So after nearly a month in Peru we were moving on to another border crossing. We caught a bus to the border where we said goodbye to our tour guide, Fredy. I bought my final bottle of Inca Cola (which I have totally become addicted to) before we crossed the somewhat amateur crossing into Bolivia. Fredy had handed us over to a temporary guide whose job was to get us safely to our hotel in La Paz.

We had some time to kill at the border town of Copacabana (cue Barry Manilow song) before our bus left so we watched our bags get pounded and squished onto the supposedly 5 star bus before going off to get some lunch. The place our temp guide was taking us for lunch sounded expensive and unappealing so a few of us broke away to get just a quick snack...or so we thought! We had an hour which should have been plenty of time to make a couple of empanadas (pasties) and burgers but the guy at the cafe seemed slightly "special" and couldn't even remember what we had ordered. Fortunately mine and Bryan's empanadas came with about 5 minutes to spare but he kept telling Katie her food would be here in a minute until she ran out of time and had to leave. When we came to paying for our food unfortunately we had only just been to the cashpoint which had churned out hundred notes (only about £10) but the guy had no change. He walked out the cafe with our hundred to go and get change and took ages! He finally came back with change from a 50 and tried to pretend that's what we gave him. We kicked up a fuss and he had the rest of the change in his other hand so he clearly knew what we had given him.

After that kerfuffle we then got back onto the worst bus we have had since South America to find that the seats had been double booked and people were in our seats. Eventually they got kicked off the bus because there was less of them and we made our way to the lake to cross by ferry. Our bus, with all our bags on it, got onto what looked like a plank of wood to cross the incredibly choppy lake. We watched it make its way glad that we were getting a proper boat...until we saw it. The worlds smallest little boat, with less life jackets than people, bouncing up and down over the waves. I know I said it was a lake but honestly most oceans are calmer than this! We cautiously got on and took our seats on the planks of wood and waited for it to set off...it didn't. Some of the girls, who were already looking green, asked what the hold up was and apparently the driver wouldn't leave until all the seats were full up. We had no idea when more people would arrive so one of the girls just paid for the empty seats. I think the anticipation of the journey was too much for her.

Fortunately it was a short crossing and no one was sick but some looked very close to it. We got back on our rickety bus and made our way to La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. So far we weren't entirely enamoured with the country but I think it was a combination of bad luck and culture shock because Ecuador and Peru had been reasonably well developed and Bolivia was clearly a lot poorer. Driving through the bustling streets of La Paz it was very similar to South East Asia with traffic doing whatever it wants, hundreds of people all over the streets, little market stalls on the pavements rather than corner shops. I actually quite liked it because I prefer to see things that are very different to UK although I have to admit trying to navigate around the people and traffic when you're walking takes some getting used to!

We got to La Paz in the evening and for some people this was their last night before going home. We were on our way to a Thai restaurant for their final meal but we wanted to book an excursion for tomorrow. The others didn't want to wait so we got an idea of where the restaurant was and told them we would meet them there. We then went into what we thought was a random tour operator to book our cycle for the death road. Oddly enough it seemed like they knew we were coming because the guy said "oh you're Fredy's group!" And then proceeded to name us individually! I was unsure about doing the Death Road cycle, not so much because I was scared but more because I was swiftly running out of money and still had 2 months left. Eventually I caved and booked myself up for it. We then went to meet the others at the restaurant but couldn't find it! We walked for about an hour and a half and asked various people but couldn't for the life of us find it and we had no way of contacting the others to tell them. In the end starvation and exhaustion forced us to give up and we ate at a Chinese place instead which had huge delicious portions! We did catch up with the others back at the hotel to say our goodbyes.

So the next day we were picked up from our hotel to go and cycle the death road. For those who are Topgear fans you may have seen them driving this on their Bolivia special episode. It may also look like we're basing our travels on places where the Topgear crew have been but I can assure you that's just coincidence (mostly). Although it has a horribly scary name and that episode was particularly nerve-wracking, I wasn't in the slightest bit scared because they have now built a road that completely bypasses the death road so in actual fact there are no vehicles on it any longer and the road is plenty wide enough for bicycles. Even still the company took every precaution to kit us out in ridiculous protective clothing, guards and helmets fit for a motorcycle rally. They also took us on normal road first to get a hang of the bikes and the hydraulic brakes. There was a safety van following us the whole way also so I felt perfectly safe. The actual death road was really cool. It was pretty much downhill all the way, the views were fantastic and the further downhill we got the warmer it got also. The guide did stop us a few times to point out the crosses and graves on the side of the road as well as a wreck of a car down in the valley which had happened a few months ago. Apparently, despite the road being closed some lunatics still drive down it at night when they're drunk and it doesn't always end well for them unfortunately.

