llama gloves

Yep, have done it. Have bought my first pair of llama-decorated items......aaaggghhh. But I have an excuse. Am currently in Uyuni before heading off on a 4 day tour of the salt plains and surrounding countryside later this morning and it is meant to be rather cold at night. So obviously me not being much of a planner on this trip doesnt think about it until i get here and hence the purchase of some gloves with llamas on this morning in an attempt to stop my fingers dropping off. And have also had to buy some white socks (god, what is happening) as I have somehow got down to 3 pairs of socks (one pair more hole than sock) which i didnt think would make me v popular on a 4 day trip!

Have also survived my first long bolivian bus trip (10 hours, with an hour wait in the middle) and it really wasnt as bad as everyone has made out. Lots of pretty scenery, a lunch stop where i discovered the delights of stuffed potatoes (mashed potato balls with bits of egg, carrott and other loveliness in the middle and then fried....yum) and an entertaining half an hour trying to explain how my ipod works to the interested local next to me (dont really know in england so lots of "well, the music is on the computer, then there is a cable and the music gets moved to the ipod)! He then decided to be my friend and started quizzing me on england.....know shockingly little about how big we are etc and how to describe the major crops of england in spanish (spanish for oil seed rape anyone!!)

Right, have to go and find some space for all my snacks (shops with mars bars here, yippee...and the book said uyuni was like an apocolyptic town, ha, bet they dont have mars bars after the apocolypse) in my day bag and prepare myself for 4 days in a 4x4

Dinosaurs

Have decided i have a frankly love hate relationship with Bolivia and whilst at the moment i am in love, it could all go horribly wrong very quickly, mostly due to appalling customer service and help most people who are employed here in the service industry display. but breathe caroline...ok, rant over.

So made the most of myluxury room last night watching non stop tv and revalling in being able to watch tv from bed and not have to talk to anyone. Then had lovely encounter with the man on reception desk. I decided that as I had to leave to early to have the "included" breakfast I would see if i could wangle a discount. But after about 5 mins of the guy being deliberately obtuse he announced, with a rather smug grin, that as breakfast was free, how could i possibly get a discount.....he would quite happily knock 0 off. Grrrr....by this point didnt have the energy to discuss the difference between included and free, and also that the food wasnt free to the hotel.....just stomped off. Then somehow the airline managed to double book my lovely window seat and so i was moved to the opposite side of the plane, over the wing, so I didnt get to see any of the beautiful mountains that i was really excited about, silently fuming as i watched at least 3 men doze against windows on the other side. And of course the lady moved me with the utmost inpoliteness possible.

But am now in Sucre which is a gorgeous little colonial town, all white walls, red roof tiles, clear blue skies and fancy churches, so I am happy again! Why is it that all colonial towns look the same, have the same vibe and are always surrounded by mountains??? Very strange. Also feels very rich here and has a completely different feel to La Paz....no street stalls, no women in indigenous costume, no craziness. Did have the worlds nicest taxi driver though who gave me a guided tour of Sucre before depositing me infront of my lovely hostal. Oh, and apparently Sucre is Bolivia´s de facto capital whilst La Paz is the constitutional one. Not sure what the difference is but various people have various opinions as to which one is the real one....answers on a postcard please.

And then, as if the joy of simply being here wasnt enough, got myself organised and went to see the dinosaur footprints this afternoon. And they are amazing. There are about 15 reall clear tracks and loads others, and because of 2 plates colliding, the bit with the footprints on sticks up so its really easy to see them. Just blew me away seeing them....and we even got to see baby footprints and prints of dinosaurs running and fighting. Really cant say how amazing i found it all.

Right, just a quick observation for today. Had noticed in La Paz that there were nowhere near the number of street kids / beggars compared to Quito which I found odd given how poor Boliva is, and even here in the apparent Gringo capital of Bolivia, there are only a couple of street kids...I wonder where they all are.

Finally out!

Woke up to clear skies, prayed to whatever god would have me that the flight would take off, and thankfully at 10.30 we were airborn and at 11.30 we were in La Paz. Hallelijah. Did get v nice view of jungle though ..... its huge!!!

