Trainspotting

The first train we took, ran on tracks but was more like a bus as you´ll see from the photo´s. Really bizarre and it took six hours (twice as long as the bus) but it was really worth it. The route went through tiny villages and land you´d never see from the roads. Wild looking dogs seemed to be doing a relay race of chasing the train, what seemed like for the whole journey there would be a different dog barking alongside. Hares were also running alongside at one point too. Then the highlight for me as the train rounded a rocky corner three huge birds took flight just next to the train, maybe condors with a wingspan two or three metres. We arrived in Potosi and though the train had somehow managed to smell worse than the buses we were hooked and planning our next train trip. In Potosi, a silver mining town, we were lucky to be there at the height of the parades. Three or four marching bands and dancers similtaneously parading through the streets despite the rain and causing gridlock traffic. We took a bus to Oruro so we could take the Expresa del Sur overnight train (executive class!) to the Argentinian border. The hotel in Oruro was more like a prison cell and the cheapest so far (two pounds fifty for a twin cell) but it was worth staying the night for even more spectacular parades the next day!
Then the best journey of the trip so far, the Expresa del Sur to Villazon at the Border with Argentina. The views were amazing and after sunset we ate in the dining car - a first for us - and drank Bolivian beers until last orders and then had our best night´s sleep whilst moving.