Our attempts to travel in comfort were thwarted yet again when we discovered that there were no flights and that the train, to our next stop Uyuni, was full. So we had to endure yet another overnight bus journey, but this time Bolivian style - generally agreed to be the crappest buses in South America, and we were not looking forward to it. We bought tickets for what was promised to be the best bus in the country, complete with an impressive flyer detailing it's numerous luxuries (the most important to us being the toilet) and turned up as instructed.
We should have realised by now that the fact that a bus ticket costs twice as much, does not mean that the bus is twice as nice. In fact the bus that we had bought tickets for (you know the flashy one in the pictures) wasn't even there! Instead, an hour late, we were put on a completely different bus, distinctly lacking in promised luxuries - including toilet, and told that despite the slogan of the bus company - "Why change buses? We offer a direct luxury overnight service", we would change onto a better bus in a town three hours away. What can you do?
We got on the bus and arrived in the town we were due to change buses in four and a half freezing-cold hours later, at two am. Was our luxury bus there? Not likely! Was I desperate for the toilet by then? Oh yes! So we sat around in the stationary bus for an hour or so while frantic phonecalls were made to locate the promised luxury bus. Then we carried on to search for it in person.
At four am we got off the bus and stood around in the street while they chucked off all the tourists on the now located luxury bus (doing the same journey in the opposite direction) and put them on our rubbish bus, much to their disgust. So we were finally put on the luxury bus - yey! To be fair the bus, once we were finally on it, was pretty good, and most importantly, it had a toilet. We even got blankets and bottled water.
However, the remainder of the journey was prevented from being a restful one by the fact that from this point on there was no road! A lot of the roads in Bolivia are not paved, which makes them pretty uncomfortable to travel on, but I don't mean that for the rest of the way there was no paved road. I mean there was no road! The route was flooded (which seems pretty weird given the fact that we've hardly seen any rain for weeks and we were in the desert!?) and so the bus had to find it's own way through the wet dusty lands, in the dark, with no way (as far as I could work out) of telling which way to go. So every now and again the bus would stop and men would get out and wander around poking the puddles and the tyres for a bit, and then we'd carry on!
Against all the odds, however, we did eventually make it to Uyuni, in one piece. Uyuni, however, was horrible. Just a tatty, dusty little town in the middle of the desert. After having had no sleep we were shattered, and it was boiling hot, and the hostel we were planning to stay in was closed. Then... I fell over! Because I was carrying my rucksack I landed on my hands and knees and couldn't get up again! I was not a happy bunny!
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