Chow Bolivia...Hola Argentina

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I spent my first day in Potosi organizing a mine tour for the following day and also a tour of Salar del Uyuni (Salt Flats). Once I was all organized I had a look around what was once a booming silver mining town, which since losing its well has still maintained a quaint appeal to it. I met Jana, from the Czech Republic at my hostel and we got dinner, organizing to meet up in Uyuni and possibly do the same tour of the salt flats together, before calling it a pretty early night.The following morning I was up and ready to go down into the mines to see what the conditions of a Bolivian mine is like. Since all of the silver was mined out of the mountain, the mines in Potosi mainly produce zinc, and other minerals. There was a group of about 12 of us, and we all got dressed in our gear (jacket, pants, helmet, headlamp and boots) and headed for the miners markets to buy presents for the miners. These presents included dynamite, detonators, fuses, coca leaves, juice, gloves and the alcohol the miners drink (it is 96% alcohol),our guide gave us all a little of the alcohol to try and I'm pretty sure it was just metho. Once we had all of our presents it was off the mine, and as soon as we arrived it was obvious that it was going to be an experience like nothing else. The opening we were to enter into the mine through had cables and pipes hanging down through it, and we saw two miners manually pushing out a cart of the minerals on make shift wooden tracks. Upon enter the mine we walked along the track the carts took which was quite narrow and in several places we were unable to stand upright, having to also dodge the pipes running through there. We eventually reached a tight hole that we were to climb up, which we all made it through, but it was definitely a tight squeeze. Our guide took us through more tight tunnels until we came to a group of miners who were drilling, but had a break down when we showed up. Next our guide took us to a point and sat us all down and showed us how to make a Molotov Cocktail "Potosi Style" he found an empty beer can (all of the miners drink on the job) and in it he put half a stick of dynamite, and in the dynamite he put the detonator connected to the fuse and then filled the remainder of the can with nitros, "so to make big bang". He the went around the corner from where we were sitting and put the Potosi Molotov Cocktail in a hole in the wall of the mine and we all sat and waited, when he returned he told us to cover our ears, and then there was a "big bang" and the walls of the mine shook around us as the "cocktail" exploded. We then shifted to another point in the mine where we again set of a slightly bigger explosion, and again the walls shook and we were surrounded by dust. After surviving the explosions we went and met a group of miners and gave them some presents, before our guide went around our group telling the miners who the single girls were (apparently the miners like when girls visit the mines). We then checked out a couple more of the different mining groups worksites, and after a few hours down the mine we finally returned to the outside world and the fresh air which was very welcome. This is certainly not something for claustrophobics to do.After returning to town I had lunch with a few people I did the tour with before heading to the bus station to catch my bus for Uyuni. I arrived in Uyuni late after a 5.5 hour bus ride and went to bed so to be refreshed for the 3 day tour of the salt flats beginning the next day.I was up and having breakfast when Jana found me, and told me she had been able to get into the same tour as me which was good. After breakfast we headed to the office of Dali Expeditions and waited to begin our 3 adventure,we were joined by a lovely Austrian couple, Barbara and Diete, a Spaniard, Jordy and a Brazilian, Louis. We set off to our first destination, the train cemetery where we saw many of the old trains that used to art silver and minerals from Bolivia to Chile. From there we continued on to Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) which are the largest in the world at 12,000 square kilometers, we were surrounded by white, quite surreal. We then continued to Isla Pescado (Fish Island) which was once under the ocean and therefore was covered in old coral, but also huge cacti, it have the impression of a sort of oasis in the middle of a white desert, quite something. After exploring fish island our group took some funny photos on the white back ground before continuing to out accommodation for the night (built out of salt) in the village of San Juan. Our group filled in time teaching other card games and having a bit of a laugh, having dinner and then having to go to bed as they on have the power on for about 3 hours of a night time. The following morning we were up just before sunrise, had breakfast, and on the road again. We drove, surrounded by snow capped mountains, stopping along the way at some beautiful high plain lagoons, some of which were spotted pink with flamingoes. We also stopped at the Dali Desert where we saw some rock formations that are believed to have come from lava flows and shaped by the wind. Our final destination for the day was Laguna Colorado, a lagoon that is red due to the minerals that are found in the area. We all went for the "quick 10 minute walk" up the the lookout point, which unreality was a little further, but a nice walk in shocking conditions. While waiting for dinner, it was again some cards, this time playing for cash (buy in was 50 centavos - less than 10 cents Australian). After dinner it was again more cards until it was bed time, which I was very nervous about considering it was expected to get to about -15 to -20 degrees. I was able to take extra blankets off a spare bed, wearing about 4 or 5 layers of clothes, meaning I was warm enough to get some sleep.When we got up on our last morning at the glorious time of 5am it was FREEZING, so I got in the car in all of my layers and my sleeping bag. We made our way to the crater of a volcano for sunrise which was actually quite a spectacular place to be for that time of day, surrounded by steam coming out of the volcano and bubbling magma, it was a completely different way to start the day. From the volcano we travelled to natural thermal baths on a lagoon, might I add that as we were stripping down to our swimmers the outside temperature was a toasty -2 degrees. The temperature in the baths was 35 degrees, so very very nice in comparison to the outside temperature...however as you can imagine getting out was no pleasant experience, I don't think I have ever gotten dressed as quickly as I did this morning! After warming up we had breakfast, and then it was back on the road to drop Jordy and Louis off at the Chilean border. The rest of us then continued back towards Uyuni stopping off in the most picturesque village that had snow capped mountains for a backdrop, a stream running through, having our lunch here. We then continued, stopping of at some more unusual rock formations, then eventually made it back to Uyuni at 5:45pm. Jana and I had booked ourselves bus tickets for the same night at 8pm for the border town of Villazon and upon arriving at the bus station found out that Dieter and Barbara were also on the same bus. The bus ride was an interesting one, for the most part I was certain that the windows were going to fall out and about 95% of the trip was on dirt roads, but somehow I managed to get some sleep. We arrived at Villazon at 5:30am and were advised to wait in the bus station until sun up as it was too dangerous to walk to the order in the dark, which we did. Finally we were able to cross the border into Argentina, where after swapping and borrowing money we all got onto a bus bound for Salta where I plan to spend a few days. It was a relief to finally be off the bus at 4pm after a huge amount of travel time and I look forward to seeing what the outdoors around Salta has to offer...first impression....beautiful city, let's hope first impressions last 😊

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