THE END OF SOUTH AMERICA!!! :-(

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So.....it has been a while since I last wrote on my blog...I have a lot to fill you all in on. So i will write city by city and will give you all of the highlights!!

Bolivia was an interesting country, we only visited the altiplano, so I can only tell you about the altiplano people, but I found them to be rather cold and not very friendly, which was strange and totally the opposite to the rest of the places that we had visited. The weather was cold due to the altitude and often you found it hard to catch your breath! The buses were also very basic and on one journey we had people sitting in the ailes of the bus even though it was full, on an overnight bus, and one woman was stealing out of another mans bag!!

Copacabana was small, and there were beautiful views. we didnt stay there long, just enough time to visit Isla del Sol, which was a nice boat trip, and then we left for La Paz. On our way back to the mainland from the island our boat broke down!! People were not happy at all and eventually, one passenger steered the boat while the driver kept revving the engine!

We then got the bus to la paz which in itself was a hoot. we randomly stopped off at a village and everyone was told to get off and buy another ticket, we werent sure what for...then as we followed the crowd we realised we were taking an unexpected boat trip across lake Titicaca!! As we crossed in a passenger vessel, the bus crossed on a massive barge!! Me and Stacey found it all highly amusing, however, the other passengers werent as enthused!

In la paz.......La paz was crazy, we partied quite a bit in a hostel called the wild Rover...it was full of english, irish, australian and americans, and was good fun, so we lost a day nursing our hangovers. However we did find time to go to the witches market where they had remedies for the menopause and for good sex, and for everything really. The pictures on the packaging were a treat!we also saw dead llama fetuses, which apparently people buy and nail to the front of their houses for health and good fortune.

Also in La Paz we walked to the San Pedro prison. Here in the past tourists have been able to go into the prison and have a "prison tour" however....after new year some people got arrested and deported after being caught with coke when leaving the prison. The result was no more tourists were allowed to visit. So we tried to get in. loitering around the surprisingly beautiful plaza that houses the prison, but nobody approached us, and after asking the prison guards and them firmingly saying no, we gave up, and bought some jelly instead from a street vendor.

Shopping was cheap and cheerful in la paz and we stocked up with indigineous goodies, we nicknamed it "indige".

We also went to a viewpoint and got some good photos of the city.

after La Paz we went to Potosi. Here we stayed in a very strict and contradicting hostel and went mining!!! It was good fun, we climbed in and out of holes, down ladders, tried the miners beverage which was 96% alcohol. It was vile, and burnt as it went down your throat!! We chewed coca too. we saw a mechanical drill in use and we also set off TNT. It was good fun. The next day we visited a money museum and because Potosi used to mine gold, it used to make money for spain and other south american countries. Now sadly it is cheaper for canada and chile to make bolivian money!!

Then after Potosi we went to Tupiza. we only spent one night here and it was a good job, as we went horse riding and had an accident!! The horses werent trained very well, and kept trotting randomly. We managed to get to the end of the route and had turned around to come back to the town when some rather vicious dogs came running towards the horses. The horses got scared and bolted. So we were on the back of a running horse. Stacey didnt have her foot in one of the stirrups and she feel off the horse onto hard stones. She injured her side, her knees and her elbow. Her elbow was deep and she fainted briefly from the shock. We managed to get her walking and the guide told us to walk to the main road and get a bus back to town. he didnt even see us back to the hostel. So we walked all the way back about an hour to the hostel and the first thing stace said was "I am not paying for this"! And so we had a free disasterous horse ride. The scenery was so beautiful it was a shame about the injuries!

We left Tupiza and went to Uyuni. Here we booked a tour, for 3 days that took us around the salt flats and dropped us off at San pedro de atacama in Chile. Uyuni itself there was hardly anything there but the tour was amazing. We saw old trains, the salt flats were massive and because it had been raining there was lots of water on the salt which gave a beautiful reflection of the sky. we visited a hotel made out of salt also. Then we went onto seeing the lakes and volcanoes.....We visited lake colorada, which was red because of the minerals and organisms in the water when the wind blew it made the water red. Lake Verde because of the copper the lake was green. we saw flamengoes and walked around volcanic rocks. We saw extinct volcanoes and visited thermal hot springs. Saw natural geyers and bubbling mud pools. It was so out of this world. we travelled with a Chilean and 4 brazilians, was good fun.

