Leaving Cuzco was incredibly difficult because for the first time so far on this trip I had fell in love with a country and city that meant an awful lot to me from what I had achieved there. I got a lot out of my time spent in Cuzco/Cusco and staying in a lush hostel within a very special and spiritual surrounding throughout the whole town was just hard to accept that my story has to go on somewhere different now, somewhere new. It was time to go into the unknown. A country I had to have a yellow fever injection for back in the U.K. which did make me a tad bit nervous.

Booked my coach trip with my hostel and I was very fortunate to make it on time to the bus itself as the guy who had purchased my tickets gave me a later time to rock up at the bus station then the actual time I was meant to be there! Luckily for me on this occasion I was running a little early but boarded literally as the coach was about to depart! The last one to board and not a word of English being spoken by anybody. Fun times! I bring to you all to the unusual country of …Bolivia!

If I’m honest I didn’t know what to make of it all as I went on in not doing or knowing much research about La Paz Bolivia itself and spent the long twelve hour bus ride going over what I was getting myself into here. I discovered in my essential Lonely Planet manual (do buy these if your visiting countries you don’t know a lot about) that in Bolivia I needed to be on my guard a whole lot more then when I was in Peru as there could well become a situation I could get myself into that I would not want to get into, if you catch my drift!

Oh great! I am going straight in at the deep end here then but if I want to go see them Salt Flats then this was going to have to be the risk I am going to have to take. I will just have to have my wits about me at all times.

So immigration time then after leaving the Peruvian border. Always fun part this, stamps for passports and all that! It was nice just to see some kinda life at the border after seeing nothing but concrete desert for miles on end from my window seat and stopping in some very eerie villages along the way. Sadly once I had made it to the border I spent a good two hours in a cue amongst a huge cue of Bolivian locals waiting to have passports of their own stamped. My worry was my bag was still on the coach that was waiting for us all impatiently and had it decided it had had enough of waiting for us all then it would of been bye bye to all my things and I’d of been stuck at the border with nothing to wear other then what I had on at the time!

Finally all stamped and all ok, boarded back on the coach and on I go! Time for another exciting hostel visit I am hoping but I have to say I couldn’t help but notice how busy and noisy La Paz is! Took me about a couple hours to get there and I was ratty as hell from the long trip on the bus. Last thing I wanna hear is all this lot going off at each other! I thought New York City was busy further back on my trip but I suggest book yourself a little trip to La Paz and experience this for yourself! Beep, beeeeeeeeeep is all I get pleasure of hearing!

One thing I did know in advance about Bolivia is they were terrible at International football but had very die hard supporters! That is something I have a lot of time for even when you know the game is over and your moments from defeat these guys are known for supporting right up until the last whistle. All this talk of football and I was wanting to at least try and catch my South American football visit to one of the notorious stadiums here regardless of how dangerous they are to go to or not! I’ve swam with a shark in Galápagos, been in boats next to saltwater American crocodiles in Mexico and climbed the Inca Trail to get to here so God Dammit if I can handle that I can handle a few thugs in a footie stadium!

Being so high up here in La Paz (3500m) above sea level it strikes a seeking resemblance to Quito in Ecuador with it’s structure of how these guys have built their houses as high as some of the mountains it looks just to have somewhere to live. A poor country but a lot to offer and certainly wasn’t lacking in character. La Paz itself was designed a bit like how you would imagine cities were in medieval times with the rich in one area and the poor in the other. Your either well off or your not here. No middle ground. Bit like the ‘Hunger Games’ the film.

One thing I really wanted to do in Bolivia was visit the Salt flats in Uyuni but that was only another twelve hour coach journey from La Paz! No trains here! Seems only way to get about here is on the road but this gives you a idea of how big a country Bolivia really is. Even the weather striked a similar resemblance to what I encountered back in Cuzco as it gets as cold as England does in it’s winter season at night time. Well this time of year it does anyway. Dear oh lord I travel to South America to try and get a real tan and it’s cold in some of these countries also! How am I going to top up my Inca Warrior colour if this carries on!?

So my first day starts with me having my guard up already with one of my roomies (from Switzerland) in the dorm who informs me that a few English guys who are based at the hotel itself all went out for a walk about town and they had got confronted by pickpockets (this could of been me) and the one who got solely targeted was well prepared for it luckily as he had both hands in each of his trouser pockets luckily after being nudged into by a local. Well done that man. It was enough to put off the offender and they did a runner after a failed attempt on a fellow Brit! Think you will find that’s 1-0 to England Bolivia! What also probably didn’t help as well was I didn’t discover until I had officially arrived that my hostel was based in one of the most unsafest parts of La Paz! Wonderful! I understand people are poor here but please don’t use us English as a prime walking target to try build up your finances illegally! It made me a bit nervous as obviously now I’m back on my own I need to get more streetwise again like before and have my wits about me. It’s not the most ideal news that I want to hear literally rocking up only a few hours ago!

