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Published: October 17th 2008
Bandits?
Ready for our trip down the mineDiarrhoea, Dynamite and Driving on Dirt Roads - by Kate
After surviving the death road, (which was much scarier travelling back up in a minibus) we returned to La Paz.
The following morning we were due to head to Oruro, sadly George had managed to leave the insoles of his trainers on the minibus the day before, so we had to wait for them to return from that day's cycling in order to retrieve them. After a false start, the next day we did make it on a bus bound for Oruro. The journey was meant to take about 2 hrs but unfortunately for George it was more like 3 after the obligatory break down. I say poor George because sometime in the previous days he had managed to catch a nasty bug and was not very well. The iron stomach managed to last until we got to Oruro and on checking into the nearest hotel to the bus station, which was pretty luxurious by our standards, we both realised that he really wasn't at all well. Oruro, according to the book, is home to
'one of South America's greatest folkloric traditions' 'the last hide-out of Butch Cassidy and Miner
A miner busily hammering in to the rocks the Sundance Kid' frankly it could have been Woking as all we saw was the bus station, a few tiendas for me and loads of films on our fantastic cable TV! Sorry Oruro, maybe next time.
After 2 days watching films George felt well enough to tackle the 6hr bus ride to Potosi, all was going well until again the obligatory break down, still we both made it in one piece. On arrival we decided maybe he should see a doctor as after 3 days of medication he still wasn't better. So courtesy of Cruz Roja (Red Cross) we saw a very friendly doctor, who, after explaning the symptoms in Spanish, coupled with elaborate charades diagnosed an infection and prescribed more drugs. Luckily these took effect immediately and we spent the rest of the day enjoying Potosi town and the relative warmth here in the highest town of its size in the world, 4,100m!
The next day George was well enough to do a tour of one of the mines that gave Potosi its wealth and fame. At one stage it was the most densly populated city in the world, beating Madrid and London, the heart of the
Miss Dynamite
Kate with a lit bomb Spanish empire.
Our first stop on the tour was where we got kitted out in our very stylish protective overalls complete with battery pack and helmet. Next stop was the miners market where we bought dynamite, fuses, coca leaves and fizzy drinks as gifts for the miners. The little shops that sell all the equipment the miners require are allowed to sell dynamite to children as young as 10, totally bizarre!
The mines are run in co-operative groups, normally with many men from the same family. They choose when and for how long they work for, obviously their pay depends on the quantity of minerals they extract and manage to then sell to private companies to process.
Having bought our dynamite, we visited a refinery to see how the minerals are extracted and processed before being sold to the rest of the world. The sad problem is that the industries required were never developed within Bolivia, so this country rich in natural resources has never managed to earn the money it deserves and therefore been seemingly condemned to poverty.
We made our way intrepidly into the mine, George almost crouching, first stop was the museum where we saw the
Mr Dynamite
George with a lit bomb infamous statue of the Diablo (devil) to whom the miners make offerings to the Gods of the mountains in order to protect them. Deeper into the mine we saw an older miner making holes in the rock in which to insert the dynamite, a painstaking 3 hours of banging per stick! After a series of ladders and passages we found a group of miners and gave them our gifts of fizzy pop and dynamite. Then with great relief it was time to get back to the fresh air. We had only been in the mine about 2hrs but the air was so dusty, very stiffling, no wonder so many of the miners suffer from respiritory problems!
Next it was time to blow stuff up! To quote our Scottish friend Jamie:
"what a country, you can ski, mountain bike down a very dangerous road and blow things up! Every boys dream."
After packing the explosive and each posing with the lit fuse (I was a little unsure at that point and made sure I held it with plenty of fuse left!), our assistant guide, Javier ran off so we could watch it explode from a slightly more comfortable distance. It was pretty impressive for only one stick of dynamite!
Next day we were on the move again, this
Train Graveyard
In case you'd ever wondered where trains go when they die... time to Uyuni. The bus route was very bumpy but the scenery was pretty spectacular, especially on nearing Uyuni as the sun set behind the mountains and beyond the salt flats.
