Bolivia

Hey, don't falter, you know we ought to be together
Strange, I saw ya, I sorta knew it was for ever
Please, stay with me
and never miss a chance to kiss me
babe, I love yah
when you're with me it´s always summer

Don´t Falter by Mint Royale

Hello from sunny Argentina. It feels like we are on the home straight of our travels, with around 6 weeks to go. This is what we have been up to since I last wrote.

Sunday April 20th
Our alarm went off at 8.30am and after breakfast at the restaurant next to our hostal we went to our tour office to meet Mario, our driver and tour guide for the day. We headed south of Tupiza to a narrow gorge in a huge rock formation, which had a tunnel passing through it. We then headed to Canon Del Duende and went for a quick walk through it. The scenery was very cinematic, total cowboy country.

We headed out to the river - Rio San Juan Del Oro, although the river was pretty dry due to 2 months of no rain in the area. We had a picnic lunch under beautiful old trees, gazing out at the stunning rock formations. After lunch we headed out to see 4 rock formations - Puerta del Diablo, Valle De Los Machos, El Canon del Inca and Valle De Los Machos, featuring phallic type rocks.

We had a rather surreal experience at Puerto del Diablo. We were driving along in the 4x4 with the windows down when I thought I heard someone shouting. Mario did as well and suddenly out of the desert ran a tall guy looking a bit battered and bruised. He came over to the 4x4 looking tired, exhausted and somewhat confused. He told us he couldnt remeber how he got here, how long he had been here or even where he was. He looked like he had been out hiking and fallen as he had cuts on his arms, legs and head. We took him back to Tupiza and dropped him at the police station next to the hospital. He obviously had concussion and temporary memory loss (in our opinion anyway). He didnt even know he was in Bolivia. We looked through his digital camera to see if there was any indication if he was travelling with anyone but the pictures seemed to indicate that he was travelling alone. He was from Switzerland and he was called Bernard. At first I was reluctant to leave him alone with the police, but later I realised there was nothing more we could do. He had no idea what hostal he was staying at, where he had been or where he was going. He could speak Spanish and we had to leave it to the police to see if they could find where he was staying and the hospital to calm him down and rehydrate him.

After that strange experience we headed out to some absolutely stunning rock formations called Quebrada Palala and Comino Al Sillar. The rocks were different colours due to the different minerals found in the area and looked fantastic from our high viewpoint.

At night we had a quiet one ahead of our 4am bus to Argentina!

Sunday April 21st
The day started at 3am as our alarm went off. We left at 3.15am and walked to the local bus station. It was surprisingly busy for the time of day and after a little confusion we got on a local bus to the border, where we would then cross to Argentina and catch a nice luxury bus to Salta.

It was cold, damn cold. Bolivia is so high above sea level that during the day the sun burns fiercely and you really have to cover up. At night, it is freezing and you really have to cover up for different reasons! The bus trip was just over 2 hours along a bumpy, dusty road. Along with the bumps the bus didnt have any heating, so we didnt get any sleep.

We arrived at the border town of Villazon and got out into the coldest temperatures we have experienced on our trip. We found our bus company and they sorted us with tickets from the Argentinian side to Salta. After exchanging what was left of our Bolivian currency we went through passport control and jumped a cab to the bus terminal. We thought we had 90 minutes to kill until our bus but someone reminded us that Argentina is an hour forward. We gor some snacks, checked in our bags and jumped on our nice warm bus with fully reclining seats and slept for a while.

We arrived in Salta at 4pm, an hour late due to the Argentine army stopping our bus to check for anyone that might have jumped the border or smuggled stuff in. We checked into the rather nice Plaza Hotel for 90ARG per night. After a shower, we walked round the lovely 9 de Julio Plaza, with streetside bars and cafes and settled in one bar for some classic Argentine steak and a couple of beers before an early night as we were exhausted from our travels.

Tuesday April 22nd
We slept late, until 10am, so we missed breakfast at the hotel. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Vang Gogh Cafe, sitting out streetside and watching the world go by in the morning sunshine. We wandered round the city centre and felt quite glad to be back in civilisation after the Salt Flats and the cowboy town of Tupiza. We took some washing to a local laundrette and wandered around some shops but decided not to buy anything until we got to Buenos Aires.

