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Having arrived in Uyuni mid afternoon after a bumpy bus ride, quickly located a decent hostel, we ventured out to the "happening" town that is Uyuni to find a tour for the next day. The town seemed to consist only of tour company's offering various trips out to see the famous salt flats, but having spoken to several other travellers it appeared they all provide the same things so the mission was to find the cheapest. An hour later and most places were closing down for the night, we managed to book a tour for Bs600 starting
at 10.30am the next day, I was happy with out choice of tour company and pleasantly surprised to be getting a lie in! The next day anddddd we're off, we've met the rest of our group; a Canadian couple (Wooo) a German, a Dutch guy and our guide Juan, who didn't speak English meaning Joe would be our translator. First stop the train cemetery , full of people doing the same tour same us and abandoned trains which are entertaining for all of 5 minutes. Ok ok now we're going to the salt flats, driving through this truly surreal environment the other jeeps soon disappear
and we're alone in this crazy place. All Juan can say is "You make perspective photos now" and so the next couple hours passed by doing out best to be imaginative and taking the usual salt flat photos. After lunch on the flats we visited the cactus island, hah yes it is as random as it sounds! Then another long drive across the flats towards our hostel for the night, stopping to watch the sunset, which due to clouds wasn't as spectacular as I expected but provided another opportunity for photos 😊 arriving at the freezing cold hostel the first point of order was to layer up; jeans, ski socks, two hoodies, a scarf and a buff later, we had a great dinner in the salt hostel and shortly after the lights were turned out...bed time for us apparently! We resisted for only a short while, playing cards by head torch, soon gave up and clambered into bed with sleeping bags and 4 blankets. Early rise the next day but we managed to get up on time and sleepily climb back into the jeep, we were changing the tour plan a bit and doing everything on the 2nd day rather
than over the 2 last days due to snow on a Chilean border. So a packed day of an ever changing landscape; desert like flatlands, mountains, huge mars-like rocks, lagoons, gazers and hot springs. The awesome thing about changing our schedule was that it meant our group of 6 had the hot springs to ourselves for 2 hours, exactly what we needed in the otherwise freezing temperatures. After our lengthy stay at the hot springs, it was back to the hostel and the same story with dinner and then lights out. Exhausted after an early rise and long day we were more than happy to go to bed. A slight lie in til
8am the next morning as the only plan for the day was the trip back to Uyuni with a few stop offs in very small, random towns along the way. Arriving back exhausted but very happy, in Uyuni we had a few hours until the bus to La Paz, past quickly catching up with the world and in one of the many Italian restaurants in town trying dried llama pizza! The bus ride was uneventful, cold and bumpy as expected, and yay arriving in La Paz we
went straight to the hostel and to bed for a few hours.Ahhh La Paz, La Paz, it really does suck you in! This part of my entry is shockingly brief considering I spent 6 days there. However my first day was productive, after catching up on sleep and meeting up with Ryan (who we met in Sucre) we headed out for a walking tour. Though it sounds boring I actually loved the walking tour, and learned a lot about Bolivia's crazy crazy history, yes being sat in the plaza role playing the political history did make me feel like I was back on a school trip but I secretly loved it! And I'm now pretty sure there isn't a single person who's run Bolivia that wasn't insane. The next couple of days past quickly in a blur of crazy nights out starting in the hostel bar and days spent sleeping or lazing in a hammock. However it was in La Paz that I came upon the knowledge that I wasn't just travelling with Joe Massey, I had unknowingly been travelling with the famous "sloth-sanctuary guy" Joe Massey, the girls staying in out dorm had heard about Joe's sloth sanctuary volunteering
through a mutual friend and had been telling other travellers about him, so from now on whenever I meet people I'll be sure to mention I'm travelling with South America famous Joe Massey. Sunday we managed to get organised enough to book death road for the next day and watch cholita wrestling.. Easily the weirdest experience of my trip so far! And not just a tourist attraction, there were plenty of locals in the audience getting involved too. Basically involves both men and women wrestlers dressed up, in whatever takes their fancy not just standard wrestling get up, and wrestling but not really it was almost like a pantomime, with a corrupt ref, the audience shouting and throwing things in the ring, and one point the wrestlers even broke through the fence and landed on people in the audience. Entertaining but very very strange. With biking booked for the next day
Sunday night was a quiet one, although getting up a 6 hurt, we just about managed it. And dragged our bums to the restaurant that we were tricked into buying breakfast from as this is where the tour started and quick nap in the van on the way there. Arriving
at the start point, we dressed in the standard over layers, yet again it was bloody freezing! The ride started with an "easy" road but having not ridden a bike in maybe 2 years it didn't feel easy, being all downhill it wasn't the cycling that was the problem it was the huge cliff edge, considering we weren't even on what was considered death road at this point I was a little worried but soon got used to it, what is it they say "it's just like riding a bike". Quick stop for a snack and a ride in the van to avoid the uphill, not my idea but I certainly grateful, and we were soon at the top of death road. I quickly discovered that it was not the cliff edge I should've been worried about but the uneven, loose gravel on the road that I certainly wasn't used to and scared the shit out of me to start with! But it was a beautiful day and the competitive side of me came out and I wasn't going to be the last one in the group trailing behind everyone so I gave it my all and started to actually
enjoy despite the constant ache in my arms from holding on so tight. The views from the road were amazing and I was finally relaxing, with only fleeting moments of terror when rounding a bend and there's a lorry coming towards you. Overall the day was a huge success and I was thrilled to have had a full day doing something in La Paz. As we're were due to leave for Copacabana the next day, but plans change and Joe and Ryan were off to climb a mountain, as tempting as that sounded I wasn't reallllly feeling climbing a mountain so I booked a flight to Rurrenabaque for the next morning and a Pampas tour to start that day and then got an early night for the flight the next morning. In short La Paz is a crazy city and you certainly don't get much sleep at night here but I loved it I just can't really explain why.
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