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Since I arrived in bolivia, it´s only got better and better. Being fortunate enough to come from the developed world, I really appreciate the simplicity of it all. It´s a huge contrast to our world, but for that reason it´s far more humbling and makes you appreciate how lucky we are.

Potosi

After the salt flats, potosi, the world´s highest city was my first stop. I caught my first bolivian bus there and it was quite a contrast to those I´ve experienced elsewhere in south america. Most buses I´ve been on so far make the ones at home look bad. Bolivian buses are in a different league, pleasant smells, reclining seats and toilets are already a distant memory. Thankfully I´d decided to break my route to la paz up with a couple of stops, so I only had to endure 5 hours, which in south american terms is nothing.

Most people fly through potosi, but I ended up staying four nights. After the intensity of the salt flats tour it gave us some down time to recover and explore the city. We arrived on mother´s day, there were parades in centre and everyone was walking around with huge iced cakes for their madres (mothers). Historically potosi was a very rich city due to it´s silver mines, but since the spanish invasion the level of silver has massively depleted. Today it is one of the poorer cities in bolivia, but the buildings throughout the city still give you a glimpse of its rich past.

Although not the cheapest, I´d opted to stay at Koala Den hostel, which proved to be very popular with other gringos and the breakfast and beds were great. Now that I´m back travelling solo for a while, finding hostels with a good vibe and a sociable setup make all the difference. The reviews I´d read really paid off and I bumped into loads of people there I´d met at various points along the way and they gave me loads of tips where and what to do next. As good as the lonely planet is, it is more often than not it´s out of date. You can´t beat tried and tested knowledge. It really pays to off to be chatty, hehe.

On our second day we headed down the mines with Real Deal, a new company run by ex miners. They were amazing, still so passionate and they gave me a real taste into life as a miner. Needless to say, it´s pretty unpleasant. It gave a me real appreciation for what those poor chilean miners must have felt like stuck in the mines. They are so dark, cold and hot, depending on where you are and it´s very difficult to breath with all the dust. Most miners life expectancy is only mid 40´s, nothing by modern day standards. Although I get a bit claustrophobic, it was an education I felt like I needed to have. We got to talk to the miners and find out about their lives and see them in action. If they work for the co-operatives, they get paid well for what they do, but it´s a tough job. It reminded me a little of all those factory shop floors I´d worked on to get me through uni, but with a lot better conditions. We munched on coca leaves the whole time to try and make it more bearable. At the end though we got to blow up some dynamite and had a fabulous four course bolivian meal. It was great day, I´m really glad I go to do it.

The plan was to head to sucre after our trip down the mines, but we ended up going to see a bolivian football match. It was a local derby, so it couldn´t be missed. At a cost of 20 bolivanos, just under two pounds, it was by far the cheapest football ticket I´ve ever had but unfortunately you really do get what you pay for. The football was terrible, the match finished goal less and I´m pretty convinced that most people could probably play better themselves. Bolivians are no way near as passionate as the brazilian or argentinian fans!!

Sucre

Sucre, is the constitutional capital of boliva and it´s impressive. Every place I seem to go to in Bolivia just gets better and better. It´s full of parks, white colonial buildings, bustling streets, plenty of good bars and restaurants and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. I´ve deliberately come to Bolivia sooner than I planned to try and recover from the high cost of living in Brazil and the transport costs in argentina. I really don´t want to go home early. It´s so incredibly cheap here. I´ve done tonnes of shopping to replace everything that has worn out, eaten out all the time and I´m having two hour private spanish lessons every day and I´m living on just over half my normal budget - amazing!

Sucre is a popular place to study spanish and I´m really enjoying it. I have to get up and go to school each day and I even get homework to do too. It´s nice to use my brain and it´s really helping. I´ve always wanted to learn another language and I´m going to keep it up until I become fluent. It´s not often you get to spend 4.5 months in spanish speaking countries!

I´m really enjoying being out of the UK, I´ve always wanted to live abroad. I´ve been thinking about extending my trip and living aways for a few years. The difficult part would be leaving all my friends and family behind. I´m seriously thinking about working/living in a spanish speaking country to make me fluent in español or fulfilling a life long dream and living in Australia. Until recently, I´d forgotten how much I love aussies! For some reason, now feels like the right time to do it. I´m going to explore my options, I´m sure the cost of visas will be the deciding factor.

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