As i think i have wittered on about previously, I have decided to skip the monkeys and the walking and head straight down to Sucre to see dinosaur footprints (am ridiculously excited about this prospect!) Unfortunately both flights to Sucre (yep, am flashpacking. when the choice is a 19hr bus ride on buses that were condemmed 25yrs ago or a 35 pound, 40min flight, its not a hard decision) had already left by the time I arrived in La Paz (you have to wonder why both companies have flights to Sucre within 30mins of each other....although its bolivia so maybe not) so have a free day in La Paz, which is annoying but at least its sunny. And have been consoling myself by eating lovely food, buying cds and checking into nice hotel with cable tv. Got v excited about watching melrose place....yep, thats the level I have fallen too.

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of "Caroline gets delayed in Bolivia"

Aaarrrgh

My love affair with Bolivia is rapidly ending thanks to the rude and unhelpful people at the airline. So for some reason i was transferred from my 3pm flight to a 7pm flight (with no real explanation given, any apology or any form of compensation- just a blank stare) and then after loitering for another 4 hours, was told that the flight was now cancelled due to bad weather somewhere on the s american continent! So another night in Rurrenbaque for me. On the plus side did bump into Kate and Emma from Cuenca which was great. Am just praying that i manage to fly out tommorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. Have decided though to do neither monkeys nor walking and just head south.....the rainy season does seem to be starting early and have no desire to keep being stranded due to the rain.

Anyway, here are some pictures of where i am holed up....its a gorgeous place so really, no harm done in having to spend an extra night here!

trying to leave the jungle

Yep, despite my travel agent booking me on an 8.20am flight for today, and the nice people at the hostal reconfirming this for me while i was faffing around in the pampas, when i turned up at the office yesterday just to check all was ok, it turns out there isnt a flight at 8.20, never has been, probably never will be and i am actually booked on a 3.30pm flight! Glad I checked - saved me a v early wake up call and got more quality hammock time....i just love the Bolivian way though!

Currently trying to decide what to do tommorrow. its either go to the mountains for some walking, or go and volunteer at this monkey sanctuary.....not much difference! Suggestions on a postcard to.....

Im a baby killer!

Yep, just got back from a 3 day trip to the pampas (lots of rivers and boggy ground) and one of the required activities was piranha fishing. Now, not ordinarily as huge fan of fishing despite the fact i love to eat them. Blame my piscean nature or squeemishness or whatever, but ever since i was 5 (ish) and on holiday wanted to throw back fish that local spanish fishermen were catching, have never really enjoyed fishing. but hey, thought piranhas, they are nasty meat eating creatures who dont deserve my sympathy right? Plus everyone else was doing it and never learnt to be my own person....so there i stood in our "boat" with a bit of wire, a hook and a bit of meat happily dangling it in the water and then whipping it out (ordinarily hitting myself or whoever was lucky enough to be stood next to me with aforementioned meat or spraying water all over everyone or, on one memorable occasion, sending the fish i caught flying over the boat and back into the water on the other side!) as instructed when i felt a tug. Now, normally i would just be left with a hook minus meat (crafty things these piranhas) but then i caught one.....and it was a 2in tiddler that just kept flopping about on the bottom of the boat as i screamed and tried to run away! I wanted to throw it back it as it made me realy sad, but new friend Jacob (danish, fishing since forever) said i couldnt as it was my first fish, picked it up and then whacked its head against my seat to kill it (leaving fish blood on my seat, urgh). Was then made to pose with my catch and will add photo when am back in civilisation! Anyway, then went on to catch 4 others, all of which were babies and all off which made me squeal and i made jacob throw them all back in! Have decided that is my first and last attempt at fishing!

The rest of th trip was far less eventful and i spent many a happy an hour floating on the boat watching alligators (and their eyes at night . they glow red, v cool) HUGE birds (Jabirus apparently) monkeys and capybaras (worlds biggest rodents...about the size of small pigs and look a bit dog like). We also became regulars (well, 2 nights in a row!) at the local bar wathcing the sunset, saw pink dolphins (a misonomer....very gray!) swam in the river (was assured that no aligators were around but everyone failed to mention the piranhas until we were out!) and also went hunting for anacondas in the marsh. not the most fun ever!

Am now back in rurrenbaque for a day to enjoy being hot, before i head back to the cold altiplano and wherever i decide to head from there....really need to read my guidebook!

I{ve been to the jungle!

