Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Bolivian computers are ludicrously slow albeit dirt cheap which is why it´s been a while since I updated bloggy. After Sucre, we caught a bus to Potosi. There isn´t much to do there but it was really just a stop off on our way to Uyuni for a tour of the salt flats. The one full day we had there we spent visiting the mines. Potosi actually used to be the richest city in Bolivia thanks to the abundance of silver in the mines. Unfortunately now it has been almost completely exhausted and is one of the poorest places! Certainly he poorest place I´ve been to so far. Mining of other minerals still takes place though and touring the mines is a popular tourist activity. We were picked up at our hostel at 1pm (very reasonable since we had been sampling Potosi´s night life the night before) and brought to a small shack where we changed into overalls, wellies and hard hats with lights on the front. Then it was onto the Miner´s market where we were to buy gifts for the miners. Suitable gifts included soft drinks, 96% alcohol and dynamite. I bought a bottle of pop, a stick of dynamite for the miners and one for myself. Dynamite was a bargain at only E1.70! On we went to the actual mines and once I saw the entrance I started to feel slightly nervous - The entrance was low and I could see it getting lower and narrower further in! Feck it I thought. I´m here, let´s go.
I was right. Soon after entering the daylight disappeared and I found myself stooping through a dark narrow passageway deep into the mountainside. The air was filled with dust and aspestos hung from the ceiling. The high altitude didn´t help either - Potosi is the highest city in the world! After a while we arrived a museum on the first level of the mine. It was here that I finally relaxed. I got to grips with the fact that I was in a mine and would be for the next while and I just dealt with it. Luckily though as we soon continued on deeper into the mine to the 2nd and 3rd levels. At the deepest point I was crawling on all fours through holes and passageways that if they were any smaller I wouldn´t be able to fit. Finally we made it out the other side and we all gasped for sweet air. Now for the fun part. We were all allowed to blow up any dynamite we´d bought in the Miner´s market. The guide taught us how to mould the dynamite, stick the fuse in and put the whole lot in a bag of ammonium nitrate with the fuse sticking out. I was already feeling slightly nervous about holding a full stick of dynamite when the miners only use a quarter for one explosion when the guide lit a cigarette and pressed it to my fuse thus lighting it. I was like a little school girl standing there freaking out holding a lit stick of dynamite. Fortunately the fuse was 5 minutes which gave enough time to get everyone´s sticks lit and pose for a photo. Then the guides scooped up all the dynamites and ran down the hill to deposit them at various places. We waited with baited breath and a few moments later BOOM! 7 sticks of dynamite noisily polluted the air and all the crawling through the mine finally seemed worth it. It was great! Back at the hostel we were more tired than we expected and so just had dinner and went to bed.
The next morning we caught an early bus to Tupiza. Again not somewhere with much to do but was closer still to Uyuni. It was however where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise and it really did look like a town from the American Wild West. Situated close to the Atacama desert there was absolutely nothing but dust sand and scorching hot sunshine. Not a drop of water to be found! On our one full day there we took a triathlon tour which consisted of mountain biking, horse riding and jeeping. We first cycled for about an hour to a lookout place with breathtaking views of the valley and surrounding mountains. Then the jeep took us back to Tupiza with the bikes on top and then onto another place where there was a dried up river bed. Here we had lunch with the most spectacular surroundings I had ever seen. Little did I know it would get better in the next few days. After lunch we rode horses through more amazing terrain and then we got a jeep to the top of a mountain. This was the best bit as all that was left was to speed down the mountain on the bikes. The feeling was incredible and I was particularly happy since I missed Death Road in La Paz. A great day out.
