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Published: November 22nd 2011
Cochabamba
The Bolivian busesAfter 3 internet cafe´s and a lot of wasted time, we can finally type this blopg. Internet in this town is the slowest we have ever come across!
The weeks are flying past, and this past week has been jam packed! Cochabamba ended off with a market visit - which is HUGE! Row after row of stalls, selling everything from stationery to guitars to shoes... and the most you have ever seen - enough to fill shopping mall after shopping mall. Unfortunately, it was too risky to take our camera with. You guys will just have to go there yourself : )
We took the bus to Torotoro, a small town 137kms from Cochabamba (but 6 hours by bus!), where we heard dinosaur prints litter the area, and some cool caving can be found. We went on two hikes: the first to some dino prints - huge herbivores and small three toed carnivorous guys. Pretty fascinating stuff, cos you can actually see the tracks pretty clearly. We ended with beautiful views of the canyon and a waterfall at the bottom of the canyon (which entails a 360m descent down hundreds of steps).
Our 2nd hike passed some more
Cochabamba
The 2nd Jesus Christ statue (spot the difference to Rio - Marco looking a lot more like the lead actor in Castaway) dinosaur prints - this area had far more types of dinosaurs and more tracks, and then to a cave. The cave is 12kms long! It was the best caving trip ever and completely underrated! Its like the Cango Caves minus the lights, tourists, guardrails and rules. Armed with only hardhats and lights, we crawled and squeezed through tiny spaces, saw waterfalls in the caves, huge halls filled with stalagtites and stalagmites. Very very cool! Our camping plans fell flat due to park regulations, but we stayed in a nice local place for R20 pp.
We took the same bus back to Cochabamba, but this time with a few major differences: it was PACKED! So much so, that 2 guys even climbed into the baggage hold down below. Also, I had a little girl who stood/sat/lay/leaned next to me who vomited for the entire journey. She proceeded to pass each full vomit packet to us for us to throw out the window. Nice.
We had some time to kill back in Cochabamba and decided to head up to their Jesus Christ statue (by the way, heaps of cities have copied Rio´s idea of a statue on their tallest hill).
Torotoro
Checking out the huge dino tracks - a big herbivore was here! However, Cochabambans are proud of the fact that their statue is even taller than the one in Rio. It is, however, not nearly as nice. But we took the cheesy self potrait anyway.
The bus to Sucre was long and uneventful, with snaps of sleep. After dumping our bags, we headed on another bus trip to the town of Tarabuco, where the famous Sunday textile market happens. Locals in the surrounding areas manufacture good quality goods from sheep to garment to sell here. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the streets of Sucre.
The fun started the next day when we tried to go to Potosi, the highest city in the world, located at 4100m. We were 45mins away, when we hit another road block. By this time, we were quite fed up with road blocks and were proactive in finding a solution. We ended up swapping with the passengers stuck on the other side of the road block and just got the bus drivers to return to where they had come from. The plan worked smoothly and it seems that the protestors did not pick up on our plan. But the tensions are running higher,
Torotoro
View of the Canyon - on the viewing platform and there has already been one rock thrown at a bus. Today, all roads leading out of Potosi were blocked. Also, all museums, churches and shops were closed as the people marched through the streets.
Potosi has an interesting history. At Cerro Rico, the mountain nearby, the biggest silver deposit in the world was found. A huge rush ensued and the city boomed. The silver has been depleted though, and all that is really mined now is tin. The city has subsequently become a dying town. There are no rules on the mines - no engineers to dictate where to blast or how to work, each miner just blasts and digs where he wants. We took a tour of these mines today - it was hectic!! Tiny passages, all hotch potch and built any which way, people blasting at any time and anywhere. The miners drink 96% alcohol, smoke and chew coca leaves all day and work when they want. No such thing as labour laws or minimum wages or health and safety regulations. After about 2 hours, Phil left cos she could not take seeing another broken cross beam (meant to support the roof)! The road blocks and
Torotoro
View of the canyon protests are specifically about another mountain which used to belong to the Potosi district, but the president (who originates from the Oruro district), decided to give this mineral rich hill to Oruro for them to mine instead.
Highlight:
The caving and dinosaur footprints
Lowlight:
Walking around Torotoro trying to find a place to camp
What we miss most:
Phil - showers with shower curtains (here, the toilet and shower occupy the same space so you end up with a sopping wet floor and toilet seat after showering!)
Marco - home comforts
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Harold
non-member comment
Movember
Hello to the 2 U!!! What a adventure you are having! I'm loving your stories. Marco The guys in the office love the beard, I reckon you take the prize for Movember. Keep Safe