Got to see lots of local life in La Paz, Kass' girlfriend has a big family who are all lovely and we got to spend some time with! Keishea's (Kass' girlfriend) brother had a big party for a wedding anniversary which me and Sean were invited to as well, which was really fun…thank goodness for the Spanish lessons!! They were so unbelievably friendly and welcoming, and they made such an effort with their English - felt bad we couldn't make the same effort back, but it was so lovely to meet Keishea's family and friends, share some local drinks and listen to lots of Latino rock and metal! We even got taught a couple of Bolivian card games - which of course we got demolished at by the locals!

But of course, any great time in Bolivia is bound to be spoilt at some point by my useless digestive system…and I got sick again! Spent the whole night being sick into plastic bags and felt really weak and ill the next day, but was looked after really well at Kass' so, its better than being sick in a hostel! There is definitely a reason travellers call Bolivia 'bullemia' - a little crude perhaps, but you definitely spend a lot of time worshiping the porcelain god!

Still, its been great to spend time with Kass and Keishea as a couple, watching Kass and Sean getting excited over playing football, and seeing Kass at his work...as well as Sean absolutely idolising the 'local' dish of southern fried chicken and chips and banana!! Eventually I got well enough for us to venture outside of the city - to a small village called Tiwanaku - home to Bolivia's most impressive archeological site from Incan times. I'm glad we went before Machu Picchu as it would obviously be a bit disappointing after that, but what made it impressive was how old everything was - over three millennia. Only about 10% of the original Aymaran citadel has been excavated and included old crumbling temples and pyramids. There were some really interesting stone carvings and terracing, and it was nice to get a good first taste of the Indigenous past to Bolivia. The town itself was quite sweet - set, as always, in a spectacular setting, backed by both arid and snow-peaked mountains of the Cordillera Real. We arrived to the same festival that had moved on from Sucre, with fireworks and parades of people entering the local church to receive blessings (and confetti!). The view we got of La Paz on the trip back was incredible, right from the top of one of the steep sides of the valley bowl, looking down onto the sprawling city. It was that night that we dropped in with Kass on Keishea's family's party - and after a 6am finish (Bolivians love to socialize!) I was dragged out of bed at 9am to watch even more football…luckily I managed to sneak the tri-nations on one of the TVs to keep me company!

La Paz is a bit of a strange city - people had described it to us as being really dirty and crazily hectic…but I think they haven't been to Asia! Its pretty compact and has a beautiful setting, and it's a really nice place to chill out for a while when you know people around. Its not a 'destination' as such - there's not masses to do for a capital city, but there's enough around the city to keep the place interesting and its really nice to catch up with Kass and see his second home! Although his second home is basically the bar - and we have spent a lot of time there! But its nice, as we have met so many people - and people with interesting stories. Had a good chat with a Londoner who has been motorbiking from Canada down to south America for 20 months, and he had some great stories to share. Interrupted by a hilarious Australian who makes everyone he meets sign his 'porn name book' (the whole 'first pet name followed by mothers maiden name thing')! A strange keepsake from your journeys but very funny to look through!

Unfortunately, one of the things I really wanted to see in La Paz didn't happen - a visit to San Pedro Prison. At the moment it is shut off to tourists, and so you cannot get inside, but we have met so many people, even in Asia, who have some insane stories to tell about the place. Still, I managed to find the book on the infamous prison, 'Marching Powder' in Kass' book shop, about Thomas McFadden, the British drug-smuggler who lived inside. It's quite a fascinating set-up, and one that you feel could only happen in Bolivia. Basically, it's a prison run by the prisoners - but not somewhere you particularly want to end up. Everything is corrupt…and everything costs, you even have to pay an entrance fee to become a prisoner (as if you have a choice?!) and then have to buy your own 'cell'. Its split into sections, and some areas are 5 stars, with prisoners buying their own apartments, with kitchens, TVs, bathrooms - right down to what you'd imagine a Latin American prison to be like - the poor sectors where 5-10 prisoners share a tiny hole. Its insane when you think about it - the prisoners families live inside with them, it has restaurants, shops, and more importantly to the guys on the inside - its where a lot of Bolivia's cocaine production takes place! Instead of smuggling drugs into prison, they're selling it out from prison. Its seems so crazy - and its literally a massive building right in the centre of town - no guards, no security cameras, nothing to even make you realize it's a prison. The more money you have as a prisoner, the better lifestyle you can live inside. The book is about Thomas, who ran regular drug routes out of Bolivia, but was set up by a corrupt official who he had paid off to help him…he became famous as he started a business running tours around the prison for gringos like us who wanted to get inside and see what it was like. The conditions are unreal - when first convicted you are starved unless you can pay for food, until you can actually afford to buy your way into prison. I guess its like a mini micro-community, or at least a micro-economy, of Bolivia itself - everything is corrupt, everything costs…although from what I have read, it sounds more democratic on the inside than it is on the outside! All I can say is…only in Bolivia!