We then got dropped off at San pedro in Chile and booked a bus to Santiago to meet our friend Rodrigo who we met in Rio de Janerio nearly 3 months ago. The journey went really fast despite the fact it was 23 hours long. I sat next to a random Chilean who travelled 27 hours to get to work, as he was a carpenter and worked in Calama because it was good money!! He gave me beer and we talked in spanish, I attempted of course!!

We met Rodrigo at the bus terminal and we stayed with him in his apartment. It was beautiful, so modern with lovely views of the city. It had a free pool, laundry room, gym and free wifi. we were impressed!!

We went on a bike tour of Santiago, and walked up Cerro San Cristobal saw beautiful views, visited the Virgin mary on the hill top and then cycled down. Very fast!!! Luckily there were no injuries!!! we also tried a traditional Chilean drink which was a peach in peach juice with wheat at the bottom. It was very sweet and refreshing, I enjoyed it!

we then went to his friend "Quique's" for dinner. He cooked us chicken and rice with a Chileano salad. Tomatoes and onion and beans. It was nice, we also had Chilean wine and then sang kareoke!! After we went and partied in Barrio Bella Vista.

The next day we went up the other Cerro, which was very pretty with old ruins and a closer view of the city. we also went swimming in Rodrigos pool. After we saw the art museum building which was nice and took a metro to Rodrigos brothers house. we spent the evening there and had chilean wine and attempted converstion in spanish!!

The next day we played volleyball with Rodrigo and his friends....i found it very difficult to play which was frustrating and bent my fingers back, but stacey seemed to be more natural at it. We asked if it was popular, Rodrigo said no not so much, football is the biggest sport in Chile.....Obvious huh!!

After volleyball we ordered pizza and went to his friends apartment and went swimming. After we went to a different apartment and sang some songs with the guitar and had some piscola. Pisco and cola. Nice.

It was then monday, we went to Vina del mar and Valparaiso which are on the coast about an hour away from Santiago. On the way we visited the church where people go to celebrate the Virgin Mary and pray for things in December, and we also visited his friends town which was on a lake. it was beautiful. It looked as if they were building it up with lots of new houses which were very european, compared to the rest of chile.

We then went to vina del mar. Saw the flower clock, and the beach. we then went to Concun which was another beach further on from vina. here we had lunch and then had a sleep on the beach. For lunch i tried a shellfish and cheese empanada....it was different!!! It was still boiling hot at 7pm when we went to valparaiso. We walked around the city and went to view points. Took photos of the port and saw narrow pathways, walked down "happy hill" where the prostitutes in the old days would stand and wait for clients and looked at the quirky graffiti and houses painted different colours. Valparaiso was very bohemian whereas Vina was a bit more upmarket. I liked both towns. By the time we got back.....it was midnight and stacey and rodrigo got a different bus to me and claudio as there were no seats left, so we got a hotdog with avocado, ketchup and mayo and ate that then crashed.

Our last day in chile and in south america was spent doing jobs, we posted some presents and packed our bags did washing, bought a gift for rodrigo and then had our last supper of sushi and chinese.

We then said our sad goodbyes to both our friend and the continent and boarded the lan Chile plane.

The flight went fast and before we knew it we had left on the 15th and arrived on the 17th.

Adios south america, hasta luego.

We will miss the latino music, spanish, latino men, who are very hunky, empanadas, panchos, the latino beaches, free internet and buses with reclining chairs that recline as if it were a bed!! I love this continent very much, the people, execpt from Bolivians in the alitplano, are so friendly, so welcoming and full of love. It is a place of beauty and extremities! I will be back.....I promise!!

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