Monday, April 30, 2007

Potosí, Bolivia - Welcome to H-E-double hockey sticks

After spending one night in Uyuni, we took a 6 hour bus to Potosí. We rather stupidly went on the cheapest bus we could get (4 USD) and we paid for it. It was terrible. Uncomfortable seats, people standing everywhere in the aisles, bad smells, boy racer at the wheel along the clifftops. You get the picture. It didn´t help matters that there was a completely bonkers German lady on board who almost got in a fight with a French couple along with everybody else. Apparently, though, it was still better than some of the other options from the stories we heard. I won´t go into those, though!



Along the way, though, we did see some wonderful sights.



Upon arrival in Potosí we booked a very cheap hotel. It wasn´t all that bad, except the ceilings were about 6 foot 8 inches. The doorways significantly lower. Just check out me (6 foot 3) and our new friend David (6 foot 5) in the hallway. Fortunately we only stayed one night.



Potosí did provide a mystical sunset for us.



Potosí itself was actually a decent city, with some nice architecture. Some of the service people were a bit grumpy (like when they didn´t like it when we sent back their bloody raw chicken!), but we blamed that on the altitude, Potosí being the highest city in the world, at just over 4,000 meters.

Potosí was once the biggest city in the Americas and bigger than London, Paris or Madrid. Potosí was where Imperial Spain gained most of its wealth, despite French, Dutch and English pirates in the Caribbean trying to prevent it getting there. The city of Potosí sits at around 4,000 meters above sea level, below the all imposing Cerro Rico ("rich mountain" in Spanish). In the Spanish language, there is a saying "to be worth a Potosí" which means to be worth a fortune. Potosí has had a very long and sad history. Best guesses say that about 8 million indigenous and black slaves died during the colonial era making Spain wealthy. If they didn´t die in the terrible conditions in the mines due to poor air or cave-ins, they would die from the mercury used in separating the silver. The hill in Potosí might possibly be the world´s biggest graveyard (that´s just my guess). Even today, the locals still risk their lives mining deep underground. Many of them don´t live past 40. In a town of just over 100,000, about 15,000 men still continue to work in the mine (mostly mining tin rather than silver nowadays). A survey of the workers showed that over 90% do it just because there is no other option (how sad). Only about 4% do it because they like it (mainly 18-24 year olds who still think the risky element is cool). And another 4% do it based on family tradition. Very few of the workers can still strike it rich in the mines, but only a limited number. However you slice it, it´s a miserable experience.

Many tourists come to Potosí to go on tours into the mine. Believe me, 2 hours underground is more than enough to convince you that this is a miserable place to work.

Here´s Karen and me with our gear on:



Before heading to the mines, you stop at the mine stores to buy presents for the workers. Since all the work inside the mines is done by co-operatives, the workers have to buy all their own equipment. Here´s our tour guide demonstrating the benefits of buying Bolivian dynamite rather than inferior Argentinean or Peruvian. We bought some dynamite and drinks for the workers inside.



The Bolivians, especially those living at high altitudes and miners in particular, are absolutely addicted to chewing coca leaves. So we bought a bag of coca leaves for them as well. We tried the coca, but it didn´t do much for us. Hmmm, buying dynamite and coca leaves, please don´t tell the American authorities on us!!!



And here´s the mighty Cerro Rico itself. It´s actually quite beautiful, despite all the heartache it has caused over 5 centuries. I reckon that this one mountain has had more influence in world history than any other mountain.



Some of the co-operatives are richer than others. This one, for example, can afford electric trains to go around in the mines. Here they are heading in.





Here´s Karen and I about to head into the underworld for 2 hours.



This semi-well off co-operative is able to afford winches to hoist their loads. The poorer groups haul 40-50 kgs on their back up and out of the mine.



Karen heading into the lower realms.



A great picture of miners on their break. The guy lounging next to me was absolutely covered in coca leaf stems and his cigarette ash covered his trousers. This is one job where you don´t have to look good.



We had to slide down some shafts to go down lower.



Here are some workers from a poorer co-operative without an electric train having to pull carts with well over a ton of weight.





We felt bad for them, so our group decided to help them shovel their dirt and rocks into baskets that were then winched up.





Finally, light at the end of the tunnel!



Afterwards, we were rewarded by being able to blow up some extra dynamite that others had bought. A complete waste of a useful resource, but still somewhat fun (although very, very loud at close distance).