Kass and Keishea took us on Sunday down town - every Sunday, the main Prado road gets closed off, and lots of stalls, live music, the jazz festival and education stands get set up for local families. Its amazing, like in Chile, and I'd assume all over South America, how much community there is, and how much effort people put into family life. It was great - tons for kids (road safety bike tracks, first aid advice…ice cream!!) and lots of live music with the local dances. Like Argentina, there is a typical dance from each region, and children learn theirs in school, so it was great to see some of the local youth performing on stage in the sunshine. Me and Sean walked around town a bit more, visiting Calle Jaen, the only street left in La Paz that actually looks how it used to - cobbled streets and beautiful houses, similar to how Potosi and some of the historical cities look in Bolivia. There really are some amazing buildings - its just one of those really awful ironies that so many people still live in poverty.

We then went to a football match, to watch the two local teams, La Paz and Strongest battle it out. Kass is a Strongest fan (despite the fact that his girlfriends family are all supporters of the best team in La Paz, Bolivar) but we stuck with Kass and rooted for Strongest…who actually won a match for once, 3-2! The standard of football was pretty shocking (I've never seen so many dives in my life, and one player got stretchered off 3 times, only to walk straight back on again!), but the atmosphere was good, as, surprisingly, was the stadium, and it was good to see the locals out and getting passionate. There was lots of drumming and Spanish chants going round…and for less than 2 pounds a ticket you can't complain!A great day, topped off by a fancy dress party at the bar for Grahem, a friend we met, birthday. No need to say anymore, the pictures will tell the rest of the story!

An early start the next day led me and Sean upto 4640m altitude to begin our 3345m descent mountain biking the World's Most Dangerous Road. There is now a new, slightly safer route for cars, as the road had that many deaths a year, its pretty much now only for cyclists and anyone else insane enough to want to go down it. Needless to say, I had the required nightmares before of me falling off the edge…It was a fantastic, if expensive day, but well worth it. The whole package was amazing - free breakfast, t-shirt and CDs and the guides were really good fun, but not a patch on the equipment - the bikes were incredible, had front and rear suspension and made what could have been a painful ride relatively pain-free! Our group was fun - we were with about 8 other people who were on a tour of south America (in a tour group) and ironically had been at Kass' bar dressing up with us the night before, so it meant everyone was really sociable and up for a laugh…some English, some Irish and the usual sprinkling of Australians! The start was near Wyuni Potosi, in the snow-studded peaks, and the views over the course of the ride were absolutely incredible! We dropped 3345m in just 64km , one heavy downhill mountain bike ride! The first 20km were so fast as the road was tarmac, so despite the fact that it was steep, winding and very narrow, you could literally just let gravity take you! The 'death road' itself was built by prisoners and links La Paz with the jungle in the Yunga Valleys below. It had the most deaths per year, most notoriously a truck with 100 people went off the edge, because it is too thin for more than one vehicle and the nutter drivers here just love to overtake…not so smart with vertical drops either side of you…but now a slightly less intimidating road has been built (still as steep, but wider and mainly tarmac) which we took back to La Paz the next day. Riding it was just how you imagine - scary, ridiculously thin, only gravel and sand, with sheer 700m drops to the side of you…you end up with pretty sore arms from clenching onto the brakes pretty permanently! At first I took it really slow, but I steadily got more confident and sped up. As long as your sensible, it just turns out to be an awesome bike ride, but I can see how easily people go over the edge. You're half having an amazing time, loving the adrenaline, speed and not least the INCREDIBLE views, but the other half of you is thinking…why?! There is kind of a morbid fascination with putting yourself through the insanity. Its not just vehicles that have gone over the edge, but even with the tours, we have heard of many biking deaths. Just last week a tour guide died stepping back too far to take a picture, and we heard about 4 Italian girls 6 months ago who followed the same line, taking a corner too wide and dropped 700m over the edge. As sick as it sounds, its that thrill and risk that you pay for, it wouldn't quite be the same if it wasn't the 'death road'!

By the time we reached the Yunga Valleys, the contrast to La Paz was incredible - tropical valleys with jungle plants and animals, it was so warm and relaxing, it was incredible. After our lunch and a dip in the pool, me and Sean decided we couldn't leave just left, and whilst the rest of them packed back off upto La Paz, we took a local bus to Coroico for the night. Coroico is a beautiful place, a small town built on the mountain side looking over the absolutely stunning Yunga Valleys. The climate was amazing, and it was so nice to sit back and relax after a hectic ride. Where we stayed was like paradise - a room with a balcony that looked over the whole valley. I sat and read for hours and just didn't want to leave! The whole relaxed atmosphere was just amazing. Still, leave we must, and we took a local bus back to La Paz the next day. To be honest, the road back up was almost as scary as the bike ride down, with the speed the local drivers take it, but we landed in La Paz only to meet up with the same group of guys we cycled with at Kass', so it was nice to catch up and share scary stories…there were a few times my bike slipped on a rock on the gravel and I thought, if that had been the wrong way on a corner, that could be it! Still, we made it, back up at a safe old altitude of 3600 and back to city life in La Paz!

Got a couple more days in La Paz left to explore and catch up with some Spanish lessons before Daniel comes out...really excited to see him and head into Peru. Will update again soon! xxx