Hello everyone!

So we arrived in La Paz, Bolivia very early Wednesday morning after a very long journey!

We left Salta, Argentina at midnight on Monday. The journey to the Argentinian boarder wasnt too bad it was overnight for 8 hours however the coacg was late picking us up and where ever you are in the world you dont want to be stranded in a bus station. We arrived at La Quica, the Argentinian boarder just after 8am. We were told we had to cross the boarder on foot, so off we went with our backpacks in hunt of the boarder (I was carrying my own for a change!) After about half an hours walk we came across a bridge which we soon discovered was the boarder. We were stamped out of Argentina no problem, then we hit the slowest moving queue wev come across. Finally we recieved the ok to enter Bolivia (a little town called Villazon) no problems really just the queue our clocks went back one hour so we had even more time to kill, our 11 hour train journey wasnt leaving Villazon until 3.30pm so we went on the hunt for some food. It took us little time to find out there was nothing in this town, no restaurants or cafes or even shops were open so we caught up with some fellow travellers who had stayed in our hostel in Salta. Luckily they had some friends from Australia who had been to the train station and found out Tuesday was the only day trains didnt leave for La Paz! We made a mad dash to the coach station to find a coach was leaving for La Paz in 15 mintues so on we jumped for 100 Bolivianos (about 10 pound). The only down side was the journey was going to take us 18 hours! We done it all before so that didnt bother us, however.....

We soon realised we were the only tourists on this particular bus and it had no air conditioning and no tiolet! The journey itslef was the most difficult wev been on so far! The whole journey was on what can only be described as a rock path hanging on the side of a mountain, off roading on a bus with no suspencion for 18 hours! We stopped once for a tiolet break and food and when I say food I mean a little shop in the middle of nowhere! So for near enough 2 days we lived off pringles and cookies! At night time the temperature dropped rapidly which then made the bus freezing cold, we were also in the middle of a storm at one point all we could see out of our window was folk lightening, we knew we were still on the mountain trail because we were still getting thrown about! 20 long hours later we saw the horrizon for La Paz! The view on the way in made us feel a tiny little bit better because I have to admit it was spectacular the sun was just coming over the horrizon.

We landed at 6am 2 hours late due to bad weather and bad roads but we were here! Onto our hostel for some sleep!! I had e mailed ahead to let the hostel know we would be arriving in the middle of the night even if we had got the train, and they replied but low and behold we arrived and noone knew anything about it, our room was no longer available!! A mixture of tiredness and hunger made us snap and we demanded a room. The gave us a double room with en suite but told us we woulf have to move to a different room in the morning. They woke us up at 10am to move rooms! We were so mad we almost demanded to speak to the manager but they had upgraded us to an en suite when we had only paid for a shared bathroom so we kept our mouths shut. Aside from that our hostel was ok.

La Paz, you either love it or hate it! At 3660 meters above sea level you have to take it easy. Both Mark and I struggled with the altitude here. After the first day of trying to explore we knew we needed to get something for it. The city is surrounded by hills meaning your breath is literally taken away when climbing up them. Stepping out into the city meant short breath, dizzyness and sickness. We baught some coco tea and some coco liquid that you put into your drinking water 3 times a day. This seemed to ease it a little however after the 3rd day in La Paz I was still being sick so we baught medication for it, which worked instantly.

The altitude sickness we hated, along with the cities congestion but the culture and landscape we loved. We also had every different type of weather everyday in La Paz. The day would usually start with sunshine and a blue sky, followed by really black clouds, thunder and lightening then heavy rain and then again sunshine. It was freezing once the sun dissapeared so I had to but a new jumper. We found it strolling around the witches market near the old part of town. Its not the sexiest item of clothing I own but its really warm. Mark refused to feel the cold and I only managed to get him to wear his jeans on the fourth day beacause I told him he looked like he was preparing for the floods with his three quarter shorts on! He was not impressed at the idea of wearing his jeans and fleece!

The markets were fascinating all over town. We stumbled across the biggest market wev seen yet as you can see form our photos. It sold everything we even treated ourselves to a few treats! We also came across an amzing curry house. Mark had chicken tikka masala and I tried Lama masala, both were amazing Dad you would have loved it!

After 5 days in La Paz we were ready to move on. The first signs of home sickness were starting to show for us both so we hunted out a place called Olivers travels. Its a English pub and it even had full English breakfasts! We ordered 2 and watched the Chelsea v Arsenal game.

Staying 6 days in La Paz was too much we think it could of been enjoyed in 3. We would also recommend avoiding the journey direct from Villazon to La Paz, maybe stopping off on the way. We are now on our way to Lake Titicaca north Bolivia which only takes 4 little hours so we should be able to handle that!

Speak to you all soon Leanne and Mark xx