Late afternoon we went to a bar to watch the Liverpool 1 v 1 Chelsea game over a late lunch and beers. It wasnt the best game and Chelsea were very lucky to get an equaliser late into injury time through a Riise own goal, but then again Liverpool and Chelsea are not the most entertaining teams.

At night we picked up our laundry, under 2 quid for a big bag! We then had a hotdog and sat in the local square before going to bed for another early night, watching quite a good film called Cold Mountain on cable.

Wednesday April 23rd
We woke in time for breakfast and then took the cable car up the hill overlooking Salta and the surrounding valley. We then booked bus tickets for tomorrow to Cafayate. This afternoon we will be finding a nice bar to sit in and watch the Barcelona v Manchester United ECL semi 1st leg, billed in Argentina as Messi vTevez. Lets hope Tevez wins, although I think he may start on the bench for this game. Should be 2 classic games with some amazing talent on display for both sides. Barca have Deco, Henry, Eto and Messi (with Ronaldinho injured), while United have Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Nani and Scholes, not to mention Giggs and Anderson. COME ON UNITED!

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something

Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics

Hola

We are now in the sleepy Western town of Tupiza in the south of Bolivia. Since I last wrote we have stayed in a hotel made entirely of salt and been on a two day tour across the magnificent 12 square km Salt Flats

Wednesday April 16th
Our overnight bus was a bumpy one. The bus itself was excellent, comfy reclining seats with a meal served as we left La Paz. The further we got away from L Paz the bumpier the road became as we transferred from smooth tarmac to a bumpy gravel/dirt road. Still, the bus arrived in Uyuni at 8am, only an hour later than scheduled.

We went to the company we had booked a two day salt plains tour through, El Desierto. We had also booked into the Salar Lunar Salt Hotel with them and they informed us that a jeep would transfer us there at 11.30am. We killed time by getting some breakfast and checking news and views online.

The Salt Hotel was absolutely stunning, probably the best place we have stayed on our travels and at $95US a night, certainly the most expensive. But hey, we wer never going to get the chance to do this again and it was something we really wanted to do after seeing it on Globetrekker. I´ll add photos to flickr in the next week or so but in the meantime you can check out http://www.boliviacontact.com/en_bolivia/LunaSaladaHotel_411.html

The Salt Hotel is around 200 yards from the edge of the Salt Flats and offers magnificent views out to the horizon. The walls are made of salt bricks, our bed had a salt base and headboard, the chairs and tables in the restaurant were made of salt and......well you get the picture. We had a nice afternoon nap and at night we met an English guy called Zak and his guide Wilbur. It turned out that we were the only 4 staying in the hotel that night. We had dinner and polished off 3 bottles of Bolivia´s finest wine between the three of us, with Wilbur sticking to beer. Needless to say we slept soundly and woke with fuzzy heads.

Thursday April 17th
We had breakfast and then had some time to kill before getting picked up by another jeep to join our tour for 2 days on the Salt Flats. We were due to get picked up at 11am but it was closer to 1pm when the jeep eventually arrived and took us toa small town on the edge of the plains to meet the rest of our group - Belinda from the Canary Islands, her smitten boyfriend Allessandro from Santiago and Leia and Mikel from France. Our guide was called Oliver and throughout the two days he provided an excellent soundtrack of late 70´s disco and early 80´s pop to keep us entertained in the jeep, made on old skool casette compilations.

We sped on to the salt and stopped at an area where the workers pile the salt into groups and then load lorries, backbreaking work in blinding sunshine. We then drove further to an old salt hotel that is now a museum as it was closed for sanitary reasons. Hotels are now only allowed to be built on the edge of the flats. After that we drove to a small village called Coqueza and stayed in the Tunipa Hostal for the night, hitting the sack early at 8.30pm as we were getting up in the morning to climb a mountain. I should add that we watched the sunset over the flats and it was absolutely beautiful, the whoe area is pretty mindboggling.

SALT FACTS
Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States.

Salar de Uyuni is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, of which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually. All miners working in the Salar belong to Colchani's cooperative. Every November, Salar de Uyuni is also the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos: the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It is also a significant tourist destination; highlights include a salt hotel and several so-called islands. As it is so flat it serves as a major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano.

