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Published: August 6th 2007
Our bus to Potosi was an experience in itself. People were sitting in the isles, standing where-ever there was space and practically sitting on our shoulders through the whole journey. As we were late our backpacks were put in the boot of the bus as opposed to on top. The boot had obviously not been used for years as they came out covered in thick, thick dust! We arrived in Potosi at 2am in the morning. It was a squeeze but we managed to fit all five of us in a taxi with our filthy luggage. The first hostel we went to was full so we ended up staying at Hostel Felcar, which was fairly nice and we had our own room with Maja.
The next day we went out for lunch and thought we would give pizza another try. This time it arrived quicker but we were only served one slice rather than the whole pizza we were expecting. That afternoon we looked around the local markets, tried the local snacks (some of which were delicious and some not so nice) and watched a parade as it was the first day of school. In the evening we were looking
for a vegetarian restaurant but everywhere we looked were restaurants serving chicken and chips and nothing else. Hungry we gave up and settled for one that could cook up an omelette. When it arrived we were all so disappointed. Every one of our meals was stone cold, not even midly warm it was a joke. We were so tired and hungry we all just ate it any way and couldnt be bothered to complain.
The following morning we got up early to visit the mines. We had to get dressed up in miners gear, wellington boots and miners hats. Firstly we visited the miners market and bought presents for the miners. These included dynamite, drinks, cigarettes and coco leaves which they chew for the altitude and to stop their hunger whilst they are down in the mines. We were then given the opportunity to hold lit dynamite and they created a big explosion on the mountain next to us. It made an incredible sound and vibration. We then went into the mines, it was very dark and we had to be very careful to duck and mind the holes in the floor. The passages were very narrow and dust
in the air made it hard to breathe. We climbed down ladders and up rubble to meet the miners, gave them our gifts and took photgraphs. At one point we were following the group but had to stop to allow the miners to pass. We lost the group and started shouting for help, not knowing which way they had gone. Someone answered us and we thought it was our group. Following the voices we found not our group but some miners smoking weed. We eventually found our way by following some of the miners with their cart full of rubble out into the light.
On our way back from the mines we were told that the hot springs were definately worth a visit before we left that evening. There being four of us we took a taxi to get there and saw some fantastic scenery on the way. The mountains had 4 or 5 different colours in and were so beautiful. We reached the hot springs and it looked amazing. We were on top of a volcano, it was over 2 miles deep and bubbling from the heat. We looked over the mountains and it was breathe-taking. We spent
over an hour enjoying the water and not being able to get over the fact we were swimming in a volcano! Even our taxi driver couldnt resist joining us for a dip.
That eveining we found the vegetarian restaurant we had been looking for the night before and then boarded our bus to La Paz. We really liked Potosi, it is the highest city in the world and we had finally got over our altitude sickness. It has a lot of charachter and despite the meals we had a great time there, only wish we could have stayed longer!
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Joanna
non-member comment
Miners
Well who would of thought you two going into a mine! The man next to sam when she has dynamite looks a bit scared! Glad you got a good reward of using the hotsprings afterwards. Nice to see you are visisting lots of different places and you have other friends you are travelling with. Take care of yourselves and have fun. Lots of love Joanna xxx