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Published: April 23rd 2006
Cochabamba
Taken from our motel balcony. Nice and warm after La Paz but not much to see.Despite travelling pretty much the length (north to south) of Bolivia in the last couple of weeks, we are neglecting to do blog entries for the cities of Cochabamba and Sucre... Basically these were ok cities to spend a day or 2 but we dont have many great photos or amusing stories so we are going to spare you the mundane details of the 2 generic cities!
We left La Paz on the 14th April and headed 7hours south to Cochabamba, Bolivia´s second (or third depending on which book you read) city. Upon arrival at Coch (as well-seasoned travellers call it) we found an eerie scene of abandoned taxis and busses, which meant walking with the unnecessarily large bags to find a hotel at dusk. We later found out that it wasn´t armageddon, but of course another protest!
After 2 days of floating around the city, checking out the markets and eating in Eli´s pizza again we caught a night bus South to Sucré....... The journey was a bit of a nightmare, with at least
6 breakdowns during the night and frequent calls from the angry masses for "otra flota!" (another bus!) which were ignored by the owner of
Beard-watch
Yeah it´s about 4 weeks since the last shave. You can´t tell. The pie wasn´t too great, hence the expression. (Bit dry, could have done with more lemon etc!) the bus company who happened to be riding the bus on opposite seats to us (who we have named the worst woman in the world - see pictures).
Spent 2 days in Sucré which is somewhat more attractive than generic Coch but nonetheless with few activities we left for Potosi.
Potosi is the world´s highest city (although La Paz is the highest capital) at 4070m asl and grew on the wealth generated by mining the rich mineral deposits nearby. The city itself is small with narrow, steep and busy streets, which combined with the altitude made it difficult to navigate. The highlight of the visit to Potosi and the reason most travellers visit are the mines.
We spent our 3rd year anniversary bent double, gasping for breath and sweating like beasts working our way through 4 levels of mineral mine with our guide and 2 other travellers.
Mining work began in Potosi in the 1600´s and has continued ever since, with as much mineral remaining as has already been extracted. The mine we visited was owned by a co-operative (sp?) with miners working in teams of 4-16 and each team being paid based on the quality
3am, middle of nowhere.
This time it was the brakes. Previously we had steam in the cabin, leaking radiator and the starter was broken so every time we stopped, we had to push start the thing. We should have got off when they push started the bus in the station! and quantity of minerals (zinc, silver and copper) extracted. Some of the teams had bought a drill between them, however the majority worked by hand.
The conditions in the mines were horrific. The tunnels were extremely narrow and required stooping and crawling. The dust combined with the 40+´c heat in the mines is choking and is the reason the guidebooks claim a 10year life expectancy of a Potosi miner (although this was disputed by the guide who claimed the miners were proud and enjoyed their work).
As always we hope the photos will explain more. Sorry for the delay, we have been really busy and in areas without inet access and have another blog to do in the next few days.
Crossed border to Argentina yesterday after a monster trip of 36hours and are currently in Salta.
Lots of Love
R+C
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Dad
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On Returning to U.K.
After the photos re trainee and instructor expect a little delay on returning!!