bolivia is beautiful

ok, so after my previous lazy blog entry i promiseto try harder, so here goes..
i arrived into Bolivia a day later than planned. Due to me trying to find the cheapest bus company possible en route one of the types exploded (yes fully exploded all over the road!) and so by the time i got close to the border it was actually closed (thats Bolivian effciency for you). Finally entering Bolivia and staying on the shore of lake titicaca at Copacabana i spent 2 days not doing very much at all, and it was lovely especially after all the buses i'd had to take with Roo. At an altitude of 3800m the days are hot hot hot and the nights absolutely f-ing freezing but the scenery around is beautiful. I didn't realise just how beautiful until getting the bus to La Paz however...
Looking out of the bus window i am warmed by the fierce sun shining down from a cloudless sky, the bus is travelling along a mountainous ridge and below me i can see the deepest blue of the lake- as inviting as any stretch of water i've ever seen. The round hills rise gently from the lake edge, covered with greeny-brown tufts of spiky grass and are dotted with tiny houses, very basic in their construction and built from mud bricks. The road i'm travelling alternates between a patchwork of pitted tarmac to just a dusty track, the bus continues slowly and very occasionally an old vehicle passes going the other direction. Beyond the hills on the horizon there are the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Real, these mountains, in contrast to the hills around me sparkle majestically as the snow clings to their sharp rocky slopes...
well you get the idea, i was very impressed with the scenery around me, after about 5 hours on a bus i arrive in La Paz. As we arrive in La Paz i'm struck by the remarkable resemble it has to Bradford (just go with me on this one), the city is set in a deep valley and surrounded by beautiful scenery (albeit the andes and not the pennines), a whole manner of life goes on in the streets- people selling many coloured fruits and vegetables, the very centre street is constructed of awful 1960's tower blocks but after walking just a few blocks away you can find beautiful (but run-down) period buildings and finally.. its just so cheap! The hostel i'm staying at may not be five star but it costs me less than $5 a night and includes breakfast and my own private room.
Yesterday, after a brief exploration of the city immediately surrounding my hostel (including the witches market- complete with llama feotuses for sale as offerings to the Motherearth when getting a new house- oohh Laura guess what your souvenir is.. ) i took a bus and head for 'la valle de la luna', this is a strange geological site that suprisingly enough looks just like the moon (and from what i could gather from the guide was given this title by Neil Armstrong. The landscape basically comprised of huge towers of muddy rock and looked to me like giant termite mounds, it was created due to eruptions of the nearby volcano, we spent an hour or so walking on top of and amongst these strange towers and craters after which we walked on to the zoo which was a mile-ish away. The zoo was actually really nice and the animals looked after quite well. It also gave me a chance to see some of the native animals close up- the puma was amazing!