After all the airport dramas, we finally arrived in La Paz, the highest capital in the world at nearly 4000m above sea level.  Since it was late at night, we decided just to head for the hotel that was the starting point of our tour with GAP Adventures the next day.  Being so high up, the lack of oxygen was noticeable immediately, and we both found ourselves having to consciously breathe in deeply as we could physically feel the weight of the struggle in ou...

YES THAT'S RIGHT!  WE WENT BACK!!!  We just couldn't help ourselves!!!  With five days left to spare before our flight to La Paz in Bolivia (where we were due to start a tour), we thought there would be no better way to round off our time in Brazil, than by going back to where it all started!  Besides, we were flying out of Sao Paulo and we DEFINITELY didn't want to spend any more time there!!  This time we stayed in a hostel near Ipanema beach, ...

Founded at the end of the 17th century, Ouro Preto (Black Gold) was the focal point of the gold rush and Brazil's golden age in the 18th century. With the exhaustion of the gold mines in the 19th century, the city's influence declined but many churches, bridges and fountains remain as a testimony to its past prosperity and the exceptional talent of a Baroque sculptor called Aleijadinho. The hostel we stayed at was up a little hill at the top of the city in a g...

Diamantina was almost exactly as the guide books had described.  A small colonial town comprised of cobbled streets, lined with old colonial buildings and churches, all overlooking a steep-sided rocky valley.  One of the first things we noticed when we arrived was just how steep the place was, as our taxi went almost vertical on its descent into the centre in search of a hostel.  When we arrived, the hostel listed in the guide book didn`t exist!  Luck...

So we arrived back in Campo Grande and booked our 18 hour bus to Brasilia for later that day.  Little did we know that we had booked with a really annoying company that would take a really long time to get there (more than 18 hours) and take a really ROUNDABOUT route too? (Rakhee found this out whilst we were sat in an internet café, where the owner laughed at her when she said the name of the bus company we were travelling with!). After more than 19 hou...