The boys were way ahead of the group cycling really fast which was risky in my opinion. The route is fairly safe as long as you're not stupid about it. The surface of the road is really gravelly so it's really easy to skid and of course the edge of the road is just a sheer cliff with no barriers. We all skidded a few times and when it happened to me I decided to slow down and give myself room for error. I dread to think what would have happened to the boys if they had skidded in the wrong place. We stopped for snacks and I had yet another incident where I had told them I don't eat pork and the sandwiches were cheese and ham (which they didn't know was pork!). I ate extra bananas and chocolate and we made our way to the bottom. Towards the end of the cycle it flattened out and that was seriously exhausting at altitude. We arrived at the end of the ride dripping with sweat but exhilarated. Fortunately, the guide waited until after the ride to tell us the gory stories of all the recent deaths on the road. I thought it was only dangerous for vehicles but many cyclists have also tumbled to their deaths either through carelessness or unfortunate accidents. Had I known that beforehand I'm not sure I would have taken the risk. As part of the excursion we were taken to a hotel for a less than mediocre buffet lunch and blissfully a pool for us to swim in.

We arrived back into La Paz quite late and we just missed our welcome meeting with our new tour leader Juan Pablo or JP for short as well as meeting our new group so I felt a bit bad about that. However, we all went out for a meal and brought along the leftover people from the old group. We then spent a long time looking for any signs of nightlife. It was Friday night and the place was dead, we couldn't find a single thing and this place was supposedly the capital (or one of two capitals perhaps?!). I felt a strong sense of déjà vu roaming around the streets of La Paz once again. Let me tell you it's no easy task because the city is over 3500 metres in altitude ad incredibly hilly! Soon some of us gave up and went back to the hotel. Some of the hardcore few (including Bryan) persevered and the best they could do was a pizza place that sold beer!

The next day we finally had a chance to explore La Paz in daylight. We went to the Witches Market which was a bizarre mix of dead animal foetuses and herbal remedies along with the usual tourist tat. We visited the various plazas and admired the churches and run down buildings and cobbled streets. One cute plaza was Plaza Marillo where lots of locals were relaxing with their families and feeding the thousands of pigeons that were there. These pigeons are obviously so used to being fed by humans they are really tame and if you have food they'll sit on your shoulder or you can pick them up.

Later on we went to the proper market which was ridiculously huge. You could easily get lost in the maze of stalls selling everything from meat to boxers. In fact boxers was exactly what we were looking for because Ian had left his laundry behind in another city and was running very short. We didn't know how to ask for them so had to resort to pointing which was quite hilarious. It was surprisingly hard to find because most men here seem to where pants but we got there eventually. The problem was they were to small so he spent most of the time "readjusting"!

There is a really interesting prison in La Paz called San Pedro. It is run entirely by the prisoners and apparently it's just like a small town inside prison walls were prisoners live with their families and develop their own hierarchy. Tourists were allowed to take tours around the prison but they put a stop to it when it became known as the place to buy the purest cocaine in South America. It is apparently still possible to do illegal tours if you speak to the right people but of course it is dangerous. I did really want to see the prison and a few of us sat in the plaza outside the prison to see of we could find a way to get in but no such luck. It was probably for the best because we met some Aussies on the death road who agreed to pay a lot of money to get in but as soon as they took their money they were kicked out without a tour.

It was our final night with the rest of the original group so we were determined to have a decent night out. JP led us to the Hard Rock Cafe (don't think it is the chain). It had a lot of unapproving locals and monotonous Spanish dance music but it was still a good night, even if I was starting to get emotional about losing some great members of our group. It seems strange to get so emotionally but most of our group have been together since Quito and we've all got along incredibly well and of course spending every single day with the same people over the course of nearly 2 months you do form strong attachments.

Our last day in La Paz we decided to get out of the city and visit the moon valley. We hired a minibus and stopped at some viewpoints above the city to take photos and admire the views. The moon valley is pretty much self explanatory, an odd rock formation in the desert that wouldn't look out of place on the moon. It was a nice half hour walk around. I have no idea how these things formed but they do look bizarrely cool. It was a nice day out before our favourite mode of transport - the night bus - to Sucre.