A real Bolivian Experience!

---

Well we dutifully headed down to the bus stop in Potosi with all our bags at 6pm. And there we sat, on the pavement, with a growing number of other tourists and some locals, until eventually at 7.30pm they said the bus was not coming! It wasn´t totally clear what the problem was, but it seemed there was some sort of blockade and their bus was stuck behind it. There were a couple of other bus companies going, but they said they were going round the blockade, and that it would take 10 hours instead of the 7 or so it should have. We also couldn´t get our money back, so decided to sit tight and give it a go in the morning.

So we traipsed up the road with another couple to try our luck in a nearby hostel. Thankfully they had room, so we checked in and headed back up into to town for a few drinks.

We were back down at the bus stop for 9am the next day and they assured us that the 11am bus would leave. We had heard from someone else in our hostel that the blockade was due to finish at midday, and was all about some water contamination in the area. Well 11am came and went, and 12, and 1pm and finally they said that their bus wasn´t going, but they could get us on another company´s bus at 2.30pm. The catch was, we had to walk 5km with all our bags, as one bus would drop us at one end of the blockade and another would pick us up at the other. We had well and truly had enough of Potosi by then (especially the pavement by the bus stop) and so we jumped at the chance. It turned out that we were in fact the lucky ones, as we had a seat! Many more were standing-sitting in the aisle of the bus for the whole journey.

The blockade wasn´t quite as exciting as it might sound, it was really just 500m of lots of big stones on the road, and 50 or so people sat on the side of the road. It was hot, sunny, dry and dusty, and with all our bags, not a particularly enjoyable hike. Plus, there was a split in our group with the route and we had no idea which way to go. We went with the majority of the locals, which turned out to be a lower road, so probably sensible. We walked for nearly an hour, and eventually everyone stopped on the side of the road. Apparently there was someone at the front who was adament they knew where we needed to go, and everyone else just followed. It wasn´t too much of a surprise to find that the bus wasn´t there when we got there, but it did arrive after about 15 mins. But it was full of people, and continued on up the road to drop them off. So it turned out we´d walked much further up the road than we needed to. The main thing was it came back to pick us all up, and we were on our way!

We had beautiful scenery along the way, really dramatic rocks and canyons, and when the sun set, the clouds in the sky were fantastic colours. Then we travelled along in complete darkness for quite a way. Every now and then the driver would stop and get out and inspect the bus with a torch. It was the bumpiest ride we´ve ever been on, dirt road the whole way, and the suspension had long since gone even if the bus had ever had it the first place. They also played the oblidatory rubbish Bolivian pop music at full volume, even our ipod up loud couldn´t compete. Finally at 8pm we stopped as a small village. Quince minutos was what we were told, but it actually 45mins before we set off. Despite paying 1 boliviano (the currency here) and being absolutely desperate, I still couldn´t bring myself to use the revolting hole in the concrete they called a toilet (well actually a baño)! We did have a bowl of soup though, which was actually quite good. Then we were on our way again, finally arriving at 11pm to Uyuni.

Thankfully the hostel we had booked for the night before did have room for us, and after popping out for a hot choc we were in bed just after mid-night.

All in all, it wasn´t really a highlight, but it definately was an experience. I think it´s as close as I want to get to Bolivian protests, as we have heard tales of teargas and explosions from travellers who visited nearby Sucre and apparenty there´s no police there now, so they´ve let all the criminals out of jail! Luckily Sucre was never on our itinerary.

Today, we took a day off travelling to recover and pick a decent tour company. We´ve paid our money now, so fingers crossed we´ll be having a fantastic 3 days exploring the Salt Flats and weird rock formations, before getting to San Pedro de Attacama.

Jenny

---

Comments

[Tom Whitney]

"after popping out for a hot choc we were in bed just after mid-night" You guys are so rock and roll!