My objective is to attempt to try get some sleep after a pretty much failed attempt on the coach from on my way here but I’ve couple American girls from Philli (gutted I never got to make it there earlier on in my journey) #teamwilliamwallace Inca troopers to go see first! A big regret of mine on this whole trip was the amount of time and money I spent in New York and not going to New Jersey/Philli instead. Anyways time to go meet my comrades Jess and Brittz who got here a week before me and literally straight after the Inca! As I said previously they wanted to take on the Death Road bike ride which is what a lot of tourists tend to go and do here in La Paz but I guess there’s me being a tad over protective of myself and wanting to see yet another four countries yet within best part of just under two months! Wise choice if you ask me! I have bragged a lot so far with my accomplishments but something didn’t sit right with me on attempting that particular bike ride. Google it for yourself and you may see what I mean.

I found myself struggling to motivate myself to go for a walk outside after hearing what happened earlier near my hostel so forgive me for being a little hesitant but I finally plucked up the courage and went for a walk on my own to go meet them, left a lot of my valuables at the hostel just in case. Time for the money belt I hadn’t used yet but now seemed as good as time as ever to use and strap it on underneath my shirt. I went out with the bare minimum but chanced it with my mobile and IPhone as I was keen for getting photos. The girls wanted to do the yellow line metro cable carts which was supposed to offer up amazing views of the city of La Paz so I had to find a suitable place to meet them both. We all agreed to meet at the exact address of where the cable carts were based and fortunately for me it had free wifi there so I could message them to confirm it was actually safe and most importantly, I was still alive lol.

It had only been a week or so since I had seen these two last but boy I had missed their personalities since Cuzco! Really great good fun girls and nice to have somebody trusted to hang with again even if it was only going to be for a brief amount of time.

So the yellow line was currently out of service so after they arrived we all thought it be best we go on the red line instead as it’s cheaper but not as long winded or goes as high up. We got some amazing views and took a heap of good photos and afterwards arranged to meet up for dinner later that evening. This could well be the last time I ever see them both. I sincerely hope that isn’t the case!

One thing I was certainly going to be doing without fail or excuses was the Salt Flats in a few days. I can handle another twelve hour coach ride this time to Salar de Uyuni instead and it would mean I would need to head back to La Paz after as thats the only place where the main airport flies out from. Nothing was going to stand in my way of seeing these Salt Flats!

So after seeing a very drunken Jess and Brittz off at dinner (which was very emotional I might add!) it was time to head back to my hostel in the same taxi that had dropped them off in their rather fancy hotel. Will miss you guys…

I needed to pick a day off when I was off to Uyuni but I needed some rest as I was very tired and even a long distance traveller like myself requires a certain amount of shut eye now and then.

Waking up to the smell of pancakes and smearing them with a healthy dose of peanut butter, glass of milk and a strong hot black coffee for each day I stayed in La Paz was pure bliss! Certainly worth rolling out of bed for! It was Day 2 and time to head out into town to have a good look round, get a proper feel for the place and give this city a chance being as I had written it off already. I also needed to arrange transport to get me to Uyuni, always planning! Found a bargain place where for around 175,000 Bolivano (£20) I managed to get a bus with awesome seats where you can practically almost lay down as such! Think I am going to need it for a twelve hour duration!

Walking around in town felt a lot more at ease and it was here where I met my personal tour guide Flavia who happily showed me about and even gave me the opportunity to try out the yellow line cable carts I had wanted to do originally after all! Something I missed out on with the Philli girls unfortunately. You get to see so much more of La Paz from higher up on this and Flavia gave me some interesting facts to do with the poverty here. It was handy meeting a local who gave me the freedom of seeing the city for itself a bit more with her trusted guidance. One thing that stood out for me was you can pay to watch women wrestle one another in a street fight! Not talking WWE, they actually fight one another for real! This place is bonkers!

I even attempted in trying to purchase a Bolivia International Football shirt but for some unknown reason I found the Colombian James 10 shirt more appealing! Sorry Bolivia! More planning in advance I guess! So many football shirt stores here though, it’s like my ideal place to come to complete my collection of South American kits! They are football mad here!

I ended up buying some nice warm knitwear with some good old fashioned bartering as I knew it was going to be a bit cooler in Uyuni then it is here in La Paz! I still could not believe how cold Bolivia got at night. Can I also recommend if your going to Bolivia always make sure you buy some actual knitwear from the local markets as it’s well worth it in the long run because the change in temperature is fairly rapid! Warm in day but very cold at night! I spent a good hour in an Internet cafe booking up my flights for Colombia coming up in a few weeks and the sooner I could get it done then the cheaper the price would be on flights. I found some on a very good price on Skyscanner. Booked it and that’s one less to worry about for the long road I have coming up ahead! Anyways here’s some photos of my final walk round La Paz with Flavia. Next up…. Salt Flats, Salar de Uyuni!