Advertisement
Published: January 9th 2007
Edit Blog Post
We bade fairwell to sunny san pedro on a bad note. the hostel we were staying in overcharged us and there was nout really that we could do. sure it wasn´t too much anyway. i´ve had them removed from the web sites that promote hostels, which should hit them a bit. Oh how sweet revenge is.
Anyway, we went on a 3 day trip from san pedro into bolivia over the salt plains, final destination Uyuni. What a trip. We did it in a jeep with 4 other tourists. At first we were a bit dismayed to have landed in what seemed like the "Pink" group. These two guys came over and introduced themselves and seemed really camp. Just so there was no mix ups, I deepened my voice and beat my chest repeatedly proclaiming, me Ian, this Aoileann........
Seriously though, we got a great group and we´ve actually kept travelling with them to our current location. We won´t go into too much detail about the trip, we´ll leave the pictures do the talking. Suffice it to say, every second of the journey was through what can only be described as spectacular landscape. Most of the trip was at
an altitude of over 4,000 meters which was tough to get used to. the days were roasting and the nights were well below freezing. There were some faint calls of "hold me" (for warmth) during the nights coming from room. Needless to say, I started beating my chest again to discourage this and got Aoilo to do the same for effect . Seriously though, it was so cold that we all slept in our clothes, sleeping bag and under the blankets they gave us, and nobody managed to stay warm. We stayed in a hotel made completely of salt for one of the nights which was really cool.
After 3 days we arrived in Uyuni, an outpost town on the edge of the Salt plain. Really remote place and given that it was independence wkend, the place was buzzing. We stayed for one night before pushing onto Potosi.
Bolivian infrastructure leaves alot to be desired, dirt roads over mountains. Buses go over the edge regurlarly, so its pretty much a white knuckle ride while your on the buses. We made it to Potosi a bit shook but in one piece ( there were a number of spontaneous nose
bleeds along the way due to altitude).
Potosi is a cool place. It was once the richest city in the world, due to the rich mineral deposits in the mountain overlooking the town. 300 years of spanish oppression and mining has meant that the city was left with very little and is now the poorest in the Americas. We stayed here for two nights and did a tour of the mines in the mountain.
This was one of the best and worst things we have done. Best because of what we saw and learned and worst because of what we had to go through. In a nutshell, these guys mine their patch of the mountain and sell the mineral to a co-op. they work in arsnic, aspestos, and dust ridden mine shafts deep in the mountain, that are no more than 2-3 feet high in most places. After entering the mine, the miners normally die within 10 years and normally make about 800 boliviano´s a month (about $80).
The tour started at the miners mkt, where we stocked up on dynamite, nitro glycerine (to enhance the blasts) 96% alcohol for the miners (which we tasted for breakfast,
not good), cocoa leaves (from which cocaine is made and the locals chew to numb the effects of fatigue, thirst and hunger whilst down the mine). We chewed this away before going into the mine. We didn´t get thirsty, tired or hungry whilst in the mine due to it.
The mine was mad. Crawling around deep under the mountain was a bit sketchy but seeing it was unbelievable. the miners worship el tia (a devil type god) and pray to him for safety and good mining. there are statues of him all over the place with offerings layed out before him. The tour finished with the guides leaving off the dynamite we bought. By Jesus, it was loud. Aoilo, jumped about 4 feet. I was there to catch her though.
After this we pushed on to Sucre, where we are at the minute. we are going to fly to la paz on friday as the roads are just too bad and we´d have to do it over night. Its a real european city and we´re jsut taking it handy. went and saw this dinosaur place yesterday where they uncovered a load of tracks and things. pretty cool to
see these tracks after 65 million years.
For all those that like to get a bit of mileage for their Euro, get to Bolivia. 9 of us ate out last night in a top restaurant, bucket loads of wine, starters, main courses and deserts = €54 between the lot of us inlcuding tip. We don´t think we´ll be able to get used to Ireland again.
Sin e, hope ye´re all well. We´ll post the pic´s when we get a chance.
Peace amach
Advertisement
Tot: 0.089s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0501s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb