It was a scenic drive from Copacabana to La Paz as we drove past the large lake. Crossing the water was very strange. Instead of a large ferry being used, small boats carried buses one at a time to and fro. Passengers had to get out as the water was too choppy and we would have been bounced around. La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. As we drove in we passed numerous snow capped mountains and had a good view of the city situated in a valley. Our hostel was pretty central and had a reputation as a party place! But before the party began, we wanted to see the place. We were immediately aware of how different La Paz was compared to other places in Bolivia. Its a vibrant and developed city with 'modern' buildings and full of workers dressed smartly in clean well fitting uniforms. Walking into the main square we passed street markets selling tacky items. Our first stop was the San Fransisco Cathedral where we did a self guided tour of displays before heading up to the rooftop to see the bells and view over the plaza and busy street below. A lady then took us inside the Cathedral to the catacombs. Beside the alter we descended down concrete steps and waited as she unlocked the wooden doors. We walked inside the dark cold room and looked at all the urns. Around ten peoples ashes were displayed here, all of which were significant people in Bolivia. We had a brief look around the Cathedral and its grand decor before leaving. Around the corner we toured 'gringo alley' (aka tourist street). The road was lined with market stalls selling a range of items made from alpaca wool. The ladies and their children who were working on these markets were clearly poorer than those we'd seen in office uniforms. They reminded us of the women we had met in the north wearing traditional clothing (colourful petticoats with many layers and bowler hats perched upon their plaited hair). Apart from these market traders, there were very few locals about. We walked through the streets and turned a corner heading to the area known as the witches market. Here the stalls sold spells, folk remedies and a variety of weird and wonderful ingredients used to manipulate spirits. The most bizarre item for sale was dried llama fetuses! They looked disgusting and were sometimes quite large. Locals use them in the foundations of new buildings as an offering to Pachamama - aka Mother Earth. The sacrifice of the llama encourages Pachamama to protect workers and bring good luck. As we headed back to our hostel we passed the yellow presidents palace and saw the uniformed guards standing outside. We had clearly just missed someone important as several large black cars with tinted windows were driving away in convoy. The square in front was full of locals sitting or feeding pigeons. The rats with wings were everywhere and didn't appear scared of humans as they casually strolled out of our way! Back at our hostel we played several games of pool and had some beers. Sadly smoking is allowed in Bolivia and the hostel have allowed it in their tiny bar so we smelt horrendous and felt like we'd puffed ten cancer sticks! We took it pretty easy the first few nights as there was a few things we wanted to do and see in the area. The next day we went on a tour of a prison. San Pedro prison is one of the strangest tourist attractions in the world! Illegal tours have occurred frequently following the release of Marching Powder, a book based on an inmates experiences. We arranged with friends to do the tour, available only on weekends. Five of us squeezed into a taxi and nervously spoke about what we expected. Immediately, as we opened the taxi door, a local lady approached us offering a tour. She explained that she was genuine and that the guards knew her so we accepted her offer. As she escorted us into a prison, we were all surprised at the building. It stood in a small plaza and blended in with the surrounding buildings. The cost was four hundred Bolivianos per person, which is equivalent to forty pounds. (To give you some idea how much forty pounds is worth in Bolivia I'll explain the daily costs for us; bed - four pounds, beer - eighty pence, pizza, coke and garlic bread - one pound fifty. Its easy to live like a king on twenty pounds a day). Nearly all of this is used to bribe the guards to let us in. Yes its illegal and yes it is immoral but we know we'd never get to see anything like this again. After paying cash we had numbers written onto our arms. We were the 23rd, 24th, 25th 26th and 27th visitors of the day. Our small camera was taken off us and we were let into the prison without having any checks done on us. The main square past the iron gates was so strange. There was not one single officer present on this inside of the prison. We were escorted upstairs by inmates and wrote down our names and nationalities, Each of us felt uneasy as we knew what we were doing was illegal. The tour began immediately and we were introduced to our guide from Holland. This guy was a prisoner and has been for the past six or seven years. He was caught trying to smuggle ten kilos of cocaine back to the UK on a British Airways flight. Although at first he spoke garbage about being a reformed character, he later mentioned writing his own book and explained how next time he plans to smuggle it on a boat, a row boat! Idiot. It was evident he had a low IQ and often visited the land of the fairies! I was just glad that he wasn't in for murder or rape! We first stopped in a small courtyard. The majority of inmates were queuing up for food being served outside. Others passing us were tucking in to their meal of meat, rice, egg and veg. Although not overly appetising, it looked edible. Our guide told us how the food standard varies daily. As we stood by a wall we tried to take everything in. It was a community stuck inside the prison walls. Wives and children lived inside with the prisoners, although