The mountain that eats men, the coldest night and our first (minor) disaster

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We are currently in the worlds driest desert... any guesses... well done to all the geographers out there who knew that it is the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. We´re about to go sandboarding this afternoon and then see (another) sunset from some sort of salt based lake/cave/mountain. We´ve done all of Bolivia since our last blog on a GAP Adventures tour (I got it for free as a sort of leaving present from STA and snuck Em on with a tidy discount 😊 ) so quite a lot to tell you about. Bolivia is supposed to be the weirdest country is South America and also the cheapest - which got me excited - and it certainly didnt disappoint on both fronts. We ate a three course lunch for 90p and saw all sorts of weird and wonderful things from the llama foetuses in La Paz (I know Ive already mentioned these) to a hotel made entirely out of salt (you have to be careful where you wee!)

18/09/11 - We met our small group of 6 the previous day, only to be told that we would actually be a massive group of 17 once we had flown into Sucre and met up with another group who had travelled into Boliva from Brazil. This news received a mix response as 17 is a hell of a big group but hopefully among 17 others there´ll be some nice people! We all had a flight to catch at midday so, accompanied by a dutch and an Australian girl, we headed to a fare in downtown La Paz. Other than me getting a picture with a life-size Aerosur plane (Bolivias finest airline) it was pretty uneventful, but a nice stroll around part of the city we hadn´t seen yet. The 6 of us then headed to the airport to catch our Aerosur flight to Sucre. Well so we thought... the flight was delayed (indefinitely) and then cancelled with a Spanish only message stating that the next flight wouldn´t be until tomorrow morning (mañana mañana hehe - it wasnt funny at the time though!). Clueless, guideless and with a group of panicking girls (accept Em of course) I took control. Twenty minutes and several choice English words to an Aerosur employee later and we were absolutely nowhere! Eventually we managed to get back in touch with the guide who had left us the night before. She took us back to cold (and now boring) La Paz where we spent the day killing time and the evening drinking cheap, sweet Bolivian red wine.

19/09/11 - Attempt two with Aerosur went much better (although still not perfectly as apparently the presidential plane was landing at 10am so every flight gate went to closed...panic!) and we finally arrived in Sucre. Apparently Sucre is Bolivia´s judicial capital city and was the official capital until fairly recently (not too sure when) until La Paz won some kind of legal battle and became the legislative capital of Bolivia - very confusing!!! Its a lovely white walled colonial city with a balmy (compared to LP) 22 degrees average temperature. For once GAP had splashed out and we stayed at the gorgeous Hotel Idependencia. The first task was to meet the rest of the group and do the highly embarrasing self-intro... where have you been, who with etc etc. We then took our first guided stroll around the city stopping at the European inspired Parque Central (complete with fake Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph), the principal market with a long fruit bar where we all had the ´every fruit on the menu´ smoothie, and finally a stroll up to the highest part of the city for a delicously thick hot chocolate. The group were great, consisting of mostly English couples and a few solo travellers. Our guide was a Chilean guy called Christian (complete with travelling dreadlocks and the most laidback attitude ever) and there was even a friend for the bizzare German girl (who we nicknamed mute for obvious reasons) that had joined us a day late in La Paz. That evening we went to Christian´s favourite bar and up a few flights of stairs to their sports bar (complete with epic big screen) to watch a film about the infamous silver mines in Potosi that we were due to visit in a couple of days time. The documentary focused on a 14 year old boy who´s father had died when he was younger, forcing him and his brother to work in the mines from the age of 10. Here comes the educational bit.... the mine is one mountain that was discovered 500 years ago by the Spanish. They named it Cierro Rico (Rich Mountain) for the high quality mineral level found within the mine including the main export at that time - silver. The mountain now consists of a vast network of tunnels, that have a number of different entrances and exits. The main export is currently zinc as it is used in computer chips, but the quality of mineral has decreased hugely as the Spanish mined it ruthlessly for the first 200-300 years even importing slaves from Africa to work 48 hours shifts. The Africans were unable to deal with the working conditions and altitiude (4,500 metres above sea level) and too many died. It therefore fell back onto the Potoseña (local people from Potosi) to work the mines, and they have been doing it for the past 450 years. The working conditions were and still often are so bad that accidents, collapsing shafts and death was/is common and the mountain is known as ´The mountain that eats men alive´. It was a pretty harrowing watch at times but depsite the obvious potential dangers (and the warnings in the lonely planet) it made the group sure that we wanted to go down into the mines and see it for ourselves - a trip that was planned for two days time.

