desolate place. Bolivia is not nicknamed the Tibet of South America for nothing, the landscape was getting very similar to that of those high high passes we travelled across all those many months ago! Wow, it was a beautiful reminder of that mysterious land that is Tibet. I really hope Tibet hasn’t suffered too much by the opening of that unpopular railway, I suspect it has but I’m really pleased that we managed to get there before things changed forever.

We also passed Chilocobija which is the deepest Antimony mine in the world. Antimony for those like me who didn’t know what it was, is a special type of metal. I don’t know what its used for but I do know that it’s special! We continued to pass through some amazing scenery and past many road side llamas. Hualdo informed us that it wasn’t going to be too much longer till we stopped for lunch. We continued on and then made a little

deviation onto a flat plain where we stopped for lunch. It was a excellent spot, not only did we have a field full of llamas to look at, the open space and surrounding mountains made it all that more special, the sound of silence was also something else!

Christina who hadn’t said a word yet, sprang into action and turned the front of the landcruiser into a mobile kitchen and prepared a wonderful salad and pre-made humitas. Humitas are corncob leaves stuffed with chopped corn and spices and baked. They make for a totally yummy lunch. It was also a chance to have a toilet stop. Now being where we were, then there weren’t too many options other than behind one of the many bushes that surrounded us. Cynthia wasn’t overly keen on this idea but she didn’t have much choice so after a bit of complaining off she went in search of a bush! We also got some great photos of some of the llamas. We also