Day 37

Wednesday 8^th December 2010

All is well, the flight is confirmed, we can pack our bags and head to the Airport. And apart from a few fairly big queues (English style) it all went swimmingly.

We boarded the flight on time and settled in for a quick three hours inside a metal cylinder full of other peoples farts.

We arrived in Buenos Aires (BA to the kids) about 16:00 and a bloke picked us up and took us to the hostel. The hostel is called the Art Factory and its really cool, they let local artists in to do murals and that on the walls, and then every bedroom is unique. We really like it.

Suz had been reading the BA guide and found a pub that does happy hour from six so we headed down there for a few cheap scoops. The beer is called Quilmes (kill-mez) and goes down a treat, at a pound a pint! We went into the pool room and some local lads were there, really friendly and like most of the people we’ve met so far, just wanted to practice their English (which means our Spanglish is getting no better). They we’re good lads and we settled into and evening of pool (for me), banter and lots and lots of Quilmes.

It got too late to move on so we decided to have tea there, I’m not sure what I had but Suz reliably informs me that it was a burger. Suz had steak and ale pie and ½ a pound of wedges!

One of the lads we met was an Independiente supporter and was off to watch the second leg of the Final. They were playing a Brazilian side called Goias in their equivalent of the Champions League. Independiente got beat away in Brazil 2-0 so had to score three to win. Unbelievably at full-time it was 3-1 and went to extra time and then a penalty shoot out that Independiente won!!

More beers flowed and at about 01:00 we headed back to the hostel. The hostel has an open air bar on the roof and seeing as I hadn’t drunk enough we decided (I decided) that we should drink more! We found some Scandinavian fellas on the roof and gabbed away for another couple of hours. Suz went off to bed at 02:00 and I followed just after at 03:00 ……….. ish.

I think were gonna enjoy BA!

Day 36

Tuesday 7^th December 2010

Well, that was supposed to be the end of the Bolivian leg of the trip, but our connecting flight to Buenos Aires was cancelled. So today we are spending an unscheduled day in Santa Cruz.  We hadn’t planned for Santa Cruz so we know nothing about it, JJ sorted us a Hotel and transfers to and from the airport which was really helpful, he’s a good egg JJ.

We arrived about midday and as the plane doors opened my lungs sang the kind of song the birds sing on the first day of spring, so delighted about the abundance of oxygen they were receiving my red blood cells were doing a casual backstroke around my body and it felt so good. Breathing without gasping or a constant burn in the chest is amazing. To hell with you altitude, I shall be spending my days as close to sea level as I can get from now on!!

Santa Cruz is hot, humid and really windy! We stayed at the 5 star Hotel Inn (more of a 3* than a 5, I think they give out stars here if the toilet has a seat - ours was padded hence the 5*!!!).

We dropped the bags and headed for a mooch into town, first of all in the wrong direction but eventually we found the main plaza which included an Irish Bar, winner.

We popped in for a spot of lunch, which was pretty good as it goes, I had a chicken curry much to the envy of Suzanne. She has been doing this a lot so far on the trip, ordering something and then deciding that this isn’t really what she wants and then she sits druelling over my lunch…. Makes you feel quite guilty, you know that look a dog gives you when it really wants a wee but its pouring down outside, that is the look Suz has mastered, I ended up offering to switch meals! One month into married life… God help me!

We tucked a few beers away and had a bit of mess about on t’interweb, Facebook etc etc until the United game started. United were playing Valencia in the Champions League and we needed a draw to win the group, not that anyone else in the city cared. Suz got all caught up with writing the blog and I threw a few more beers down my neck as United eeked out a 1-1 draw.

After which it was time to eat again, we couldn’t really find anywhere that wasn’t absolutely packed, it seems that when work finishes in Santa Cruz everyone goes to the main plaza for tea, a chat or even a nap. We decided to try the food at the hotel, we had a quick shower in case it was posh (don’t wanna go stinking up a smart eatery) and sat down in a deserted restaurant. An hour and fifteen foodless minutes went by as ‘Manuel’ darted from room to room doing….. as far as I could tell, sod all.

