Luxury in La Paz

We arrived in La Paz yesterday, although it was touch and go as to whether we would get here or not.
I dont know if any of you have being following the news but Sth America have been experiencing some heavy snow these last couple of days, and Im sorry to say that Bolivia was no exception!!
We arrived here on Sunday as you know and booked into the grottiest hostal to date, why we booked in here I don`t know as we have a budget that affords us nice accommodation wherever we are.
Basic doesn`t even begin to describe the services that weren´t on offer.
The shower was a death trap with bare wires exposed on the shower head, we did wonder what the wooden block on the shower floor was for and the rubber flip flops!!
Anyway while we were in Copocabana we had really bad storms and the power went off on the 1st night we were there.
Luckily for us we were in the pub, and that`s where we stayed as it was snowing, haling and raining all at the same time, not to mention blowing a gale, it was horrible.
So two bottles of wine later we stumbled out into the freezing sleet in total darkness, with only the glow from my mobile for light.
We made it back to the freezing cold hostal (or should that be hostile!) and just crawled into bed almost fully clothed, and because we were half cut managed to get a decent night´s sleep despite the elements!
The next day we were due to go on a boat trip to see the sun and the moon islands, needless to say we sacked it off, which was just as well as when we eventually got up the lake looked extremely choppy with boats bouncing all over the place.
The power was off for 24hrs, I dont think I have ever spent so much (non stop) time in a pub, it`s the only place where we could stay relatively warm, and because they cook by portable gas bottles we were able to get some hot drinks and soup (along with some more wine)
So we just mooched our way through our time in Copocabana, and didn`t really see or do much as the weather was against us.
The buses were all over the place too yesterday because of the weather, and the one we were scheduled to get, first had to go to the border with a bus full of tourists before he could take us to La Paz.
I think this was a blessing in disguise, becuase of the six tyres on the bus only 2 had any tread on them, and I think only 3 had any air in them!
We hung about not really knowing what was going on, there were lots of frustrtaed people not knowing where to go, where their bus was, and how they were going to reach their destination.
We stayed calm (kind of) as we knew losing our rag wouldnt get us another bus.
Anyway eventually after about an hour of uncertainty, the girl who we booked our bus ticket with came across and ushered us onto a bus and said this will take you to La Paz.
The bus was a Rolls Royce of buses, in that it had wheels, seats, air and tread in it`s tyres, a steering wheel, a windscreen with no cracks in it etc, so we jumped aboard and off we went to La Paz.
And here we are, we didn`t do anything last night as Im full of cold and wa sin desperate need of a hot shower and a good night`s sleep in a warm and comfy bed, which we got as we are staying in a fab hostal in the centre.
It has unlimited hot water, an electric blanket on the bed, big fluffy towels and it`s spotlessly clean, they also do a cracking breakfast and it`s free internet access.
What more could you ask for..
So now we are off out to see the delights of La Paz.
It is the highest capital city in the world at 3600 metres (rising up to 4000 in parts) and is the most unlikely place to set fire due to it`s lack of oxygen (fact not fiction!!)
Altitude is bad enough when you`re feeling well but when you`re blocked up and full of cold it makes it even more difficult.
Even though we have become more and more acclimatised it is still tough at times and we welcome any opportunity to not have to climb a steep hill, not that theres much chance of that here as it`s more hilly than Sheffield.
One last thing (Matt is tapping his foot impatiently wanting to go) everywhere we go or every bus we get on we have to fill in a form that states our name, age, sex (no thanks) passport number and occupation.
Well this occupation bit was starting to get a bit boring, partly because I have quit my job so am officially unemployed.
So we have decided to put in spureous job titles (starting yesterday) so Matt is now a Professional Boxer and I am a Weightlifter!
We will be changing these each time we have to fill in one of these silly forms.
Suggestions welcome :-)