The Hotel Rosario we are in is great and dinner last night was yum (less salty then all the food in Peru has been - Matt had Llama steak) and great breakfast.

First we tried to track down the travel agent office to collect our tickets organised in Copacabana for the salt flats, which was a challenge as the name we had was not the name over the door when we eventually found it just 2 doors from our hotel after a wild goose chase to find it! But that seems to be the thing here as when we said to the guy the name of the agency was different he just smiled and said "Si".

We then went on a walk round the city, which is a really hectic place, almost every street is a market and people selling on every inch of pavement space. Each stall is very specific though there was a lady selling just zips, another selling just sissors, another just oranges etc etc. The police are everywhere but with riot kit not guns. We had lunch in a coffee shop that had its own security guard! The ATM machine had a security guard too sitting by it. Very hilly so out of breath again from the walk

This evening we are getting on the Todo Tourismo overnight bus to Uyuni then going on a 3 day 2 night tour with Tayka Tours of the salf flats before back to La Paz.

Forgot to mention everywhere in Peru and Bolivia is pan pipe music! (Matt was very slightly tempted to get one to learn but changed his mind :)

H

I'm still thinking about the pan pipes :) Only joking, the consistent stream of Abba covers (amongst others) is doing a great job of putting me off...

La Paz is crazy. At least, central La Paz around lunchtime is crazy. A bombardment of things for sale. One thing that has stood out the most is the number of taxi/minibus vehicles there are. About every other thing on wheels in fact. I haven't worked out exactly how they decide where they're going, but the general idea is that they slow down in front of you so that someone can slide open the sidedoor and shout costs (and presumably destinations) at you.

My favourite freakish-oddity-for-sale of the day was found in the Witches Market. There you can find all manner of good luck charms and amulets. Apparently the thing to do when embarking on the construction of a new building, to ensure Mother Nature doesn't punish you, is to bury a dried llama feutus in the foundations.

Rich - should I try to bring one back for the music room?

I sneaked in a photo when Helena wasn't looking - just in case you're concerned you wouldn't get to see one :)

Right - off to our overnight bus. Speak to you again soon!

Matt