The Atacama crossing and Bolivia

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Having to get up early had for buses started to be a trend on the tour but it meant the beginning of the Atacama crossing and the Salar de Uyuni (check out photos!) which I had been loking forward to since the start of the trip. We has all been warned about altitude sicknes, however some f us (probably just me) thught i was an old wives tale and didn´t worry myself about it. Me and McCarry were late for the bu as we had forgotten to get food the previous evening for the travels and headed off early that morning to get some. As we got onto the bus I asked if our bags had been packed and wa told they had and so happily settled into my seat and we headed off to customs. Encountering a few minor problems as ever but nothing that another exit sheet wouldn´t solve only the prick behind the counter took 15 minutes in explaining this to Alex.

We arived at the edge of the atacama t be picked up by our tour guides for the next couple of days, in Toyota landcruisers similar to the ones in Fraiser island. As the bus was being unpacked I noticed my guitar wasn´t there. This was more than annoying as I had bought it in bangkok and noly just started the trend of getting people I knew to sign it. It was a loss I was gutted about and not even the jokes and never worry bout it cb would changemy frustration at it being left behind. Not a great start but we all boarded different landrovers and i huffed.

Our driver wa Jorda Jackon who we nickamed JJ, ingenius I know, and my car included along with myself, sean leo, holly, conan, matt and barry. We set off and for the firstday we climbed a huge amount finishing at an altitude of 4900 meters. The first day included a lot of driving with stops every so often to check out mountains, lagoons and scenery which wa impressive to say the least. The heat and dust from the desert was unreal and even dinrking as much water as possible I started t feel the altitude steadily as the day went on. JJ was in good form and kept us supplied with lollipops even when we didn´t want them he would ask us about ten times each time he´d ask. We had also noticed in our group that JJ liked taking alternative routes than the other two drivers, which I enjoyed although some of the others didn´t like it quite as much. Te first day was cool but everyone was starting to feel the altitude pinch and this made things a little more difficult to appreciate. We finished off the day at a hostel in the middle of the desert high up and were told we were going to be fed. I got straight into my bed feeling like death and had t force myself up to eat even though we had some soup which was awesome in the cold of the mountainous night air.

The next day we got up feeling no better from the altitude and some of us began to feel worse than the previous day. We all piled into our respective jeeps again and headed off with the thought of goin even higher in our minds. Today we had a lot of driving ahead of us and started off by seeing geysers and hot springs at the highest point we´d climb to. After food and lenny conquering the belly flop on the shallow hot spring (captured like david attenborough by consey and daly) we set off again arriving at the red lagoon. By this stage we´d all started to feel a lot better as we´d dropped down in altitude. Having got the snaps we were herded back onto the jeeps and we set off for the salt hotel where we´d be staying the night. There had been a lot of talk over the past couple f days about us playing a football match with the bolivians and sure enough as we arrived at the hotel outside the front was a football pitch with the roughest surface I have ever seen. Playing football in a quarry is the only wa I can describe it and after a lengthy game in the altitude, our team coming out as deserved winners, we headed in for tea and to get to bed. This was the first time Alex had been taught of the newest travelling saying (it´s been shagged, after an article we read in New Zealand where a man described being caught for drink driving as having ¨shagged his life¨) and coincidently enough as he ried to use it in a sentence he shagged it himself. We all had a laugh and taught him about lenny´s sullied gusset, again something which needs explaining to those who know nothing of gussets but i´ll leave that to lenny.

