Merry Christmas to all. It is Christmas Day here in La Paz, and surprisingly quite a few shops are open. A group of us went out for a big English breakfast - more a brunch which should see us over until we head out for our Christmas dinner tonight.

La Paz is a crazy, bustling city with markets on what seems most sidewalks. It is apparently normally like this, but with Christmas even more markets have been set up and some roads closed to traffic. It is crazy and nuts but good to be around. Just need to be careful of belongings.

We set off from Puno to head to the border. And yes, the night before as promised I did try Guinea Pig. 4 of us ordered one to share, along with other meals which was a good thing because there wasn't much meat on him. We each took a leg and that was about the most meat. The skin tasted like chicken but the meat had quite a strong flavour. Poor Kylie couldn't do it. She took one bite and gave up. I think I ate the most. Although, when Mick pointed out the tooth in the mouth and said it could make a good toothpick, I almost gave up!

Anyway, at the border no problems exiting the Peru side, but on the Bolivian side one of our group had a few problems due to a Chinese and UK passport. After having to return to the Peru side and pay a $20 bribe for another stamp and then back to Bolivia, her wallet was another $200 lighter but at least she was in.

In La Paz we were taken on an orientation walk but was difficult due to the numbers of people on the street. A group of us went out for dinner and had a lovely meal. It was Kylie's last night with us as her tour was finishing and she was headed to Central America the next day.

Aoife and I met up the next morning to head to the post office as we have heard it is cheap here to send stuff home. We were worried about the opening times since it was Christmas but it was going to be open till 8pm that night. Aoife sent her stuff but I decided I would try and do some shopping that arvo and send it all home. We were booked on a City Tour with a few others and off we headed for that. It was really interesting. Told history of the city, taken to a gold museum with some beautiful pieces and down to the main square. Bolivia has one of the most unstable governments in the world. They change government something like every 7 months or so, although the current one has been in for a while.

We were driven thru some of the rich parts of the city - some nice houses there - and out to the Valley of the Moon which is a part of the city that has all these unusual rock formations due to rain erosion. Back into the city and to the Witches Market. Here they sell things like llama foetus that people buy to put under their houses when they are building them for good luck. I bought some little ornaments that all have different meanings for good luck - health, travel, intelligence, love, etc etc.

Didn't really find anything else to buy so headed down to the post office with Nikki and Mark. Mark and I had our parcels wrapped up at the post office and then took them to the counter. I wanted to send mine cheaply by sea mail but because it was under 2kgs I was told to go to upstairs. So I did and found out I had to send it by air which was around 450 Bolivianos (US$1=7 bolivianos). Too expensive for me. Just as we were leaving, I said to Nikki 'Do you think it is worth it, to go back downstairs and beg the guy', so we did. 'Por favor, senor, es Navidad.....' Basically we put on our begging faces and begged away and he eventually let me do it. That only cost 196 Bolivianos. Much cheaper.

So yesterday a group of us headed off to cycle 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Road' - 65kms in total. It was named this by the IMF about 20 years ago due to the amount of deaths on the road. Basically it is one lane and traffic could go both ways. Being the crazy drivers South Americans are, quite a few would come around a curve and drive off the 600m cliff. Lots of crosses dot the way.

First we were taken to the office to be outfitted properly, which included knee and elbow guards, helmet, gloves, rain jacket and orange vest. Served a lovely breakfast and then about an hours drive to the beginning. After being shown how the brakes and gears worked we headed off for the first 18kms which was down the new tar road with trucks and buses in the rain while clouds all around. We even had to overtake a truck but we had 2 guides on bikes with us and 2 support vans, all with radios. Felt quite safe.

Then arrived at this village where we had to pay a 'contribution' to riding down the Death Road. Back in the van for the uphill 15min drive before being unloaded again and time to start the road. It was all downhill, all rocky, dirt terrain. I didn't do any peddling, it was my hands doing all the work - controlling the brakes for the whole trip. We ended up split into two groups - the crazy group and then me and Yvonne who valued our lives and did it nice and slow. We stopped at some waterfalls and were given a snack before continuing.

It was quite amazing how the weather changed. We started at 4700m with rain and clouds and our hands were numb. We slowly descended and the clothes layers started coming off until we were at the bottom which is at about 1300m and we were roasting. The views were also beautiful as we rode along. It took a few hours to finish and by the end of it, my shoulders and neck were in agony from me holding onto the brakes so hard. I got off the bike at the end and burst into tears - from the relief of finishing and from the pain.

We were taken to a nearby 'hotel' for a buffet lunch and showers but once I heard the water was cold didn't bother. Wanted a nice hot shower. We had a 3hr drive back and had to stop once for a tractor that was moving rocks off the road and another time for people that were tyring to move a truck that had come to no good on the side of the road. By the time we got back it was 8pm and I was exhausted and not feeling the best. The shower was the best.

We were having a party in the hotel but I really didn't feel in the party mood. I headed off to use the phone to call my family in Australia as it was now Christmas morning their time and got to speak to the whole lot of them. Made me miss them, especially over this time of the year but it was good to speak to them. I did pop my head into the party but just said hello and goodbye before heading to bed and watching the end of a cheesy Christmas film...