When our food arrived it was very poor, 1hr 20 to cook, 2 mins to decide we didn’t want it, you know the foods going be shit when you ask for steak and they don’t ask you how you want it cooked, or in this case, disregard the fact that you asked for it medium. When Suz requested her steak to be cooked medium ‘Manuel’ may as well have put his fingers in his ears and gone la la la la la la la – even though we’ve gone to the trouble of learning the Spanish for medium and know we want all our steaks ‘a punto’.

Disappointed we headed back to our ‘suite’ and got the laptop out. Our flight to Buenos Aires is now at midday tomorrow so we can have a semi lie in and pack in the morning. We watched a film (It’s Complicated starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin) and fell asleep in the massive bed.

This IS the end of the Bolivian bit………..we hope!

Day 35

Monday 6^th December 2010

The day started as we pulled into la Paz bus station at 7.30am. Thanks to the Phenergan (sedatives) we had taken we had slept surprisingly well on the night bus. That said I felt like I had slept in a straight jacket as Iris who was in front of me had reclined her seat so much that I couldn’t move an inch!

We headed to our hotel on a pre booked transfer – a 36 seater coach for 4 of us! And it was only a 5 minute journey! On arrival we were lucky enough to be able to check in straight away. Feeling a bit like a space cadet we emptied piles of dusty desert laundry from our bags, dropped them at reception and headed out in search of breakfast and wifi.

The hotel in Uyuni didn’t even have internet so we’d been cut off for 5 days. We were delighted to hear that England was trouncing the Aussies in the cricket – we’ll be in Oz in a couple of weeks so good to get a win under our belts before then. We were also mildly amused at the plight of the UK as the bitter freeze continues. Thanks to those of you keeping us up to date with news of everyone back home by email – it’s good to hear from you all. It felt really good to be back in La Paz, back in touch and back to civilisation!

The day has been pretty uneventful. We’ve done a bit of blogging, had a Frank nap and watched some TV (Two and a Half Men, Friends and Liverpool vs Villa).

We’ve noticed that Bolivia seems to be getting ready for Xmas now as Christmas trees and decorations have sprung up in all the hotels and restaurants while we’ve been away. Guess it’s getting a bit frenzied back home!

We headed out for tea with JJ and Iris as today is officially our last day of the tour. It was a quiet affair given that we started with 7 in the group and ended up with just 4.

The meal was delicious. I had really, really good Bolivian chocolate mouse for pudding mmmmmmmm!

After tea it was back to the hotel to collect the laundry and pack. Here ends our Bolivian stage of the adventure!

Day 33



Saturday 4^th December 2010

The day started early – a 7am breakfast call. Cold scrambled eggs and Bimbo bread – my favourite!!!! We loaded up the Jeeps and hit the road again leaving our salt hotel behind.

Today was penned as ‘ Deserts and Lagoons’ – it should have actually been penned as a lot of time spent in a jeep losing fillings. We actually spent about 10 hours driving with stops at various points of interest to jump out, stretch the legs and take some photos.

Today it became apparent that there were 2 classes of Jeep on this trip. There were 2 new 4.5L land cruisers that ate up the desert at 100kmph, the passengers barely feeling the rough terrain and enjoying the music from their iPods blaring from the car’s sound system. Then there were 2 old battered Toyotas that really had seen better days. We were in one of these. There seemed to be some hierarchy to the driving and Pablo, our driver, was insistent on bringing up the rear. He was so insistent that when all 3 jeeps tore off down the road in front of us he would veer completely off track and pick his own bumpier, slower alternative route. Pablo also liked to show his passengers who was boss. He locked the electric windows ion the back of the jeep so that the boys couldn't control them and he would put the windows up and down at his will. It was roasting in the back of the jeep and despite asking quite pleasantly if we could have sojme air he simply replied 'No!'.

First spot was some vicuna – a bit like a cross between a llama and a deer.

We stopped for a llama crossing as we pulled into a small ‘town’ to restock with supplies of water and snacks – and to buy some biccies to make up for the rubbish breakfast.

If a dog is herding llama is it a llama dog?