Having got on the road to recovery from the altitude, the prospect of the salt plains and a good nights sleep (apart from lenny screaming like a child for about half an hour because people kept talking about ghosts and then creeping up on him when the light had gone off), mully was hit by the bug. The then unknown dreaded bug that we´d all come to fear that left you vommiting and rotting your guts so you couldn´t even keep water down. This was an unexpected and horrible experience for him and we all noticed that he was dying , mully doing hi best to give us hints (like driving past him vommiting out the window whilst Brandee took pictures of him). JJ had allowed me to drive on the salt plains and took the middle seat at the start of the journey and showed off his phone and videos on it to the ret of the fellas. The salt plains were an amazing sight and felt like you would never come across any sort f life form. Eventually however we reached the island right in the centre of the Uyuni. This was once surrounded by water and was a coral and was covered in catus plants and rocks that we all climbed and got the token photos yu´d expect (everyone adopting the poses we´d been ripping the arse out of from day one). Back into the jeeps and away again stopping only twice more for photo ops with elmo and of salt minors. We finally reached the town of Uyuni and had our last meal with the drivers and cooks, our car opting to buy JJ a cowboy hat as he´d loved mine so much and swapped for a day. We were then dropped off to a hotel and we settled into our rooms. That evening we all headed down to a pizzaria which alex had recommended and I tucked in to the biggest pizza I´d seen in a long time. Was a challenge finishing it and sean leo had started taking odds on who would finish the pizza between me and mccarry. I finished but the victory was hollow as I felt as sick as a dog afterwards, now understanding why glutiny is a deadly sin. Some of group left us including the two couples and mully who was still sick and the rest of us headed to the a bar which was plastered in graffiti asking if you were a chicken and if you could drink. I wasn´t ready t drink and hoped to take it easy and the rest of them ordering drinks. Realising it was happy hour we all stocked up and in front fof me and mccarry were placed 5 jagermiester and 1 can of red bull, in front of ciaran and lenny was placed what ooked like choc pops, and the rest of the guys had an asortment of drinks and shots the most noticable Holly´s llama sperm with floating sperm on the top. As the night went on everyone got on a bit and Alex came into life as MJ. The smooth dancing and drunken talk was hilarious nd Ciaran took a beer challenge in the form of chugging a beer from a glass shaped like a tit, and the english guy matt ordered a drink which came in a glass with a cock on the end which you had to drink out of. A good night all in all, although ciaran and mccarry ended up sharing the toilet bowl.

The next day we got up and looked about the town and ate knowing that we´d be heading onwards to potosi later. The bus was to take a while but we hadn´t realise how rough the road would be. It was a long journey but the road was the worst part of it and we all gladly arrived in potosi and headed out for tea. Potosi is the highest city in the world and I had began to worry about gettin altitude sickness again and so headed to bed early. However that night shortly after going to bed I was up again with mully bug. After a horrific night and following day we got on the bus again to head to sucre, the capital. This was meant to be a better town for things to do and see and we settled into a nice hotel, later to find that Niall would be next to be struck down. The second night in Sucre, conan and ciarn began drinkingearly only to end in disaster in two ways. Conan heading to bed early after insulting McCarry´s soon to be wife, who funnily enough had been sticking up for him when he was drunk, and ciaran beginning his assault on alex who got so scared by the physical abuse he told sean leo to get him to stop.

Over the next few days in Sucre few things happened. We all enjoyed the Joy ride cafe and night club eating there everyday and going out there most nights. Lenny got his first proper hangover and wouldn´t move from the room he was in, though it was later decided that it was a lesser form f the bug. We all enjoyed sucre and I was happy to relax afer being sick and not do much. On our final day we sat around and went on the net and awaited the next bus ride to cochabamba. We got a night bus and ended up there the next day at arund 6 in the mrning. We had booked into a hotel but were unable to get into the rooms untill at least 12 so some f us set off around the place checking out the markets. This is the town where conan´s sister lived and so a few of the boys where going to say but the inital reaction was funny as no one seemed to like it. I thought it was grand and thought the markets where cool but was later told that the place we were staying was in the dodgy end of town and shouldn´t walk around alone, although I walked arund for over a hour and didn´t see anything strange except some kids sniffing glue.

Having spent the night in cochabamba the next day Lenny, McCarry, Mully and myself headed onward to la Paz and enjoyed the last of our free accommodation. La Paz was a cool city and as you approached it you were greeted with an unbelievable view of the city. Alex had told us about La Paz being the place to be for markets and night life and he wasn´t lying. We all faded in the nightlife respect much to my frustration but the markets were unreal. When we arrived we headed to a asian cafe and ate and the rest of the boys headed to bed and me, matt and alex stayed up to drink, however only me and matt ended up going out. This was annoying but we headed to a hostal which was meant to be good called the wild rover and discovered that it was an irish bar in name but that was about it. We stayed about an hour, matt trying his luck with a lesbian and surprisingly getting nowhere and then we headed home.

Over the next few day we lazed about and checked into a hostal, losing matt and the rest of the group. The days where spent in the markets and a pizzera and then the nights spent snoozing. The only thing that interrupted this routine was our trip to dath road. This was the most dangerous road in the world going down hill through rough terrain for 64km often reaching high speeds of up to 70 k. It was an amazing day, me the only to fall but not seriously and a great adrenalin rush as you nearly fell off cliff edges at numerous points. The last night we (with the exception of mccarry, who was snoozing more) headed out to a bar called mnogos. It started off slow but by 12 or so it was buzzing. Mully had perfected his spanish and lenny was in love and a good night all round, with the only exception of having to get up for a bus the following day at 7 having arrived in at 3. Surprise surprise another early rise for a bus. Good times. Blivia was amazing and wa sorry to see the end of it but we were heading onwards to Peru and hoped against all hope that we would be able to get to Machu Picchu.

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