La Paz and Santa Cruz

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Super high La paz is only 3 hours away from Copacabana, thankfully an uneventful journey on good roads this time. The first glimpse of the city is amazing..the roads and houses spill down the mountain in a crazy fashion, and the drive in was equally exciting, La Paz is frenetic in a way that only a South American city can be. Its chaos. In a brilliant way!

We only had one day and night to explore so we made the most of all the churches and the cathedal and walked all day. We went to the famous witches market and bought spells, but declined the dried llama feotus that a lady tried to sell me. There was baskets of them YUK. We have bought bottled spells for you Claire and Jo, how very Harry Potter.
Had an excellent meal at a nice posh la Paz eaterie, lovely Rose and some andean cheese.

Seriously regretting that we did not have more time to spend in La Paz we boarded our bus to Santa Cruz...on our way down from the altiplano to sub tropical climes YES!!! Again the bus was fine, a lovely careful driver thank God as the roads are scary and the journey has to be done overnight. (travellers I recomended to use Trans Copacabana MEM, or Bolivar, for decent buses that dont take mountain roads at 100 mph),

Santa Cruz has been restful and we have a hostel with a pool to enjoy the weather which is HOT!!! finally.
Its the biggest and richest town in Bolivia and really more Brasilian in nature. Laid back, and modern too.
Two choices to get to the Brasil border..

1. The death train.There are two theories as to why it has become infamous in Sth America, The first being that it derails on a regular basis sending the people who used to sit on the top of it to the bottom of it. The second is that during the turn of the century it was used to transport bodies after a severe yellow fever outbreak.
2. Nice expensive modern train.

We are getting the nice modern one. I saw the death train leave the station and the back carriages did indeed look like they should have been retired at the turn of the century.

With a day to spare in Santa Cruz we spent it in Biocentro Guembe that boasts the largest butterfly dome in the world. They may have streched the truth a bit as it was not very big, and not as big as Sion House butterfly park in the UK. It had some butterflies in it though. Also had a huge Aviary which did not cure Jims irrational fear of birds. The whole park is 120 hectacres of trails through sub tropical rainforest with natural pools and really does resemble a Jurrasic Park film set, and there was no one else there. We played all day and swam it was ace...then as we were walking back I did not heed Jims calls to watch out (thought it was just another bird scaring him) and stepped into a huge column of bullrt ants. They are HUGE and their defense mechanism is to sink their jaws in and not let go while the smaller ants bite you and they use their evil saw things to cut you. I would have rather dealt with any dinosaur than those ants. I couldnt move coz my shoes had come off and Jim tried to brush them off then they went on him too and he leapt around shouting "Beck! Beck! get them off me Beck!" while I stood in the ants crying.
You have to get the bodies and tug them out as they will not let go even if you squish them. Bloody jungle is full of things that want to bite and eat you, so with that in mind we are heading to the Brasil border today to meet our jungle guide for a 4 day trip that promises pirhana fishing and caiman spotting. Mum if I get eaten by a Caiman its Jims Fault as he wants to do it.
We have just been emailed our guides name and its "Ronny Anaconda". I reckon the whole trip is a scam. Will update when back!!

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