We had been complaining about the lack of music in our jeep and randomly Guido, the boss and driver of the plush blue jeep, had produced a speaker from God knows where. This was like a speaker from a midi hifi system from the 90s which was wired mysteriously into the glove compartment and sat sliding around in the front between the driver and the cook! We also had a lead to connect Franky's iPod - we had tunes! Things were looking up. I mean it did sound like Clapton was playing in a fish bowl and we couldn't bear the distortion on anything involving an electric guitar but at least we had something!

Soon after leaving the town of San Juan we came to a police checkpoint to enter the national park – and handed over all our uneaten breakfast Bimbo bread. The police seemed genuinely pleased with this gift!!!

We were bumping our way across the desert when the red jeep came to a halt. They had a puncture. After our experience yesterday of everyman and his dog trying to fix the red jeep Franky thought he’d join in for a giggle and jumped out, wrench in hand.  We discovered the Bolivians are actually no fools as they left him to it and he changed the wheel himself!!!!

Back on the road – the landscape is desolate. Nothing even grows out here. We are crossing a red arid desert surrounded on 3 sides by volcanoes and heading to the view point of an active one.

We reach the view point which is disappointingly miles away from the actual volcano. Although we could see a bit of steam coming out of the side. Apparently you used to be able to go up the volcano until recently a guided tour of 8 Swedes went missing. Only 3 tourists and the guide returned and the bodies have never been recovered so trips up the volcano are a thing of the past.

Back in the Jeeps but not for long – the red jeep was in trouble again! Now the roof rack was loose. This was particularly worrying as they were carrying 2 drums of diesel for all 4 cars on the trip. The driver shifted the load from the front to the back, lodged an empty coke bottle under the roof rack and we were back on our way!

Next stop was the first lagoon. The view was amazing but the stench was unbelievable – a mixture of flamingo shit and sulphur. The sulphur is due to the volcanic activity in the area.

The flamingos come from Chile and Peru – beautiful birds but they don’t half stink!

Another lagoon and this was our lunch stop. This lake is positively toxic with sulphur and arsenic – although the flamingo didn’t seem to mind it too much.

The driver of the red jeep donned his overalls so we knew things were bad – now they had ANOTHER puncture. Franky left him to deal with this one on his own and went inside for chicken and potatoes.

Now I know this blog reads like a diary of toilets around the world but these ones were truly unique. It seemed that you had to decide what you were going for before you sit down. For number ones you sit at the front and pee into a sieve type contraption. For number twos you sit further back and avoid the sieve altogether. There was a stern notice on the back of the door that if you got this wrong and shat into the sieve it was your responsibility to clean it!!!

As we were leaving the lunch stop being at the back of the group actually paid off. The rest of the group had disappeared into a cloud of dust when over the horizon came 2 desert foxes – a Mother and baby. Pabs stopped the jeep and the cook who was travelling in the front of our car flung out the remaining Bimbo bread for them. To be fair they were far more excited about it than we had been and gobbled it all up.

Another couple of hours cruising across the desert – we came to the crop of rocks including ‘the rock that looks like a tree’ – how do they come up with these names???

Glad to get out of the jeep I took the opportunity to do a spot of rock climbing.

And back to the trials and tribulations of that red jeep…. The rear suspension arm had now gone so the girls were getting a really bumpy ride. It also meant that the whole group had to slow down to travel at a pace that was vaguely comfortable for them. Great!

Last stop of the day was the red lagoon. It wasn’t really red due to the amount of borate crystals on the surface so it was mostly white. It was also freezing, the wind was getting up and the sun was going down. We were keen to get to our shelter for the night before the light completely went so it was back in the jeeps for the last stint of the day.

We eventually pulled up outside our ‘shelter’. This had no honeymoon suite and we were bunking down with Andrew and Kerry. Franky took no time at all in jumping into his sleeping bag – it was pretty cold, although fortunately not the minus 10 we had been told it could get to at night!

We had tea of spaghetti bolognese made with minced llama which was actually pretty good and a glass of vino tinto before it was time to hit the sack. It had been a long day of endless bumpy driving although we had seen some amazing scenery and new wildlife.