they were able to come and go as they pleased. Many of them wouldn't earn enough money to survive whilst their husbands were locked up. I noticed men walk past me with black eyes and others covered in scars from attacks. We walked into a social room at the far side of the courtyard. Despite the concrete walls and lack of decor, it had a small gym and three pool tables - each in better condition than those we played on in hostels. As well as the guide we had two bodyguards watching over our group. They too were inmates but spoke little English. We walked on and our guy told us how, despite no guards being allowed in the prison, there are rules and regulations. Game tables and televisions were set up in the courtyards and one was being used as a football pitch. It didn't take long for us to notice the numerous Coca Cola adverts on walls, umbrellas and chairs. Our guide informed us that Coca Cola sponsors the prison as long as those inside who own shops don't supply Pepsi. Inmates own and run businesses inside the prison in order to pay for their cell rooms. The rich own rooms that resemble apartments and the poorest have to share a room and rent. There are no bars locked by guards, instead doors are locked by the prisoners themselves. There was a time when inmates could even pay for a night out the jail but this no longer happens. At the top of some rickety narrow stairs we had a view of the top of the prison walls, washing drying in the sun and a few of the rooms. After being shown the kitchen and the outside of the smelly bathrooms we made our way through the 'dangerous corridor'. We were told to stay together and walk fast. At the time I believed it was mega dangerous, but after reading the book I'm pretty sure it was for the tourist experience. The dangerous area in the book is described as a place ten times worse than where we walked! The last part of our tour was spent inside a cell. Here we sat in the small pokey room being offered alcohol, weed and cocaine. It was crazy! He told us that we could do the drugs inside the prison or take them out with us! We had just seen where the druggies live and no-one wanted to join them! We sat there politely declining staring at the bog-eyed inmate smoking. After an awkward few moments we were asked to leave a tip before being led to the gates. We were told that we had to leave in two separate groups and head in two directions. Although a little shook up by the experience, we were both excited to have been in and seen it for ourselves! On Sunday, Simon wanted to go to a footie match at the worlds highest national stadium, so I went along with him. In the past, Bolivia have played and won teams such as Argentina in this particular ground as other teams cannot perform at such altitude. It was drizzling a little when we left but soon cleared up. The ground was only a ten minute walk from our hostel and outside it were various stalls selling knock off shirts for two pound fifty so we both became fans for the day. Our tickets, costing three pounds each,covered both games being shown that day. The first game was La Paz Vs Blooming, two national teams. The stadium was pretty empty and there was very little atmosphere. The standard was pretty slow and scrappy but a few goals were scored. The second game between Stronger (another La Paz team) and Santa Cruz had many more fans. Banners were placed around the stadium, many showed support for individual players but one had a picture of Darth Vader and said 'Boliviar, I am your father'. Really random! Coloured fabric was draped all over the Stronger seats. As the game kicked off both set of fans set off coloured flares and fireworks. The Stronger fans, kitted out in yellow and black stripes, sang loudly for the entire match. We were sat in the expensive end but decided to move and join in the fun! Despite the flares and over sized men, there were many local children and women about so we felt safe. My voice had still not returned so I couldn't scream or sing, but Simon was shouting at the players and ref...although I don't think they understood English! Sadly the local team lost the second game, but thankfully no riots broke out! With friends we walked to the museum district, a narrow cobbled road beside colourful buildings, archways and city views. Sadly we had completely forgetton that museums close on Mondays! Fortunately one of the attractions was open - the music museum. Inside were rooms filled with various instruments all made from natural elements, like wood, bone, teeth, turtle shells and toucan beaks. There were also plenty of instruments available to play, including a mini guitar made with an old can of spam! A room full of art and music had images of the Mona Lisa strumming a guitar. We all had fun acting like big kids :) After nipping back to the gringo district to pick up a souvenir or two, we crossed the zebra crossing. The road was mental but people dressed in zebra fancy dress ensured traffic stopped and helped us get across in one piece! We had a few mad nights in La Paz. Between four people we bought a litre bottle of Bacardi rum and coke for three pounds each. Cheap non-brand named spirits were ridiculously cheap - rum could be found for four pounds. Needless to say, every backpacker had their fair share of la paz hangovers!! Sadly Simon was unable to do the Death Road. Its the infamous downhill bike trip along an old road that runs beside sheer drops with stunning views. Numerous people, bikes and vehicles have fallen over the edge - hence the name. Currently in Bolivia there is a dispute about the Coca plant. Locals grow it and for many it is a major source of income. However, the US are convincing Bolivia to limit the Coca plantations in their crack down on drugs. During our stay in Bolivia the government created a limitation law which resulted in numerous locals protesting and blocking the death road and preventing tourists from visiting.