The next evening we got a train to Uyuni where we would base ourselves for a 3 day tour of the salt flats. If there was little to do in Potosi or Tupiza there was less to do in Uyuni. The morning of the one full day we had there I spent on the internet being kept up to date by sky sports as to the progress of the boys in green against Wales. That evening we did the only thing worth staying in Uyuni for a night for - Minuteman Pizza. Every backpacker we had met that had come from Uyuni raved about this pizza saying it was the best in the world and all the guide books praised it. We couldn´t not try it! It was owned by an American called Chris from Massachusetts and it certainly didn´t disappoint. I´d say it was the 2nd best pizza I´ve ever had - can´t beat my Dad´s Quattro Formaggio! The next morning we began our tour. It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking it to go for the option of leavin at 5am to catch the sunrise over the salt plains. At 4.30 am when my alarm went off the idea didn´t seem so agreeable! We grumbled about the early rise in the jeep for about an hour while enjoying our left over pizza. However when we got to the spot where we would watch the sunrise and the sun began to came up I realised we had made the right decision. I had never seen anything like it. The sun came up behind some mountains and was reflected in a shallow lake that we had driven through while all around me for as far as I could see was a bright white desert of salt. Even the numerous photos I took cannot convey the sheer beauty of this sight. It has to be experienced in person.
After the sun had risen we continued through the salt plains to a hotel in the middle of nowhere. The thing about this hotel was that it was made completely of salt! Apart from the roof of course. It seemed to me like something out of Hansel and Gretel. The building, tables, chairs - everything was made of salt. We stayed there for a few hours playing football and chilling out. We then continued on to "Fish Island" so called because it apparently looks like a fish from a distance. It didn´t. Still it used to be underwater a few thousand years ago when the salt plains were actually sea before techtonic movement created the Andes and the water washed away. As such the island was made of coral and it seemed interesting to me as we climbed it that several thousand years ago there were fish swimming around it. We had lunch there consiting of lamma chops with spuds and veg. Then we moved on to the edge of the salt flats where we stopped for the day at our accommodation. Before dinner, we had a quick tour of some nearby caves which were slightly disappointing and didn´t seem worth the 10 bolivianos entrance fee. Dinner was more lamma and afterwards we cracked into the couple of crates of beer we had brought - we had heard that once you stop at your accommodation there isn´t much to do so we brought beer to pass the time. Soon about 6 local girls came in and started playing "traditional Bolivian music". This consisted of out of tune panpipes and out of rhythm bass drums. Not to mention the less than tuneful singing! Still 3 young kids urged us to get up and dance and so we danced around in a circle with the kids for a while. Our motley crew had been whittled down to 6 at this stage - us the Candians and the English - and we began playing cards. At 10.30 or so the electricity cut (we were only allowed 3 hours of electricity after sunset) and we continued playing cards by candlelight till about 1am.
The next day the tour continued with us feeling quite wrecked after a pair of early mornings and late nights. The was much jeeping but with regular stops at various volcanos and lagoons. One volcano was dormant and we could see it smoking. The lagoons were impressive with scores of flamingos grazing while being watched by wild foxes. Less impressive was the "Stone army" which to me seemed like a load of rocks in a field! Still I had to remind myself that the scenery was yet again incredible. It´s amazing how quickly you get used to being surrounded by huge volcanos, mountains and valleys. That night despite our general fatigue we stayed up late finishing our beer (no point bringing it and not using it right?) and playing cards again. Since we the next day we would leave the two English lads for good we wanted to have one final night with the 6 of us together. By the time we went to bed, the temperature had dropped drastically from scorching hot sun during the day to below freezing. I slept in all my clothes in a sleeping bag with blankets on top and still I woke up shivering. Another 4.30 am start took it´s toll and by the time we arrived at the guysers shooting jets of steam into the sky we were able for little else than a quick photo and back into the jeep. Fortunately soon after we arrived at the natural thermal springs which quickly warmed us up. We enjoyed a breakfast of cake and juice before heading to our final destination - the Chilean border.
