Hi everyone,

Our blog updates are becoming harder and harder to keep up with but this has mainly been due to poor internet resources. I have found a great PC where we are now and hope to update you all with a few entries over the next few days.

After some very lazy days in Sucre we hit La Paz eager to explore and also celebrate Jane´s birthday. We had a great bus ride with these huge blankets which was great because it did get quite chilly. The first glimpse of La Paz is pretty exciting as you suddenly see this huge city clinging to a cliff face that just keeps sloping downwards. Mount Illamani, a magnificent snow capped mountain, also dominates the skyline at 6402m. La Paz is known as the highest capital city in the world..even though its not the official capital and not the highest city...but who are we to spoil its fun!

Our hostel, Residencial Sucre, was right in San Pedro Plaza opposite the notorious San Pedro Prison. This prison is famous because the inmates have to purchase their cells and run cottage industries inside in order to survive. Its its own economy in there and the prisoners can have their families live with them and so you just see a steady stream of people flowing in and out. Many travellers are aware of the prison because of a book called ´Marching Powder´ written by Rusty Young, an Australian traveller that told the story of a British inmate convicted of trafficking cocaine. Its a great read for those that haven´t read it and it sparked many a gringo tour of the prison. The tours are illegal now but you can still get in for about 25quid p.p. We were all sorely tempted but in the end chickened out! (I hear both sets of parents breathe a sigh of relief!) Its not as crazy as it sounds...

Anyhoo....unfortunately for Mark he became quite ill with altitude sickness and saw very little of La Paz. Fortunately, our room had cable TV so he saw a lot of that but was massively disappointed to not see the sights.

La Paz has been a highlight of the trip for me because I really wasn´t sure what to expect and whether I would even like it. The guidebooks on Bolivia are dated before they even hit the printing press as the country is changing so rapidly and embracing tourism along the way. We were warned that people would spit on us and that language would be a huge barrier. We had no such trouble with either, thank goodness as I am sure I would have gagged at the spitting!

The city is a topsy turvy twist of streets and buildings seem to have been built anywhere and everywhere, with varying degrees of quality. I thought it would be hard to walk around but it was surprisngly ok if you take your time. We were well located near the El Prado (main road) and other bar and restaurant areas. We found an amazing curry house that pleased Mark no end as well as Japanese, Thai and other delights we hadn´t had in awhile.

For Jane´s birthday we were determined to find a salon for mani/pedi´s and stumbled across Miss Unai´s. She said we could all come in but what we didn´t realise was that it would take 4 hours to all be glossed and buffed. This wasn´t an issue really but took a chunk out of the day. We then went past the supermercado and bought some sav blanc for drinks back at the hostel. Our friends from Sucre had arrived and so we all went out for dinner that night too. Jane had a fantastic birthday!

Jane and I did a great walking tour of the city and took most of our photos in one afternoon. We were fortunate enough to go up to the 17th floor of the Presidencial Hotel to take our panoramic shots without being queried. The streets around Plaza Murillo and Calle Jaén were beauitful and we enjoyed people watching as we went. I hadn´t expected the beauty of many of the Colonial Buildings.

The Witches Market located near our hostel was a great spot for shopping for local wares. This is where the photo of the llama foetuses comes from...ick! Apparently you are meant to buy one and put it under your new house for good luck...not sure we would get that though customs!

I also went to the Coca Museum which was very interesting. It wasn´t overly sophisticated in its presentation and reminded me of someone´s school project but the information was upfront and even shocking at times. Bolivia is the main producer of coca leaves yet gains very little financially from the various methods of production.

We spent our last morning in La Paz having a leisurely breakfast before catching a bus to Copacabana, on Lake Titicaca, which is only 4 hours away. La Paz was a real eye opener and a favourite so far along the gringo trail. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone and if someone does decide to go perhaps they could take Mark back for a second look!

BIG HUGS from us both xoxox