We booked our three day tour the next morning to leave that day, fingers crossed we would get a good group. In excitement and intrepidation we met our guide and driver, Vico, as well as the rest of our group and our trusty steed 'Fernando' the Toyota Landcruiser. Would we make it without breaking down? We had heard and read so many stories of peoples trips being a complete disaster, what with drunk drivers and breaking down in the middle of nowhere, so it was a bit of a leap of faith, something I have had to become very used to.
Luckily the gods were smiling on us and we were joined by Gemma and Daniel from Australia, who picked up the abuse where Aaron and Dave left off! To complete the 6 were Silva and Thomas from France who proved to be great comedy value and taught us an excellent card game. (Oh yes Kelland family, I have been playing cards!)
Day 1: First stop was
Cube
Kate was at one with the cube the train graveyard, loads of rusty trains left over from the mining hay-day just abandoned in the middle of the desert, quite incredible. Vico stopped once we were on the actual salt flats and proved just how versatile he was as he directed us in creating some hilarious perspective photos using our well prepared props (we have been carrying the globe since Canada!) Next stop was the Isla del Pescado (fish island) so called because of its apparent fish shape, not its inhabitants. It is right in the middle of the flats and covered by amusingly shaped and very old cacti. We climbed to the top of the small hill for a fantastic view of this barren landscape. After a delicious lunch, prepared by, yes you guessed it, Vico (he really was earning his tip) we headed to our salt hotel right at the edge of the flats, our home for the night. It was freezing!
Day 2: We rose around 5.30am in order to freeze and watch the sun rise over the salt flats. After breakfast we were on our way again to view some incredible rock formations. As we came over the crest of a hill we
The Master
George and the cube saw an amazing lake with hundreds of flamingoes in it, how they manage to survive at that altitude is beyond me. Vico introduced us to Antonio Banderas, the resident wild (although very tame and limping) fox. Then back into the relative warmth of Fernando and past spectacular volcanoes and mountains where the mineral deposits cause a beautiful rainbow layering effect. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we reached the Arbole de Piedra (stone tree) which, much to Geroge's dismay you are no longer allowed to climb. Six years ago he was defeated by Kim and James and was determined that this would be his chance to conquer it, sadly it was not to be. We ended day two at Laguna Colorado, 4,270m where we made sure to put all our clothes on at once and celebrated Gemma's Birthday in style with some interesting wine, a very creative cake and French card game.
Day 3: The final day was another early start, this time 5am! First stop, geysers, very fiesty that early in the morning but not as smelly as George had remembered. We braved the cold and tried to warm our icy feet with the steam coming powerfully out
On Top of the World
The World's smaller than it used to be of the ground. Vico had managed to time it perfectly so we saw the sunrise over the mountains and pleasantly warm our freezing bones. Luckily the next stop was the hot springs. After a battle of wills the decision was made that we should definitely take the plunge and get in the pools (particularly as we had not washed for 3 days) The outside temperature was well below freezing so we didn't hang about in our cossies long. It was well worth it though and I finally managed to regain feeling in my toes. Getting dressed again wasn't much fun, but to the disbelief of some of the other gringos we had done it. After breakfast we went to retrieve our wet costumes and towels only to discover they had frozen! Next stop was Laguna Verde where the perfectly still green lake managed to reflect the beautiful mountains behind and truly take our breath away.
Then sadly it was time to head towards the border with Chile, past some strange 'Salvidor Dali' rocks. Once at the border we had to bid farewell to Thomas, Sliva, Vico and of course the fantastic Fernando and board a rather first-world looking bus
Lunatic
The salt flats did strange things to us across nomansland to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Accompanied by Daniel and Gemma who were heading in the same direction.
Goodbye Bolivia, a country that truly touched my heart, on towards somewhere that couldn't be more different, even the road went from dust to tarmac within meters of arriving on Chilean soil. There were roads signs, laybys and the most thorough customs search this side of Australia.
Apologies for all the photos, there were too many good ones to choose between.
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