Bolivia to Argentina.....

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I´m currently in Puerto Iguazu on the border of Argentina and Brazil near the Iguacu Falls.......about 3 weeks behind on the blog......

La Paz was fun, the group decided to do the bike ride down the most dangerous road in the world which turned out to well worth the money! I imagined a dirt track that would take about 30 minutes to decend into the city, but far from it.....we took a van ride about an hour out of the city to a very high point that was freezing!! We got on our mountain bikes and were given protective gear including gloves??!! It was so cold for the first hour i thought my hands were going to fall off....it was also pretty foggy and the road was pretty uneventful, not that dangerous or exciting apart from all the big lorries on the road!! After that though it gradually got warmer and the road got more exciting!! We ended up boiling hot ciking down steep dirt track roads through the jungle is was awesome!! We were cycling under waterfalls and through streams, the scenery was fantastic and we saw lots of birds of different varieties.....still didn´t feel like it was the most dangerous road in the world!!

After the tour group dispanded i headed up to the north for the jungle and flew to Rurrenabaque. It was such a nice difference arriving in the amazon basin which is at sea level having been in the highest capital city in the world, La Paz!! The flight in a plane for 20 people hit a scary bit of terbulance but I guessed from the pilots reaction (laughter) that this is a regular occurance!! The humidity hit me getting off the plane and i loved it. I did the pampas tour which was me a five young aussie boys in a jeep and boat for three days. It was good fun although the game they insisted on playing all the time wore a bit thin (name things beginning with letters of the alphetbet a-z, eg bands, countries, their list was endless it seemed)!! They were a good bunch though and got really involved. We saw so much wildlife on our boat from the jeep drop off to our hut where we slept the two nights. We saw so many aligators and capybaras (the really huge rodents the size of a medium sized dog)! They were everywhere along the river banks! Also loads of river turtle and at one stage pink river dolphins, the boys got in the river the swam with them the first day but I didnt have swimmers on so backed out! The bird life is also amazing, birds of all sizes and colours it seems!! Eagles, vultures and birds like herons.....also caught a glimpse of a tucan!! On one of the days we went piranha fishing and I was the first to get one and ended up with the most fish with four at the end (threw them all back in) so proud, must have been beginners luck!! We also went hunting for anacondas and saw three on our trek....all in all a fun trip! The rest of the time was spent lying in a hammock, drinking at the local Sunset bar (we had to get a boat) and sleeping/eating...what a life!! Rurrenbaque is a great place to chill before/after the trip, I loved the heat and the bars are so chilled....fantastic, fully recommended!!

So from Rurrenabaque I flew back to La Paz (it was raining and cold) and got myself straight on a night bus to uyuni in the south...the bus was about 15 hours, not too bad!! Got there the next morning and booked straight into a hotel having been hasseled by all the local tour operators who wanted to book me onto their Salr de uyuni tour (the salt flats etc). Spent the day recovering from the bus and checking out as many tours as possible before deciding i should have just booked the first one as they all seemed the same. Once booked chilled for the evening and got an early night (again).

The trip was good, 3 days driving round the Salar de uyuni, however, it was a lot of time in a jeep with a guide that didnt speak english, two couples, one Swise, one Austrian and a creepy old columbian guy. But apart from that it was awesome!! The Salt flats are amazing, blinding!! They are also bloody cold and although the sun is shining it is cold outside of the jeep, on the second night sleeping in a remote hostel I was full clothed with a sleeping bag, two blankets and all the other clothing I had piled on top of me!! The lagoons, flamingos and landscape is outstanding.....i didnt realise Bolivia had so much to offer, it is a truely beautiful country and i only saw the tip of the iceburg!! i took so many photos of lagoons and flamingos........loved it! The food on the tours in Bolivia is also fantastic, three courses lunch and dinner!! (Food is obviously a very important factor!!)

So from Uyuni I booked a train to the border, Villazon, heading for Argentina! The train was over night and turned out to very comfortable. i got chatting to a couple of Australian ladies both in their 70s travelling around south america on their own, they prove how easy it is as neither of them spoke any spanish!! We crossed the border together and then got a bus on a bus to Salta which after two buses ended up taking most of the next day, we arrived at 7pm, knackered!! I had met a really nise Aussie girl on the bus and so shared a taxi to the hostel she was staying in whcih turned out to be really nice. We headed out for a meal and it was amazing to be eating delicous steak and drinking fine red wine after Bolivia where pizza and pasta tend to be the best options!!Coming into Salta also felt like a metropolis and so green as Bolivia was very bare and desert like! Salta is a beautiful place, nice plaza with lots of cafes and restaurants to sit out in the sun, it is also much lower in altitude so really hot compared to where i had been.

On the second day there i took a trip out to a ranch to go horseriding......absolutely loved it riding like a goucho, one hand on the reins and the horses are so beautiful and so responsive, give them any opportunity and they are off!! It was about an hour outside of Salta and when we got there we got Breakfast, tea with fresh milk!! Then tree hours on the horses, mine was called hermosa mujer, beautiful lady......then back to the ranch for an all you can eat and drink barbeque, every time my wine glass was half full they were filling it again.....so by the end of lunch I was drunk and then back on a horse again for another 3 hours, so much fun and so fewer people in the afternoon!! We got back at 6.50pm and then more wine and afternoon tea!!! Best trip ever (almost)!! Salta was good fun, met some good people and the place is good to hang out. Went up the lookout, good bit of exercise and great view!

Then headed for Puerto Iguazu and the Iguacu Falls..........night bus 22 hours........ahh!!

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