So after the luxury last week in Brazil we went back to reality with a bang with our adventous 4 day inland trip from the coast Brazil to Santa Cruz in Bolivia!

We started our journey from Maresias, on the coast of Sao Sebastian, we then got a bus to Sao Paulo where it was a direct bus to Campo Grande! However the idiots at the bus terminal , sent us, unknowingly on a bus to Rio De Janeiros Campo Grande!! Oh my god we were fuming after a 5 hr wait at the terminal and a 6 hour bus journey!! We had shown them the map like 5 times to show Campo Grande in the Pantanal region and they were like "si, si"!!! So we lost a full 24 hours by the time we got back to Sao Paulo...so another day later we arrived in the real Campo Grande, changed buses to Corumba...the nearest town to the Brazilian/Bolivian border so we jumped in a taxi on our way....we arrived and thanks to it being a Sunday both borders had decided to shut at midday, it was now about 2pm...so we had to stay overnight in this dusty little border town with nothing to do and barely anywhere to eat (in the end we had a great burger at this popular family street stall all sat out on plastic chairs) and stayed in a cheap basic hotel. The next morning we went to the borders to get our stamps, Hayley realised she had lost her entry/exit form and the queue was about 3 hours to get the stamps anyway but after some persistance and our usual blagging skills, we had skipped the queue to the front and Hayley got through without a fine! THEN we had to wait until 7pm for the "Death Train" to Santa Cruz, the town was very humid, dusty and the was nothing to do. But by this point we have got used to passing time... we finally boarded the train, which was actually really comfy, and we got to watch two english movies which was a real treat! We woke up in the morning in our first Bolivian city!

The first stop was in Samapatia, (we only spent one one hour in Santa Cruz as its a boring city) and was nestled in the green valleys, a very chilled and beautiful place to relax. The recommended hostel we stayed at was very nice and the food was amazing! We met Joaquin, a Spanish traveller who invited us for a lovely dinner and some drinks. He had a lot of banter, such a character! The next day we visited a Monkey Sanctuary....it was amazing, no cages, they were just free to roam and play. There was a big howler monkey...going wild when we arrived, such a loud noise, though keeping himself to himself when other people were trying to touch him...then he saw me, he must have thought I was part of the family and he jumped onto me, hung around my neck and wouldnt let me go! The photos are hilarious, I was so scared at first but then he was sweet. We held baby monkeys too, so bloody cute!! Preferred them to real babies, they dont cry!

Next we headed to Sucre, a beautiful colonial town where we spent a few days. Highlight definitely had to be the afternoon at Cafe Mirador, with stunning views over the city, great food and sunshine. We took our books and cards and just relaxed all day! In the evening we went to JoyRide cafe where they screen movies on the big screen, we watched a brilliant, but heartbreaking document called "The Devils Miner" based on a 14 year old who works in the dangerous mines in Potosi to support his family. It was an incredibly moving story and you realise how lucky we really are!

We another evening watching a traditional Bolivian folklore dancing show, it was great! It featured dances and costumes from all different parts of Bolivia! It included a 2 course meal, which was suprisingly good and we treated ourselves to a bottle of wine each (Hayley only drinks red, I prefer white or rose!) as it was only 4 pounds each, the service was of a really high standard and the dancers were really professional and it was in a beautiful setting.

Bolivia was as cheap as we had heard, accomodation around three pounds each a night, sometimes four or five for a private room. Food varied from a pound to four pounds at a posher restaurant. 12 hour bus journeys were only around 9 pounds instead of 30 to 40 we paid in Argentina etc!It was a relief! And nice to eat out again every meal!

Then we went to Tupiza, absolute s***hole but it was the start of our incredible 4 day tour to Uyuni....words or pictures cant truly describe the beauty of Bolivia....it was breathtaking and the scenery just changed so much! Every half an hour we were literally "wowing" over the landscape, one minute it was 6000m snow capped volcanoes, then turquoise lakes, the static desert dali, then thousands of rocks for no reason. We stayed in basic cabins in the mountains, ate well (there was a chef and a driver), saw flamingos and countless llamas. On the final day we visited the famous Salar De Uyuni- the worlds largest salt flats and witnessed an incredible sunrise. We did the usual touristy thing for a couple of hours making the hilarious photos with the amazing landscape and horizon. It got really hot mid morning as we had blue sky and the sun reflected down on the blinding white salt! The trip was worth every penny, we had a great group (Hay, Dusjko and Remo) and it was definitely something we will never forget!

After an overnight bus we arrived in the crazy city of La Paz! Wild partying at Wild Rover, its one of those places where people enter and never leave....we made it out after 8 days! We arrived on St Patricks Day (its Irish owned) and we had no sleep after yet another nightbus, we also didnt have time to eat, we had planned on sleeping a bit but when we heard the parties started at 10am and the main party at midday, we had to succumb and just join in the craziness! We brought green Paddies t shirts, customised them and got painted up with the Irish flag. Everyone was drunk by the afternoon, dancing on the bar, talking s*** to strangers and generally having a great backpacker time. We went to bed at half 12, after 12 hours partying we were exhausted and didnt need to hit the club! During the rest of the week we went to various parties at our hostel bar and also at the nearby Loki. Also went to various nightclubs in La Paz. I didnt make it to the famous "Route 36" the worlds only cocaine bar where they serve you beers and coke on a plate, not really my scene though many, many people got sucked in there everynight!

Though the week was mainly laziness, eating the (good) food at the hostel, sleeping and playing cards, we did manage an amazing quad bike tour of Luna Valley, just 30 mins outside of La Paz, truly stunning, zooming through the valleys, and past villages seeing locals at work, working in fields! Also survived the infamous "Worlds Most Dangerous Road" bike ride, where you start at 4800m and finish down at 1100m. It was amazing! So much fun, the first part was a paved road so we were zooming down it, then the second part was all gravel with sheer drops down the cliff side. Though in all honesty we were more scared of hitting a rock at the wrong angle and falling off the bike than actually falling off the cliff. Quite a few people fell out their bikes at some stage, though we had no fatalies! It was such a fun day, all down hill. We ended at a hotel swimming pool to cool off and get a buffet lunch! Great day out!

Last stop was Copacobana to visit the apparently beautiful, Isla Del Sol (Island of the Sun) but the minute we got on the over crowded long boat, it started to hammer it down, monsoon style, we thought the boat would capsize...also because we got on the boat last, unluckily we got the last seats...the only part of the boat where there was no windows...in the torrential rain. So we got soaked, were sat in akward positions for 2 hours and when we finally arrived, there was no hope of the rain stopping, so 80% of the boat got off, ran round and brought tickets for the return depature back to Copacobana! Such a shame! Though we cant really complain that was the only bad weather we had all month and it was meant to be rainy season in Bolivia! Onwards to PERU...the 7th South American country in our adventure...