We had a great night out on the 5th March, kind of a pre birthday celebration. We went to a live music venue in Valparaiso, which had jazz and salsa bands. We attempted to dance the salsa, but realized we were rubbish and went down to the nightclub and danced like only drunk English people can. Naturally we cleared the dancefloor. The Chileans don't really get the steppy dance, Dawn. Then it was a comfy night on the airport chairs, made easier when Stew bought a nice birthday bottle, before flying off to La Paz. We landed in a couple of dsert airports that looked like they were something out of Star Wars. When we arrived in La Paz, we were told that we couldn't leave the airport, because the cities were blockaded. The Bolivians were protesting because the president had resigned. Some of the Embassies were advising people to fly straight out, but we stayed put and 4 1/2 hours later the blockades lifted and we left the airport. La Paz is a crazy place. We are staying in the downtown area. It has narrow cobbled streets, which have to accomodate buses, taxis, street sellers, police, signs, packs of stray dogs, etc. Pedestrians are definitely not a priority, and you take your life in your hands crossing the road. The car horn is used to communicate many things - thanks, move, look at me, hello, or just to break an awkward silence. Our first hostel was nice enough, until we tied to go to sleep and realized that it backed onto a Bolivian nightclub. We moved! We suffered from altitude sickness for a few days, with nasty headaches and a lack of energy. Because there is less oxygen, even walking up hill makes you out of breath and your muscles burn. As you can see in the photos, there are LOTS of hills. We took a city tour on Wednesday. It was really good. The difference between rich and poor is amazing. The richer you are, the lower down you live to enjoy the extra oxygen. The rich live in huge mansions, the poor root through the rubbish in the street to find food. We took our lives in our hands on Thursday, and completed a bike trek down 'Death Road'. We were driven up to 4640m, into the clouds where it was snowy and cold. The first 10 or 15kms were on tarmac, but we went through driving rain and sleet. We couldn't feel our hands and we were soaked through. The rest of the way was just dirt and stone tracks, but it got warmer, especially for the uphill parts. In all we cycled 64kms, 3340m vertical descent. We were in the saddle for 5 1/2 hours. ouch! Tomorrow we start our Inca Trail tour for 15 days! Marie and Stew