Adios Bono, Hola Mr. Bean

It was great to see Beano again after such a long time.

Many adventures we have had since the last, but still good friends never change - Myles is as good as ever.

We spent the morning cruising around La Paz - sampling tasty snacks from the street side stalls, feeling the energy of this crazy mountain metropolis.

La Paz is the highest major city in world and when you come around the mountain pass for the first time and look down in to the valley city, it is an awesome sight.

Myles had a little trouble adjusting to the altitude.

And soon we found ourselves in jail.

Luckily for us, San Pedro Prison in La Paz is I think the only prison in the world that offers a full tour of the facilities, a tour which is interesting to say the least.

Drug Traffickers, murderers, rapists and theives all live in what seems to be quite a normal little community - when you consider that it is surrounded by thick stone walls and iron bars.

Mothers, wives and children all live behind the walls - you can buy a plate of food, a beer, or if you happen to be Myles, a bottle of scotch.  

Even the cells have to be paid for - if you don’t have the money for rent - you don’t get the luxury of a cell.

And so most inmates are running some kind of little business to make a living inside. 

Some wash clothes, some sell drugs, others run tours - it’s all part and parcel at San Pedro.

Games of soccer and basketball are going on while prisoners chat away happily away on the sideline stands.

For sure things probably go on that you don’t see on the tour..

Hanging out in the cell of a foriegn drug smuggler was quite entertaining - even more so when Myles had had a little too much altitude and a little too much scotch and had to run to the ensuite bathroom - some of the finest facilities in La Paz.. 

With Betty checked in with Dr. Ernesto, we hit the road for a few days - north along the ‘most dangerous road in the world’ to Coroico, where beautiful cascades run down between the thick green surrounding hills.

We camped out for three days at the falls and Myles, who works as a river guide, took us on some awesome walks up river, jumping into beautiful clear pools, climbing up rock faces and basking in the hot sun.

Would have been perfect if wasn’t for the the biggest, baddest, most painful flies in the world - and lots of ‘em..

Chicken stew on the fire, beer and rum - this place was a little paradise.

And then it was time to leave.

Bono’s time at Hotel Betty had come to an end.

It had been two of the most adventurous, hard-core months of the journey yet, and it was such a great honour to be able to share them with such a great friend.

We’ll miss you Bono…

But we will meet again soon..

What adventures will Mr. Bean bring?