So, sleeping on a plastic coated mattress is a bit like sleeping on a slip ´n´ slide, until the sheet falls off then its like sleeping on a leather sofa with bare skin. Basically, we spent two nights in Tupiza, south Bolivia, in a nice and not expensive hotel with a pool and buffett breakfast. But got kicked out as the guy at the desk didnt like us and said they were full this weekend because of the big parties going on in town. Ugh.
Anyways, so a bit of a catch up. We did the salt tour from uyuni to san pedro de atacama in chile. I met some lovely english people (which seems rare here!) and am still with them now. The salt tour was cool, the salt flats were weird and hard and sharp on the belly but good for taking funny pics, see here:
Unfortunately, we also bumped into the lads on tour from la paz - see previous posts. they spent the whole 3 days drinking and being hungover...but they seem like nice kids. and they had funny pics of the jumping around the salt plains naked. yes, actually naked.
the older boys in the other jeep travelling with us took a lot of san pedro the one night i had to share a room with them. needless to say, no one got any sleep, as the big irish guy completely flipped out and tried to fight everyone and was in tears for hours. we had to get up at 4.30am to go see the geysers which no one was happy about fter being so tired, and that night was the coldest night of my life!! so that was entertaining. (san pedro is a hallucinagenic drug from a cactus, used by shamans to find their enlightenment)
the car was so cold that morning, we drove through the desert with ice all over the windscreen. but the hot sprigs before breakfast ws amazing, the bath ive been waiting for!! although getting out had to be a super quick affair! and then we headed off to chile, with lots of kings of leon and great driving tunes for the way!
sand pedro de atacama was super expensive, 12.50 quid a night instead of our usual 3. eek! but its a nice little town and its really hot as its lower down in the desert. so we stayed a few days, chilled by the pool and went to a halloween party in the desert! it was good as we chatted to some local girls who told us to go to the same party as them, as there was another one but theres would be better. which ended up being right! we had to wait for cars to drive past and 15 of us bundled into the trailer of a truck to get to the party, but is was free and only 5km away. the party was awesome! a shed in the middle of the desert, with party lights, a bar and a bonfire with lots of music and locals. it was good as there wasnt many gringos there, theyd all gone to the other party. we spent the night drinking and dancing with the locals, who went manic when they popular spanish songs came on, and they taught us to dance! it was super friendly but like 1 degrees!! but the night sky was gorgeous..so many stars...so much fun!
then when it ended, we started to walk back as there were no taxis, but a nice chilean couple picked us up and dropped us in town - which would never happen in london! so we arrived at the hostal just before the sun rose.
the next day was a right off as we were all so tired! the next day we left for salta, argentina, with the intention of coming back up to Tupiza in Bolivia for a week of more cheapness and stock up on toiletries etc. you wouldnt believe how much cheaper Bolivia is! we did this plan, so were travelling for well over 24 hours, and encountered a 3 hour wait at the argentinian border as they wanted to charge the english people to leave the country, crazy and illegal. then the whole system went down. only in south america.
but all was well and we were on our 1 quid bus to Tupiza. this is where you pay for quality, quite clearly. they said it would 2 hours, which surprised us as its supposed to be longer, but they were true to their word. i just thought we would lose our lives in the mean time. my bum was in the air more than on the seat. it was like a rollercoaster, except you werent sure if you would roll over a cliff or not. it seemed likely when we saw a bus that had done just that.
but we survived! and we´re back in bolivia and stocking up at the markets and eating cheap, delicious food! yesterday we went on a 3 hour horseride through the wild west, cactus´s red mountains through the hot desert! and ive bought a beautiful traditional bolivian hat for the sun, and most likely for weddings in the future! its quite grand!
my horse was beautiful and really placid, so it was a really nice experience. i got a bit dressed up for the trip as well, with my nails done, jewellery, co-ordinating clothes and my beautiful new hat. it was the first time this year that i actually felt really good about myself, after all the ups and downs. i felt like a proper, beautiful lady! and im so glad im here and not in the uk (sorry but i think its better here!), with the cold wet weather, no jobs and the mundaness of everyday life. everyday is exciting here, even if you´re not doing anything particular, you meet new people, eat new food, see new things and when things get dull, you just move on. itd like to be able to do this when i get home...i get bored too quickly and i dont feel like being tied down anymore!!
so for the rest of the weekend, its a big fiesta, celebrating the bicentuary of a big battle between bolivia, peru and argentina and the outcome was these countries independence, so its massive here. the joys of travelling, falling into lots of fun things! and ive been learning more correct spanish, as sarah who im with at the mo, is a spanish teacher. so i might actually get good!!
so im off to eat many delicious foods of the stalls in the square, in the hot sun and then going to party!
i hope you all had a good halloween (guys the pics look awesome, u know who u are!!) and a
VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES AND LAURA!
sorry im not there, but im sure ur having a wicked time and i miss you guys tons!!!
off to salta, argentina on monday, maybe hungover! keep me updated on the uk yes?
thanks for listening.
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