I´ve Run Away With The Circus!!!

As we sat in a bar in La Paz, playing our last round of cards....depressed by the looming fact that we were about to lose yet another member of Team Moonkeh, talk began. We had arrived in La Paz, knowing that we were going to be sending Cathy off to join her tour group, which takes her across Bolivia, through the Pantanal and into Rio...but knowing this previously didnt help ease the pain of the separation. So as Brett and I sat there, listening to the lowdown of the ´first tour meeting´ that Cathy had just attended...spirits were low.Strangely enough, one of the girls who was meant to be rooming with Cathy had failed to show...how odd....the cogs started whirring and before we knew it, there was excited talk of how fun it would be if I posed to be the mystery girl and joined the group. "It would be great fun...hilarious...Id love to go...No, seriously, I would be up for it...." ..Laughing halted after a few minutes, but an air of seriousness lingered...."Ok, seriously now....how do we get me on that tour....?!" So...the three of us went through all the various pros and cons of me joining the tour and more than that how I could buy my way on...."ok, ok, let´s not get excited....the deadline to sign up for the tour was a month ago...they aren´t going to take me the night before...especially as its about 11pm already!!" ..... The next morning, bright and early, the three of us went for our final breakfast, it was a sombre mood that morning...despite all having a generous portion of watermelon on our plates, which had made us so happy at the previous day´s breakfast.... At 8.30am (30mins before Cathy is due to desert us) we camp outside Denise, the tour guide´s room and anxiously wait... 8.31am....no sign of her...."do you think she´s in her room?" 8.32am....this isn´t looking good.... 8.33am...this is never going to work...."I haven´t even vaguely packed and would need to go and get cash" 8.34am...Ah well...it was a crazy idea anyway... 8.35am...Denise appears....we pounce....Cathy: "Morning Denise, can I have a word...the mystery girl hasn´t turned up, but my friend Priya here (cue: Priya smiles) would love to join our tour......" 8.35.30am...Denise: "Umm..Ok...well...let me think...I will need to phone head office in Lima" 8.35.31am - 8.36.00am....frenzied discussion over logistics, cost and availability ensue.... 8.36.30am...Priya makes a mad dash for her room and begins to pack, in the event that head office agrees. 8.55am...Priya is packed and has all her stuff downstairs....doey-eyed...hoping that we get the green light... 9.00am...Priya has introduced herself to her "new group" in the hope of forming some eternal bonds, so that Denise CANT say no... 9.10am...Frenzied discussion over insurance, visas, credit cards and logistics takes place again.... 9.12am...Priya gets the GREEN light!!!! She has to sprint (despite the altitude) to the cash point and withdraw her deposit... 9.15am...Priya returns after the four block round trip...on the verge of collapse...she has delayed the leaving of the group a little....the eternal bonds aren´t quite so eternal, as the group doesn´t seem overly impressed by the new recruit...9.16am....there is a teary farewell as we leave the Cowboy (ie Brett) 9.17am...Cathy and Priya have settled themselves at the back of the bus....they are highly excitable....very hyper...cant believe this has happened..this is crazy...mad...what the hell....this is gonna be incredible.... 9.20am....Away we go.....first stop: The Salt Flats... And that my friends, is a lesson in spontaneity!!! Check in on the Adventures from the tour: http://whatispriyadoingnow.blogspot.com/