So far things in Bolivia hadn't gone well. The scenery was fantastic but this was marred by poor food, headaches, lack of breath and sleepless nights (altitude), blockades, food poisoning, sickness, the trots and so on. We hoped to complete the El Choro trek, return to La Paz, do a high-level trek, return to La Paz, climb a 6000-metre peak (proper mountaineering), return to La Paz, cycle the death road. The first hurdle though was a good El Choro trek. We chose this one as it starts in the high mountains but you head down for 3 days. We wanted to regain more strength before we tackled an uphill trek. You can do this trek independently but you have to carry everything (tent, stove, food, etc) and trekkers have been mugged on the trail. If we were part of a large group then we would have considered doing it independently. We scoured the trekking agencies and decided not to go for the cheapest. We paid more for good food, good tent and an English-Speaking guide. We could have used our tent but it wouldn't have been any cheaper and we would probably end up with a wet tent to dry. We were dropped off at the start of the trail with our guide and cook. The mountains were magnificent. We followed an ancient Inca trail down into the valley. We seemed to be going downhill for ever. Eventually we stopped at a tiny village for lunch indoors - there was even a shop there (of sorts). Now when we walk we like to snack during stops and have a light lunch, then a decent dinner. No food had been given to us during the short stops, now at lunch time we were both presented with a mountain of rice, potatoes and chicken. Nice but way too much for lunch. By the time we had ate what we wanted the plates still looked full. We continued down into the clouds, more brief stops, no food. Then we could see our destination for the day on the other side of the river. There was a rickety, leaning bridge to cross. The handrails were at knee height and the hole thing swung and bounced with every step. Donna crossed it because she had to, but she didn't enjoy the experience. On the other side the path to the village was smothered with rubbish - what an eyesore. The camping area was also surrounded with trash. I went in search of the loo, I won't describe it except to say I was almost sick whilst using it (but I had to go). Then the guide revealed our tent - it was the sh#ttiest, crappiest, tiniest 2 person tent I have ever laid eyes on. It was a single skin with no guys or pegs - just two poles that crossed to give it some shape. You are advised in Bolivia not to leave kit outside your tent as it will disappear so both our backpacks and us had to fit inside. There were no washing facilities, there was the river but getting to it meant clambering over boulders and crossing an area of rubbish, loo roll and excrement! We didn't wash. We waited for dinner, it came, it looked disgusting, it smelt disgusting, it tasted disgusting - we couldn't eat it. They gave us some biscuits, bread and jam. By this time, it was dark (6.30pm) and we were swarmed by giant moths attracted by the light above the dining area. Some moths were the size of your hand! We went to bed early and starving. We had some emergency food with us but it had to last 3 days. We dipped into our supplies as we lay in our matchbox size tent. Getting undressed or finding anything was harder than the krypton factor. Breakfast was scheduled for 6.30am. The alarm went off at 6.00am but we were awake anyway. We had hardly slept because of hunger pains and our inability to sleep like sardines in a tin. We were so glad to get out of the tent but were devoid of energy and so hungry. The guide asked us how we were and we told him the truth and asked if we could possibly abandon the trek and get back to La Paz today. We were assured we could bail out provided we went back up hill to a village we had passed through yesterday. I hoped it would be 2 hours up but expected it to be 3, it was 3 and a quarter hours of uphill slog. We were both in a state, we stopped regular and depleted our emergency rations little by little. Donna looked dreadful and after two hours was really struggling. I offloaded some of her kit into my backpack. Oh, joy to reach the village. The guide and cook went off to organize transport. The best part if two hours must have gone by and there was still no transport, it would seem we had backtracked for nothing - there was no easy way out. We were worse off than before breakfast. In the end it came down to money. One of the 4x4 drivers would take us to La Paz for £100.00 and £50.00 per bag - £200 in total for 2 of us (he didn't have space for the guides)!! The guides had a kitty for expenses but it fell a long way short of £200.00. We were going to be stuck here unless we intervened. I counted up our cash and told the guides how much we would or could pay to get out of here - we were desperate, we felt so ill from lack of food and sleep. The guides went off to see what they could do but we spotted them just talking to each other before coming back to us. Their concern was us paying then back in La Paz going to the agency office for a re-imbursement. If we did this they would get fined or lose their jobs. We bit the bullet and assured them if they could get us out that would be the end of it. Eventually a deal was struck for £70.00 for 4 of us and bags to the outskirts of La Paz. We paid up and soon we were off. The track back was so rough, Donna was sat in the middle and held onto my legs so tight to stop being thrown about that I thought I would be covered in bruises. The road reached an almost vertical wall of rock and the track switched back and forth as we ascended. The track was narrow, the drops were huge. One switchback was so tight the driver couldn't turn it so we went up the next section in reverse! After that we could turn in the switch backs but only with 3-point turns. The vehicle had to be reversed back to the drop in order to manoeuvre around the bend. A few times when we were supposed to be going forward we were still in reverse and went even closer to the edge. The drive was so frightening. At last we reached the summit and the route down the other side was much wider, then we were back on Tarmac. We got dropped on the outskirts of La Paz and after a Collectivo and a taxi ride (paid by the guide) we were back at our hotel. They had a room available - hurray. We crashed out on the bed, then washed, then went to The English bar for food. We were so hungry but almost too tired to eat. We didn't pig out as our stomachs couldn't have taken it, we did enjoy what we ate though. We had 3 great months in Chile and Argentina, we have had 3 terrible weeks in Bolivia. Forget the other treks and the death road cycle - we decided that one way or another we are out of here - ASAP.