Bolivia

I arrived at Hostel Pangea at 1am on the 22nd November after a perfectly reasonable flight. The man on the desk was not particularly friendly. I asked for a girls only dorm when i booked but was not put in a girls only dorm. My dorm is on the second floor up a huge spiral staircase - NOT GOOD when you have just flown in and are trying to adjust to the altitude. I feel totally out of breath everytime I walk up there and the showers are cold. I have pins and needles in my face and fingers i guess from the lack of oxygen even though Ive been taking my diamox pills, I have had a dodgy tummy though so maybe theyre not processing. I haven't made any friends here, everyone seems to be in their own little groups already. There is a big bar in the hostel which was pumping when I arrived last night. I am going to try and move hostels when I can eventually get the internet to work. I am truly miserable and miss central america like crazy. To top it off they are playing 'Here Without You' in the bar as Im typing which is making me want to cry :( I hope this bit of the trip gets better soon! Its a huge city la paz, I cant wait to get out and get to a small town where everyone is more friendly.

Last night things improved slightly. I got chatting to some people in my dorm, had a sleep and then went to the bar for dinner at 7:30pm, though my appetite is tiny at the moment. Got chatting to a guy from Manchester, he was cool, his dad is a professor in Theology so we had some interesting conversations. Then I got chatting to a girl from Brighton called Lauren who has done the Amazon boat trip that I plan to do but in the opposite direction. She gave me loads of tips on what to do and what to take on the boat with me which was really helpful. I crashed out at about 11pm. This morning I got up early at 7:30am and managed to get a hot shower - woooop! Im feeling a bit better now though my fingers are still tingly and my stomach is not 100%. I think if I felt physically A OK i would be enjoying La Paz slightly more. Apparently there is a computer room here, which the staff failed to tell me about when I was asking about the wifi. The service is appauling here and I defintely wont be writing a good review, but I guess it is a good hostel for meeting people. Im leaving tomorrow at 7am when a bus will pick me up to take me to Puno where I will spend the night before heading to Lake Titicaca. I cant wait! I hope the altitude isnt so bad there but I have a feeling it will be. Waiting to do some laundry across the road. The women on the desk said they open at 10am, so I came down at 10 and now they are saying it opens at 10:30am, silly women. Oh, I also ventured out yesterday to get some money out the bank, and I actually saw older women walking around in the traditional dress, not as a tourist gimmick, as actual serious dress lol, they looked cute in their brightly coloured ponchos and bowler hats, what is with the bowler hats?! crazy. I then had to walk back up the steep slope to the hostel, everything is a double mission in La Paz.

Im feeling alot better now which is good. Yesterday I met a girl called Fiona from Scotland and we went and checked out the witches market. It was really cool, lots of souvenirs and things and they sell good luck charms, one of which is lama foetuses which you are supposed to hang above your door to bring you luck, gross, dont think id get a foetus through customs.

We went back to the hostel and had some dinner together and drank wine, it was fun :) She will be in Cusco around the time i will be so we will try and meet up if we can.

The next day I got a bus to Copacabana which is a beautiful, right next to Lake Titicaca. I stopped over in a hotel for an hour or so, fell asleep on my side on the sun terrace stupidly, now have a sunburnt half of my body. I then got on a bus to Puno in Peru and had to stop at the border to get stamped in and out. Puno is okay, its also right next to the Lake. Its quite big and I walked to the square where I got a pizza and picked up some rice and oil for the family I will be staying with on Amantani Island in Lake Titicaca, its going to be weird experience but i think ill enjoy it. My hostel here is quiet and seems to be popular with older travellers. Have met a German couple who are also doing the homestay so we will be leaving early tomorrow. Shall let you know how it goes!!