Friday April 18th
The alarm went off at 6.45am and I immediately went outside to catch the end of the sunrise. I prefer sunsets as you dont have to get up early for them! After a light breakfast we left the hostal in the jeep to drive to a car park up the hill before starting to climb a mountain to 5400 metres above sea level. The flats are around 3650 metres above sea level, so we had quite a climb ahead of us, especially at altitude.

Before we huffed and puffed our way up the mountain to the Mirador (viewpoint) to Vulcan Tunipa, we stopped off at an ancient cave full of pre-inca skeletons. After that it was onwards and upwards and it took us a good hour and a half to reach the lookout. We were rewarded with stunning views across the flats. They looked so pure and white from a distance, more like snow than salt. We also had fantastic views of the now inactive Vulcan Tunipa with it´s beautiful shades of red volcanic rock shining in the sun.

After a good rest at the top we climbed back down to the hostal for an early lunch, packed up the jeep and drove out towards fish island, rocking to a great tune called Born To Be Alive by a guy called Patrick Hernandez, that I had never heard before. We also had YMCA by The Village People!

Fish Island is an island shaped a little like a fish and allegedly home the the tallest cactus in the world. It is a tiny island in the middle of the slat flats and has a hill in the middle that offers spectacular panoramic views around the flats. We spent a good few hours there before saying goodbye to our new French friends who were joining another tour to go into Bolivia and picking up 2 Japanese tourists instead. We had gone pretty snap happy on our tour but these guys took it to another level!

On the way back we stopped to watch the sunset, the white salt turning orange and red before going dark when the sun went down fully. Be warned, there will be quite a few pictures on flickr soon!

We drove back to Uyuni and had pizza and picked up our train tickets for Tupiza. It was our first pizza since our food poisoning episode and we were relieved that it was OK!

The train left Uyuni at 10.40pm and our seats were comfortable and the carriage was warm. Lynn managed to get to sleep but I couldnt get to sleep so I listened to the genius of Marvin Gaye and the guitar pop brilliance of Teenage Fanclub on route.

Saturday 19th April
Our train arrived in Tupiza at 4am and we wandered sleepily to a nearby hostal and checked in, sleeping until around 10am. We had a wander round and booked on a day tour for Sunday, taking in canyons, mountains, waterfalls etc and also a bus to Salta in Argentina for Monday. We decided against the Butch and Sundance tour as we thought it was hiking, while it is actually two long days in jeeps to get to the sites where the robbed a bank and supposedly met their demise. We´ll watch the film instead.

After brunch we watched United sneak a point away to Blackburn, setting up a magnificent week of football. The first leg of the Champions League semi against the mighty Barcelona on Wednesday and a potential title decider against Chelski next Saturday. I´ll be making sure our room has cable for those game, or at the very least that we will be somewhere with an Irish bar!

I´ll write again when we reach Argentina.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

Ah, keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel
Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel

Roadhouse Blues by The Doors

Hola from La Paz, the worlds highest capital city at a dizzying 3600 metres above seas level, a city where you have no excuse not to have shiny shoes, as shoeshine boys are on every street corner.

At the weekend I told our parents we were going mountain-biking yesterday. While that certainly wasnt a lie, I relented from telling them that we were biking down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road!

Check out the fantastic Kiwi owned companies www.gravitybolivia.com for full details and read yesterdays entry for our thoughts and experiences. I´m also in the middle of uploading some new photos to www.flickr.com/photos/murrayandlynn

So what have we been up to..........

Friday April 11th
We got up and checked out, the room was only 240 BOL, well worth it for the amount of time we spent in it being sick and watching football!

We hung around Copacabana until our 1.30pm bus, killing time on the internet and phoning my sister Carla who had somehow managed to fall down an 8 foot hole at her work! It is not just her pride that is bruised!

After an hour on the bus we all got out to catch two wee boats across a river, while the bus went on a bigger boat that looked like it might sink at any moment. Thankfully it didnt and we rejoined the bus on the other side and sped towards L Paz. I listened to The Beatles on the way, what a band.

We arrived in La Paz. From the outskirts it looks a complete dump, as you pass through lots of mini-villages/slums that have sprung up around the city. You then catch a sight of La Paz nestling in the valley down below and begin a descemnt down into the heart of the city. After jumping out the bus we caught a short cab ride to Hostal Nairia that Lynn had discovered on the internet.

Rooms were a pricey $32, but after a few days of doing nothing we had saved money and checked in. The room we had was lovely, complete with private sparkling clean bathroom and cable TV!

