Boliva the land of the worlds most everything..well almost

Hola from La Paz in Boliva!

The worlds highest capital city at almost 4ks above sea level. It literally takes your breath away! It also has the worlds smelliest trucks and buses that spew massive black clouds as they negotiate the many steep streets, that aside its a great city! Have been here now for 2 days and am heading back towards Peru to spend a few days at Copacabana on the shores of lack Tittica which borders Peru and Boliva. Its been a great couple of days here and have been busy exploring the chaotic and congested narrow cobblestone streets crammed with stalls, vendors, great gringo cafes and restaurants, markets selling loads of potions, llama fetuses and other unidentifiable objects and all set in a 5km wide valley surrounded by mountains. The people are super friendly and there is a large Indian presence that makes it feel very South American.

Yesterday i joined a cycle tour down the 'Worlds Most Dangerous Road'!!..As recently as 2 weeks ago tourist died when he went over the edge while doing a bike tour. A sobering thought.

Luckily the only traffic on the road now mainly comprises of gringos tearing down on bikes since the opening of the new paved road. There are dozens of tour company's offering trips cashing in on the scare factor...So ok i'm a sucker too! Its a 60k decent starting at 4700m and ending up at a little town at 1700m. The route starts on bitumen road that descends through spectacular mountain scenery and ends up on a steep and windy narrow dirt road, with straight 300m drops off into the cloud forest below and with the occasional waterfall trying to wash away the road. It was a awesome ride. There were 4 of us, 2 dutch girls, a English guy that i've been travelling with and me plus our guide. A backup vehicle was also following to take us back up the 3000m to La Paz at the end. It was a great deal, 35us for transport, guide, a tshirt, a photo cd, food along the way and a huge buffet lunch at the end..For bike buffs, our wheels were front suspension treks with much needed disc brakes..

What else...Border crossing from Peru to Boliva was muy tranquillo ...The quickest one i´ve been through, no computer on the Bolivan side to hold things up, just a old fashioned stamp and form! Why are all border crossings in South America over ´no mans land´ bridges, something i've been pondering? And what would happen if u accidentally dropped ur passport into the river while crossing between the two countries?????

Ok now in Lake Tittica...Nice bus ride...Interesting bit was crossing a peninsular. Bus was driven on a very rickety wooden barge powered by only 1 outboard engine then putt putted across the 500m of choppy water! Pleased to say we made it...

Copacabana is a great little town. Views of the lake are brilliant but is overcast,windy and freezing so a good night for curling up in bed with a book....Or seeking refugee in a internet cafe...

Adios, amigos!