Bolivia –Land of Opportunity for Things Not to go to Plan…

Sorry about the peevish tone of my last entry, I felt very ill and sorry for myself.

So my sunny optimistic attitude was proven wrong and the rain stopped at Aguas Calientes. We got the first bus up to Machu Picchu at 5:30am to watch the sunrise and generally be a bit awestruck by the sight. I had to feel a little sorry for the 3 young British lads who had obviously got up in the middle of the night to do the three hour hike in order to be there before anyone else – they arrived at the exact same time we did. It was a pretty impressive display of swearing from them though! Hard to describe Machu Picchu with any great justice, so I’ll just show you one of our pictures:

There are many theories about Machu Picchu: its purpose, the reason for its remote location, etc., but my favorite one is that it was a holiday resort! A sort of Club Med for the Inca people to kick back, get a bit of R&R and be somewhere where there’s no cell phone reception for a little while…

Do you see that big, BIG mountain in the background? That’s Waynu Picchu, and yes, we climbed it! I know, I’m just as astonished as you are. True to form I climbed that beast no problem and then took a digger on the final, flat 50 yard stretch to the buses and spannered my ankle. Elegant.

All aboard the Vistadome train back to Cusco. I’m sitting quietly, minding my own business, admiring the views, when THIS inexplicable and horrifying knobhead jumped out in front of my face:

I think the rest of the carriage enjoyed my loud yelps of terror.

We then got off the train and directly onto a night bus to Copacabana, Bolivia, with a change at Puno. Despite pie-crust promises of a bus fit for an Inca Princess with lots of lovely heating, this was the only journey (so far) I have taken where there was ice on the INSIDE of the windows. Ponder for a few minutes about how comfy and easy it would be to get some sleep on that would you?

Onwards and upwards to Bolivia, an overland border crossing involving the world’s most disinterested immigration officials. I must have an honest face and they must have been secretly scared of Paul’s now luxuriant beard. We spent a lovely relaxing few days in Copacabana, (Lake Titicaca, world’s highest navigable water, Isla del Sol, blah blah blah). There were also beautiful sunsets, and delicious but vindictive trout.

Bolivia’s capital La Paz was the next port of call, the world’s highest capital city. I’d love to tell you more about La Paz but the trout wreaked its revenge and I spent 40 miserable hours in a hotel room awaiting death’s sweet kiss. I have to let you all know, if you didn’t already, that Paul is an angel in human form and looked after me in a way that would make Mother Theresa look heartless. Thanks darling. Anyway, even if I had been in robust health there was sod all going on due to some referendum elections taking place, and the police had decided that to make sure that no one was too drunk/hungover to vote they would ban drinking and general fun for a few days before the voting day! Welcome to Bolivia!

In La Paz they take zebra crossings rather literally:

Of course there were also numerous strikes taking place, preventing us from getting to Uyuni to start our tour of the salt flats, so we flew to Sucre instead to see if we would have more luck from that direction. Sucre is a beautiful University city, at the time very empty and sleepy due to the referendum thingy. They are too busy learning stuff to strike there, so we bussed to Uyuni (colder than a Boston winter – no joke) and folded ourselves into a jeep with 4 other people, plus driver, for a 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni.

The best and most memorable part of the tour was the salt flats, where something like 18 million tones of the stuff is mined every year, to the delight of cholesterol reducing drug manufacturers.

There was other stuff like colored lakes, volcanoes, flamingos, hot springs, a frigid and depressing dormitory and the WORST BATHROM EVER. Bear in mind people: I have been to Glastonbury and thought I had seen the worst the world of toilets had to offer. Oh no innocent child, not by a long way…

We’re now back in Sucre, which is odd with people around and shops and bars actually open! We were meant to be flying to Cochabamba tomorrow but LAB Airlines have decided they can’t be arsed and have cancelled the flight. Their website also no longer exists which is encouraging from the national carrier. So, who knows what’s happening next! Watch this space…

A final note: All over Bolivia are ladies with brightly colored blankets over their shoulders carrying something their back, smashing it into your face when they walk past you on the bus. These somethings could range from 10 pounds of potatoes, a baby, a starter motor for a Nissan Sunny, chickens or an occasional table. You just never know and it seems kind of rude to take a peek in to satisfy your curiosity…