Arriving in La Paz at the crack of dawn is a sight that will never be forgotten. It is set at 4,000m in a huge bowl like valley fringed with snow capped mountains and compacted with habitations verging on the vertical rim of the canyon. In the valley this city is bonkers, between the high risers the roads are filled with 1960´s US school style multi-coloured buses that struggle up the hills spluttering out toxic fumes. There are thousands of taxis and the traffic is relentless 24/7, you have to cover your mouth when walking around as the fumes as so bad. On every street there are venders selling everything imaginable and the walkways are constantly bustling with locals in their traditional attire.

With so much to take in just walking around the streets, we decided this was a good place to stay for a while and study Spanish. Before starting our course we checked into a hostel renowned for its party atmosphere. Here we met Don & Sophie from Oz and Bev, Ben and Lucy from New Zealand. Together we had a blow out wkend and sampled one of the local nightclubs, which much to my surprise was decent and played acceptable to good music.

The following week we checked into a nice hotel with our own bathroom and TV! Amazing how such things become such a luxury after a few months of travelling. And all for the price of 15pounds!! We studied from 10-12 and 2-4, then sat in cafes after for a couple of hours in order to do our homework. We would then go for dinner and get back to our hotel about 8 totally shattered with a fried brain. It was an intensive 5 days, but we loved it. To reward ourselves for our hard work we checked back to the party hostel (Loki) to reunite with our friends and sample another local club.

After this we planned to leave for the jungle but it was rainy season and flights had been cancelled all week, so we decided to get a refund on our flights and head for drier lands.