LA PAZ

SATURDAY 2nd JULY

  I spent a large part of the day catching up with the blog and listening to BBC World News, as well as packing ready for the early morning departure.  I went out for a look around the vicinity.  We appear to be located almost opposite a sizeable football stadium called Hernando Siles, with the hotel on one of the side streets of a square, Avenue Illimani.  I went for a wander around the square and changed up another $20 and decided to have my boots shined as they looked pretty scruffy after Machu Pichu.  The shoeshine boy had almost finished when the hail came belting down.  I decided enough was enough, paid him his two Bolivianos and gave one more as a time and strode off to seek shelter with the boots shinier than they have ever been!

  I found shelter in a cafe where I picked out a dish without any idea of what it would be other than it would cost about £1.50.  It turned out to fairly typical local fare; a bed of rice with a few potatoes thrown in, covered completely by a thin layer of roast beef with a fried egg on top and the rest of the beef covered by finely chopped tomatoes, onions and chillis.  Not bad at all.  By the time I had finished the hale and subsequent rain had abated, so I slipped back round to the hotel.  I double checked that they had an alarm call booked for me for 3.50am and a cab booked for 4.10am.  I had a relatively early night, but woke up again about 1.00am and then sleep didn't come easy.