Here we said farewell to the English lads and crossed into Chile. An hour long bus took us and the Canadians (our little group seemed to be diminishing rapidly) to the little Chilean town of San Pedro. The instant we crossed over the border we felt the effects of crossing from Souuth America´s poorest country into it´s richest. The road immediately turned from a bum shattering dirt track to a beautiful paved highway that ploughed through the desert to San Pedro. Unfortunately soon after arriving in San Pedro we felt the negative effects of being in such a rich country. Our lunch cost about 10 times as much as a night out in Bolivia would have cost us. I don´t think we´ll be living the life in Chile that we did in Bolivia or Peru! We booked into our hostel and went straight to bed for a few hours. A set of bus tickets to the seaside resort of Iquique in northern Chile for tomorrow currently reside in my wallet. We plan to relax on the beach there for a few days and maybe even cut out alcohol for a few days. Then again we are in a big wine producing country. Who knows? Watch this space!
I was right. Soon after entering the daylight disappeared and I found myself stooping through a dark narrow passageway deep into the mountainside. The air was filled with dust and aspestos hung from the ceiling. The high altitude didn´t help either - Potosi is the highest city in the world! After a while we arrived a museum on the first level of the mine. It was here that I finally relaxed. I got to grips with the fact that I was in a mine and would be for the next while and I just dealt with it. Luckily though as we soon continued on deeper into the mine to the 2nd and 3rd levels. At the deepest point I was crawling on all fours through holes and passageways that if they were any smaller I wouldn´t be able to fit. Finally we made it out the other side and we all gasped for sweet air. Now for the fun part. We were all allowed to blow up any dynamite we´d bought in the Miner´s market. The guide taught us how to mould the dynamite, stick the fuse in and put the whole lot in a bag of ammonium nitrate with the fuse sticking out. I was already feeling slightly nervous about holding a full stick of dynamite when the miners only use a quarter for one explosion when the guide lit a cigarette and pressed it to my fuse thus lighting it. I was like a little school girl standing there freaking out holding a lit stick of dynamite. Fortunately the fuse was 5 minutes which gave enough time to get everyone´s sticks lit and pose for a photo. Then the guides scooped up all the dynamites and ran down the hill to deposit them at various places. We waited with baited breath and a few moments later BOOM! 7 sticks of dynamite noisily polluted the air and all the crawling through the mine finally seemed worth it. It was great! Back at the hostel we were more tired than we expected and so just had dinner and went to bed.
The next morning we caught an early bus to Tupiza. Again not somewhere with much to do but was closer still to Uyuni. It was however where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise and it really did look like a town from the American Wild West. Situated close to the Atacama desert there was absolutely nothing but dust sand and scorching hot sunshine. Not a drop of water to be found! On our one full day there we took a triathlon tour which consisted of mountain biking, horse riding and jeeping. We first cycled for about an hour to a lookout place with breathtaking views of the valley and surrounding mountains. Then the jeep took us back to Tupiza with the bikes on top and then onto another place where there was a dried up river bed. Here we had lunch with the most spectacular surroundings I had ever seen. Little did I know it would get better in the next few days. After lunch we rode horses through more amazing terrain and then we got a jeep to the top of a mountain. This was the best bit as all that was left was to speed down the mountain on the bikes. The feeling was incredible and I was particularly happy since I missed Death Road in La Paz. A great day out.
The next evening we got a train to Uyuni where we would base ourselves for a 3 day tour of the salt flats. If there was little to do in Potosi or Tupiza there was less to do in Uyuni. The morning of the one full day we had there I spent on the internet being kept up to date by sky sports as to the progress of the boys in green against Wales. That evening we did the only thing worth staying in Uyuni for a night for - Minuteman Pizza. Every backpacker we had met that had come from Uyuni raved about this pizza saying it was the best in the world and all the guide books praised it. We couldn´t not try it! It was owned by an American called Chris from Massachusetts and it certainly didn´t disappoint. I´d say it was the 2nd best pizza I´ve ever had - can´t beat my Dad´s Quattro Formaggio! The next morning we began our tour. It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking it to go for the option of leavin at 5am to catch the sunrise over the salt plains. At 4.30 am when my alarm went off the idea didn´t seem so agreeable! We grumbled about the early rise in the jeep for about an hour while enjoying our left over pizza. However when we got to the spot where we would watch the sunrise and the sun began to came up I realised we had made the right decision. I had never seen anything like it. The sun came up behind some mountains and was reflected in a shallow lake that we had driven through while all around me for as far as I could see was a bright white desert of salt. Even the numerous photos I took cannot convey the sheer beauty of this sight. It has to be experienced in person.