20/09/11 - We had the day to ourselves in Sucre (well sort of - we got fed up with the pre-school style herding of people and so left the group) and had a nice wander around the pretty streets of Sucre). En-route we picked up some stawberries and delicious local Bolivian chocolate, and found the best empañadas of the trip so far from a shop that was basically called Grandma´s Empanadas. We then met up with the rest of the group at about 2pm and went to a local orphanage. I was a bit dubious of the whole orhanage thing but it turned out to be a great afternoon. The 17 of us being there meant that the nuns (yes nuns) and helpers got the afternoon off and the kids seemed to enjoy having pretty much one-one time with us lot. I ended up with the snottiest kid there who I thought was a girl, but later dicovered was a girly looking boy called Miguel. Emma was left feeding the youngster of the group who was never going to finish the massive portion of green goup they were given and ended up with most of it down his (and her) front. After feeding them all in a prison style line-up we said our good-byes (gross snot in ear moment after giving Miguel a final hug) left them with some nappies and other useful pressies and headed back to our hotel. After dinner we went to a Bolivian folk-dancing show. It was a bit touristy but I think its pretty hard to avoid that with those things and there were some local Bolivians clapping away on the front row. We even got to jump up on stage at the end and join in (and I was chosen by the best looking dancer although I admit the male to female ratio in the audience was pretty low!). Five of us (including our guide) then stayed out drinking and trying to salsa until about 2am (our latest night of the whole trip - check us out!)

21/09/11 - Felt rough after the night before so after breakfast got back into bed and had another hours´ sleep. Eventually had to drag ourselves up to get some lunch (more of grannies empañadas) before taking the bus to Potosi. Potosi is one of about 5 cities that claim to be the highest city in the world. At 4,500 metres up its probably not the highest but its definitely enough to make you breathless after walking up a small flight of stairs. We had dinner in a local restaurant and the constant questions being fired at Christian was beginning to get annoying. Apparently for some people having an organised tour makes pretty much every activity other than wiping your own arse require about 50 questions! We battled through and got an early night ready for the mining trip the following day.

