Hey guys, how are you all doing? We have been on our gap trip now for 12 days and so far it has been amazing, despite the fact that travels diarrhoea has caught up with Hattie again, b******. So here is a very quick summary of what we have been up to;

Day One we flew to Sucre to meet with the group. There were 12 others, all English and all younger than both of us. Kim is officially still the oldest, boo. They are all really lovely and lots of fun which is perfect. We then spent the afternoon touring the town, known as the ´white city´and getting used to be around so many people again. The next day we visited the musuem of Independence to get our culture hit and learnt about Bolivia´s very colourful past and present. In the afternoon we went rock climbing. It was incredible. It was a 24metre wall with 4 degrees of difficulty, of which we were able to complete 3. Guess which new sport we will be taking up when we return? On day 3 we went to another musuem and then in the afternoon went on a Dinosaur footprint tour, where they have over 5000 prints, the largest amount anywhere in the world.

Day 4 we travelled to Potosi and went to the silver mine. The silver mine has been working for 200 years and in that time 8 million people have been killed working there, predominately african and indian slaves who were bought to the area. We got to meet some of the workers, who start as young as 10, and went into one of the working mines. It was so scary and so difficult to comprehend what their lives are like. Even more bizarrely we were able to buy dynamite there which at the end of the tour we were able to discharge. A crazy day indeed.

The next morning we visited the musuem of money, where they used to make all the silver into coins etc and in the afternoon we travelled to Uyuni to start our 3 days on the salt plains.

Day 6 We travelled to the Salud de Uyuni (Salt Plains) by 4x4 truck. They are unbelievable. We had seen pictures of them before but nothing could prepare you for how vast, white and surreal the landscape is. We visited Isla Pescaldo, where we ate Llama for the first time and spent about an hour taking lots of strange photos. As there is nothing there you can play with prespectives and take all kinds of ingenious photographs. Well we think they´re ingenious you may all disagree when we force you to look at them and expect you to humour us. That night we slept in a hotel made entirely of salt, amazing but freezing and a local band came and played for us.

Day 7 we headed to one of the many volcanos in the area, most of which are still active and smoke bellows from the top of them. We also saw several lakes which are all different colours depending on the sulphur content. You just have to keep reminding yourself that it used to all be under water and reached the ocean. That night we stayed in a dorm that was effectively still being built around us. It was freezing, yes even by Corfe standards Miss Tesco. The next day we headed to some hot thermal springs, the bizarrest feeling being in 5 layers of clothes and then being told to put on a bikini. We then visited some more volcanos and via a train cemetry (yes dad I took some photos for you) we headed back to Uyuni. At midnight we then had to get a night train and then bus back to La Paz.

Day 9 and back in La Paz was spent just catching up and when dodgy tummys began to effect the whole group, tiedness and grumpyness was beginning to effect everyone so we all booked a bike trip on "death road" the next day - the perfect cure.

Day 10, Death Road. This 64kms of road is meant to be the most dangerousin the world, so obviously tourist now cycle down it. First you drive up to 5400metres, where you are surrounded by snow and you spend the next 4 hours biking down to 1500metres along gravel tracks with a 400metre drop. Now parents we didn´t tell you about this first but hey we survived and have a t-shirt to prove it. This trip is definately on the top 5 things we have done on the entire trip. I have never seen such beautiful scenery, we went through snow, rain, waterfalls, lakes and then into glorious sunshine absolutely incredible. We would do it again in a heartbeat.

Day 11 was an entire travelling day and we now have a new group leader and 4 more travellers. We first got the bus to Copocabana, yes we were singing all the way, then a boat across Lake Titicaca and then another bus to Puno where we now are. Day 12, today, some of the group have headed to one of the islands on the lake but we are having a recovery day hoping that Hattie can beat of her tummy bug as in 3 days we are in the Amazon.

Tomorrow we are heading to a floating Island on Lake Titicaca before heading to Cuzco.

Well thats it so far, with everything living up to and exceeding expectations. Best we start planing the 6 weeks after this trip finishes and we headed back to you lovely people.
We hope you´re all well and keep sending the messages they make us smile a lot.

Lots of love us xx