Blogs from Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia, South America - page 26

Our journey from La Paz to Sucre (official capital) that was supposed to take 12 hours took 27 hours!!!!There were road blocks half way and the bus got held up in the middle of nowhere for many many hours...that was a real (Bolivian) experience!craving for decent meal (inhabitants from a nearby village took advantage of the blockade and people´s empty stomachs but all they were selling was biscuits, cheese, pastries, fruit, beans and loads of icecream) we could do nothing but wait, wait, wait....and when we finally got green light our cheering didn´t last long. After a few kilometers there was one more blockade. Locals who had organised it wanted passengers to destroy a nearby mine so that they were not blamed for the deed.This was done!(no, i did not participate) and after a couple of ... read more

Lake Titicaca was massive! Ok so we knew it is the largest fresh water lake above 3900m but to actually be on it and not be able to see the shore was amazing. We spent far too much time in the city of Puno on the Lake´s Peruvian border where there is absolutely nothing to do but we wanted to wait to take the trip to the isla Taquile for the St. James festivities. So we amused ourselves with alcohol and took a separate morning tour to the Islas Uros more commonly known as the floating islands. They are made entirely of the totora reeds that grow at the perimeter of the lake and have to be replenshied annually as they rot and sink. And as they rot they stink! Pretty cool to island hop though ... read more

We arived in Sucre ready to take on a short course in Spanish. As it had quickly come to our attention that without it we woud be paying through the nose for everything. We found a decent hostel and deliberated over a teacher. Vivi(bibi) and Patricia seemed fine and we soon settled in for a week of study. Its common to study here because its really cheap, about $4 per lesson. Two days in, Nell fell ill with Salmolnella.. not uncommon in Bolivia. But she battled as hard as possible and didn't miss a page of homework but did miss a day of school. With Spanish absorbed, we took on the locals and ate Nell's favourite lunches for only 7b's($1). Thee courses including dessert. At the family house of where we studied, an old round brick ... read more

Apologies for the long entry. We've had an action packed two weeks and just didn't know what to leave out. For those of you who make it to the bottom, we're running a beauty competition... Don't forget, you can follow our route via this map Bolivia bound... via Salta It was time to take ourselves north to Bolivia, but we had a last stop to make in Argentina before bidding the country farewell for good. As with the rest of our trip we had impractically failed to plan in advance and once again crossed from one side of the continent to the other, giving the bus companies a large chunk of money and doing our bit to keep them in business. We had an overnight schlep to Salta, getting into town mid morning. We met ... read more

Since we last wrote, we´re afraid too much has happened but we shall spare you all the gruelling details and just summarise some key funny/interesting moments of the last few weeks. Sadly the Uruguayan turtles needed no help since they had buggered off to warmer pastures, and so we made like them and left Uruguay pretty swiftly to meet Stephanie in Buenos Aires. 1. Endless bus journeys cheered up by a certain big-busted idiot and her autobiography, I quote: “Fake hair, fake-boobed me”. Answers on the back of a postcard, please. 2. Steph being snogged by a scary dandruff/sugar doughnut selling old man. 3. In North Argentina, Laura falling in love with cacti, Heloise chasing live llamas, Jack and Steph enjoying the dead ones (on a plate). 4. Finding out that 100km in Bolivia takes 7 ... read more