Our bus to Bolivia (La Paz) seemed to be a clue to what La Paz was to hold. It didn't look unsafe but very old and worn. We chucked our bags on with no identification and took our musty seats in numbers 19 and 20.

We were once again the only English people on the bus so when we changed buses and got to the boarder etc we had to follow the crowd and hope for the best.

The boarder crossing was the easiest I've ever done, I think. there was a station to exchange money into Boliviano's and then two ques into two doorways......noone seemed to give any guidance so we picked a que and waited to find out where it lead.....two places from the front a policeman checked our passports and motioned to the other que d'oh! So after we got our passports stamped by a guy who didn't even look at my picture, we stepped over the chain 3cm's off the ground and we were in Bolivia!

We stopped off for an hour in Cococabana. It's a tiny little town by Lake Titicaca. It's kind of a weird South-American "sea-side" town, with buses running through it as it's a main route from Peru to Bolivia. There is a "beach front" with massive plastic swans you can peddle around in if you wanted to.

The next surprise we had was getting unloaded off the bus and onto a little boat and motored across a lake! Our bus accompained our boat on a tiny barge across from us. It was very surreal.

We arrived in La Paz at 5pm finally, La Paz is in a deep valley with buildings sprawled all across it. It's like a cocktail glass that someone has chucked a load of lego into. The nearer you get into the centre, the more affluent it is.....and it isn't very affluent.

So La Paz....the traffic is MENTAL. Tom said it reminded him of Veitnam. I don't know how there isn't more accidents. They love the beep their horns. There are old women moaning and begging on the street. There are markets EVERYWHERE selling EVERYTHING (TV remotes seem to be something in demand?!). People do not walk in a straight line. Taxi drivers say they know where they're going......not true. Cars here definately don't have MOT's, I'm surprised some of them run at all. The witches market is interesting but over-rated, its quite small and sells lots of drugs. We got to see a carnival and even a protest! (They'd blocked off the main plaza for a demonstration - disabled people are demanding more benefits. Apparently the last demontration ended in tear gas.....).

So then I start feeling a bit sick. Then much more sick. Then sicker still :( two days later the doctor gets called out. Long-story-short 2 and 1/2 days in hospital, drips, shed load of antibiotics and a diagnosis where the only bits I understand are "acute salmonella" "anemia" "irregular heartbeat" and "THREE. not one, not two but THREE parasites" and then three more things I don't really understand. I mean come on! Even the doctor was a bit shocked. Phew.

Anyway, apart from one day trip that I'll write about later, this was pretty much the end of South America for us.....Maybe be back one day when my immune system can survive!! (and my phone bill won't kill me....)

Benbeviedo Bolivia