After the sun had risen we continued through the salt plains to a hotel in the middle of nowhere. The thing about this hotel was that it was made completely of salt! Apart from the roof of course. It seemed to me like something out of Hansel and Gretel. The building, tables, chairs - everything was made of salt. We stayed there for a few hours playing football and chilling out. We then continued on to "Fish Island" so called because it apparently looks like a fish from a distance. It didn´t. Still it used to be underwater a few thousand years ago when the salt plains were actually sea before techtonic movement created the Andes and the water washed away. As such the island was made of coral and it seemed interesting to me as we climbed it that several thousand years ago there were fish swimming around it. We had lunch there consiting of lamma chops with spuds and veg. Then we moved on to the edge of the salt flats where we stopped for the day at our accommodation. Before dinner, we had a quick tour of some nearby caves which were slightly disappointing and didn´t seem worth the 10 bolivianos entrance fee. Dinner was more lamma and afterwards we cracked into the couple of crates of beer we had brought - we had heard that once you stop at your accommodation there isn´t much to do so we brought beer to pass the time. Soon about 6 local girls came in and started playing "traditional Bolivian music". This consisted of out of tune panpipes and out of rhythm bass drums. Not to mention the less than tuneful singing! Still 3 young kids urged us to get up and dance and so we danced around in a circle with the kids for a while. Our motley crew had been whittled down to 6 at this stage - us the Candians and the English - and we began playing cards. At 10.30 or so the electricity cut (we were only allowed 3 hours of electricity after sunset) and we continued playing cards by candlelight till about 1am.
The next day the tour continued with us feeling quite wrecked after a pair of early mornings and late nights. The was much jeeping but with regular stops at various volcanos and lagoons. One volcano was dormant and we could see it smoking. The lagoons were impressive with scores of flamingos grazing while being watched by wild foxes. Less impressive was the "Stone army" which to me seemed like a load of rocks in a field! Still I had to remind myself that the scenery was yet again incredible. It´s amazing how quickly you get used to being surrounded by huge volcanos, mountains and valleys. That night despite our general fatigue we stayed up late finishing our beer (no point bringing it and not using it right?) and playing cards again. Since we the next day we would leave the two English lads for good we wanted to have one final night with the 6 of us together. By the time we went to bed, the temperature had dropped drastically from scorching hot sun during the day to below freezing. I slept in all my clothes in a sleeping bag with blankets on top and still I woke up shivering. Another 4.30 am start took it´s toll and by the time we arrived at the guysers shooting jets of steam into the sky we were able for little else than a quick photo and back into the jeep. Fortunately soon after we arrived at the natural thermal springs which quickly warmed us up. We enjoyed a breakfast of cake and juice before heading to our final destination - the Chilean border.
Here we said farewell to the English lads and crossed into Chile. An hour long bus took us and the Canadians (our little group seemed to be diminishing rapidly) to the little Chilean town of San Pedro. The instant we crossed over the border we felt the effects of crossing from Souuth America´s poorest country into it´s richest. The road immediately turned from a bum shattering dirt track to a beautiful paved highway that ploughed through the desert to San Pedro. Unfortunately soon after arriving in San Pedro we felt the negative effects of being in such a rich country. Our lunch cost about 10 times as much as a night out in Bolivia would have cost us. I don´t think we´ll be living the life in Chile that we did in Bolivia or Peru! We booked into our hostel and went straight to bed for a few hours. A set of bus tickets to the seaside resort of Iquique in northern Chile for tomorrow currently reside in my wallet. We plan to relax on the beach there for a few days and maybe even cut out alcohol for a few days. Then again we are in a big wine producing country. Who knows? Watch this space!
# posted by Grum @ 3:22 PM 
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