Travels through Bolivia, from Chile to La Paz.

So, sorry for another delay in updating the blog. We´ve been moving around so much its difficult to keep you up to speed with where we´ve been.

After a long bus journey from Pucon we had a brief stay in santiago. Not our favourite city as it holds bad memories from our last visit. We flew into Calama, on the edge of the Atacama desert and near to the border with Bolivia. We stayed for one night in San Pedro De Atacama, a small oasis town in the desert. Very atmospheric little town with lots of bars and restaurants all in mud brick buildings with tile or straw roofs. Because it was so cold once the sun had set all the bars had huge open fire pits in the centre.

We arranged a 4x4 tour from here into the Bolivian Atacama, across the Altiplano and over to the huge salt flats of the Salar De Uyuni. What an amazing but desolate place. Little vegetation, scrubby grasses and cactii (??) is about all you get. Plenty of LLamas and Vicuñas around. On the way through the desert there are several lakes, the two largest - Lago Verde and Lago Colorado, make for amazing scenery. Lots of Flamingos grazing on the algae.

The Altiplano is at 4500 metres, because we had arrived from Santiago (at sea level) and had gone to 4500m in 24 hours we both suffered from bad headaches and dizzyness. But it was worth it for the views.

The Salar De Uyuni is a beautiful place, 12,000 km2 of salt flats, the air is so thin and clear that it seems you can see forever. The blue sky, high altitude and pure white of the salt makes it an experience to remember.

Th town of Uyuni is a funny old place, reminds you of a frontier town in the wild west. But to be amongst the locals in the crazy market was an experience. There was a big celebration going on the night we stayed there, the army band marched through the town for what seemed like hours, followed by hundreds of school children all carrying lanterns. Also found an American run pizza place (minuteman pizzas) that made probably the second best pizza I have eaten. Very unexpected in the desert - cheers Mark!

we took a tortuous 8 hours bus journey from Uyuni to Sucre. You have to see the roads to believe them. Gravel tracks clinging to steep mountain sides, with sheer drops. Best not to look over the edge...We were also surrounded by locals, who dont all smell the best....

We did a 5 hour trek in the mountains above sucre to see some cave paintings. Heather wasnt convinced of their authenticity believing them to be done by local youths last week. Either way, whoever did them needs to work on their artistic skills....

And so into La Paz. We chose to fly the 45 minute route rather than the 15 hr bus journey - gives you an idea of the state of the roads! La Paz seems to sprawl everywhere, how the shanty houses stay stuck to the side of the valley is a feat in itself. Off to Lake Titicaca tomorrow. Fill you all in on that soon.

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