some final thoughts on Bolivia...

The cholitas you see everywhere, especially in La Paz, are an unbelievably hardworking lot. They may often lack in manners, but you have to take your bowler hat off to them, they seem to do the lion's share of the work in Bolivia (we had to ask ourselves on a few occasions, though, where are their men? They were nowhere to be seen as their womenfolk traverse the country laden with massive sacks of coca leaves, or actually chopping firewood with axes and drilling holes in the road, the kind of jobs you'd never see a Brazilian or Argentinian woman doing!).

The Wiphala (the Aymara flag) now flies proudly alongside the Bolivian flag pretty much everywhere. This seems to have caused some resentment and tension among other communities. The army having to change their war cry to the old revolutionary slogan "Patria o Muerte" ("Our nation or death") also has generated controversy. Bolivia overall came across as highly volatile politically (probably the main reason behind that drinking ban over the election weekend!), especially now with the Evo Morales revolution in full swing. Much as we think it's a great thing that he is the first indigenous President in the country´s history, we couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about some of the recent developments (such as his declaration that he hoped his party won in ALL the different regions, as he "can't work" with the opposition... always easier not to have to worry about an opposition at all, eh?).

The Aymaras on the whole can actually be pretty bloody rude. This unfortunately slightly marred our enjoyment of some parts of Bolivia, mainly the area around Lake Titicaca. This wasn´t just the "reserved" nature of highland people that we´d got used to, this was people being downright ill mannered, and the difference was marked when when we got down to Cochabamba and Sucre (especially the former), where we were overwhelmed by the friendliness we encountered.

Sign language - Subtitles aren't big in Bolivia. Apparently (according to La Razon), this is because a significant proportion of the deaf population can't read. This means that sign language is the communication tool of choice. Two brilliant signs for you - Evo Morales is the sign for the letter "E" plus "coca". And if you make your fingers look like a llama, you're saying "Bolivia".

Chuflay was a bit of a disappointment. For a bevvy with such a great name, the national favourite of singani (the local spirit) and Sprite turned out to taste much like the kind of thing you get given at a house party where the hosts hadn´t made that much effort.

It was a nice treat getting fresh orange juices from the street stalls, though.

There was a general lack of reliable information in Bolivia. (Particularly where transport is concerned!). This did our heads in at times. The locals, who have a lot to put up with as it is, seem to not to mind this kind of thing anything like as much as we did. I guess if you lived there, it would drive you mad if it did!

Much like the Argentines and the Falklands, the Bolivians would like to get some coast back off Chile one day. They still celebrate the "Day of the Sea" every year, and the papers carry surveys asking people if they consider themselves to still have beef with Chileans. During our Salar de Uyuni trip, as well as me enduring a whole lot of ribbing about it from Jimmy the driver, we drove through some places which had been battlegrounds back during the War of the Pacific. (It´s not all been us Chileans either - Bolivia has a pretty poor record in wars with neighbours over the years, losing massive chunks territory to Paraguay and Brazil also, but they seem less fussed about that somehow...)

It was difficult to get worked up about Bolivian football (as it had been about Peruvian football), once you´d been in Brazil and Argentina. That said, if I had to pick a team to back, tempted as I was by The Strongest (or even Blooming), I would have to go for Aurora, in honour of my bandmate, and also cos they were from Cochabamba, our favourite city! (As for Peru, I went for Universitario, partly on the recommendation of a friend, and partly cos I enjoyed the saga about them being thrown out of the league for kit-related reasons).

Salteñas are bloody delicious - even better than empanadas. You have to be on the ball early to get one though, as they tend to have sold out by midday! This was a common sight:

We were pleasantly surprised by the food, on the whole, as Bolivia tends to get a bad rap from travellers on this front. We obviously DID get the odd dodgy tummy, but we ate very well in Bolivia whenever we weren't suffering...

We had previously lumped Peru and Bolivia in together in terms of the standard of tourist infrastructure we had expected, but we were well wrong. Bolivia is clearly a great deal poorer than its neighbour, and nothing made this clearer than the bus travel and the toilets we encountered on the way. (Christ, I hope I never encounter another "ecotoilet" like the one I had to use on my last day ever again!)

The Salar de Uyuni was undoubtedly one of the highlights of whole trip. Despite the country as a whole having some absolutely stunning landscapes to offer, from the lush jungle of the Chapare to the amazing blue of Lake Titicaca, the Salar really was something else. Here's some video footage for you to get the picture...