3 countries in one day (almost)

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So we recovered from our jungle trek. From Arequipa we got on a bus to Potosi in Bolivia. Now as there are no direct routes to Potosi this meant a 2 day trip via the north of Chile, essentially trying to do 3 countries in one day.

We set out from Arequipa on a 7.30a.m. bus to Tacna, around 7 hours. From there we got a local bus to the Chilean border which was 15 minutes away, and from there, after clearing customs on both sides, into Arica, that whole journey around 1.5 hours. At the bus station loads of people approach you, trying to get you into a collectivo (shared taxi) to get to the border but we decided to suss things out. Asked a woman at the info spot who said the bus was more comfy and cheaper. I dunno about that lady. The bus was really really packed and hot, and we were totally amused and somewhat bemused by the fact that on the dashboard sat a typewriter, so the bus driver was then lovingly christened Agatha Cristy. The soundtrack to this trip wasn´t the usual jangly latin synthesised beat or even panpipes but a passenger who took it upon himself to stand in the aisle and preach "la palabra de dios" (the word of God) and punctuate his rantings with random hand clapping and yelling "amen" and waiting for the bus to do the same.

Finally made it to Arica (not converted) and there we enquired about buses to Oruro and were told we'd have to go back to La Paz, which was 3 hours in the wrong direction to where we wanted to end up (Potosi) So we finally got the right advice from some random guy at the bus station (always seems to be the way!) and booked ourselves for the 1.30a.m. bus from Arica, which means we had dinner in Chile, and were amazed at how nostalgic we were at seeing all things Chilean again for all of a few hours.

Fortunately we were able to fall asleep on the night bus (no preachers to be seen or heard) and also spent a few hours sleeping in the bus at the border to Bolivia as we waited for it to open. I got out of the bus at sunrise to strech my legs and was met with the most beautiful scenery - snow topped mountains and volcanos really close, the sun just glimpsing over them and creating an amazing pink glow. From there the journey was less romantic - shuffled in and out of the Chile side, back on the bus then onto the Bolivian side.

Finally we reached a little one horse town which was as close to our destination as our bus was going. We were the only 2 on the bus booked thru to Oruro, and so had to get all our stuff off the bus and wait for another passing bus to take us on. Fairplay to the driver of our bus who waited with us and hailed down the next bus for us and even gave us 20 Bolivianos for the fare as we hadn't changed any money and were also told our tickets would take us all the way to Oruro.

Made it to Oruro where we spent an hour and was easy to see why no one else on the bus had been headed there, basically a dusty town of rubbish and rubble. We got on another bus then at 1.30pm. for Potosi which was loaded up with all manner of goods by the locals (we were the only gringos on the bus) 5 hours and a lot of "I'm bored, when are we gonna get there...?¨later, we were in a cab and in our hostel. Phew.

Spent 2 full days in Potosi which was more than enough, not much to see in this city which is the highest in the world and used to be one of the richest cities in South America, boasting more inhabitants than London or Paris in its day which is hard to believe seeing the place now. There is a huge red mountain which is the centre of mining which used to be rich in silver. Now its mainly mined for minerals which are still exported. John went on a tour of the mine (I played the too posh to get dirty and crawl around enclosed spaces card). By all accounts methods and safety were pretty archaic and he had to sign a waver before he went basically saying that if he died in the mine the tour company would take no responsibilty. It sounded pretty full on, the fact that the miners work in 10 - 12 hour shifts and don´t come up for air that whole time, that they are breathing in noxious fumes and chemicals the whole time, and that on Fridays they treat themselves and get drunk of bottles of alcohol which had an alcohol percentage of 95.

And much to my dismay, thinking Potosi was once a silver rich town, I assumed that there might be some good deals on silver jewelry but alas, none, and then I thought maybe I shouldn´t be buying something which is mined in such terrible conditions anyway.

So from here, next stop is Uyuni, gateway to the desert....

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Comments

[clair]

empathy
i completely understand what u mean by the bolivian approach to organisation and efficiency and buses. i understand is all i have to say!!!!!! salt tour is fantastic , just did it