The plan was to have a good meal then get a night bus to Sucre from Uyuni (where our 4WD tour ended). We were dropped at the bus terminal and tried to buy our bus tickets before finding a decent eating establishment. There were no buses to Sucre. In Bolivia when the populous disagrees with government they blockade towns - no one goes in or out. Crossing the line is not recommended! We knew there had been problems in Sucre but thought they were over. We certainly didn't want to stop in Uyuni. Ironically there was a bus leaving for Potosi almost immediately. Back in 2010 our friends Justin & Tracy wanted to go to Potosi but couldn't as it was blockaded. No time for a meal, we bought something to eat and drink for the bus journey and hopped on board. Other travellers just finishing their 4WD tour also wanted to go to Sucre, they ran around all the ticket offices but ended up getting on the bus to Potosi. We arrived at Potosi into an atmosphere of chaos. The bus stopped on a busy main road, the traffic was manic. I left Donna guarding the bags whilst went over the busy road to the bus terminal to find out if a bus to Sucre was possible tomorrow. Buses for Sucre do not leave from this terminal but I still established the answer was no. We had a room booked in Sucre but nothing in Potosi. We picked somewhere out of our guide book and found a taxi. We got a room, a suite in fact. We only paid a double room price but it was still twice the price of our Sucre room! We booked for 2 nights (Tuesday & Wednesday, leave on Thursday). We needed to rest and recover and decide where we go from here. The plan was to arrange trekking in Sucre with a guide and to be camping in the mountains for my birthday - no such luck. Potosí is not what it used to be, it was founded in 1546 after the discovery of the rich silver deposits in the Cerro Rico. It soon became one of the wealthiest and largest cities in the Americas. The mines of the Cerro Rico are the richest mines in all of world history and may have produced 60,000 tons of silver. Nowadays they mine lead, zinc, tin and what silver is left. The centre of the town is home to a beautiful plaza and colonial buildings. Our chosen hostel was a brilliant white washed colonial building with several cobbled court yards, arches and terraces - very pretty. Unfortunately, all of this is surrounded by a sprawling, ugly city with traffic jammed streets, noxious diesel fumes and an acrid smell that seems to linger over the town. We didn't want to stay here long! We went for a pizza but were almost too tired too eat. We had half of it wrapped up to eat tomorrow, we headed back to our room and crashed out on the bed. Now if you are eating or about to eat don't read any more! Before falling asleep I used the toilet and forgot the used toilet paper had to go in the bin not in the pan (force of habit). I blocked the toilet - okay we will deal with that in the morning. Alas in the night Donna desperately needed the toilet, she got dressed and went in search of a communal loo in the hostel. Eventually she came back, she wasn't well, her bottom had dropped out in liquid form, she had stomach cramps and felt sick! Throughout the night she was back and forth to the loo. In the morning Donna went to reception to report the blocked toilet and they brought us a toilet roll - lost in translation! So around 7.30am I decided to tackle our toilet myself. I plunged my arm into the almost overflowing toilet and wriggled my fingers in the u-bend but it made no difference it was well and truly blocked. After a liberal application of soap and water on said arm and hand I retired back to bed. I went for breakfast and brought Donna cup of tea to the room. Soon after I had an involuntary, unexpected rear eruption! Donna was in a toilet somewhere ejecting from both ends, our loo was blocked and I was turning into a chocolate soldier so I locked the room up and went in search of a third loo. After emptying myself, washing and changing I reported our toilet problem. A man with a plunger arrived and the problem was fixed, just us two broken now! Donna researched the blockades and discovered the last time Sucre was blockaded it went on for 3 weeks - forget Sucre we are going to La Paz. Even though we wanted to get out of here we realised it was not wise to board a 10-hour night bus in this state, we booked a third night (Thursday, leave on Friday). We ate little (cheese sandwiches) and drank plenty. We felt lifeless and at an altitude of 4060 metres we breathed heavy in our weak state. Wednesday night was long and restless but Thursday morning we were both much improved. We booked a night bus for Friday and a place to stay in La Paz. We ate out Thursday night, only a light meal and no alcohol, but then I went backwards. Stomach ache most of the night and lots more liquid from my rear end. We booked our room for a 4th night (Friday), changed our bus tickets to Saturday and amended our La Paz booking. We survived the day on more cheese sandwiches. I awoke on Saturday 12th May, my birthday not feeling 100% but almost human. We weren't going far in this sh#thole of a town on my birthday. We had to check out of our room then sit in the lounge until early evening (eating cheese sandwiches) before getting a taxi to the terminal for our bus to La Paz. Not what I had envisaged for my Birthday. The day was made all the better though with a birthday card from Donna (which turned out to be a valentine's card) and a bag of goodies to eat (when I could face them) and with lots of texts, emails and Facebook messages wishing me Happy Birthday - thanks everyone. When travelling you inevitably get ill at some point and there is never a good time for it. At least we had a decent room. Good job we spent almost 3 days in it watching CNN news and the occasional English movie. We did get all of washing done as well - some of it several times because of little (and big) accidents. Hopefully we will be mended soon. We didn't take many photos in Potosi as it was too much of an effort whilst we were feeling lousy. Lots of interesting local characters to photograph but most really don't like a camera being pointed towards them. If you ask most often the answer is no!