on the Altiplano in Bolivia. The height above sea level is around 3800m, and its pretty cold. Not to mention hot water is a rarity in showers.

We got back from a 3 day tour yesterday, where we saw a salt flat 12000 square kilometres in size. Also we saw a volcano with smoke coming out, some flamingoes, and a hotel made of salt.

It was freezing out there- colder than here even, all the lakes are iced over, and the guides had to run the cars during the night to keep the engine blocks warm. The second night out there, there were no hot showers, so we skipped that, and slept under about 40 kilos of blankets together in a single bed. Luckily the first stop in the morning was a thermal spring, where we thawed out (and got a little cleaner).

Bolivia has not been kind to Dave, and he has had a pain in his chest and had trouble eating. Some pills for indigestion from the chemist have made a big difference. Tonight we catch an overnight bus to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. We have elected to get a tourist bus, meaning its a better bus and doesn{t stop all the time, the locals generally wouldn{t use it.

We{ve had 2 bus rides in Bolivia so far. The first was from Samaipata to Sucre, where we spent the whole night behind a lady with a sick baby that crapped itself and cried all night. She was also travelliung with her husband, who of course didn{t have the seat next to her, instead sat on a milk crate in the aisle. In the morning, the floor was littered with dirty nappies.

The second bus we{ve taken was from Sucre to Uyuni. We were told to be there at 8am, bus was to leave at 8.30. Well the bus didn{t show up until 8.45, and took 45 min to get going. They loaded the bus by lowering the luggage from the top floor of the terminal using a frayed rope. The first bag got dropped and nearly hit someone. We loaded our own bags. One of the pieces of luggage was a fully assembled office desk. It was also lowered in the same fashion.

At the moment, we{re just killing time until our bus goes- in 3 hours. Trying to stay inside and warm.

We have just heard that there has been a crash out on the salt flats and 10 people have been killed. Needless to say we are fine.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314892,00.html

Until next time, BJ and Dave