Tom:

Not a huge deal to say with this one. We´ve reached Asuncion from La Paz after two 24hour bus rides, one of which I got ill on (again). The border crossing was fun - there was one overweight and very excitable sniffer dog, who seemed interested in the crackers in my rucksack (the only solid food I could manage at this point), and we had our luggage checked through very thoroughly by border control, and our bus kept stopping along the way to the capital to be checked by the police, who asked us to open our bags and seemed disappointed only to find tourist souvenirs and Nil´s knickers. I think they were hoping that they´d find drugs so they could bust us and have some entertainment in their boring lives! I think Asuncion is okay. I don´t know why because it´s quite dirty and has a lot of poverty, but there´s something quirky about it. Love to all at home.

Nil:

I don´t know how Tom managed another bus ride sick as he was, but he was determined to visit Asuncion, so that´s probably what kept him going through the long hours of illness! We´re looking forward to being able to eat meat and drink tap water without being violently ill! So, Asuncion, like Tom said, is quirky. The people are very friendly here, they don´t get many tourists, as nobody comes here because there isn´t much to do (we came to get another stamp in our passports!). I had a very interesting conversation with our taxi driver, I got the name of the national dish ´chipa´ (sweetcorn, egg and cheese bread-like thing) completely wrong and he properly belly laughed, promising to tell his wife how a gringo could get it so wrong. Funny, 5 minutes in a new country and already I´m a laughing-stock legend, that´s just the kind of effect I have... Love to everyone at home. Can´t wait to see you all... not long now!!