Bolivia: The Good, the Bad, and the Funny



As you may have noticed earlier, Kevin had 2 sticks of dynamite quite close to his mouth. This was because we were visiting the Potosi miners and sticks of dynamite, along with some local cola and coca leaves, are the gift of choice to give these men who live dangerously. Kevin has good internal pictures of the mines, but I think it's difficult to see just how narrow, hot and clausterphobic these tunnels were. Worst of all, we seemed to inhale whole tablespoonfulls of dust! But it was seriously worth it both to see the conditions that the miners faced and to actually witness a live, working mine (explosions included). A miner here has the opportunity to beome a millionaire, but could even more easily lose his life. We were told there were funerals every week for fallen miners.

Cerro Rico, literally "Rich Hill", is where the mining occurs. This seemingly innocuous hill has caused over 8 million deaths since the Spanish began searching for silver there in the 16th century. 8 million deaths is not an exaggeration!





We were extremely relieved when we left the mines at last.



Sucre is a lovely colonial city located just 3 hrs from Potosi. It's also at a much lower altitude at (2500 meters compared to Potosi's 4,000 meters) so it was nice not to be winded for a few days. The terrain of Bolivia has reminded us both of Tibet and Nepal. The town of Sucre, set in a valley, looks a little like Kathmandu from afar.



Near Sucre there are really amazing dinosaur tracks. It's about 20 minutes away from town on an incredibly bumpy dinotruck.



But despite the kitschyness of the museum, the tracks were really good! Unfortunately, because the tracks are on very soft sediment, we couldn't get super close to them. However, if you go to Toro Toro in Bolivia, you can actually touch the tracks.





And finally, we come to the funny part of Bolivia. At our first bathroom stop in Uyuni, we came across these toilets with very specific rules for use.



Llamas, though quite cute, are not the friendliest of animals. So while we were shopping in a market, one came to the stall to make a purchase and we quickly backed off to give it space.



The driver of our 4x4 brought his entire family with him. So there were 6 of us on board plus the driver, his wife and baby! 9 people in a Toyota Landcruiser through rugged terrain is not the most comfortable conditions. Talk about a tight squeeze! But the baby was so well-behaved and also added a dose of levity to our situation.

Friday, April 27, 2007

Just because...



Our niece Alison just turned 4 on the 22nd of April. We just had to post these adorable pictures of Alison and her brother Colin. This is one of the main drawbacks to travelling (or living abroad), we miss seeing these kids grow up!

Welcome to Bolivia...and...Are we tired yet?

People have been asking us if we're sick of travelling. Well, this picture may show that we're barely hanging in there.



But, to be honest, Kevin and I are definitely not tired of travelling. In fact, we're still feeling cool and chilled out about it (so more like this picture).



We thought we'd be really tired at this stage of the journey, 6 months in, but with 2 months to go in South America (and so much still to see) we are getting slightly wistful! This has been a trip and opportunity of a lifetime and we're so glad we did it. So much we've seen has been eye-popping amazing and the experiences we've had we would not trade for anything. I'd say we get tired about 5% of the time and this is usually while getting from A to B, trying to check into a hotel after coming off a 19 hr bus ride, or being delayed on a plane. But this would happen in any travelling situation, even if we were just going on a short trip. Luckily, with so much time to play with we can be flexible so if we love a city we stay extra days, and if not, we try to recover some sleep and move on. Kevin and I are quite easy to please...we find it hard not to like most places because there is always something unique about it (even if we have a lumpy bed or no hot water). And finally, the greatest incentive about travelling has been the truly lovely people we've met, such as the people who travelled through Uyuni with us (2 British couples Ali and David, Laura and Alistair).



And with the locals, what's not to like?



But it's the unexpected moments of kindness we have gotten from local people that we like best. There are the odd one or two who may try to cheat you, but if you keep your wits about and keep a relatively open mind at the same time, you'll have a great time travelling. Another universal truth is that kids around the world are just so cute.



And the final reason I haven't gotten tired of travelling is... I've got the BEST travel companion in the world!



And now, to Bolivia. Kevin and I have taken so many pictures here that we had a hard time choosing which ones to show you. Also, we have had some of the slowest internet connections on this trip. Today, after arriving from a 13 hr bus ride from Sucre to La Paz, we've hit the internet jackpot--a fast connection.



The past 10 days have been spent travelling from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile through the Uyuni salt flats to Potosi and Sucre. Kevin has loads of pics so I've just put a few that I really like.












The rest of my Uyuni pics can be found here:
UYUNI IMAGES

Valle de la Luna, Atacama Desert

In San Pedro, we did an afternoon tour into the desert to see the Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon). Some beautiful rock formations all around. Many of the rocks were full of natural salt which you could hear contracting and expanding. You also got great views of the almost perfectly conical volcano outside town.







Here´s Karen adrift in the desert.



But the highlight was watching the sunset and seeing all of the brilliant colors changing gracefully on the desert landscape. Truly awe-inspiring.