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The journey from Uyuni to Potosi was unforgettable, but not for the right reasons! The windy mountainous roads were glorified dirt tracks so made for a very bumpy ride and despite asking him not to, the driver insisted on playing terrible Spanish music throughout the bus. Luckily we were sat at the front so had some decent leg room - essential for the 6 hour journey. Also the scenery was pretty spectacular too. We arrived at Hotel Jerusalem around 6pm and decided to have an early night as neither of us was feeling our best. It took a long time to get to sleep - haunted by rumours of bed bugs from a previous GAP group! However we woke up free from bites and ready to explore the highest city in the world at 4070m!
Potosi
Sunday was a free day so a few of us chose to visit Casa La Moneda (the coin museum which was once a factory), one of the few attractions in Potosi that was open. We paid for a guided tour in English which lasted 11/4 hours, but felt very rushed - our guide conscious of finishing well before the museum closed at
midday. On the tour we got to see many old coins dating back to the 16th century made of 95%!s(MISSING)ilver and various machinery used to make the coins. Our guide was repeatedly asked about conditions of the different jobs within the factory, but she conveniently had no knowledge of it nor records! The factory stopped making coins in 1951 and today coins are made in Canada and Spain and notes in France which is apparently cheaper than making them in Bolivia.
The rest of the day was spent searching for a restaurant that was open for lunch and dinner - it felt like the city had completely shut down as it was a Sunday. The high altitude made us feel very breathless at times, but there were plenty of plazas to take a rest in.
Silver Mine
Potosi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its silver mines and on Monday we had the opportunity to visit a working silver mine. About half of the group including myself decided to go to the mines inside the Cerro Rico Mountain which stands proud above the city. Poor Mike was not well enough to go,
Don´t try this at home folks!
No detonator so no risk, I just look brave!but I promised to take plenty of photos.
Our tour guide spoke excellent English and came from a family of miners so was extremely knowledgeable about the workings of the mines. The first stop on our tour was at the Miner’s Street Market where we could buy gifts for the miners. The gift packs contained 3 packets of biscuits, coca leaves plus a catalyst (banana or charcoal), a stick of dynamite, fuse, ammonium nitrate (catalyst for the dynamite) and sometimes 96% alcohol. Our guide told us that the miners drink alcohol on Fridays and sprinkle some on the floor as a gift to El Tio (the uncle), lord of the underworld in the hope that he will spare their lives.
We were informed that silver, lead, tin and zinc are mined. Each miner works for a cooperative and it is literally luck of the draw which area of the mine he gets and thus how rich it is. In many cases lack of education prevents the miner getting a fair price on his ore which he sells to a smelter via the cooperative. Conditions in the mine are harsh and the temperature inside poorly ventilated tunnels can range
from 0-45oC across the 5 levels. Miners are exposed to many noxious chemicals including asbestos. The average fatality rate is 3 per month! Apparently a miner had died of carbon monoxide poisoning just 2 days before our visit.
Before entering the mine we had to put on over trousers and top, Wellington boots, a hard hat and head torch. We all bought a dust mask for the equivalent of 10p. One by one we followed our guide down one particular shaft of the mine, climbing down a narrow ladder and scrambling over slippery rocks below. Parts of the tunnel were quite low and we had to stoop, but it was generally wide enough to allow another person to pass by. The section of mine we explored was used to move carts containing minerals and therefore was flat and fairly easy to walk along.
Level 2 was as deep as we went inside the mine and enabled us to see a few miners at work digging minerals and loading them into a metal drum which was hoisted to the surface. It looked like back breaking work for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week for which the miners
were paid peanuts.
During our journey, our guide handed out our gifts to the miners who were very grateful. We learned that they have to pay for all their equipment including wooden joists to hold up the walls of the mine out of their meagre wages! We also learned that there are 100s of statues inside the mine representing El Tio and we came across one such statue. There were empty bottles of alcohol littered around it representing previous offerings. We all held his penis and made a wish whilst posing for the camera!
Our exploration ended after an hour and then came the fun bit - lighting a stick of dynamite. We drove to a secluded spot on the mountain and our guide prepared the dynamite attaching the fuse, detonator and bag of ammonium nitrate. The brave male members of our group then had their photo taken holding the smouldering explosive in their mouths! It took 3 minutes to burn down the length of the fuse and in this time our guide casually walked off to find a quiet spot to place it, shouting warnings as she went. We all then watched with nervous tension until we
The White City
Our favourite place to date. heard a big bang and saw a large plume of smoke. I screamed in shock when it went off for it was much louder then I had anticipated!
Sucre
At 3pm a private bus took us to Sucre, Bolivia’s capital city. This time the road was paved, but the journey still bumpy. It was just after 6pm when we arrived in ´The White City´ at Independencia Hotel, our most luxurious accommodation so far akin to a 5* hotel. We both thought that the city was extremely pretty, the buildings and parks were well maintained and everywhere was very clean. In fact the city was undergoing a ´spring clean´ in time for the 200 year celebrations of the beginning of liberation on 25th May.