Yep, have just spent 3 days in the most pristine bit of the amazon basin rainforest and managed not to do anything too horfific to destroy it! Had a bif of a splurge on this as the lodge where i stayed is owned and run by the local community and has proved a really effective way to bring money to the community, preserve the rainforest and provide an alternative to logging so am currently feeling very self satisfied and worthy! Plus it helped that it had the nicest beds, showers and food that i have had ina long time.....when i get home my new speciality (or rather my first ever) will be catfish cooked in bamboo! Only need to find somewhere that sells huge bits of bamboo, some catfish and an oven big enough!

So anyway, first day we had to leave ridiculously early (well, 7.30) to get on a boat for 5 hours to the lodge. Actually lovely as v scenic and nice and sunny so all well. Then got to sleep a bit before our first hike into the jungle...and then we had a night hike. And i think its fair to say this day was all about the monkeys and the frogs! We saw a lot.....spider monkeys, cappuchino monkeys, red howler monkeys, cane toad frogs, amazon frogs, tree frogs, hallucenogenic frogs, an unidentifiable frog...we saw them all! And it was great, if a little sweaty

Second day we were forced to get up even earlier (5.30!) so we could have the pleasure of tramping around at dawn...only to see a stick insect (wahoo) and a couple of monkeys (yawn!). Was then ecstatic when it started to piss it down at brekkie so we could postpone our 4 hour hike and i could get some much needed sleep. Unfortunately god wasnt feeling all that charitable, the rain stopped at 10 and I was hauled from my bed by a machochistic guide to go on a 90min walk to a mirador and then on a 4 hour hike after lunch to learn all about medicinal plants etc. All much fun, especially in the afternoon when after much pointing out of "fresh pig tracks" (second day was all about the pig tracks....every time he stopped you could guarentee that was what was about to be pointed out) we got to smell them and then track them! We all got very excited when he stopped adn pointed at something white and black in the distance. the rumour went round that they were wild pigs, lots of photos were taken, and then it turns out that we had stopped tracking pigs a while back and we were now looking at black and white birds!!!! Ah well. Guess famous wildlife spotters (cant think of any in particular right now) have nothing to fear from us!

On the wayback it then started to rain and has only just stopped now....am now back in town and laughing at all the backpackers who have been stuck here for a couple of days ...lots of rain = wet runway = no flights =lots of stranded backpackers. Am off on tour of the pampas tommorrow and am praying that the rain stays stopped so i dont drown in mud! Do hopefully get to see pink dolphins though

bolivian transport

So maybe i shouldnt have been so smug after all. Arrived at La Paz airport today (early of course - have been trained well by mum) only to discover that due to an earlier cancellation, my flight was now 4 hours later. Hence much wasting of time in Burger King (only place with sunlight) and now on hideously overpriced internet. The joys of travel.

Coroico...not the most fun place in the world

As the guidebook says, theres not a lot to do here except chat with your fellow bikers about the harrowing death road.....and to be fair, they werent lying! Had planned to spend a day in Coroico after the bike ride to do some walking, but what i thought was a gentle 2-3 hr stroll there and back, turned out to be a serious half day (at least) hike. So by the time I had sorted myself out in the morning and then discovered this, it was too late to do anything. Luckily I had hijacked a couple of english boys who had also done the bike ride, so we just loitered around for the day sunbathing, blagging our way into a posh hotel to swim and admiring the view. More importantly also found a source of homemade ice-cream so treated ourselves to 2 scoops for the bargin price of 30p. yum.

Did meet the worlds most annoying girl though and was forced to spend the evening socialising with her as there were only the 4 of us around. She took great delight in giving us reams of travel tips (despite being only 21 and this being her first trip, i think out of essex!), she spent a good while blaming the delays in the NHS on immigrants (really have to make up a new job to tell people...) and then had a bit of a rant about how the parents here were so irresponsible having so many children when they couldnt afford to feed them so they then beat the children and made them work on the streets. My argument that family planning isnt so advanced here didnt seem to cut much ice.....and i thought foreign travel was meant to broaden the mind and make you more tolerant. Ah well

Then today spent 5 hours baking to death on a minibus back up the road, and discovering that bike riding down it was a whole lot less scary that being in the front seat of a minibus going back up as I held back squeals of terror and tried to will myself to fall asleep...no such luck. Also got my first intro to Bolivian public transport. Buses were advertised every hour, in reality they went at 11 and 1. And then they actually left at 1.30. And then we had to wait for half an hour at one point while they decided to open a part of the road. Joy.

