Hi All,

Well we are still in Bol-hell-ia as we are now calling it! We went to the bus station to get our bus to Uyuni and got a bit of a surprise when we got our money back for the bus they conned us on which was good. The bus to Uyuni was 13 hours and we were on it for ages about 4 hours when we stopped in a town with loos etc and we asked if we could go to the bathroom and he said in 5 minutes so we drove along a bit and then stopped by the side and he said we could go “solo urinario” - only pee, so we got out and Craig hid me by the side of the road while everyone on the bus went to the loo, I have no idea why we couldn’t just go in the place with loos! We drove for like another hour and then they stopped at like a pals restaurant or something and went to the loo again and then had a really bumpy ride till we got to Uyuni and when we got there the windows were frozen and I have never been so cold in ages!! We got to our hostel and had a reservation with $12 left to pay except she said it was $15 and we were knackered and couldn’t be bothered arguing so we went to our beds which were on spring mattresses that had been used a bit much so you kind of fell into the middle of it but we got a few hours sleep anyway and then got up and went out in search of food and a tour agent for our trip to the salt flats. We booked 3 day tour and had a make-shift fry up and had a wander round town. We then decided that it was quite expensive and that we had like no time left for other places so we changed our tour to one day and decided to miss Chile as the bus fares and time it would take were not really worth it for one city so we found a train that goes to Villazon on the border with Argentina where we can then get a bus to Buenos Aires. Craig then got his hair cut one guy just totally ignored us but then he went to the next guy and got a total baldy and his head is like Velcro and everything sticks to it lol but it was a quid! We then played cards etc as we always do when there is nothing to do, the town is just a gateway to the salts. We did however see a traditional funeral which was quite nice with the hearse in the back of a taxi and flowers all round and lots of people following in black, it was quite sad, I almost cried as usual lol! The hostel was so annoying as there was so many rules, one shower per night, not allowed to charge certain things, pay for baggage storage, curfew etc. The couple we met on the train had told us about a really good restaurant so we set out to find it and we got it, Minuteman Italian restaurant in a hotel run by a guy from Boston. I had spag bol and Craig had a covered pizza thing, it was yummy!! At night we went to the train station to get out tickets but it didn’t open till 1am, its open at dodgy times so we decided to go back the next day and when we got back to the hostel she had locked us out and stood there ages and were practically banging in the door when she answered and had the cheek to look mad at us!! In the night I woke up and was not well again in the loo and couldn’t sleep so when we got up in the morning Craig went to see if we could do our tour the next day instead which we could so that was good. Then came the worst bit ever of our trip which exceeded last weeks worst day! I went to ask the woman if breakfast was on which is wasn’t so I went and got some crackers and yoghurt from the shop and when I came back I asked the woman for a spoon and knife and then a wee dog came out with a t-shirt on so I clapped it and when I pulled my hand away it leapt up at me and tried to bite me then it got my leg and when the woman came even she didn’t want to touch it so she shouted it out of the way. It was bloody sore and I got such a fright! I went back to the room and told Craig and cried for ages, read the guidebook bit about rabies which made it sound like I was going to die so cried more and then Craig cleaned it al out and asked the woman to call us a doctor and she said the man with her who was fixing a light was a doctor and Craig asked to see his ID which of course he didn’t have so she said we would need to go to the hospital. She did show us what was supposedly the dogs vaccination list which looked real enough. We got a cab to the hospital which was round the corner but he went a long way to con us even on the way to a bloomin hospital!! I managed to get across that I had been bitten by a dog and she took me to the infirmary where someone cleaned it all out and then she picked up some scissors and I almost passed out but it was just to pick up some sterile bandages. I got some antibiotics and anti inflammatory pills. Then we went and I called the insurance to speak to someone as even though I had jags at home you get a window of 2 days to have a booster but as the dog supposedly didn’t have rabies it should be ok. Nobody at the insurance really knew anything he said he guessed it would be ok and I said I didn’t really want to guess about it. Then I called my doctors and I couldn’t speak to anyone and she recommended NHS 24 who I called and said they couldn’t help me as they only help people in the country so then I called the Western Infectious Diseases Unit where I had all my vaccinations and eventually got to speak to a doctor who said it would all be ok if it had appeared it was a dog who was a pet and that I have antibiotics so it should be ok and just to look out for symptoms and keep it clean so that was a huge load off but I couldn’t believe how unhelpful were even at home! After we had a shower and some breakfast by this time abut 2pm and then we went to the station and got out tickets to Villazon on the border which for once were quite cheap, £6 for 9 hours. Then we called home so that when I wrote this blog my Dad wouldn’t pass out lol and it cheered us up a lot! After we played cards and had tea yet again in the Italian as it’s the only place that looks edible I had fresh tomato soup and Craig had pizza and we had homemade cookies! At night we were going o bed and it was so uncomfy that Craig said we should put the mattresses on the floor like he did in the army but while we were taking them off and leaning the frames against the wall all the bed frames fell apart it was hilarious!!

