In Transit - Rurre - La Paz - Tupiza

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Another hairy trip along the danger road back to La Paz is no less terrifying. This time the fact ít´s done after nightfall adds a new exciting twist! I don´t know wether to be pleased that it´s a full moon or not...at least the driver can see more, but then so can I.

We´ve miscalculated the cash in ATM free Rurre and are now totally skint til we get to La Paz, so we´re settling in for 20hrs fuelled by only terror and water. However one of the guides from our jungle trip is also on the bus and in the stifling heat treats us to perhaps the most unexpectedly welcome and delicious fresh juice I have ever tasted...what an absolute gent. And later a french couple we´d befriended in Rurre presents us with another sweet gift, a big bar of pure chocolate. The way that people you´ve only known a few days look after you like this is really uplifting, and it´s incredible how great the simple things taste when you have nothing.

La Paz is exactly as it was the first time...party hardy, followed by a new bout of food poisoning...yay! This time it´s just me affected, and the culprit a delicious Lebanese meal, but the result is the same...floored for 24hrs. I´m guessing there´s no food standards agency doing the rounds in this city. This is the only place I´ve been ill and so unfortunately it´ll always be known as La Pooz.

We leave as soon as I´m well again, heading for Tupiza, far in the south, less than 100km from the Argentine border. A short bus trip to Oruro and we´re straight on the night train (love that stuff!) This is the first train journey we´ve had...there´s only tracks in this part of the country due to the mining industry. It´s a brilliant service, we´re really comfy in the 2nd of 3 classes...it´s the first time we´ve had enough leg room...the buses seem to be designed for hobbits.

We wake to the cactus covered reddish rock formations of Tupiza. Proper cowboy country, this is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid pulled off their final heist before the shootout that killed them in nearby San Vincent.

We´ve decided to do a 4 day South West Circuit tour from this end. Most people start in Uyuni and take in the Salar de Uyuni on day 1 of their tour...normally in a long convoy of 4x4 vehicles. We decided this is no way to take in one of the great wildernesses on the planet, so we´re going in the opposite direction. As well as being a less populated route, other benefits are that you build up to the Salar de Uyuni on the final day and that you take in the Sud Lipez region that is not included in the Uyuni based tours.

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