Next stop the jungle, how many delays can there be when you are travelling by boat??? Have rather sensibly decided to fly up to the jungle....the boys I was with decided to go by bus. We both left at the same time, I get a night in a bed and still get there before them. Ha ha ha.

Caroline bikes down worlds most dangerous road..

...and doesnt die!

yep, mum, that bike ride i said i was going on was actually a moutain bike down officially "the worlds most dangerous road" as classified by some important group or other! And we even got to stop at a couple of points to watch wreckage of cars and buses that had gone over the edge. Its basically dangerous because the road is really narrow, the drop of the edge of the road is horrendously huge and the drivers here are lunatics...so actually felt safer on a bike where at least I could control stuff rather than in a kamikaze minibus.

Anyway, absolutely stunning ride going from snowcapped peaks (so thats why they tell you to wear a hundred layers) to the lush semi-tropical slopes in which i am now residing. We had gorgeous weather, not too much traffic, great guides and I now have the biggest adrenalin rush, as well as v sore forearms and bruised hands from breaking so much. Was actually rather scary for a girl who has never really gone down big hills before so was pretty much constantly breaking (and then panicing that i was breaking the wrong way - there are lots of rules for how not to die) but didnt humiliate myself by falling off / falling over / crashing into someone else or being the last by a long way. Indeed by the end i might have even gone above 4km/hr and was with the front group. Get me. Olympic mountain biker (do they ever have those) here i come! After the worlds most dangerous road whats a little moutain!

Am now holed up in lovely mountain hotel which is charging a fortune as the tours always end up here but the views are stunning and am v happy girly! now whats the betting i actuallz get out of bed tommorrow and go for the hike i have planned on doing???!!

new photos

Just to let you know i have spent my eve having fun in an internet cafe putting some more photos on my blog. First ones have gone in on the entry called "whales galore" in September. And just cause i am in a photo mood, here is my favourite photo of Amanda and me on my last day in Quito up a church clock tower taken by a mad Japenese bloke who REALLY wanted to take our photo (with our camera!)

caroline goes back in time

So today had my cultural day visiting an old site of ancient civilisation in recompense for being too hungover/tired to make it to the equivalent site in Cuenca. Kind of fun, lots of the obligatory small crumbling stone walls and rather grand hypothesises on what these small walls might once have been (ie grandest temple in most important ancient civilisation ever.....so important infact that no-one outside visitors to la paz has ever heard of it). There were some pretty cool statue things though and the guide was really good at explaining what everything meant and what all the pretty squiggles on the statues were. What was more fun though was figuring out the relationship between old australian man with worst haircut ever (imagine if you will a rats tail on a balding white haired man) and pretty, young japenese woman. no body contact so wondered if some kind of wierd adoptive thing, but after 4 hours of heavy evesdropping, concluded that probably paid for wife...eeew

It was also a really scenic journey. Managed to sleep through the most beautiful bit, but obviously didnt realise at the time. But luckily was awake on the way back to watch the altiplano segue into the beautiful, snowcapped peaks of the cordillero royal.....v nice. Unfortunately photos through the glass on the bus dont really do it justice, but you get hte vague idea from photo i have hopefully managed to attach. We also drove through this huge suburb of La Paz which is basically on the altiplano and populated by all the campesinos who have migrated to La Paz. Horrendously poor area, but what was interesting was to watch all the women in their beautiful clothes doing pretty much any work there was to be done!

Slight aside here but forgot to put this on yesterday....went to the archeological museum yesterday and had to take this photo of a display. Apparently it was all about the textiles of the tiwanaku period, but not really sure what the mummy and skull have to do with textiles! Mde me laugh anyway. Have also discovered a contender for worlds worst statue...see attached photo!

Goodbye civilisation, hello south america

Yep, am in Bolivia now (although pic to right is still BA!) and it is a wonderful return to the hectic chaos that is south america. But brace yourselves cause this is going to have to be a long one, given how slack i have been over the last few days.

