28th December

we were both in a apprehensive mood for our early morning bus to La Paz, Bolivia, after our previous bus related hassles. The Bolivian border is quite a dodgy crossing, especially by land. Later that day we would hear a tale of a bus boarded 2 days before by Bolivian border police who forced three Czech Republicans to pay $100 each for a visa that is free to all nationalities. Our ticket had cost less than seven pounds, which is always a good start and the bus was fairly decent. No luxuries but it was a day bus so we'd survive.
The border crossing was an actual breeze and quite a pleasant experience. You are dumped out of the bus at the edge of Peru's border and first you queue at Peruian Migration for an exit stamp. Seeral buses had arrived at the same time so it's not quick. After the first queue you move to the local police station where they take some forms off you. After these two stops you walk about a half mile through no countries land till you reach Bolivia. Once there it's another queue to get your entry stamp and then you just have to wait for your bus.
The bus carried on snaking along Lake Titicaca, but this time on the side of Bolivia. On the edge of the lakes flamingoes grazed, I don't like flamingoes, never have but it was nice to see a bird in the wild that you normally only see in captivity . A half hour later you reach Copacabana where all bus companies dump the passengers to swap with another bus company. This way Peruvians are back in Peru by the evening and Bolivian drivers don't have to cross the border. We had a stressful wait for an hour here but I'd rather not go into it. It was made better though when we saw an Ozzie couple screaming at each other in the middle of the street, made my bad mood a lot better.
In a few hours we were on the edge of the mountains that overlook Bolivia's tallest city, La Paz. Snow covered mountains eclipse it on one side. The roads in Bolivia are just as suicidal as in Peru and the drivers are just as bad.
Once at our hostel we dropped our bags, had a Ozzie shower and headed straight out. We were meeting up with Scott & Jenny (who we'd met on the Inca trail and hung out with in Peru), for much needed beers and food. We'd evidently arrived at rush hour and La Paz couldn't be more of a contrast to Peru's Cusco & Puno. La Paz was a proper city, not there just to service the needs of tourists. The night was spent catching up and telling tales of the last two weeks since we'd seen each other. Many cheap cheap beers were had. I was going to like Bolivia.

29th December

We both woke up hungover, Jen in a far worse state than myself though. I went for breakfast and wifi to catch up on the football. Finding out Preston had sacked our manager was a massive suprise, as a shareholder of one share I feel like I should have been consulted. Whilst Jen lay in a poor state I ventured out into the crazieness of La Paz. I took out 1000 Bolivianos on each of our travel cards. About 90 quid each. When I got back to the hostel Jen was still asleep, so I went ahead and booked our Salt Flats tour to Uyuni (uni), in South Bolivia. We would leave by bus tonight, arriving at 7am to Uyuni have a full day tour & then return overnight in time for New Years Eve. All in all it cost about 50 pounds. I love how cheap Bolivia is!! Incidently it's the poorest country in South America with a national average gross income of $3000 a year. Bad times for them, good times for me! Jen was able to take a shower and chew on a bit of breakfast by this point but the walk back into town would be too much. I'd left my SLR battery charger somewhere and my battery was dangerously close to death. FIFA sanctioned a ruling a few years back saying countries couldn't play international football above 1500m above sea level and this was mainly aimed at La Paz where the national stadium reaches 4200m above sea level. I always thought this was just footballers crying off about it being harder, but f*** me walking up ten steps killed me so I dunno how 90 minutes on a football field would happen. As I walked the streets alone after Jen retired to the hostel, it's easy to feel intimmidated by the shoeshines who wear balaclavas but you get used to them. After a hour or so I found the charger I needed for $20 which is a LOT in Bolivia but the Salt Flats were a big thing for me so I sucked it up and paid.