Wow, what a week! We left Sucre Tuesday morning (the 18th) on a bus bound for Uyuni, which is a small city up on the Altiplano. This means the bus ride included many winding mountain roads as we headed up into the Andes. We passed through Potosi on the way, a small mining city in an Andean valley. A new highway is in the process of being build between Potosi and Uyuni - the parts that have already been paved and finished were great! However, much of the road...

The last couple of days have been filled with leisurely walks and delicious meals. Due to the elections taking place nation-wide yesterday, we were provided an unforseen treat. A day without the countless buses, taxis and accompanying exhaust that has become the norm in major cities. The sun was warm and the streets were filled with market place food. Beth and I wandered the streets and sampled some of the local specialties. First we tried Saltenas, a pastr...

After another breakfast of buns and jam (wooooooo), we were up and running for our first Spanish lesson. The 4 of us met up with our 2 teachers and walked the few blocks to the classrooms. Mark and I have our own teacher, Berta. She was awesome and very friendly - and just had a baby 2 weeks ago, and by C-section!!!! My jaw dropped at this news but she laughed and assured me she was doing just fine (and that her newborn was at home sleeping, no big deal). We...

Wednesay, in Cochabamba, Mark and I woke up to what sounded like the wild, wild west outside of our hostel. We were a bit alarmed at what sounded like gunshots going on all around us! After freaking out for a bit, we finally headed out for the day, the loud shots seemed to have calmed down and the people on the streets were carrying on as if it were a completely normal day. We headed for breakfast at a nearby cafe and on our way back down the road, we stoppe...

Finally, a break! A break from 3 long days of bus travel through the Peruvian and Bolivian mountains and countryside, and a break from the cold mountain temperatures. We traveled almost 8 hours yesterday from La Paz to Cochabamba, and the ride took us from the Altiplano (3,650m above sea level) into the valley (2,574m). Man, what a difference! It is almost tropical here compared to the mountain climate we've been used to (warm days and cold nights!) In Cocha...