Blogs from Potosi, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America

Loved, loved, loved Sucre! The white city really is beautiful with gorgeous buildings and suspiciously well kept gardens everywhere! The 5 nights we spent there flew by, arriving at the hostel at around 6.30am on Monday only to be told that reception doesn't open until 8 and there "might" be beds for us right away. Luckily we were able to crawl into bed by 9 (oh after climbing a ladder up to the loft where we were sleeping) and have a nap before going out to explore the city a bit. First job; find somewhere for Spanish lessons, yep I had 16 hours of Spanish lessons over 4 days and I think I must have improved a bit (or I at least hope) the good thing so many people are awesome at Spanish and English I ... read more

Back for some more ! After finishing our tour in Uyuni we made our way to the beautiful city of Potosi - commonly referred to as the highest city on the planet at 4070m. During our stay in Potosi we learnt a lot about how much it played in the history of Bolivia but to the whole of south america and the kingdom of Spain itself. The abundance of Silver in the nearby mountain Cerro Rico indeed shaped the city's history between confronting nearby powers and Spain itself. Later it is as the place where currencies for generations would be forged in the famous La Moneda - the visit of the building rewarded us with invaluable insight, notably that Argentina would somehow get his name from the affluence of Argento coming from the famous city Potosi ... read more

La Paz / Mount Potosi La Paz is so far amazing! We were here 2 days, and hearing about the Huanya Potasi mountain hike - one place we got information on the hike and thought 'nah, no way we can do that' then we stumbled on a place who specialised in hiking had a chat to them and then abot 1 hour later handing over our money. They make it sound so easy 'beginners can do this its fine' etc. Well. I wouldnt say it was 'fine' and i would not suggest it to anyone who hasnt hiked before! They said it was abot medium in toughness. I would also debate this class. The tour cost us $AUD 146.00 each. It included, 2 guides per 4 people, sleeping bags, sleeping in huts, all ice climbing equiptment, ... read more

Gerai išsimiegoję keiaujam į autobusų stotį, autobusas pagal Bolivijos standartus visai neblogas. 5 valandų kelionė neprailgs, nes kaip visada už lango gražūs vaizdai. Atvažiavę į Potosi keliaujam iki hostelio. Hostelyje yra viskas ko reikia: virtuvė, internetas, karštas dušas. Čia sutinkas ir kelis draugus su kuriais gyvenom Orure, tik jie jau šiandien išvažiuoja, tad ilgai kartu nepabūnam. Pasidedam daigtus ir einam pasivaikščioti po miestą. Hostelis pačiame miesto centre tad toli eiti nereikia. Susirandam ryt dienai ekskursiją į šachtas. Eidami atgal į hostelį užsukam į turgų, nusiperkam produktų vakarienei. Pasigaminam vakarienę ir likusią dienos dalį praleidžiu prie kompiuterio. Beveik savaitę laiko nerašiau dienoraščio, tiesiog nebuvo kada. Hostelyje į kainą (maždaug 20 Lt. parai) įskaičiuoti pusryčiai. Tad pavalgę visai neblog... read more

Day 322 Tuesday 28th August Lucky for us our bus wasn’t leaving till 10 so we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. Managed to get a good breakfast this morning with fresh bread rolls before packing our bags and checking out. It was a 10 minute walk to the station where we had a short wait till our bus arrived, which wasn’t as bad as we expected although it could have done with a clean since Moses travelled on it. We were on the road at 10.15 and for the next two hours we were entertained by a snake oil salesman that was flogging a powder that cured everything from sore fingers to death and everything in between including cancer and sexual impotency. The packaging it came in had Chinese writing all ... read more

...nachdem ich mich im Hostel KOALA DEN in Potosi gegen 9 Uhr abends eingecheckt habe, begutachtete ich den 12-Personen- Dormroom. Zu meiner Entspannheit teilte ich nmir den Schlafsaal mit nur 2 Personen, darunter der kommunikationsfreudige Franzose Luca. Waehrend die beiden bereits in ihren Betten lagen streifte ich in dunkler Nacht durch die engen charmanten Gassen der Altstadt von Potosi um etwas essbares zu finden. Was hier sehr typisch ist, ist eine Semmel mit "Milanesa" (Schnitzel ohne Parnier), Zwiebel, Tomaten, Sauce und Pommes (in der Semmel). Sozusagen eine Art bolivianischer Kebap. Der Aufstieg auf 4000m Seehoehe machte sich energetisch bemerkbar. Die Bewegungen sind langsamer, der Atem kuerzer und gemuetliche Gedankengaenge aufgrund des permanenten Sauerstoffmangels. Dennoch hatte ich keine Anzeichen der "Hoehenkrankheit". Die veraenderten Druckbedingungen auf dieser Hoehe... read more

Sucre and Potosi Part of us was a little bit sad to be leaving La Paz, and the other part of us was just ready to keep moving on after being in one place for so long. Sucre was a city we had heard was supposed to be a place where people get stuck for more time than they had planned because of how beautiful it is, so we were pretty pumped to see for ourselves. We had taken an overnight bus to get there, which we thought had kind of screwed us on trying to get a room so early in the morning since everyone kept telling us that they were full. Randomly, there was a guy on a street corner who asked if we needed a place to stay. It’s so typical that Nate ... read more