Bolivia begins...

Standing in the line at the border to travel across to Bolivia we did not have a clue what to expect. I had visions of sniffer dogs standing guard, our rucksacks being emptied and searched, our plans being questioned, medicine being confiscated and just generally having a tough couple of hours. In fact, other than a very long wait, it was a pretty painless experience. We crossed over into Bolivia with new stamps in our passports and walked less than 100m over a bridge to leave Argentina behind. We were greeted by 'Bienvenidos a Bolivia' with letters no bigger than a small shop sign and not much more impressive but there was a noticeable difference between the buzz of Villazon and the quite desolate feel of La Quiaca.

The first thing you notice is that there is definitely no lack of casas de cambios to change your money into Bolivianos. Actually there was no lack of anything as the next five blocks were covered with market stalls and little stores that poked out into the pavements... fake label boxer shorts, children's plastic toys, massive bags of coca leaves, mobile phones, watches and more tat that you could dream of.

We had picked up a lovely, travelling stray from England who had joined us in the queue. It was nice to meet another traveller who was on a similar route to us. He spoke no Spanish (I had been wandering how someone could get by without any language) and he had been struggling in the north of Argentina where less and less people spoke English. He was glad we could help him with the border, finding a cash machine, exchanging his currency, getting some lunch and upgrading his train ticket. It must be scary travelling on your own but everyone we meet who is by themselves seem to be doing just fine and having a great time. Braver than me!

There are two trains a week out of the border town of Villazon that go to Oruro and stop at Uyuni, Atocha and Tupiza. We were heading to Uyuni. The train journey was an odd experience. We had paid for semi-cama seats which were comfy and reclined a bit more than the standard ones as the journey was a nine hour one.

It was definitely the slowest train I have ever been on, in fact it was almost slower than a bus. The tracks were not exactly what you would expect either; low to the ground and covered in grass and dirt at some points which made the journey pretty bumpy. A couple of hours into the journey we were invited into the next cart where we found tables set out for dinner and were asked if we would like burger, chicken or vegetables... not too tasty but edible and quite good fun.

The rest of the journey was not as much fun. They turned the heating right up and the lights off so it was pitch black, it felt like some sort of sensory torture! We arrived at about midnight. Very ready for bed.

We've been in Uyuni for a couple of days now and my next posts will be about our time here (with lots of photos!) but I think I've blabbered on enough for now... ;-)