Reception had a leaflet for ´the best burger in La Paz´, so with our appetites fully restored we jumped a cab and headed to the place called Mongos for a gorgeous burger and chips, washed down with our first beers in Bolivia - Pacena Gold, which may make an appearance in our end of trip top 5 beers from around the world competition.

Saturday April 12th
Woke up at 8am even though the alarm was set for 9am and Lynn was pleasantly surprised to find the bathroom had its own hairdryer! The cafe downstairs had a buffet breakfast that we got as part of our room, so we feasted on fruit, muesli, bread and jam, washed down with coca tea.

We went a walk round the neighbourhood and stumbled across the excellent Museo de la Coca. A museum dedicated to the coca leaf, which has played a major part in the history of Bolivia and continues ot do so until this day.

http://cocamuseum.com/

The museum tells of how workers chew coca leafs to put in extraordinary shifts, cocas importance in medical history, the history with Coca Cola and of course how it is manufactured into cocaine. It takes 328kg of coca leaves to make 1kg of cocaine. So chewing on coca leaves or drinking coca tea isnt like doing cocaine, but it is medicinal.

We booked in for a Mountain Bike trip down the Worlds Most Dangerous Road for Monday with Gravity and then continued to explore the area. We passed what is possibly the worlds most notorious prison at San Pedro Plaza.

One of the best books Lynn and I have read on our travels is a true story written by an Australian lawyer called Rusty Young about an English drug smuggler jailed in this prison. The book is called Marching Powder and is nothing short of extraordinary. It tells of Thomas McFadden being caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia and how he was literally thrown into this prison where prisoners have to ´buy´ their cells, some live like kings and others barely survive. Check out www.marchingpowder.com

At one stage Thomas McFadden was running guided tours of the prison for travellers but that has ´officially´ stopped, although allegedly you can bribe guards to let you in. I had no desire to go in, although Lynn was pretty curious.

Anyway we didnt go in and had dinner at a restaurant called Angelito Colonial before relaxing in our room watching a Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford film.

Sunday April 13th
Not a lot to write about today. We got up and had breakfast and then returned to the room to watch Manchester United 2 v 1 Arsenal. One of the best games of football I have seen in a long time and a fantastic result for United in the title race with Chelski hot on their heels.

Monday April 14th - The Worlds Most Dangerous Road!
Well, what a day we had yesterday. It started with a meeting in La Terraza Cafe with our guides and other crazy mountain bike buddies. There were 12 of us and we caught one mini bus with a nice Irish couple called Stephen and Sinead and a couple of young English guys that looked a tad hungover.

We sped out of La Paz and ascended to the start of our ride, La Cumbre, 4760 metres above sea level. It was pretty cold and misty at the start and we got kitted out in waterproofs, helmets, goggles, gloves and with a super duper $3000 dual suspension mountain bike.

Our guide for the day was a Kiwi called Matt, a top bloke with years of experience. We took 20 minutes to get to know our bike and then sped off downhill. The first part of the day isnt on the Worlds Most Dangerous Road (WMDR), it is on a nice smooth tarmac road where you can pick up great speeds and you dont need to pedal at all!

We flew downhill and had a great time, before eventually reaching the start of the WMDR. At this stage I should explain that the WMDR leads down into a valley, dropping from 3150 metres above sea level to 1100 metres. It is a single track road that was used by the villages in the valley for years untila new road was built going round the other way. The WMDR used to see an average of between 250-300 deaths a year through accidents, buses, trucks and cars going over the side.

Nowadays it is barely used by cars. It is now a tourist attraction for Mountain Bikers, thanks to crazy Kiwis! It is still dangerous though. You are cycling down a single track road that is very narrow at times, bumpy almost all the time and at times you have 600 metre plus vertical drops on your left hand side. It is definitely a case of keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.

We set off cautiously, a lot slower than the speeds we had been picking up on the tarmac. We stopped regularly so Matt could check how we were doing and for photo opportunities. As we had come down through the clouds we had experienced a bit of rain, but that only added to the excitement.

The longer we went on, the more confident we got. Well, the more confident I got, Lynn was always last but this was no race! It was great flying down the mountainside with mud splattering your face and cothes.

