Day 49 - The Delights of Cama

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We woke on our final morning in Samaipata to find the sun blazing, we didn't want to leave. To cheer us up a hearty breakfast was in order; porridge for Soph and Trent's Triple Double for me - 2 eggs, 2 bacon and 2 pancakes covered in maple syrup. We had resided ourselves to a wait for a shared taxi but the owner of Posada del Sol arranged one for us straight away without having to leave the hotel.

The journey back to Santa Cruz was fairly uneventful... apart from finding the key to our room in my pocket...oops! I sent this back with the driver (so hopefully it made it) and we headed back to Marguerita pizzas on the square for a follow up. This was definitely a better option than sitting in the bus station with all our bags waiting for our bus to La Paz. It also afforded us some more time to relax in the square before tackling the traffic in a taxi.

Our bus to La Paz was booked in Samaipata and we had splashed out 14 pounds for a cama (bed) bus, leito (3 seats instead of 4 across). The first sight of this bus was shiny and almost incomparable to some of our recent transportations. I treated myself to a bag of warm cheesy dough balls from one of the station sellers and we climbed on board to our top deck, front seats, with panoramic views and plenty of room as no-one was sat in front of us... perfect!

How Sophie Sees It

This experience was far from perfect. I would like to give the idiot that recommended us the front seats a piece of my mind! Panoramic views we may have had for the 5 minutes we spent driving into La Paz, but for the 15 hours before that it was not the best place to be. Obviously the huge windscreen let sunlight pour in and fry us, and whilst every other seat had its own window, ours did not. After about 2 minutes of cooking in this oven I had somewhat of a tantrum, which only worsened when the sun set and the rest of the bus got electric lighting by which to read, and we were left in darkness. Then one of my favourite teen films came on (10 Things I Hate About You) but we could not watch it because, of course, we were in front of all the bloody screens! And then I went to the toilet!! No light and no lock on the door... I can tell you that trying to hold a torch and a wad of toilet paper, whilst holding the door shut and squatting over a toilet trying to aim in the bowl at 60miles per hour is a challenge and a half! Poor Chris handled my childish temper very well!!

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