So my last few days in BA were spent in pretty much the same fashion as the first 10, making the most of civilisation. Converted 2 more people to the delivery ice cream (although turns out you can order ben and jerrys in leeds...now if they put that in the prespectus of the uni birmingham might have had some competition) and tried to go properly shopping although after all those days drooling over the stuff in the window, when it came down to it, didnt really like any of the leather goods enough to part with the cash that was burning a hole in my pocker. So rather unsurprisingly, Rachel and I had a cake to comiserate! Also had two of the most random nights out ever but top marks has to go to Friday so will start with that......first went off to fave resturant in the world with our two new best friends for massive steak and wine fest......and Cabrera out did all its previous efforts with steaks literally as big as Jess face! We struggled through most of it but had to admit defeat eventually....v. sad. Then for some reason we all got free champagne....not sure why but not going to argue. So there we were in smart resturant and so thought we would go to a tango club and watch some. Unfortunately the one we wanted to go to was closed (due to some new fire regs in BA rather uninterestingly!) so we popped into another one and what a surreal experience it was. Basically a hall upstairs where the doors were covered in mesh, there were transparent curtais hanging around and the bar was a fridge! Not mamy couples dancing but we put a brave face on, drank our beer and made a speedy effort whilst the tangoers laughed at us! Then went onto rather hard dance club to while away the hours until it was socially acceptable to go home.....thank god!

Had a fab day on saturday too. All went off to Recoleta to see the graveyard which is really famous for all its huge tombs which are more like small churches and where the rich families appear to try to outdo each other with baroque odes to their dearly departed loved ones! Rather a hauting, beautiful place, and surprisingly calming in the sun.....apart from Evitas grave which is surrounded by camera toting tourists (myself included!) Also saw some filming happening and got excited about potentially being in the next s american hit, but the bit we saw included 2 cars driving down a road so decided we didnt want to ruin our credentials being associated with such an unpromsing film.

Which brings us nicely to Sunday and my re-entry to S America (it is really hard to think of BA as being S AMerican. Everywhere you turn are European buildings and people and the general vibe is one of a European Capital). Got off to a less than auspicious start with a huge queue to get through migration (had connecting flight in santa cruz) and me being my mothers daughter likes to be everywhere 2 hours early adn only had 30mins to get to my departure gate so my heart was going somewhat. But neednt have worried as the flight from santa cruz to la paz was delayed by 3 hours! Hurrah! Especially as I had managed to attracted man from Quito who kept talking to me despite my copious use of books / ipod / yawning.

This delay then meant I arrived at la Paz at 11.30 where i was given the traditional gringa welcome of a rip off at every turn! First had taxi drivers following me all over the place, then when i finally got one he tried to pursuade me to have more people in the taxi "as there is a shortage of taxis" - ha, no chance. Then he decided to try to charge me $100 for a $6 ride on the basis that I refused to have other people in the taxi. So at this point I threatened to get out and let him take one of these many other desperate taxi-wanting tourists. But surprisingly at this point there appeared to be no-one else wanting his services and he hastily renogtiated to $6!!!! We then had the hard sell of his friends hostel but he eventually gave up in the face of my refrain "thanks but i have a reservation" and turned into the nicest, most helpful taxi driver ever! Very strange. So got guided tour of La Paz by night, much help with my bags and finding my hostel and much "oh you speak such good spanish" etc etc. Unfortuately I was then confounded by the fact that as i was 2hrs late, my hotel had most definately shut up for the night so relinquished all my better judgement and let him take me to his mates hotel cause at least it was opén and had hot water! Rather expensive and with the worlds highest pillow (so felt my neck was about to snap all night) but at least i was in and safe.

And so to today and my first taste of Bolivia, and I love it. Last night began to wonder what I had done and had sick feeling in my stomach this morning, but once I got reaccostomed to the noise, bustle, people and general maddness I definately began to revel in being back in this type of country. La Paz is so crazy...its obviously so high, 3700m, so everything has to be done slowly but it has that real andean brown, hills covered in shacks, women in colouful costumes, markets everywhere feel to it. So had my sightseeing day today and did all the obligatory things (witches markets...saw llama foetus and got shouted at for trying to take a photo, museum, colonial houses) Tried to avoid all the markets as dont feel the need for stripey trousers or a llama infested jacket or pointy hat (although always alarms me just how many other people feel these are vital accessories in the fashion show of life) but went to the prison which is famous for the fact that its inhabitants have to pay to live there. You can try and figure out tours if you can find someone with a friend on the inside, but funnily enough, the thought of being a single blonde woman going into the most notorious jail in s america didnt really appeal! So contented myself peering in the door at the rather calm interior and laughing at the pink walls. Also sweet talked a garage owner to let me wander through his parking lot as i suddenly noticed the most stunning view of the snow capped mountains that overlook La Paz and bought a lovely fruit salad for 30p. My favourite bit though was the square just by the cathederal. It reminded me a bit of Quito, but it was taken over by pigeons and children feeding them which meant that the whole place rang with laughter and really made me smile. I also made two old ladies laugh at me and what i was taking photos of, so i helped contribute!

