Surviving the Death Road and Bolivia in general!!

Hey all!!

Quite a bit to catch up on!! Arrived in La Paz last week and had a full day to ourselves to go around the markets. We had breakfast in Olivers Travels, a British themed pub which served pints of tea!! I had tetleys, it tasted so good i may have to switch to drinking tea from pint glasses at home to make up for what i missed!! Went to see the famous witches market, which was very interesting!! THere were more shops spilling out onto the street as much as actual stalls ans sold a lot of souvineers as well as more traditional things. I ended up chatting to a woman down the end of the street who told me what everything was for!!

There was a variety of dead stuffed animals for various purposes in Aymaran Mysticism- armadillos to prevent burgulars entering your home, frogs for good luck with wealth, and llama foetuses for good luck if buried under a building. Then there were various idols and charms for good luck in a variety of things:-

snake=health
couple=love
frog=wealth
turtle=long life

and various other things for happiness, work, family etc.

We went out that night to Wagamamas which was a Japanese restaurant, my first. I had tempura prawns and veg- so tasty ill be trying more Japanese foods!!

The next day was death road day- we were taken for breakfast before drivinf an hour out of la paz to our starting point at 4700m. We were all kitted up in safety gear and had time to get used to the bikes, which had the strongest brakes. Adrian took the first tumble when he tried to show off and ended up head over heels flying off it!! We were so padded up though that only his pride was bruised!!

The journey was fine, we started off on the tarmac, the riskiest section due to the traffic. It was great fun whizzing down the road in convoy, passed out a few trucks!! We had to stop to pay a fee to enter the death road, and we were driven to the starting point for it to avoid cycling up a series of big hills- mores the pity!! the actual old death road was incredibly bumpy with gravel and huge stones everywhere. I braked the whole way down as you gathered pace at an incredible rate, but it only took one stone to send you off!! Mary found this out when she ended up face first in the cliff beside her, she cut her eyebrow and chin but got her confidence back when her braked were changed. It definately was not half as scary or as dangerous as I thought it would be listening to all the stories. As long as noone goes flying round blind corners at top speed they shouls be fine!! Me and Lizzie took it in turn to be last in the fast group, the slow group were miles behind. The guides went at our pace so it was cool no pressure to get out of the comfort zone!! We only met a truck and a jeep on our way down, but was no bother. There were only a few narrow areas though would have been impossible for traffic passing traffic!!

When we reached the bottom we had a few celebratory beers before getting our lunch and tshirts and back to la paz. We were tired but had to celebrate Lizzia and Adrians last night with us before we left- it was a long night!!

The next morning we left for Potosi and discovered real bolivian roads- dirt tracks!! it was roasting in the truck but couldnt leave the windows open for the dust so slept most of the journey. Didnt do much when we reached Potosi either and went to bed early. The next day we were up early to visit the mines. Potosi was made famous by the discover of Cerro Rico (rich hill) a giant silver mine in the time of the conquistadores. It funded much of Spains wealth and is still producing silver, tin and zinc. Unfortunately methods of mining and conditions havent changed much for the people who work there. We brought presents of coca leaves, cigarettes, crackers, 96% alcohol and dynamite to give to the miners we met. The first was a 12year old boy who was starting to learn the trade- by chiselling out minerals with a hammer and chisel. Very basic and awful to see someone so young working like that. Everyone we met was very sad as the pervious day one of their friends died from silicosis (from inhaling the dust and fumes), he was only 28. The miners have no safety equipment, even dustmasks and can work up to 24hours in the mines by chewinf the coca leaves and drinking the alcohol. It was really an eye opener and quite heart-wrenching, especially when the men tried to give us the minerals thay had just spent hours getting as presents.

on the upside we blew up some dynamite!!!

Then it was back on the bus to Uyuni for a long journey, and we ate pizza that night in the reataurant of a Boston man (very delicious). The next day we went to see the salt flats for the day in 4by4s. We spent ages taking the perspective shots (there is none with humusous results) and seeing all there was to see. we were back for more pizza before heading back to potosi the next day (as Jack couldnt handle the roads from uyuni to the border) very bumpy ride with no sleep but much talking and staring out the window and the beautiful if barren landscape!!

From Potosi we travelled to Tupiza on the way to the argentinian border- which was only a stopover. Had pasta instead of pizza and went out with some lads we met in our hotel.

It was a very long ride to and through the border but we made it to Argentina and Salta and are staying another full day before moving onto Chile!!


Again no idea when will be ablt to get near computer-decent connection, so no promises but hopefully more news soon!!

Orla
xx

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