22/09/11 - We started the day by heading to the miners market to each buy them a ´gift´ of coca-leaves, fizzy drinks, cigarettes, 96% alcohol and/or... dynamite. As you can imagine the last item on the list caused a bit of a stir but we were assured that they were no longer allowed to set-off dynamite in the mines while tourists were inside! Em opted for a gift of Coca leaves and fizzy pop - as she didnt think that the cigarettes were good for them!?!? We then aboded our bright yellow protective clothes, helmets, head torches and masks and headed for the entrance of a working mine shaft on the mountain that eats men - oh boy! The first tunnel was ok - relatively spacious and cool. We then took a turn-off and headed down to a slightly deeper shaft. The change in temperature was amazing - it literally went from about 16 degrees to nearer 30. As I attempted to explain earlier the mine is famous for its silver but there is now hardly anything left forcing the deeper mining with heavier machinery and more and more dynamite. When the African slaves failed and the mining went back to the locals they were obviously feeling a bit miffed and became lazy and unproductive not wanting to work for the Spanish bosses. To make the miners work harder the Spanish built statues of devils in various places throughout the mine and claimed that if the miners didnt work hard and properly these gods (or Dios in the local language) would trap them in the mines and kill them. As a very religious and superstitious race of people, the miners believed the Spanish and resumed there usual hard-work and long shifts. As the Spanish apparently pronounced the D in Dios as a T, the ´god´ of the mine was known as Tio. Still today the miners worship and love ´Tio´ and completely believe that he keeps them safe while they are mining. We therefore went to a Tio and presented it with some of our gifts. A local miner came down with us and sprinkled coca leaves onto the Tio´s shoulders, put a lit cigarette in its mouth and poured the 96% alcohol onto its legs. He then took a swig and offered it to the group. After no initial takes a few of us tried a sip and I can honestly say I was almost sick the moment it touched my stomach. During 12 or even 24 hour shifts the only breaks that the miners take is to come and sit around a Tio, make offerings and drink and smoke. Its a completely crazy existence and in no way surprising that their average life expectancy is less then 40. The stench of alcohol got too much so we moved on to a different part of the mine climbing ladders, swinging down on ropes and generally ducking, diving and weaving through the increasingly small and hot mine shafts. After we´d been down for about an hour and a half (and our mute German friend had had a total breakdown) our guide stopped us... ´if you put your head through there you can see them laying some dynamite´... erm what? ´just put your head through there and you can see them laying out the dynamite´... to say there was panic among the group is probably a slight under-statement. We were confused and scared and wanted assurances that they werent going to set off anything, as we had been promised. So the guide dissappeared and returned with the a miner literally covered from head to toe in dust. Apparently he was the boss of the mine and they couldnt care less that a bunch of tourists were 5 metres away from the 20 pieces of dynamite that they´d just set-up. They were going to detonate in 5 minutes so it was time to move! We got as far away as we could and then all stood and waited to feel the explosions. As we were chatting away suddenly the 1st explosion went off and you felt the entire mine shake. The group fell silent for a while and we listened (and felt) the next 5 or 6 explosions in silent ore. Then Em dropped her water and everyone shit themsleves (sorry - couldnt think of a better expression) and in the knowledge that we weren´t actually going to be buried alive we all relaxed and enjoyed the bizarre feeling of the next 10 or so explosions. I think the guide realised that we had pretty much had enough so we began to walk back the way we had come when we heard a cart full of rock (weighing tens of tonnes) coming towards us. These carts move pretty fast downhill and unfortunately Em was right at the back of the group with another girl. Getting the message that we needed to move faster forward Chinese whisper style through 17 people was impossible. The two miners didnt realise we were there until the last minute and although they tried to stop the cart they rammed into the back of the girls causing shrieks of pain. When they did the same thing for a second time (and now without the excuse of having not seen us) Em got pissed off and told them to f*ck off. At this point I heroically shepherded the two girls in front of me and, like a Kiwi prop forward, dropped a shoulder and braced for impact as they came roaring forward a third time. This seemed to piss them off a bit as they pretty much told me to get the hell out of the way in Spanish. Luckily (after I fluently explained that we were a large group of 17 and it was impossible for us to move) they slowed down and we eventually made it out of the mine unscathed, slightly battered, shocked and exhausted. It was completely unenjoyable in many ways but absolutely brilliant and something I will never do again! The remainder of the day was spent on bone-crunching 5 hour bus ride from Potosi to Uyuni. We arrived in time to have one of our best meals in Bolivia - a great big pizza and a delicious hot chocolate pudding. There was also time for one of my favourite ´I´m on a tour so have turned into a complete retard questions´ of the entire trip - ´Christian...what type of ham will be on my pizza...will it be slices or cubes?´.... unbelievable, and she was a doctor!

Right - Im tired of blog writing. In the time that its taken me to finish this section (I know - you still have the salt flats of Uyuni to come) we´ve had one power cut and had a less than successful sand-boarding trip - but I´ll let Em tell you about all of that. Hope everyone is ok and here comes part II...

Hola - its Em, jeeez...just read through that and corrected a few typos and now the internet owner has announced he´s closing in 5mins! This blog entry may go on for days!

23/09/11 - Our first day in the Salt Flats was without doubt the best day of the tour. First stop was the ´train cemetry´ which consisted of rusty, graffitied trains gifted from the UK and France and let to rust in the desert by Bolivia, due to the lack of a railway system. Gratitude for you! Everyone enjoyed clambering over the trains and posing for photos. We then stopped for lunch in a the small salt mining town of Colchani (cooked by our two traveling Bolivian ´chefs´/grandmas). The fun really began at Salar de Uyuni - the worlds largest salt flat which consists of 12,000 km sq of salt, formed (we think!) due the evaporation of former seas covering Bolivia and Chile. The thickness of the salt ranges from 2m up to 10m, with many water channels running under the salt, making it incredibly dangerous for tourists to drive alone (many have died). For that reason we had local drivers who knew what they were doing - phew! Essential props and cameras were removed from the jeeps and the entire group enjoyed 2 hours of perspective photography (some images look better than others!) The climate was bizarre; an incredibly strong sun combined with freezing winds. Next stop was Incahuasi Island (in the middle of the salt flats), which is basically an island full of giant cacti with fantastic views. That night we stayed in dorms in a Salt Hotel, where pretty much everything (including the beds) are made from salt - very surreal. With nothing much to do, we all sat around drinking wine and generally annoying the other guests at the ´hotel´ with loud music - dirty dancing theme track was probably the highlight!

