Blogs from Potosi, Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 4

Tuesday 17th April - La Paz to Oruro We were somewhat fortunate to be able to get out of La Paz as we'd heard the exit roads had been blocked regularly of late by people protesting about some dodgy characters being let out of prison. Thankfully, Oruro was a transiting point for us as it was yet another dustbowl. We walked into town for a restaurant and had the pleasure of watching a young couple chew each others faces off as is so common in public in Latin America as we tucked into our dodgy lasagne. Wednesday 18th April - Oruro to Potosi Off we set on our 6 hour bus ride to Potosi which started off with the obligatory pitch by some sharkish travelling salesman in a suit which consists of him standing at the ... read more

1 mars 2012 "Potosi. Potosi. Potosiiiiiiiii" hurle une jeune bolivienne à la station de bus. "Potosiiiiiiiiiii" Comme un oiseau exotique. J´attend justement le bus pour Potosi. Je dois donc tolérer les cris du toucan. "Potosi. Potosi. Potosiiiiiii". La navette arrive enfin. Je prend place. Siège numéro 13. Encore une fois, la route est en pleine montagne et elle n´est pas asphaltée. Poussière et cactus. Je suis plutôt serré sur mon banc en vinyl. Mon voisin profite de ce trajet pour siester en étoile. Tant pis. Je vais faire de même. Zzzzz. Le bus s´arrête à flanc de montagne. Cantine improvisée. Il est midi. Je me place en ligne avec les boliviens. J´espère qu´on nous servira pas de la pizza! Mon tour arrive et je paye pour un coupon jaune. J´aurais peut-être dû me payer un coupon ... read more

The next town on the agenda in Bolivia was Potosi. It’s quite a popular place to come amongst travellers, firstly for the mining tours, and secondly because it is officially the highest town in the world at a staggering 4020 metres. For Donna and me, the mining tours were a no go from even before we left for Potosi as we had been told that the mines were tight, claustrophobic and potentially very dangerous, and with both of us suffering from a mild sense of claustrophobia, we decided this wasn’t a place for us. There were other reasons we steered clear from the mines, the main one being down to us finding it a tad unethical. These poor blokes (and sometimes young boys) have to go down these awful places on a daily basis, breathing in ... read more

This morning we went on a silver mine tour. After putting on our gear (bright yellow clothing, boots (and plastic bag around each foot), hard hat and head lamp), we went to the miners’ market to get some supplies for the miners we were to visit. We bought a ‘kit’ containing a bag of coca leaves, an alkaline stick, usually made from the ashes of quinoa plant to activate the alkaloids, a pack of cigarettes, drinks and dynamites. Each stick of dynamite was $15 Bs, consisting of nitroglycerin paste, ammonium nitrate and a fuse. We could no longer explode the dynamites but that’s probably a good thing. We also bought cheap surgical masks that are supposed to prevent inhalation of toxic stuff down in the mine but likely don’t. I think most of the miners know ... read more

2.11.2011 Potosi Bus to Potosi this morning, apparently the largest, highest city in the world at approximately 4000m. Both still struggling with the altitude!! The city is very pretty, cobbald streets, narrow streets, but everything was shut up as Bank Holiday in Bolivia. Although I still managed to go shopping in the only shop open, bought some warm socks and a wooly hat!! Its so cold in the shade. Michael had a Llama burger for tea and I tried a bit, was nice :) another thing to add to the list of wierd and wonderful food tried. 3.11.2011 Glad to have left the hotel this morning, wasnt very nice at all, was so cold and the breakfast wasn´t the best as michael will tell you, he didn´t stop going on at how they gave us a ... read more