And once you’re there, you’re going to have to hop on a local bus, which is where the real fun starts. It's only after you've completed your first full journey that you'll realise how brilliant Bolivian buses really are. Until then, it can be rather unexpected.

Here follows then, a brief users' guide:

Firstly a few translations... "the bus leaves at 10" actually means "the bus will not leave before 10, the bus will leave as soon after 10 as it is full".

"Full" means all 27 seats are occupied, along with every available space in the aisle (each bus actually carries a supply of little wooden stools for the aisle-sitters).

1: Once the bus is full, the luggage will be loaded. The luggage travels on the roof and will be flung up there with gusto. It will then be piled as high as necessary and tied with a length of old fanbelt.

2: The driver will be hidden by a crowd of passengers who arrived too far past 10 to get a seat. On my first bus trip, I counted nine passengers between the driver and the first row of seats. This excludes the conductor and her child!

3: As the bus departs, all passengers who have taken more than one bus trip will remove their headgear and cross themselves. This can be particularly worrying to passengers on their first trip.

4: When the bus finally arrives at its destination, all passengers will again remove headgear and cross themselves. This will usually include passengers on their first trip.

5: Once the bus is moving it will interact with external forces by a complicated code of hoots from a large bullhorn mounted on top of the cab. Here are the basics:

• One hoot = we are approaching a blind corner, travelling on any given side of the road, and do not plan on stopping;
• Two hoots = we are approaching an intersection and do not plan on stopping;
• Three hoots = we are approaching two llamas mating in the middle of the road, and do not plan on stopping.

7: Lunch will be taken at a time of the driver’s choice and will involve a stop at an adobe dwelling where passengers may buy warm soft drinks and are free to join in a group squat in the bush.

8: At any given time, you may encounter a street protest blocking the road. In such an eventuality the driver will simply reverse as far as the nearest detour and take that, racing to get to the junction with your original route before the protestors.

9: At any given stop, the driver may permit a travelling salesman to come aboard. He will treat all passengers to an extended diatribe on the pros and cons of the product he is pushing. If you are very lucky you will get a man selling de-worming powder, in which case he will use props that will most likely include a glass bottle housing a tremendously large tapeworm. He will wave this about with abandon while talking at great speed on the dangers of bus travel and the likelihood of picking up gastro-intestinal parasites en route.

10: It is more than likely that you will change buses at least once on your journey. This will be despite you being assured you were on a direct bus.

11: You will change buses in a bus station where you will spend half your time watching your backpack being slung from the roof of one bus to the roof of another without touching the ground, and the other half wondering what exactly is happening on platforms 7 and 8.

12: Platforms 7 and 8 may well be hosting some bizarre fiesta involving a brass band, an energetic drummer, and a lot of inebriated people dancing in and out of an archway decorated with knives and forks. Other passengers will pay no attention to it whatsoever. It's best you do the same.

13: While at the terminal, you will be charged a tax for the pleasure of waiting there. You can argue, but you will eventually pay, and be solemnly issued a receipt.

14: Despite your fears, the bus will arrive at its promised destination, where you will peel yourself away from your fellow passengers, attempt to catch your backpack as it is sent spinning from the roof, and realise that it really is all about the journey...

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