Day 32

Friday 3rd December 2010

The Jeeps arrived at 10:30 and the group split into 4's. We were put with 'the other couple' who are Andrew and Kerry. We climbed into the off white Jeep and headed for our first stop of the day 'The Train Cemetery'.

It is just outside Uyuni and is connected to it by the old train tracks. The town served in the past as a distribution hub for the trains carrying minerals en route to Pacific Ocean ports. The rail lines were built by British engineers arriving near the end of the 19th century and formed a sizeable community in Uyuni.  The trains were mostly used by the mining companies but in the 1940s, the mining industry collapsed, partly because of mineral depletion. Many trains were abandoned, producing the train cemetery. There are proposals to build a museum from the cemetery.

Its also the place that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their maker! Apparently they had heard about the wealth of gold coming out of Uyuni and came down on horseback to hold up a train that was transporting gold. They arrived and held up the train in a heist totalling $46 million (in today’s money). Being greedy little blighters they went to a nearby saloon and hatched a plan to do the same thing again. Unbeknownst to them there were English speaking people in the bar who informed the police, date, time, the job lot. So when they held the train up and got to the cabin where the gold was being stored, they were met by Police who shot and injured both of them. It is believed that they escaped to the nearby mountains but died through infection and dehydration.

The guns they used were custom built and one of them is still missing. The US government have a reward for the gun which is $2 million . Cool hey??

Its a pretty cool place and another example of being able to get up close and personal in stark contrast to what it would be like back in the UK. Imagine being able to live out some childhood fantasies like climbing on top of trains and riding underneath them!!

The girls we we're with have been travelling for a while and have taken to doing 'the robot' at any site we arrive at, which was funny at first. Here's Suzi joining in before the tedium set in!

Next stop was a little town who live off the salt flats old school style. They showed us how they dry and treat the salt and in the next room was a woman on her knees hand packing the salt into 1kg bags. She was heat sealing the bags with a naked flame attached to gas bottle! She gets 10 Bolivianos ( £1 ) for every 50 kilos. We could have had a lifetimes supply of salt for about a fiver but we had nowhere to put it.

We left there and pretty soon afterwards we arrived at the salt flats or 'Salar de Uyuni'. We were happily taking a few shots amongst the 'mined' piles of salt when we were called back to the Jeep.

We set off in the direction we had come from and ended up back in the town we had just left. One of the Jeeps had broken down and everyman and his dog was trying to fix it.

What I couldn’t work out was why we had been brought back too, there was 6 stranded people in the red Jeep and now 4 onlookers in ours, so nobody could go anywhere (this was the first of our problems with Pablo our driver, but more of that later). They called for another Jeep which would take an hour to arrive, great!

Then a third of our Jeeps (this time without passengers) turned up and the young kid who was driving discovered that the driver of the red Jeep had hit the 'kill switch' stopping the Jeep from starting, what a Muppet. This was reset and the Jeep came back to life.

We jumped back in and headed about an hour into the salt flats, because of the complete lack of anything there is nothing to provide scale, so you can take pictures that mess with the mind.

The Salt Flats are the world's largest at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). They are located in southwest Bolivia near the crest of the Andes and are 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level. They were formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. 

and seeing as we are only coming here once I decided to get starker's



HI MUM!!

We also did a bit of jumping around, everyone else seemed to be doing it so we joined in!

We spent a good few hours messing about, the pictures are so difficult to line up and get right and as the sun began to fade we had a little smooch (eeeewwwwwww!)

Back aboard the Jeeps we headed to one of the many Salt Hotels out here, the Salt Flats attract tourists from around the world and as it is located far from the cities, a number of hotels have been built in the area. Due to lack of conventional construction materials, many of them are almost entirely (walls, roof, furniture) built with salt blocks cut from the salt. Check it out, this was the 'Honeymoon Suite'

We all met up for tea and a few games of pool, I was undefeated on the night and was very gracious in victory, as you would expect.

"Yes!!! have some of that you Kiwi"

The electricity only lasted until 22:00 so we all had to be wrapped up in bed by then, which we were glad of to be honest, today was amazing and exhausting!!