Blogs from Potosí Department, Bolivia, South America - page 141

We are now in Bolivia, done so much since I last posted not sure where to start! From Valparaiso we went to Vicxuna the observatory capital of CHile to do some star gazing! The observatory tour we went on was great and really interesting, nearly all the stars are different here because its in a different hemisphere, but you can still see the star signs and Orion. We looked through the telescopes at some open and closed clusters and at Jupiter and Saturn (which was gret you could see the rings) and then at the surface of the moon. From Vicuna we went to La Serena, another coast resort and spent a couple more days chilling on the beach. Then we had a horrific 17hr bus journey to San Pedro in the Atacama Desert. Jamie got ... read more

Hola all Well I finally made it to Bolivia for a brief visit on my way back to Lima. I left Salta Argentina on the night bus to the Bolivia Border with a friend I met In Argentina. we got to the border town at 4 am and the border was some where not even close to the border. I managed to get dirrections from a local on how to get there. the selection of locals at this time was limited, spanish sounds even harder to understand when thee are no teeth involved. We made it to customs just before they opened and met another guy there waiting to cross. after the customs there you have to walk across a bridge into Bolivia. their Border opens at 6 am but there is an hour time difference ... read more

We eventually escaped the evil clutches of the bus strike - they were striking because they were being asked to pay 80 Bolivianos (6 GBPounds) tax a year - and headed overnight to Sucre, Bolivia's second capital. White-painted, red-roofed colonial buildings and numerous historical sights abound, but the main draw was... the Dino Truck! We were a little sceptical of this gringo-magnet, complete with pictures of dinosaurs on the side, but the guidebook told us to leave our scepticism aside - so we did just that. The truck drives (cue kids running down the street yelling "gringo!") up to a limestone quarry. Several million years ago, the area was a lake bed; after some tectonic upheav.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! and a bit of mining, a 200m high mudrock wall stands, covered in dinosaur footprints. Very impressive. The footprints prove ... read more

Am nögschte Moorge - Oschtersunntig bin ich zerscht emol e bitz durch d Stadt gschlenderet und ha versuchet, die bolivianische Kultur e bitz z beschnuppere. Mehr oder weniger zuefällig bin ich bi drbi bi dr Besichtigung vo dr Kathedrale grad in d Oschtermäss inegloffe. D Kirche isch randvoll gsi und e Band mit Gitarre und Orgele het Musik gschpiilt und Lieder gsunge. Interessant isch d Art gsi, wie d Lüt sich in dr Kirche benoh händ. Vor dr Kirche uf em Plaza isch glichzitig e Kaschperlitheater für d Kinder ufgfüehrt worde und d Musik und dr Lárm isch öbbe glich lut hörbar gsi wie d Predigt vom Pfarrer, aber das het eigentlich niemer gstört, d Türe isch die ganzi Zit offe bliibe. Es sind au andurend Lüt ihne und usegloffe, Kinder händ mitenander gschpielt oder sind ... read more

Hi guys last time i left you i had just come across the salar and was heading to potosi. (Of course most of you will know that this is being written well behind schedule and i have spent 6 weeks in the jungle with a big cat since then, however suspend your disbelief and read on. Death defying jaguar stories will follow at some point!!!) The journey to potosi must have been one of the worst bus trips of my life, having been treated to the superb buses of Argentina and the reasonable buses of patagonia and chile i was now heading for the bus graveyard that is bolivia. The 5 hour bus journey took 7 and a half due to the fact that all buses in bolivia inevitably break down. It was all above 4000m, ... read more