Flights: La Paz to Ljubljana (Nick)

Four flights in a row over 36 hours is enough to test anyone's endurance. So it was with some trepidation that we hauled ourselves out of bed and through a reasonably deserted La Paz before dawn, heading for the airport and thereafter Lima, Bogotá, Frankfurt, and Ljubljana. Two sleepy Avianca flights later (and some stunning views of the Andes and the high headwaters of the Amazon) we found ourselves in Bogota, Colombia, with several hours to kill, and decided to break up the trip by heading in to town rather than hibernating at the airport. One bus ride later and we were in the centre of town, walking up the semi-pedestrian Calle 7, and enjoying the amazing variety of activity: fruit vendors, gypsy musicians, businesspeople, young people, tourists... We got the distinct impression that the people in Bogotá were a bit more cosmopolitan and fashion-conscious (in a modern sense) than those in the other places we had visited, but we also found that at the other end of the spectrum there were more obviously homeless people visible as well. A very interesting place, and worth far more than the hour or two we gave it.

Abandoning the bus, we caught a taxi back to the airport- we had hit rush hour and the bus terminal at Museo Nacional was packed. As we checked back in with Lufthansa, we found we were not seated together, and must have made such sad faces that the ticket agent took pity on us and upgraded us to business class. We were speechless- this was going to be the longest flight of this part of the trip, and we had not been looking forward to it at all. Now we found ourselves in a luxurious lounge, taking showers and filling up on lovely food before the flight, before being ushered to our fully reclining seats at the front of the plane. Was it the bruja's good luck charm? Who can say...

We spent the first part of the flight playing with the multidirectional seat controller, and marvelling over the food, before lying flat and sleeping well for the rest of the flight. When you've done as many long haul (10+ hours) economy class flights as we have, the chance to lie down on an aeroplane feels like the height of luxury.

A layover in Frankfurt (huge airport, a bit bewildering), and we were on our last flight of just over an hour to Ljubljana, Slovenia, with Adria Airways, the Slovenian national airline. We caught the shuttle to town, and met up with one of our hosts, Tanja, and her dog Kai. Tanja showed us to our attic bedroom, and we crashed again.