I may be a shopoholic but I will not buy anything with llamas on it!

We arrived in La Paz early on Tuesday morning, after the most horrendous bus journey I have ever had.

At first when the bus started shaking because of the bad road from Uyuni, we laughed, little did we know it would continue like that for five hours. To add insult to potential back injury, we were on the back seat of the bus and could not recline our seats. Mine was in fact so upright that it pushed my head forwards. I will admit to crying at one point as my whole body shook and I had shooting pain through my back. Rhian was in a similar state - we both admitted to the tears the next day. She offered to swap seats with me, but I told her to wait till we were half way, around 1am. Luckily at about that time the bus finally got on to a made up road (around Oruro I think) and we managed to sleep on and off till we got to La Paz.

Coming out of the bus station we were approached by a man asking if we needed a taxi- standard practise. Less standard for me, with my experience of Ecuador, was the kind policewoman who asked where we needed to go and gave us directions to our hostel which was very near by.

We spent the morning sitting around, using the wifi when it worked and waiting for our room to be ready. We got into it by about 12.30pm and almost instantly we crashed out until after 5pm. Later on we headed to The Star of India for curry - highly recommended by several people we spoke to, the guidebook and my friend Paula! We had to wait an hour for the table but all agreed the curry was worth it when it eventually arrived.

Waking on Wednesday morning, I discovered that Simon was really sick. Rhian was worried, but as he wasn't very coherent it was difficult to find out what was wrong. We decided to head out for some shopping and to get him some medication, based on what we did know.

Rhian and I had a lovely day exploring the witches market and buying lovely items of frippery. I purchased some beautiful cushion covers with lovely block colours on them and the most incredible skirt. It's designer and was on the mannequin outside the shop - unfortunately the person manning the shop was at lunch when we called the first and second times. Third time lucky (plus a little chat with the ladies opposite) meant we eventually found it open. I tried the skirt on and had to have it. (Rhian also encouraged me!) I knew it was impractical for travelling as it's made from wool and is quite heavy, this also means it's impractical for Vietnam...but it really was love at first sight! Ha!

We also saw many llama jumpered gringos walking around. I'm glad I made the pledge in Ecuador that I would not buy anything with a llama on it. Of course I did have the hat that I was given, but I managed to pass that on to Hayley!

We also pottered along to take a look at San Pedro prison. You used to be able to visit it and apparently still can but we weren't approached by anyone...I think I was quite glad about that really.

All in all it was a lovely girlie day.

Back at the hostel Simon was no better and we had a new room mate called Kate. Kate had been sick on and off for a month, including being hospitalised for parasites and salmonella. At about 2am, she left the room telling us she was going back to the hospital.

On Thursday morning, Rhian called a Dr for Simon and I headed off to see the Tiwanaku ruins. 

I have to admit that I wasn't overly impressed by the ruins. It's the only recommendation from my friend Enzo in Santiago that I have not enjoyed. I have to be honest I was pretty bored. The ruins are partly excavated; there are bits missing and some of the reconstruction has been completed with concrete. The museums were okay but we were whisked round them fairly swiftly by our guide. My only amusement/entertainment for the trip was a young Aussie lad who seems to be a bit of a Che Guevera wannabe.  He was very sweet and idealistic, stating things like he sometimes wished he was older so that he knew more things - I told him to enjoy the journey. He also struck quite a few dramatic and moody poses around the ruins - I wasn't surprised when I found out he studied music theatre, although he's considering changing to law. (Just a slight change there me thought!) Ah well he was nice enough and the day would have been even drearier without any company. Lunch was good and was probably the highlight for me.

Once home again Simon still wasn't very good, but now had a diagnosis of a parasite and many types of medication with very precise instructions of what to take when. 

Yesterday Simon was considerably better and we wandered around the witches market again, showing him all the marvellous potions, lotions and varying dried state of llama that could be bought. We stopped for lunch in El Lobo, recommended on our map and known for falafel and humus. It was delicious. Unfortunately, soon after eating, Rhian started getting stomach cramps. I had the same food though and was fine - I guess that two years in Ecuador has given me a stronger stomach.

Two weirdnesses occurred yesterday:

1. Both Rhian and I had our boob punched by a random Bolivian. I was so surprised that I didn't react, but it did hurt!
2. A Scottish guy walked into both of us, when I gave him a bit of a stare he called us 'stuck up bitches'. He looked like he had the potential to cause both of us some damage, so we swiftly ran across the road to escape. He was obviously off his head, but it really was nasty and unnecessary. We were both pretty shaken.

As Simon got better, Rhian worsened and she really hasn't been too good at all today. We did have a lovely meal tonight though, at Wagamamas. We thought it might be part of the chain back home, it wasn't, but was still very good Japanese food.

I really haven't done or seen much in La Paz, it's been so easy to hang out with Rhian and Simon that I haven't strayed far. I'm not bothered though, the bits I have seen are fairly similar to Quito. One first though was seeing a little old woman walk into the road, bend over, aim and pee. I knew the rumour that indigenous woman wore nothing under their skirts for this reason, but had never seen it in practise before.

Tomorrow we're getting a bus to Copacabana, Lake Titicaca. I'm looking forward to more beautiful scenery again.