"Even if I got rid of all my problems, I'd just go out and get new ones..."

La Paz, home of plumbers
11:38 a.m. on 2003-09-04

Hmm, said I would write about Taquille Island, didn`t I?

Well, I will keep it short but sweet. Stayed with a local family, ate over cooked meals in their smoky, straw roofed kitchen, danced with their men and wore their very heavy outfits - several short skirts, a white shirt, and a black shawl. Looked like a prat. Hello, Brit abroad, how are you?

Arrived in La Paz and spent yesterday indulging in some serious me-time. This included a trip to a posh hotel to use their pool, jacuzzi, sauna, and masseur.

Yup, I had my first massage! And very nice it was too. Well, except for the fact that the table appeared to be missing one of those holes for your face, so I spent half the time struggling to breathe through a pillow while she massaged my back. So I wasn`t hugely relaxed. Still, I came out smelling of oranges and, if not entirely muscle-ache-free, then a lot more bendy than before.

La Paz is like any big city - noisy, dirty, crowded, and I love it. You can buy anything here, including the kitchen sink. Seriously. Our hotel appears to be on B&Q alley, there are that many plumbing supply shops. Am planning a trip to the local witches market, to stock up on dried llama foetuses and dead guinea pigs. Oh yeah!

In the meantime, have been spending most of my time on the long bus rides thinking about what I intend to do upon my return to the UK. Getting a job, obviously. Painting my room a nice mix of creams and reds. Getting a new computer. Downloading lots of nice programs onto that computer so I can learn HTML and photo editing properly. Picking up the guitar again and learning something other than Tom McRae`s "I Ain`t Scared of Lightening."

Oh, and buying nice things. CDs and DVDs mostly. Mm.... consumerism...

Random thing: what, the dried llama foetuses weren`t enough?

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