At 2100 metres above sea level we had to cycle under the San Juan Waterfalls. They were stunning and we stopped to admire them before carrying on. Near the finish we had to bike through a river and I fell in. At least it washed some of the mud off! We all arrived at the finish safely and enjoyed hot showers, a beer and pasta and veg.

I would thoroughly recommend the WMDR and the company Gravity to anyone up for a bit of excitement. We had a great day.

The bus journey back was long and laborious and after a sandwich we crashed out exhausted at 10pm. What a day!

Tuesday April 15th
Tonight we get a night bus to Uyuni where we will stay in the famous Salt Hotel before heading on a 2 day/1 night trip around the amazing Salt Plains.

After that we intend to head to a town called Tupiza, where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise before heading into Argentina where we will have to bring our trip to a close at some point! Our flight back isnt until June 10th though, although as we have a wedding on June 14th and Lynn returns to work on June 16th, we will probably bring it forward 5 days or so.

Speak to you after the Salt Plains.

Love
Murray and Lynn
xxx

We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
Can you still recall the time we tried
To break on through to the other side
Break On Through by The Doors

Hello from Bolivia

A week has past since I last wrote, we said goodbye to Craig, had a cracking couple of nights out in Cusco, visited floating islands on Lake Titicaca and crossed the border into Bolivia, our 16th country.

Wednesday April 2nd
We started the day with a fry up at The Real McCoy pub and then Craig and I went to watch the Arsenal 1 v 1 Liverpool game. It was a good game with both teams really up for it. After relaxing afternoon we went to the Hierasbuenos Bar for a few beers and a Connect 4 tournament before heading to the Pacha Paca restaurant at 8pm. We had pre-ordered Guinea Pig the night before and we were determined to try what is a delicacy in Peru, despite the fact my sister would not approve as she had 2 Guinea Pigs when she was younger.

The Guinea Pig was tasty, but it was pretty hard to eat, there was not a lot of meat and you had to use your fingers. Still, we enjoyed it and we went back to Hierasbuenos for a few more beers and games of Connect 4 before heading to bed at 11pm.

Thursday April 3rd
We had booked to go on a Sacred Valley tour with www.ecotrekperu.com the company that we booked our Inca Trail hike through. The company is run by a Scottish girl called Fiona Cameron and her Peruvian boyfriend David. Fiona is the sister of Lynn{s hairdresser back in Glasgow, small world!

David met us at 7am and we drove out of Cusco to the twon of Chinchero. We then headed to Ollantaytambo to visit a fantastic Inca site nestled on the hill. After that we visited a traditional Peruvian house complete with Guinea Pigs running around the floor. After lunch we visited a site in Pisac. The site was huge and we spent a good hour wandering around while David explained the history and beliefs of the Incas.

After a small snooze when we got back to Cusco we met David and Fiona in Los Perros for some food and beer, before heading to a club called Uptown to meet Chris, our fellow Inca Trail hiker. The music was blasting and there were a few people dancing, incredibly well, samba style. The music changed to pop and rock with crowd favourites including Queens I Want To Break Free and Aerosmiths Walk This Way. At one point Craig and I got up on stage to dance but I cant remember what song was being played! Lynn and I left at 1.30am and Craig rolled in at 3am.

Friday April 4th
We ended up back in The Real McCoy for another slap up breakfast to ease our sore heads. The afternoon was spent sorting out stuff to send home - rugs, material for curtains, hats, socks, etc etc.

At night we had a few beers and decided to go to the Cienciano v Sport Ancash game at the Estadio Garcilazode la Vega. Craig and I had bought football tops and were interviewed in our appalling Spanish live on TV. We kissed the badges and shouted for Cusco as we had forgotten the name of the team! We then stopped off in a dodgy wee bar next to the stadium for a beer and saw a guy being bottled by one of his friends! We left shortly after! For only 20 soles we had seats in the directors box! The game wasnt the best and finished 3-1 to Cusco.

We got a cab back into town and headed to a funky little club called 7 Angelitos that was advertising a live funk band. The band were excellent and we bumped into a Scottish guy called Barry and his girlfriend Sonia from NZ. The drinks flowed and we danced to the music. I left at 3.30am, determined to get some sleep before our 8.30am bus to Puno the next day, leaving Craig and Lynn still partying hard.