The next day we got up and checked out of the hell hole and went to go on our tour of the Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats. It worked out so much better to go today in the end anyway as we then didn’t have to try and fill the day waiting for the train at 10pm. When we got there the guy was like what happened and I told him id been bitten by a dog and he told the woman beside him and everyone had a big conversation about it of which I understood nothing lol. We then got in our jeep with 4 others and a driver of whom nobody spoke English even though they were advertising English speaking guides. First we were stopped by the police and then we stopped at this little village where they make things out of salt and bought a few gifts, we figured this was the cheapest place, it’s the thought that counts lol!! Next we drove to these little piles of salt that are harvested to make things and we took some stupid photos. Photos have kind of become the most famous thing about the flats as its so flat you can take really cool ones, easier if you have more people but we had a good shot as you will see in the photos. After we drove to a hotel that is made entirely out of salt, I’m not sure if it is an illegal one or not as most of them are as they cant get rid of sewage properly. Next we drove to an island that had loads of cactus on it and use the loo then we had a lunch of steak, cous cous and salad. After we had a row with someone as I wanted to go to the loo but now that it was busier they had someone on the door and he said I needed a ticket and wouldn’t just let me pay him so then we went to get a ticket but it was 15 bolivianos to get the ticket to walk round the island and that included loo and we said there was no way we were paying £1.50 to use the loo as we didn’t want to walk round the island and they just said that was the loo so Craig asked if he wanted him to pee right there lol but some guy lent me his ticket to go to the loo, then Craig and I went for a walk round the island and he peed there anyway lol!! After we waited about half an hour on two more people to come back with us and then we went and saw the train cemetery, a filler-inner if ever I saw one lol! It was nice to see the salt plains though. We went on the net and then had dinner in our usual place and the guy actually asked if we were moving in lol! My spag bol was not good and made me feel minging right in time for the train!! After we got our bags and the woman at the hostel made a big deal of how long will we be staying, we were like until we sort our bags out, you’d think after her dog had bit me she might manage some curtsey! We left without paying for our luggage storage and went to the train station and I needed the loo and nobody would let me use the loo so we had a coke somewhere and played cards. Then we went and got out train which was quite comfy but we were going through desert and all the dust was coming in the window so we now have sore throats. Craig didn’t sleep much and when he did luckily the guy behind us told us when it was time to get off lol!

So yesterday we got to Villazon which is yet another Bolivian hole. We went to a hotel recommended in lonely planet and when we got there we were ignored and then one of their dogs peed on my sleeping bag, then we went through and the reception was full of pictures of naked girls and the guy was a pervert and gave us a room where basically he could look into our shower. Then when I was paying a dog peed on my rucksack, what is with the dogs in this place? We then found no plugs work so went to ask him and he shoo-ed us away so we used duck tape and made things charge ourselves then had a sleep. When we got up we went out for some food of which there was none and I still didn’t feel well but we got bread, spam and fruit also had a shop about for our tickets to Buenos Aires and we managed to get some for $55 each, a lot cheaper than most places.

Today we got up and made a mess of the pervs room and went to the bus where they garbled a lot of stuff about immigration which we had asked them about yesterday and they had said we did on the bus so then it turned into yet another farce where we had to get a cab to the borer which they paid for, stamp out of Bolivia ( thank God for that) and then into Argentina. Then we tried to get a cab but all they would take was pesos which we had none of but eventually a guy said he would take us and we could change money at the bus station which we did. When we got to the bus station the guy showed me the computer and basically there was not a bus at 11.30am so he booked us onto the one at 4pm. We then realised it was an hour later so it was our fault we had missed it but we had thought we got it at the other side of the border where we would have been on time. We then wasted time on the net and had a set lunch where we didn’t know what anything on the menu was but it all turned out to be ok and £7 for 4 courses each and juice. Then back to the station and onto the bus which we are on now and it is pretty nice although we did just have to get off and let them go through all our bags again. The journey is about 25 hours and we are booked into the hostel Gay and Lesbian on our arrival as it was the cheapest one lol! We don’t even know if this bus goes to BA as it seems top say La Plata on our tickets which is about an hour outside but I’m sure we will work it out.

Argentina seems so much nicer even though we were just a few miles over the border people were so much nicer and everything seemed to work much better. Bolivia was without doubt the worst place I have ever been, Craig even said Iraq was more pleasant lol, people were so rude, if you are thinking about going there -don’t bother!! We have much higher hopes for Argentina and cant wait to be at sea level lol! Cant believe we will be home 3 weeks today!!

Hope everyone is well back home!!

Lots of Love

Eva and Craig xxx

PS Congratulations to Phil and Tracey on the arrival of baby Molly Florence and to my sister for passing her driving test!!