Advertisement
Published: January 3rd 2008
Edit Blog Post
Dynamiteeeeehhhh!!
Peligro...that means dangerous to you good english folk! After the excitement of the Death Road, next stop was to head south towards Potosi. 1st port of call and to be fair the only reason for travelling to this small town was to make a visit to the mines. We get geared up in our helmets, overalls and wellies, give it a quick burst of the YMCA and then we are off! The mines have been open for years and it is the only industry in Potosi, they mine for silver, zinc and other minerals incase you were wondering. En route we stop to pick up gifts for the miners. Now these guys dont f*** about, they smoke heavily, chew coco leaves 24/7 and drink 96% alcohol which looks and tastes like bleach. Forget Stella man, on this stuff you wont just beat your wife, we are talking wrapping a spade round her head, dismembering the corpse and pouring her down the drain stuff! Oh and one small shot nearly made me spew!
The conditions in the mine are tough, the hours long and the life expectancy short. Infact we meet a fella who has been working down the mines for 30 years. Our guide tells us right in
Run for it!
As if i can be trusted to hold explosives in a mine!! front of him "he probably only has 10 years to live, which is too bad for him" now im sure this was just her imperfect english and not her being a bitch! (just as well he cant speak english!) Our second guide is a miner who is spending his day off guiding us round the mine.....the lucky bastard. He is only 18 and has been working in the mine since he was 9. 9 years old people, i couldnt even tie my shoe laces then, and yes before you say it....i know i wear alot of velcro trainers now but its not because im incapable!
The higlight of the tour was getting to use dynamite....the good old fashioned stuff like you see ACME delivering to Wile E Coyote! First we blew one up inside the mine, which went with a bang followed by a huge dust cloud, then the best bit...me and Chris hollowed out some melons we had bought stuffed them full of dynamite, lit the fuse and ran like the wind!! Next thing you know its raining watermelon.....yay!! I wanted to see if I could get a llama to swallow a stick but the guide muttered something
Fruitarians beware!
Getting ready to blow the hell out of a melon!! about animal cruelty......killjoy.
The next part of our tour was to travel to the worlds largest salt flats in Uyuni. Now as you will see from my piccies, its basically a huge lake made of salt. They actually drive out, dig up the salt, refine it and sell it. Now obviuosly being the culture vultures we are, we wernt too interested in this, we just wanted to get out there and take photos of us acting like tits! En route we stopped for a quick game of cards at a hotel made of salt and took in the views from an island in the middle of the lake that is covered in Cacti. Then we dossed about taking daft piccies...including Ben in a woolen balaclava and his small german style swimshorts, that I assure you he has worn at every opportunity out here much to everybodys disgust!
The next day we head out to a volcano called Tunupa. About six of us walk upto the viewpoint. Now im not joking with my man flu (the most serious disease known to man) I am struggling to breath the whole way up! The air is also really thin and by
Driving on the Salt Flats!
Seriously bad for your cholesterol! the time I make it to the top im coughing my guts up big time. Ive even bought some medicine since, however ive been using it for a week and my throat is still shagged, come to think of it that medicine tasted alot like watered down Fanta....now wait a minute! Anyhoo I suppose the views were almost worth dying for. We take a few piccies of flamingos on the lake and then its back to La Paz to greet 2008.
Kinda wish I hadnt bothered. We went to a hostel for a party, which was really cool as it was a rooftop party and the view meant you could look down on a lot of the city. All lit up it looked really cool, especially when we gave it the old 3...2...1...happy new year and then the fireworks went off! Awesome!! However 2008 had another little trick up its sleeve, one the would involve us goint to a club and me spewing down myself....cue a taxi for one. Lets hope this isnt the start of a beautiful relationship between me and the new year!
Happy New Year to you all!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.357s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 9; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0792s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Debs
non-member comment
shoelaces
.. I'm sorry, did you say you STILL could not tie your shoe laces at the age of 9...? :o)