So am back to feeling like a proper (if cold) traveller again.....all i need now are stripy trousers.....argh, no stop me! And in my flurry of organisation have booked a tour to this ancient site tommorrow, a jungle tour to Bolivias premier ecolodge (rather expensive but figure its worth it if i can contribute to a meaningful way to bring tourism to the jungle without exploiting it - ha, get me!) and a bike ride. not all that sure on the bike ride, but get to ride in a bus on the uphill bits if i want and get a free t-shirt so that sold me!

Right, am now going to try to upload photos on a less than modern machine, so if there arent any, you will know i have failed in my quest!!!!

fan men shouting

Football was quite fun yesterday, caused great confusion trying to buy our tickets (thought the man had run off with our money but turns out that the ticket machine had broken) ate hanburgers on the side of the road in true footie fan fashion, walked for about a mile to find the right entrance, then settled ourselves in the highest seats ever and i personally tried not to fall off! Apparently Marradona was there as well (according to helpful seat finding man)....I´m not convinced but Tom is adamant that there was a fat guy in the seats so took some photos! Anyway, in the Argentinian vs Brazilian fans competition I would have to say that the brazilian fans come in way ahead......actually even the ecuadorean fans with their home made torches beat the argentinian fans when it comes to spectacle. But the "hooligan" element of Boca (or the 12th player as they like to call themselves) did have a nice line in flags and songs so we cant be too dissmisive. Football was awful (please note moderated language mum) but we did win 2-1 so i got to cheer a bit.

oooh, fna man shouting refers to this delightful man who did a nice line in builders (hairy) bottom and large beer belly who would have fitted in better at the hooligan end but seemed to like spending a fortune (for argentinians) on a seat he never sat in....caused us great hilarity with his constant shouting at all 10 of the away fans.....guess you had to be there to fully appreciate him!

Then went for a walk around Boca which was nowhere near as dangerous as everyone makes out, found the touristy bit which isnt that exciting, got ripped off on a beer (got charged a table cover!) then Rachel made us walk all the way to San Telmo (only about 15mins but my calls for a ta xi were ignored!) for better beer and food. And thus ends todays exciting installment. Trying to build up the courage to get my ha ir cut today, but think i might not be brave enough.

Harumph

Well, its nice to know i am loved and missed! But the reason that I havnt been writing is that the last week has been spent in a hedonistic, nocturnal way making up for the distinct lack of partying i have been doing for the last month. This obviously has been great for me (but not my liver), but not all that exciting for you lovely people back home to read about.....given that a huge amount of my time has been spent in bed / on a seat on the terrace / dancing in a club!

But if you really want to know...... So, in between all the ice cream and steak, the lovely boys at the chillhouse have been showing us all around the coolest (well in my mind at least) nightclubs in town...although they do have a passion for trance / electronica so have had my fill of that! Whats interesting to tell you........hmmmm........ there are lots of beautiful peoples in buenos aires...... the women like to give you the once over and unfortunately my beloved green haviana flip flops usually dont pass muster........and the spanish here is just ridiculous....not only do they have a daft accent but have discovered that they also use a whole new verb tense....lovely.

But now rachel has arrived to save me from the boy-inspired laziness (until sunday there was only me and the boys - urgh) and we have been doing lots of walking and eating. Unfortunately due to a combination of extreme sidetracking to eat a lot and being generally disorganised we have managed to fail spectacularly at acheiving anything we set out to do, apart from gorge ourselves! So missed the 11am tour of the theater despite setting the alarm for 2 hours early , failed to find a guidebook to argentina or a ballet show and our only success (getting on a free guided tour round the government house) was marred slightly by us failing to realise the tour would be conducted in spanish....grr. Unfortunately we only ever understood the same bits, so were of bugger all help to each other. On the positive side, we had a very nice chat with the man who works in my sandwich shop and met 2 people in the hostal today who have organised us to go to the football tommorrow....hurrah!