Another eventful trip on Bolivian public transport!
Everything seemed to be going well for the first few hours: we made the bus in time and there was plenty of leg room. Then it all went downhill from there. Firstly, we pulled over when the bus made a long, loud, hissing noise as we were ascending the mountain. We think the exhaust brakes went. A bunch of Bolivian men sat under the bus for the next hour or so trying to fix things. Eventually we took off only to pull over again and again every few hundred metres while the driver revved the engine… the hissing continued. The lady beside us was crossing herself continuously throughout the night!
Jon and I decided to forgo tea when we looked at the establishment we had pulled up at for dinner. I did need to use the loo though so we went to look for the bayos. Well, they were so disgusting that everyone (including me) who went near them decided to venture into the garden instead. No wonder the area was so green! Meanwhile, the driver and his bunch of merry men where banging away at something in the engine – I am not convinced they knew what they were doing. At this point Jon and I were unsure if we should get back onto the bus. We decided to go where our luggage went (I like my souvenirs too much) and we spent our waking hours praying we would not drop off the cliff. I am not sure if it was scarier to not see the gorge beside us because it was dark and to just imagine the drop, or if it would have been scarier to see how close you were to death.
The road was the bumpiest we have been on and it was almost impossible to sleep. I did nod off only to awaken with a very strong urge to use the toilet. Unfortunately, the driver figured that two toilet breaks on a fifteen hour trip was more than adequate. I had to endure four hours of stomach cramps before we finally stopped in the middle of a street in some small random town on route. I looked for a toilet but it seems that the gutter was the way to go. I had no choice but to seek the shadows next to a truck. Jon almost tripped over a woman squatting about two steps away from the door of the bus. I hate to imagine what the townsfolk woke up to - a pretty nasty smell amongst other things!
Anyway, we eventually arrived in Sucre – both of us feeling like crap. Despite breaking down, our trip was completed in fourteen hours rather than the fifteen we were told it take – a bit of a worry!
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