That`s Life..

Ok so I`ve had a serious word with myself and am now officially "cheered up"
I don`t know what was wrong with me last week, but I`m feeling much better now, so apologies for anybody who received a miserable email or read the blog and thought I was being a miserable tw@t!
I don`t even think Matt was homesick to be honest probably just Michelle Sick for being so fed up!

We are now in Sucre, Bolivia and it`s a really nice place, it is not too dissimilar to Cusco in Peru.
There are lot`s of nice Colonial Buildings and Restaurants and it`s nice and sunny, which always helps!
We arrived by bus this morning at about 6am, the journey was actually ok and not as bad as we thought it might have being.
I think our bus trip from La Paz to Cochabamba was a bad one and we were just unlucky.
We left Cochabamba at about 8pm last night, we hadn`t being on the bus 5 minutes when it pulled up outside the Bus Terminal and more people started to get on, which was a little concerning as we were packed to the rafters!
It was the locals and indigenous families, and it seems that they bypass the ticket system at the official terminal and just flag the driver down, give him a back hander and jump aboard.
These poor buggers had to sit in the aisle of the bus though, for 10+ hours.
It just goes to show how poor these people are and the conditions that they have to travel in as they cannot afford the full fare, which is less than 3.50GBP!
At one point we thought that a woman and her 2 children were going to get thrown off as it was obvious that she hadn`t bought a ticket, yet she was sat in somebody´s seat who had paid.
We were all ready to pay for her and her kids to stay on the bus or get on another one, but they seemed to come to some agreement with the drivers assistant and off we went.
We hadn`t being on the road an hour when we stopped for a toilet/eating break, so EVERYBODY got off the bus and we were there about 30 minutes, everybody back on again and off we go.
Less than another hour later, we stopped AGAIN for ANOTHER toilet/eating break (either the driver had a weak bladder or he liked his grub?!) again everybody got off and we were there about 20 minutes (no wonder it takes so long to get anywhere)
We were then on the road until about 2am before we stopped again so it wasn´t too bad.
One thing is for sure is that the Sth American`s do love their food, for all the poverty here you never see anybody undernourished, quite the opposite in fact.
It seems that eating is the only consistency they have.
The roads are really poor in Bolivia, which is obviously why journeys do take so long, the roads we travelled last night were no more than a cobbled path, there are no motorways or dual carriageways, almost everything is a single dirt track winding road, again another thing to be thankful for back home.
We were stopped by the Police at about 5am, for what seemed like a routine spot check, we were all asked to present our passport`s, and were shone in the face with a torch, this went on for about half an hour before we were finally sent on our way again.

We will stay in Sucre for two night`s before we head off for Potosi to see the Silver Mines, this will be an experience in itself.
There are kids as young as 13 working in these inhuman conditions, life expectancy for anybody working in the mines is 15 years, with most miners falling victim to Silicosis, which is a deadly lung disease caused by inhaling silicone dust.
Apparently the visit is a wake up call and an experience that you won`t forget, which judging from the above I can well believe.
Your are urged to take drinks and sweets in for the miners, who are apparently proud of their work and the daily hardship that they endure.
Again another reason I will never complain when I`m having a bad day at work in an air conditioned office, with internet access, a cafeteria where I can afford anything on the menu, lighting, heating, comfort etc.
After Potosi it`s to Uyuni to the salt flats, and we are then hoping to be in Chile by about Monday next week.

We are just trying to upload some pics now that we took in La Paz, Copacabana, Cochabamba, and a few we have taken in Sucre today (hot off the press)
There is an absolute classic that I cant wait to upload, it`s of a car that is extremely overloaded, this is no YouTube stuff either, this is live from Matt and Michelle`s Nikon in Bolivia.
The car looks like the chassis is going to snap in half, enjoy!!