City Tour
In the afternoon of our first full day in the capital, we went on a city tour led by a local guide. Noel, our guide began by showing us around the main square and pointed out the important landmarks - Catedral Metropolitana and Casa de la Libertad (where the declaration of independence was signed in 1825). Next we drove by bus to Mirador a paved square south of
the city which offered great views. Noel pointed out his second home, bought for the equivalent of $3000 US, perhaps we should look at houses here!
Our private bus then took us to view Castillo de la Glorieta, 7km south on the road to Potosi. This castle (the only one in Bolivia) was built between 1893-1897 and was home to Prince Francisco Argandoña and Princess Clotilde Uriosete. The castle was used as a military base from the 1950s up until recently. Today it is being restored to its former glory.
On the opposite side of the river we saw a military training camp. Noel told us that it is compulsory for all men to do one year’s service, but it is optional for women. Men can buy their way out of service with $100 US so it tends to be the poor who serve!
We then drove back into town and headed to Parque Simon Bolivar named after the country’s liberator. This beautifully manicured park contained a miniature Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees. The prince constructed these icons for the princess to stop her returning to Paris each year because his missed her too much!
An
indigenous art museum completed our tour. Noel’s passion for textiles shone through as he showed us around . We saw an extensive collection of traditional textiles from 7 communities located throughout Sucre. We also watched indigenous artists demonstrating the weaving process.
Bolivian Folklore Show
That evening we went as a group to a Bolivian Folklore Show which included a sit down 3 course meal. The show consisted of 2 one hour acts full of traditional dances from each region of Bolivia. It was a very colourful show and all the dancers were very energetic, but the male dancers displayed the most enthusiasm and passion.
The Markets
We visited the Central Market and the Black Market on Wednesday and Thursday. Central market was full of silver jewellery and alpaca woollen goods and was the perfect place to find a bargain. The Black Market attracted mainly locals and contained a lot of cheap western clothing. The Black Market was certainly the larger of the 2 markets and was a like a rabbit warren inside. There seemed to be a fascination with red headed mannequins, they were everywhere you looked.
We also visited Casa de la
Libertad where the declaration of independence was signed on 6th August 1925. Unfortunately all the exhibits were written in Spanish.
Second Night Bus
On Thursday evening we departed Sucre and caught a 12 hour overnight bus to the city of Cochabamba. The windy roads were unpaved which made sleeping a challenge. Around midnight we broke down, something was clearly wrong with one of the wheels. Our driver and helpers proceeded to bang the wheel for around 1.5 hours to fix the problem by the light of a full moon. We stopped on a deserted road which was very eerie for we could hear the distant growls of dogs, a strange tweeting noise of a bird plus the silhouette of a lone donkey a few yards away. We were relieved when the problem was fixed and we resumed our journey!
Cochabamba
We arrived in the large city of Cochabamba around 8am in need of a proper sleep! Cochabamba seemed run down, chaotic and not a place for gringos (foreigners). At our hotel, Christian informed us that there was not much to do here other than visit a statue of Christ and it was primarily used
as a stopover on route to La Paz.
That afternoon a handful of us caught a cable car up to the white statue of Christ which sits on a hill looking down on the city. It is said to be 5cm higher than that in Rio de Janeiro. The statue was certainly impressive and it was possible to walk around the base and enjoy 360 degree views.
After dinner we went bowling - the only other activity worth doing in Cochabamba. We had just one game, but that was enough for me to beat Mike despite him giving me tips to improve my technique!
La Paz
Saturday was spent sat on a bus for the most part to reach La Paz, Bolivia’s commercial/financial/industrial capital city. La Paz is 3600m above sea level and considered to be the highest capital city in the world. The city lies at the base of a canyon 5km wide and it appeared that every square inch of the valley was built upon. The traffic was horrendous as we drove to our hotel, you did not stand a chance as a pedestrian!
We had 2 full days here to ourselves
Happy Chappy at the Witches Market
To think we asked permission to take a photo too! to look around the abundance of markets, cathedrals and visit the Coca Museum. As well as a market for gringos selling the usual range of woolly items, there was a Black Market and a Witches Market. Much compulsory bartering was done in the ´gringo market´ by most of the group in search of the ´perfect present´. The Black Market sold the usual western clothes and stunk of a toilet so we did not spend too long there. The small Witches Market sold an assortment of natural remedies and some very strange items which raised a few eyebrows including crystallized frogs, dead mice and llama foetuses (the llama is sacred).
Throughout the city we saw many women in traditional dress which consisted of a large pleated skirt (often brightly coloured), a shawl, a bowler hat, long plaits, woolly tights with sandals. We could not resist a few sneaky photos.
Coca Museum
The Coca Museum was a ´must´ for most of us to learn about the benefits of coca for altitude sickness. The written exhibits were in Spanish, but a written English guide was available. The small museum was neatly laid out and detailed the history, uses and
Looking down on Sucre
From here not so white! importance of coca leaves to the indigenous population. Apparently the use of coca leaves dates back to 2500BC where traces were found in mummies from Northern Peru. We discovered that the leaves are pretty nutritious containing similar amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fibre as the equivalent portion of fruit. Now for the science bit... Coca apparently dilates the bronchioles and aids glucose utilization to help overcome altitude sickness and the tiredness associated with it. Our time in La Paz was not just about shopping it was educational too.
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