Saturday April 5th
I woke at 7.30am to find that Lynn was still out! She had said that she was determined to party until the sun came up! Lynn and Craig bounced in at 7.50am. They had left the funk club to go to Mama Africas and from there had somehow found an illegal all hours drinking den/club. Trust Craig!

We somehow got our stuff together, checked out and caught a cab just after 8am. Craig had seemingly learned Spanish overnight and attempted a conversation with the driver about the previous nights football game. We jumped on the bus and crashed out, arriving in Puno at 3pm and checking into Hostel Don Julio.

We booked on a 2 day/1 night trip round Lake Titicaca and the floating islands for nly 60 soles each and then went for food. Craig and I had lovely cerviche - Kingfish and Trout while Lynn went for chicken and chips that came very nicely presented. We crashed out early after 2 late nights in Cusco.

Sunday April 6th
We got picked up for our tour at 7.45am, leaving our big bags at the hostel. We got on our boat and sailed for 30 minutes out to the floating islands. We stopped at one island called Jiska Chaulla and got to wander around and then sit down to have the history explained bu our guide. The islands are remarkable, made from reeds and supporting several communities. The islands have a life of around 15 years, but a new island takes around 3 years to build. Words cant really descrive them. Do a google search or check our flickr site when we update it.

We then sailed for 2.5 hours to Amanti Island, a natural island, where we were met by our community leader and found out that Craig, Lynn and I would be spending the night with him and his family! Allexandro, Sonia and their sons Fernando and Ronald. We had lunch in their humble aboad and then had an hours snooze before heading to the islands football pitch to meet the rest of our group.

The pitch was set on a hill with Lake Titicaca shining and shimmering in the background. Some local kids were playing so Craig and I enjoyed a kickabout with them for 20 minutes before we all started climbing the hill to watch the sunset.

The sunset was lovely and we climbed back down to go for dinner at our hosts before meeting up with the rest of our group later for a fiesta. Lynn was dressed in traditional clothes and Craig and I got ponchos for the occassion. We danced and had a beer for an hour or so and then collapsed into our beds at 10pm after a long day.

Monday April 7th
We got up for breakfast at 7am and then said goodbye to our hosts, leaving them a little tip, some colouring books and pencils for the kids. We sailed for an hour to another island called Tequile and climbed for 45 minutes to the main square. We were told about the history of the island and then wentto a restaurnt overlooking the Lake for lunch before beginning the journey back to the mainland.

At night we had cerviche and steak for dinner before wisely deciding on an early night as Craig was leaving to return to Scotland in the morning and he had a long journey ahead of him.

Tuesday April 8th
The alarm went off at 6am. Craig was getting taxi to the airport at 7am with a Canadian couple wemet on our tour and Lynn and I had a bus to Copacabana, across the border for 7.30am. It was great to spend two weeks with Craig, we had such a laugh and he is a top friend.

Our bus arrived in Copacabana at 11.30am after rather shambolic border crossing that involved us changing buses. We checked into the Colonial Inn Hostel and then headed down the street for some food. We opted for Piza to stisfy our hunger and soon wished we hadnt!

We got back to our nice room with views out to the lake and settled down to watch the 2nd leg of the Liverpool v Arsenal game on ESPN. It was a cracking game. I thought Arsenal were going through after equalising to make it 2-2 with 5 minutes to go, but Liverpool scored 2 late on to go through.

Shortly after the game Lynn was sick, then I was sick. This pattern continued for a few hours and we can only asusme it was the Pizza. This went on for a while until we collapsed exhaused.

Wednesday April 9th
We woke feeling weak after getting rid of everything in our system through one way or another. I will not go into details. We eventually ventured out at 1pm and had a light lunch before returning to the room for the Manchester United v Roma 2nd leg. Unfortunately ESPN was showing the Barca v Schalke game, so we snoozed and woke at the end to catch the United highlights, United winning 1-0 to go through to face Barca in the semis. Liverpool play Chelsea in the other semi. 2 mouthwatering games, with the prospect of United playing Liverpool in the final a real possibility. We had a light dinner at night, making sure our stomachs were back to normal before having an early night.

Thursday April 10th
We both feel a lot better and managed breakfast with no problems. We intend to have a lazy day to fully recuperate and decide whether to do an Isla del Sol tour tomorrow or just head to La Paz.

Catch you soon
Murray and Lynn
xxx