Uyuni

As Fi and I shuffled our belongings around on the train to try and get ourseleves as comfy as poss for the journey ahead, we realsied we had not brought any food or drink with us. uh-ohh!

Lets first describe the train, it moves at a snails pace, very old fashioned, but at least the seats moved back. I will put it on a par with London Midland, only because London Midland would for sure get you to your destination a lot quicker, but for comfort, it really was not bad at all.

Of course, thats making that judgement at the start of the journey, by the end it was getting very nuch like London Midland in Rush hour, cramped and very uncomfortable.

A man came round with some food, so we took some, a little concerned about how were gonna pay, all i had was 60 bolivianos from the ticket change eekk. But the food was fab, never have i had a roast chicken, rice, proper chips and salad in a train journey. The quality wasquite frankly unbelievable. Of course this added to our worry that it would be quite pricey, and when he came for the money, it worked out to be 54 bolivianos for both of us,and the sod ran off with my change, so there was no way we could get a drink. and my throuat was feeling worse and worse as time went by.

When we finally arrived in Uyuni at 12am, it was FREEZING!! we grabbed our bags and went on the hunt for a bed for the night. In Fi´s guidebook, Hotel Avenida had been rcomended as being cheap with hot showers. we took the plunge, desperate fpr water, and a bed to just curl up and fall asleep in. The lady at the hotel let us in, ad we were so thankful. they even took US Dollars which was a relief. we really had to get money quick, i do not want to use up my US Dollars, as you never know when they will come in handy again.

As we headed to our room, and found 2 decent sized beds waiting for us, we heaved a sigh of relief - only to see that our breath was visibale in the room. It was FREEZING! i am not kidding, it was warmer outside. Getting into bed was like walking naked into a freezer, and the pillow was like cold concrete. and for some reason, the night did not get better, it just got colder. i was wearing several layers, but was frozen in a ball under the covers, that also stank of ciggies. It was not accomodation that i could stand for another night.

Once morning broke, and the sun shone through the curtains, we thought, maybe things will warm up, but they never did, and with the lack of fluids, and the cold, i am having a horrid feeling that i am coming down qith something.

We showered, which, i will admit was lovely and hot, but considering my icy frozen skin, it was like defrosting a chicken with boling hot water..crack! finally i warmed though, only to have to enter the frozen coldness of the room to get changed. that room never got warmer, in fact, i think it may have got colder as the sun came up. it was AWFUL. We headed out for breakfast, and to find some more accomodation, another night in that chiller was a no no, my health is more important to me than money right now.

We found a nice breakfast place that did a full English, and i had 2 massive cups of Orange juice and a hot chocolate to defrost those frozen cockles of mine.

We booked into Hoetl Julia which is next door to Avenida, and is more expensive - but guess what! they had a radiator, that works. we checked out the room first, and the warmth hit us like nothing before. we took it in a flash. never have the little things in life been so rewarding!

We went back to the other hotel and packed our belongings. Even in the space of 5 mins in that room, my fingers cenched up from the cold. I swear that trip up the mountains in Mendoza was not as cold as this room. is was horrendous, and I am so glad i do not have to go back there.

We have booked our tour to see the salt flats, which i have very high hope for. it looks amazing. and also a night bus to La Paz which gets us into La Paz at 7am on weds. I acnñt wait. A night bus is a warm warm welcome from that fridge freezer of a hotel.

I also bought mysel a little alpaca pocho and some colourful gloves. So cheap and soft and warm. Can´t wait to get to La Paz to start bartering for more alpaa jems!