And the rest of Bolivia

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Hola
This is our first entry from Chile, which although we have only been here for today, we already love. The small town we are in, San Pedro de Atacama is hot and so relaxed. It is also nice to be here because we roughed it a bit in Bolivia after we left luxurious Sucre. Our first stop after Sucre was Potosi, which exists mainly because in Spanish colonial times an enourmous silver deposit was discovered in the hills surrounding the town. The mines still operate but are now working as a cooperative. We took a mine tour---cool, kind of scary. Most of the miners die very young from silicosis pneumonia because of the poor working conditions. Jordan was much braver than I was---the tunnels are really cramped and it definately made me claustrophobic. Still, a really cool experience. After Potosi, we took a bus.....with TWO flat tires, yikes, to the small town of Uyuni. We stayed there one night before booking a three day tour, our first of the trip to the Salar de Uyuni, these unbelievable salt flats. The tour was totally unbelieveable, just a bunch of land cruisers taking off across the bizarre and uninhabited landscapes. We saw the salt flats, volcanos, geysers, hot springs and flamingos. Totally unexpected and really, really interesting. It is really nice to be in Chile however, because it was damn cold on our trip since we were at really high altitudes. We think we will stay here for a few nights, try some sandboarding and then head down to Santiago. Hope everyone is well!
Chloe and Jordan
ps. Nicole, we met this girl from Holland who could be your older sister. It is so strange. We took her picture to show you!

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Photos

Dynamite....no, really
One of our guides blew this up or us. Very loud

Geyser
They let us get really, really close. Is this safe???

Comments

[Karen G]

Wow, What great pictures
Hi Girls, Really enjoying the photos. Looks like you are experiencing SA life. Keep up the info, Love, K

[2nd Leg]

I can't tell you how jealous I am!!! This place looks amazing! Glad you guys are having such an amazing time! Miss you both!