Transporting bags of llama wool between towns
The journey was meant to take a short and sweet 6 hours, however after jiggering around for the first 3 hours(the roads were terrible!), we were all told to get off the bus as they unloaded the luggage. We were mighty confused as we had not been told of a bus cambio! We were then literally 'dumped' on the side of the road with our luggage and told to wait for a couple of hours until a new bus picked us up. hummm now this was the Bolivia that we had heard about. So we sat among the stench - it turns out that the bus stops also double up as open sewers. Yep, there is another reason for the Bolivian ladies' traditional skirts, their skirts enable them to squat wherever they want.... when nature calls....
Not so happy after being 'dumped' in a dusty cold and dirty town
When the bus finally appeared it was, unbelievably, worse than the first ...and we still had another 4.5hrs to go! It was also lunchtime, so everyone was tucking into very pungent food. Poor Tom couldn't fit his legs into the seat so had to sit sideways for the entire journey. And then just as we were about to make a move, 18 people appeared from nowhere to buy the discount tickets...ie to stand/sit in the aisles. Oh the joys of Bolivian bus travel!
Huddling up with the locals on the seemingly endless bus journey!
When we eventually made it to Tupiza we were very relieved to find that the room that we'd booked was lovely and with an ensuite! Pure luxury. Things were looking up. The following day we booked a 3 hr horse-ride through canyons and gorges. We had a great morning, depite our horses making the decision that we were ready to gallop. Yep these horse must have been making up for a few days of inactivity as were were flying through the dust lands. It was great fun, though the next day I was in absolute agony, it turns out that horse riding is not so relaxing!
Playing gaucho
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