24/09/11 - (This blog has now taken 3 days and spanned over two countries. Were in northern Argentina and Emis feeling poorly so I´m back in to finish our last few days in Bolivia, and a whistle-stop tour of Chile.)
Lots and lots of driving with various stops for photo ops was the nameof today. It was pretty hard work to be honest as most of us were feeling the affects of the previous night and our jeep was showing the first signs of a major breakdown. Comfort wise I had claimed the front seat next to our less than chirpy driver, Lucio. Em was unfortunately stuck on the massively cramped back-row with another girl (and I was in no mood to be chivalrous and offer to swap) so had things pretty bad! Highlights were definitely the the three lagoons (massive salty lakes that are the last remaining bodies of water after each wet season) which all come with giant flocks of bright pink flamingo´s! We had been promised a very very cold night before the trip started and most people had opted to hire sleeping bags. At 3GBP per bag this was crazy money and for that reason...I was out. It was a very very cold night! Despite removing no items of clothing and sleeping in three pairs of socks, gloves, scarves and a wooly hat - it was hideous. It was so cold that our (I mean Emma´s) moisture cream had completely frozen solid by the morning! ´Its all part of the experience´-no its not- just pay for somebloody heating...

25/09/11 - We were up at 4:30am and out the door of our hotel/freezer by 5am to supposedly see the sun rising over some natural geysers. After our jeep broke-down for the 3rd time it was clear that the sun-rise was out and just making it to the geysers would be a small miracle. Eventually though we did make it and although they smelt like rotten eggs, jumping through the steam was good fun and momentarily warming. This warmth was soon destroyed by Lucio who decided now was the time to drive to our next destination with all the windows down! Luckily the destination was breakfast (pancakes yessssssss) followed by a dip in a natural thermal spring. It was heavenly after two days and two nights of numb feet and hands even with the severe chill-blanes (spelling?). Unfotunately our time was cut short as we had to leave the group and head for Chile (unplanned but the best way to get to Argentina). Probably for the 1st time really we had a minor disaster... I say we - I mean Emma! She left her second bag in the jeep containing all of her shoes, a few gifts for people back home and...wait for it...all of my birthday presents. I was devestated! The rest of the day was spent getting through Chilean customs and wasting 10GBP on phone calls to our guide to try and resolve bag-gate! Not much fun but the plan is now too pick up the bag in two months time in Iguassu Falls-fingers crossed!

26/09/11 - After a lovely warm nights sleep and a lie in we went for a wander into the small but very friendly town of San Pedro de Atacama. This is actually when I started writing this ridiculously long blog entry! We left the internet cafe and headed back to the hostel for some home brewed ham, avocado, cucumber and crisp sandwiches. Then went back into town for our sandboarding and sun-set tour. Alas, our curse continued. No-one had told us that San Pedro is bizzarely one hour ahead of Bolivia. We´d missed the start of the tour but feeling determined not to let Chile turn into a total disaster we jumped in a taxi (origianlly quoted at 15GBP but got some cleaning lady to take us for a fiver!) and headed for death valley in search of a red truck and a guy called Steve. Miraculously we found both - one stuck in the sand and the over smoking some weed on the top of a massive sand-dune. The rest of the trip continued in pretty much the same vein. We got two embarrasingly slow goes down the dune, spent an hour clambering around the valley waiting for the driver who had disappeared, and then spent the next 2 hours trying to push, bounce and dig the truck out fo the sand. We finally got back to San Pedro in the dark and, a beer and another blog attempt later, we were back in bed!

27/09/11 (today) - Spent 10 hours on a bus and another hour in a supermarket queue.

I apologise for the ridiculous length of this blog and its potential repitition. Its been a battle (much like Bolivia). Hope everyone is good back home! Until next time... xxx

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