Voila un mois pile poil que nous sommes arrivés en Bolivie, le 5 novembre, après notre merveilleux trip dans le Panthanal, direction la gare de Quijarro pour prendre le train de 16h, appelé "el tren de la muerte", qui cela dit en passant était fort confortable, cette allusion était peut-être dû au fait qu'il mettait 17h pour parcourir seulement quelques 100km, jusqu'à Santa Cruz. Il faut dire qu'il était vraiment lent et encore je pèse mes mots, si Jon ou moi d'ailleurs aurions couru à côté du train s'aurait été pareil, quoique je ne me sente pas encore capable de courir [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Sucre, Bolivia's administrative capital, was a breath of fresh air. Mainly because it was only 2750 meters above sea level. We were no longer getting out of breath after walking up a flight of stairs due to lack of oxygen. The Sucre's main plaza was a pleasant tree lined square ringed with bars and cafes which provided the perfect spots to watch the world go by from the sunny balconies over looking the streets. Just out of town was a cement factory that had discover a massive fossilized mud bed whist digging for raw materials. This mud bed contained [View Full Entry]

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So we chose the breeze of a 17 hour night bus to Santa Cruz rather than risk going to the Jungle with no way to Brazil and having to do 21 hours out of La Paz then 21 hours back! Although we hadn't intended to we have just spent 4 days and nights there as we kind of got stuck. Whoever writes the Lonely Planet has a vivid imagination because the daily 8am trains to the Brazilian border it speaks of are completely fictional! So we got some correct infor from the hostel and hiked to buy train tickets for Sunday [View Full Entry]

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Nun also alles nochmal etwas ausfuehrlicher, da ich gerade wieder mal auf einen Bus von Santa Cruz nach La Paz warte (was wieder mal 14h Fahrt bedeutet) und noch etwas meine Wartezeit verbummeln muss. Vor genau zwei Wochen war ich also auf dem El Gran Poder Festival in La Paz. Es war wundervoll! 55 Tanzgruppen aus ganz Bolivien und auch bisschen Peru und Argentinien haben von frueh 6 Uhr bis nachts um 12 getanzt, durch die gesamte Innenstadt. Dazu wurde schwungvolle Marschmusik gespielt und die Julia am Rande immer schoen mit in die Menge zum Tanzen gezogen (das hat man davon, [View Full Entry]

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Yo! Ok, this is a quick special report, especially for VLM. We went to the Santa Cruz Zoo this afternoon. This is a seriously wacky zoo. For instance, there were almost as many animals roaming freely about the grounds as there were safely in cages. Among the animals that scampered accross our footpath were: a sloth (well, it more slothed than scampered), a capibara, and an alarmingly large monkey of sorts. That one was actually sitting on the fence OUTSIDE of the monkey cages of its same species (see photo). The main purpose of our visit was to find and photograph [View Full Entry]

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Que Paso? So we survived the 18 hour busride from La Paz to Samaipata.. Wait, did I say Samaipata?? What I meant was the busride from La Paz to SANTA CRUZ!! Although the guy we bought the bus ticket from claimed that the bus went to Samaipata, it did not, and in fact never does it even pass Samaipata. WOW.. (Can you imagine out-and-out lying to someone like that??) So we took a taxi from Santa Cruz to Samaipata. 3 hours, semi-paved roads, and lots of slippery mud. It was a little scary, but we made it and it was well [View Full Entry]

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Im here, made it ok, long fuckin flight though. the next day i passed out til like 3 in the afternoon. I saw some guy puttin a jacket on (it was raining off and on) and i was hungry as shit, so I asked him if he was going to town and if I could tag along. He said sure. His name is Simon, a polish guy, my age, 28. We walked in to town, got some food ( a bombass steak, fries, salad, beer, and espresso, for like 8 bucks!). Then we walked around the town and checked out [View Full Entry]

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Six men in camouflage jackets pulled up in a pick-up and beckoned for me to get in. Where have you been? We've been looking all over town for you. Let's go! Pedro moved his gun to make room for me in the back while Richard took the wheel. Are you ready to see a 'tigre'? Hell, yeah! I said. Three days earlier I'd met the men while looking for someone to take me into Bolivia's Pantanal wilderness. Having been on the Brazilian side years ago, I'd seen my share of animals but one had evaded me. My quest to find an [View Full Entry]

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What is your religion? she asked. This was either the silliest pick-up line I have ever heard or the most shocking introduction ever. When I had first seen the two girls, I thought that they were prostitutes. Two hotties dressed like they were out to party, wearing full make-up in a dead-end town with nothing but soldiers around...and I was dining at the Military Casino. Dear Wilma and Maria will have to forgive me for not instantly realizing they were doing their utmost to promote Herbalife products. I switched on the T.V. in my room only to find exactly what I [View Full Entry]

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After another 16 hour overnight bus journey from the border town of Coromba, we eventually made it into Bolivia. We had an overnight stop in Santa Cruz planned, however upon arrival, Esteban informed us that there was political unrest in Sucre which meant nobody could come in or out of the city the following day. We decided to miss out our night in Santa Cruz and fly directly to Sucre. That night we got fairly intoxicated in a gringo hangout called Joyride. The next day we met the new members of our group. All sound enough, some sounder than others, some [View Full Entry]

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