First stop in Bolivia - Uyuni

Uyuni is the town where the Salt Flats tour ended. Our guide recommended a hostel so we made our way there to find that it cost just 35 Bolivians ( approx. £3)! After spending 3 weeks in Chile, it was a relief to be somewhere cheap again. That evening we picked up fresh rotisserie chicken and chips and a drink for just 15 Bolivianos (11 Bolivians = £1). There was not a lot going on in Uyuni, it is just a transit town, so we left after one night for Potosi.

Potosi - Highest city in the world at 4060metres

The bus to Potosi was pretty slow we kept being overtaken by buses that had left Uyuni much later than ours. And to make matters worse, due to road blocks, we were dropped an unknown distance from Potosi at the bottom of a long queue of traffic. We walked for about 15 minutes uphill with our heavy backpacks before reaching the 'road block'. We were expecting a decent block but no….. it was just a couple of sticks and a few stones. Luckily there was transport from the road block to the centre of town; a pickup truck loaded with about 30 people. For the ride we had to pay 2 Bolivianos. Potosi was a complete change to Uyuni, the architecture and streets are very colonial. This is due to the fact that it was a very important mining town to the Conquistadors in the late 1500's. Mining is still the main form of income for the town, this is one of the main reasons tourists go to Potosi. The mines have not changed much since then. We felt slightly apprehensive about visiting the mines because they sounded super touristy and just about buying dynamite and blowing stuff up. But this was not the case, the mines are not at all set up for tourists, we had to crawl through tiny gaps and be quick to avoid moving trollies full of silver. The experience was more about presenting the very poor working conditions the miners have to put up with, which have hardly changed for centuries. There are people as old as 60 and as young as 10 working in the mines. All in all this was a very humbling experience and really makes you realize how lucky you are. A definite must do in Bolivia, we would recommend Koala Tours as they are ex -miners themselves and some of the money goes to improving mining conditions and health care.

Sucre

Sucre was a very pleasant town, we found a brilliant hostel called Pachamama with kitchen, nice garden and table tennis. We met up with Max and Jana (Czech/Dutch couple we met in Chile) as planned and decided to take Spanish school together. We took a 5 day course (4 hours per day) at Me Gusta Spanish school. After taking a quick Spanish test, it was determined that the girls would be grouped together as their results were far superior than that of the boys. We really enjoyed the Spanish school, it was really worth our while as we are now able to communicate with the locals a lott better. We know all the basics - ordering in a restaurant, directions, booking hostel rooms etc..

Overall, our time in Sucre was nice and relaxing. We found nice local places for lunch, it is typically 10 - 12 Bolivianos for a 3 course lunch menu. Also Robbie his new favourite dish; Pique Macho, Its chips with a mixture of beef, sausage, peppers, onions and a boiled egg on top covered in a mustard and beer sauce.

There are many street dogs in South America. We made a really good dog friend in Sucre who we named Fred. He was half Husky half German Shepard. We first met him during a Spanish lesson at the market and we became friends for the rest of our time in Sucre, he would follow us around everywhere and even wait outside for us if we went in somewhere. Unfortunately, at the end of our time in Sucre, it was time to say goodbye to Fred. But I would happy to bring him back to Scotland!

La Paz

Our first night in La Paz was our friend, Nicolas' birthday, so we had a night out. We organised death road with Madness Biking. On the morning of Death road Max and Jana ended up being ill so only Sarah, Nicholas and I took the tour. Death road is the most dangerous road in the world. It is 64km downhill on a 3m wide rocky path with a 3345m vertical drop on one side! The death road tour was awesome and we would definitely do it again. There were no real incidents except Robbie crashing into the cliff side and falling on his bad shoulder (luckily just scrapes and bruises!) After death road we relaxed for 2 days in the beautiful hillside village of Cororico. We splashed out for the first time and took a hotel with brilliant views, a pool and a sauna (90 Bolivianos a night - about £8). The hotel came with an annoying inhabitant/member of staff, a north American guy who constantly dropped hints about tips!! After Cororico it was back to La Paz to catch our flight to Rurrenabaque for a jungle adventure……tbc