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Published: August 17th 2006
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Have just got back from Bolivia, had amazing time but only 3 days left in Rio nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!! Anyway moving on from my fear of returning to reality....
Arriving in Bolivia was a bit of a shock to the system after the luxury of Brazil, no roads, 25 year old truck/bus things that barely work and food that regulary makes you vomit or have to run to the bog....(nice huh!!) It is such an incredible place and was really interesting to see as so different to all the other South American countries that I have been to. Bolivia has far less of a European influence and a much greater indigenous population than the other countries that I have visited in South America (worth it just to see Bolivian women´s bowler hat fashion thing they have going on)and it felt good to be roughing it again after being flashpackers in Rio for so long, well for a while anyway!
After flying into Santa Cruz we caught a bus 15 hours south to Sucre, this bus wasn´t bad by Bolivian standards as no music system playing Bolivian folk music for the entire journey and actually had chairs that worked. It was a particulraly
interesting journey for the Philip who was sitting next to a toothless Bolivian gentleman who tried to engage him in conversation most of the way and then preceded to fall asleep on his shoulder, Simon´s attentions were however focused on the rather bulky lady boy trying to sell him food. Sucre is a really beautiful colonial town, I dragged the boys around looking a churches and was then involved in some wedding photos with a newly married Bolivian couple, apparently being blonde, dirty and smelly goes down well in Bolivia!. That night we went out to sample the Bolivian night life, so good to drink wine again and have a break from my nemisis the caipirinha! The night quickly went downhill for me and Maxers will understand the full extent of this as at one point I was seen wearing Phils Reebok classics in a public place....dear god the shame! The next day being extremely hungover we made our way to Potosi. Potosi is the highest city in the world and sits at 4060m above sea level, this made even walking down the street exhausting, that was bad but then the altitude sickness set in...never felt so strange, headaches, sore
neck, insomnia, LOSS OF APPETITE was like the worst hangover ever for 3 days solid. Simon and I reacted relatively calmly to our symptons but poor old Philip was getting a little stressed out that his lungs were filling with liquid and that his brain was swelling up what a GERTY!!
We did a mine tour in potosi which wasn´t quite what we expected!!! basically involved getting in big silver boiler suits and crawling through dusty tunnels(only meant for tiny nimble bolivians not big hefty westerners)and struggling to breath, was one of the scariest things that I have done but so intersting and humbling to see that so many people work this way everyday, never been so glad to get out of somewhere in my life.
That night we took the slowest bus in the world to Uyuni, I bonded with local women by peeing in the road next to them easy if you are wearing huge bolivian skirt not so easy in trousers when everyone wants to come and watch!. Arrived in Uyuni at 4am and it was about -15 found somewhere to sleep for a few hours and then went on a tour of the Salar de Uyuni,
the Salt plains. The trip was incredible never seen anything like it, scenery so surreal and so so vast, stayed with families in little villages, was cold and incredibly tiring but the Salar, the cactus islands and the coloured lagoons are some of the most incredible things I have ever seen. After the tour we took bus to La Paz, so good to be below 5000m and start to breath normally again. Had amazing night out with Jean Philip and Katy, miss you guys.
Then after the weekend in La paz (which involved being dragged about by my english travel companions trying to get into San Pedro prision and searching out Bolivia´s finest contriband!)we caught a flight to Rurrenabaque, was slightly nervous on the flight as the airline did not have the greatest safety record but we made it and landed safely in a field an hour later. Rurrenabaque is beautiful it´s in the middle of the rainforest and while there we did a pampas tour. The tour was so so good even although I was dying from an infection in my intestine, never felt so bad, think Phil and Simon we a bit afraid of the crying mess they
had to look after, so despite this still really enjoyed the tour, took riverboat down through the pampas never seen so many alligators, at some points I was questioning if they were real or not. Another highlight was the pirhanna fishing and when a slightly annoying Israeli in the other group got bitten by a monkey. We had a really good group for the pampas tour and much consuming was had, although shamefully I could not take part as spent most of the time vomiting, not sure if this was due to my infection in my intestine or the shameless display of flirting by Phil and Simon...it hurt to watch!!! After a few more days in La Paz and a visit to a Bolivian hospital it was back to Brazil. I spent a day in Sao Paulo where I met up with Fernando, a friend of mine from Lund and then back to Rio. I cant believe I only have a few days left, dont think my brain is quite taking in the fact that I will be in Glasgow on sunday. Its the boys last night tonight as they are off to Peru tomorrow and are obviously very upset
to be severed from me after 4 amazing months (will miss traveling with my man repellants so much!)but we will celebrate in true Rio style with many caipirinhas, shameless flirting from WHJ with his new girlfriend Favela and no doubt me having to be taken home about 11.
For Jayne and Juls bumped into Dave in the street in a some what compromising position with a local lady hehe!!
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anonymous
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What you talking?
Unbelievable!! If any one is a big fully fims flirty, gerty it be you. Ohhh Francois.....I leave the rest as too sickening!! Has to be seen to be believed. The cheek abusing Bi and myself, pah, pales in comparison