So.... Bonito was RUBBISH! went to this place in mid west brazil which was a very quiet town but famous for its wildlife and natural wonders such as the crystal clear waters that you can snorkle in.... the water that we snorkled in was indeed crystal clear, but the lack of fish somewhat spoiled the experience!! This combined with a few days of bad weather left a sour taste in our mouth..... but we had bigger fish to fry (pun intended).... Getting to Bolivia!
The easiest way to get across would be a coach from Bonito to Corumba which lies on the Brazil, Bolivian Border, and from Corumba, get the ´death train´ to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. (Mum, the death train is very safe but its just named that because it used to be the main method of transporting dead bodies across Bolivia!) The coach journey was fine, comfortable at a push, however when we got to Corumba we discovered those wretched Brazilians were having another national holiday and the death train and immogration office were closed that day! Tails between our legs, we stayed in a hostel there overnight (experiencing tottenhams fine victory over inter) and woke up early to get our passports stamped at the border and catch the death train. Now... the death train in itself was 20 hours long, and with no air conditioning, we decided to take some sleeping pills to make the journey a tad easier. Dan, David and Jonny took theirs quite early and drifted off to sleep on our empty carriage like the little travelling angels that they are... Myself and Michael took the tactical approach and decided to delay taking the sleeping pills until it was quite late so we could sleep through the night and wake up just in time for our arrival in Santa Cruz. Our tactics paid dividends when at about 10pm, About 100 Bolivians got onto our carriage and Dan Jonny and David were rudely awaken by the angry locals upon whose seats they were sprawled across. Watching 3 groggy sleeping pilled up friends trying to comprehend the onslought of a mass influx of bolivians on an old train was extremely entertaining for me and Michael - and I cought a lot of the carnage on video.
We decided to only have a brief stint in Santa Cruz, just staying the one night at a hostel we had been reccomended online. The hostel was pretty decent, and we had a very random night out.... involving the traditional pre drinking ring of fire, a mass dive into the pool pre leaving the hostel, and a large chunk of the night that cant be repeated via this blog but ending with us being squashed into the back of a car with a middle aged woman who halfway through the drive home, decided to get out of the car and squat beside it and urinate. Classy. The next day we went quad biking (i discovered i cannot quad bike) and to a local market where I discovered 2 things - that Bolivia is extremely cheap - and also that I love buying stuff!!
Next up, we headed to the Bolivian capital, La Paz. Where we have now been for 5 days staying at our best hostel yet, Wild Rover. It has been an absolutely mental so far - beginning with the coach that transported us from Santa Cruz to LaPaz attempting to drive off, on purpose, with Davids backpack only for David and 2 conveniently placed Bolivian policeman to chase after it, stop it, and get the bag back! Here are some selected highlights from La Paz so far;
The discovery of inca cola.... a drink that tastes like a cross between cream soda and redbull and it is a miraculous cure for hangovers!! Followed by the voyage to find it at 9am dragging Michael and Dan with me fo 40 minutes as hardly any shops sell it! Our voyage around La Paz included askign almost every person where to find it and being lead in all sorts of directions as well as a local 60yr old woman inviting us to stay at her house the next time we are in Bolivia! We found it at one tiny shop in the window and wild celebrations occured just before we realised the shops were shut... a Photo of Michaels despair can be seen on facebook shortly!! Eventually we returned to our hostel empty handed only to realise the shop next to our hostel sold the drink!!
I went to 2 local football matches played one after another in the national stadium which is just down the road from our hostel and experienced some awful but entertaining football as well as buying 2 football shirts, the entrance ticket, some facepaint for the equivalent of about 10pounds! After game 1, I got some of the players from the team who won who are called ´´the strongest´´ (mental name) to sign my shirt. Delighted!
Enthused, I headed back to the hostel for a night that began with a quiet drink and ended up in fancy dress (yes some of us were dressed as woman, bolivian footballers in wigs and businessmen in shorts) dancing on a bar in a club lit on fire! One of the boys we were out with, Oscar, ended up with blood gushing from his lips at the end of the night, and when questioned on how he had ended up in such a state, remained adament that he had been punched repeatedly in the mouth by several Bolivian Woman! Back at the hostel, drunk and feeling inspired by Simon Lee, I patched Oscar up with some antiseptic wipes and a cotton bud and he was very grateful the next day, even admitting that it had not been several Bolivian woman who had ambushed him, but in fact he had walked into a door!
On Another night out, we gave Oscar a Barmitzvah, hoisting him up on a chair, drawing star of davids on him and getting him to repeat a prayer in hebrew! He loved it!! and he later got naked in the club... its fair to say Oscar is a top lad but an absolute nutter! The same night, we fitted 7 people into a tiny taxi, including a Bolivian local who was one of the ugliest people we have ever met in our lives - we affectionately nicknamed him the alien. He was not only very very ugly, but very very odd and the poor lad was left outside our hostel dazed and confused miles away from his house!!
In Other news, we have invented a great game whereby when the taxi drops us at any destination, we sit silent for a minute and leave the driver feeling confused and sometimes angry! I absolutely love Bolivin markets and in one visit purchased 3 football shirts, a jumper, a shirt, 2 bow ties and a classic adiddas zipup top for about 25 english pound sterling! (there is no pound key on this keyboard!) I have had my fortune told by a Bolviian fortune teller - he assured me the rest of my travels would be safe! We are about 10 days into no shave november by my calculations so beards are starting to itch, and La Paz is actually a very nice city on the cultural side of things! Have met great people bla bla bla and have loads of other great stories to tell and videos and photos to amuse which will all be shown in good time my friends! Oh and also, we beat our rival La Paz hostel in a football game, which played at such high altitdue was almost impossible to breathe! Rhodes had the game of his life in goal wearing the cleaners pink rubber wahing up gloves whillst Dan got on the scoresheet and a semi professional german wonderkid secured a wonderful 8-3 victory!
Next up is a bike ride, a jungle tour, probably buying some more bolivan market schmutter and a slow movement up to Peru before heading back through Bolivia to Argentina.
Until next time, Adios!
xxxx
