Aight, I wouldnt usually assign an entry to a bus ride but lasts nights adventure was pretty special. At 1pm yesterday we rocked around to the bus terminal to catch our small bus down to Yolosa at the bottom of the hill (around 30minutes away) to catch the connecting bus to Rurrenabaque. We get there to find a jeep already full of tourists heading for the same bus. Celia managed a spot inside the tray of the jeep whilst I was left to clamber on the back hanging onto my backpack for the half an hour venture. Not too bad considering the rain had stop and the scenery was quite remarkable... We get to Yolosa to find we have an hour to wait for our bus. Bus arrives, typical Bolvian bus man comes yelling at us all in Spanish to basically get our stuff up on top the bus. We heave our packs up and they are tied down. Bus continues on the one of the most dangerous stretches in the world. I make a decision no to look out the window as we nevervously wait for trucks to pass in this single lane road. Then it gets tricky. We get to a section of the highway (and I say highway in the most basic sense) where the road actually goes through a river. A river that has had rain stream into it from the mountain rains of the last few days. Im talking at least grade 3 rapids. I kid you not this bus was chogging through this river with no regard for this body of water. Im amazed we got out alive but the trip goes down hill (well uphill as it was) from here. We get to a town not far from the river, Celia nearly dies from street chicken (never eat street food in Bolivia kids) and our bus driver says we are stopping in the town for an hour as they repair the bus. Some repairs are made; lots of sparks, fire and more yelling in Spanish, an hour later we are on our way.. A little further along the track the bus is pulled over by the police. Bus Search! Everyone off the bus and show all your documents. They searched my bag, nothing found! ;) At this point I am thinking there is nothing else that could go wrong. I plug in my ipod, listen to to sleepy tunes and start to doze off... As we slow down to let a truck pass the bus slides off the road and into a ditch. The bus driver makes an attempt to get us out only to slide us further down the hill and deeper into the ditch. After an hour or so of digging us out we finally get back on the road and on the way. 15 hours later we have arrived to Rurrenabaque, base of the amazon. They make good pancakes here and also good banana bread by the road. Buy Banana bread from the road kids, just dont get to Rurrenabaque by road, I think well fly back to La Paz....
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