This evening we stay in San Antonio de Lipéz, a tiny rural town at 4200 meters. The men in our group play volleyball with the locals while the women take photos of rosy-cheeked children.

We get to know the members of the other car, including an incredibly talkative girl named Angela. Hemmy makes an off-color joke. Loftily, Angela says, "see, I'm Canadian...we're not allowed to be racist."

Angela mentions that she is only 25, and sincerely hopes that someday, when she is 30, she will still be active enough to travel. Our over-30 foursome is nonplussed.

Also along for the ride are Monica and Brendan from New Zealand, Joel from Holland, Michael from Germany and Anna from Poland, who only speaks Spanish and is in my opinion, totally crazy.

The chilly accommodations are extremely basico, as we had been warned by the Tupiza Tours staff. Our twin beds are covered with several blankets plus the sleeping bags we'd rented...we would need every layer by nightfall. Gilles and Sonia's room is connected to ours. Our ceiling is mysteriously papered with empty rice sacks. The other group takes a 6-bed room and continues their bonding.

The solitary bathroom for our entire group is outside the rooms, with a cold-water shower that costs 5Bs. Most people opt to stay dirty a little longer...it's not like we exerted ourselves today and the icy temps keep the smells away.

Dinner disappoints after those amazing beef tamales from lunch. Seated at the table inside our room, we are subjected to the much-hated "kitchen sink" soup, plus some rather tough beef. The best part of dinner is actually instant mashed potatoes, which are loaded with butter. I maintain my faith in Mercedes' skills.

We'd already spent some time acclimatizing throughout our trip, but even just sleeping at 4200 meters is tough. I snuggle under the piles of covers, then have difficulty breathing the thin air with the additional weight. With Hemmy fighting a cold next to me, it's going to be a long first night.

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