20th - 24th Feb

We arrive, check in and take out clothes to the laundrette fingers crossed they come back a) clean b) the same size c) that they even come back haha!! We headed to the immigration office to extend our visa by 30 days, which was hassle free and took about 2 minutes!! We then wandered around the city and headed back to the hostel. For dinner we went to Oliver's Traditional English Pub & Grub. I had classic fish and chips, the fish came from lake titicaca (kingfish) was one of the best meals I have had since arriving!! Still no Heinz ketchup though :( (the one thing I think I am missing the most... After family of course!!). The next 3 days we went souvenir shopping. Everything was so cheap and I went a bit mental on the souvenirs haha!!! I had to buy a new bag to put them all in!! We headed to the locals markets; they sell bathrooms, car parts, tiles and anyone you can think of in a little stall on the side of the road!! We went to the same little restaurant each day for lunch - soup followed by chicken, chips and rice for £2!! The lady was so nice along with the food!!!

At the locals markets Loretta bought some alpaca wool to knit at home but as the old lady was getting the wool from the top shelf she spilt her soup and looked very upset as that was her lunch - so when we passed a food stall I bought some peanuts for 10p and went and gave them to the lady, it was like I had given her £100, her face had the biggest smile I had ever seen for a 10p packet of peanuts! Can't take for granted how poor a country Bolivia is (poorest in South America) so I tried to support the local street sellers as best I could (coke, chocolate, bread, eggs etc) and not buy from the big stores. We found loads of hidden away stores that didn't seem to have as many people coming in compared to the ones on the main road - so I tried to buy my souvenirs from these shops, they all seemed genuinely happy when you bought something and sad when you didn't!! I really liked la paz as a city, felt safe and the people were so friendly!!!

The Death Road Bike Road!!!

We arrived at the start point at 9am (4700m) got our bikes, equipment and asked pachamama to look after us (poured 97% alcohol on the floor, front tyre, floor and then had a sip). The first 21km was on a Tarmac road all downhill - I thought I would go slow but WOAH was so much fun and I soon sped up and overtook people!! Such a rush!! I overtook a bus at one point which was cool - the scenary was amazing beautiful mountains and waterfalls!! We paid our £2.50 road fee and headed to the death road in the bus to avoid the 8km uphill section! We arrived at the start... In the clouds!! So we couldn't see the drop we were standing next to!! The first bit was fine, wide roads, trees on the sides. Loretta and I stayed at the back the whole time - we went so slowly haha. There was a guide behind us which was good!! At points the road was 3m wide with a 600m sheer drop to the left which was scary but the scenary was beautiful, tree lined mountains and rainforests. Had a few scary moments; I skidded to a stop as I pressed too hard on the breaks... Looked to my left and I stopped about 30cm from the 600m sheer drop - which was pretty scary!!! The ride took 6 hours to complete and I am so glad we did it (considering I was not going to do it until about a week before!!!) We finished at 1200m and had lunch. We then headed to La Senda Verde for our 2 week volunteering programme. I survived the worlds most dangerous road!!!