Bolivia continued

The evening in which we returned from the Death Road we spent with some friends whom we'd meet just before out pampas tour. The group grew, and we meet a group of guys who had just graduated from Durham. It was fun chatting to them about my old university town, and what had changed in the time is been gone. We also established fairly quickly that one of them is actually the cousin of one of our classmates from school! These "7 degrees of separation" type encounters are becoming more common.

The next evening, after one last day of wandering around La Paz, we jumped on a night bus bound for Sucre. All was going well, until we were only about 30km outside of the city, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, where the bus stopped, and the engine was turned off. Another British guy on the bus got out and went to see why was happening only to come back and report that there was a rally and we would be stopped until at least early afternoon. After an initial panic that he meant a protest rally, I realised with relief that it was actually a national Rally Car race blocking the route! Therefore, our plan for sightseeing in Sucre was forcefully placed on the back burner, and we spent the day sitting in the sun, watching the race. I've certainly heard of worst delays in Bolivia, where strike road blocks are not uncommon. 

It was late afternoon therefore by the time we reached Sucre, which only really left us enough time to settle into a hostel and go to dinner with some new Scottish friends from our bus. The next day, we managed to meet up with some other friends from La Paz, and together we took the "Dino Bus", an open air double decker, to the Cretaceous Park, a museum based around an enormous mined out cliff which displays some of the best dinosaur prints in the world. Other attractions include life size replicas of dinosaurs and fossils. Although it was a touristy and, to be honest, a little naff, we had a great time. 

We spent our final full day in Sucre, wandering happily about the beautiful "White City" (apparently, yearly white washing is mandatory), taking in the amazing parks, churches and the mirador which provides spectacular views. We also visited a couple of indigenous museums, which were both very interesting. One explained the ins and outs of weaving, and weaving patterns as well as local music and dance. It also had a collection of artefacts from an excavation complete with preserved clothes and a skull with a viable depression from, apparently, voluntary deformation. The second museums was based around a village whose population had been reduced to just 170 at one point in time, but recovered and now has a population over 2000. There was also a collection of ceremonial masks, some of which were terrifying! 

We left the warm weather of Sucre (which we had been so grateful for after La Paz!) for Potosí, one of the highest cities in the world at 4090 metres. The temperature difference incredible when one considers that it's only a three hour journey between the two cities. Potosí was once one of the richest cities in South America due to the Cerro Rico, or "Rich Mountain", a mountain which was once rich in silver ore. The silver has now been depleted, however the mining industry remains the most important for the city, with minerals such as zinc and copper. The biggest tourist attraction of the city therefore is a tour of the mineral refineries, miner's market and, finally, the mines themselves. It is advertised as a tour of a "non-tourist" mine, and indeed that is what it is. Tanya decided to give it a miss, however a friend we are travelling with currently persuaded me that I would never get another oppurtunity like it again, so I gave it a go. There are thousands of men working in the mines, and as we descended the narrow, low shafts, the first ones we came in contact with were those pulling and pushing a tonne of rocks up through the mine in carts on narrow tracks. As we carried on down the mine, we meet miners performing different tasks, including hauling up rocks from lower levels, and wheel-barrowing them over a cart, and even drilling holes in the wall for the dynamite explosions (I even had a go using the drill myself!). They gratefully received gifts of juice, water and coco leaves (which keeps them going on their long shifts) which we had bought in the miner's market. Overall, the experience can only be described as haunting, terrifying and extremely uncomfortable. There were certain places where the ceiling was so low we were forced to crawl on our stomachs. However for me personally, the worst of it was the dust in the air which was full of the smell of sulphur and made my throat and eyes hurt. We only stayed down there for a couple of hours, and our guide told us that the miners could work as many hours a day which they wanted up for 20 hours. I came out of the mine full of relief that I was out in the fresh air, and respect for the miners who go down there every day. 

We are now planning on heading down to Tupiza, which is listed in the guide books as reminiscent of the Wild West. We are looking into riding tour through the canyon scenery, which of course I am very excited about! After that, it is on to the salt flats in Uyuni, which is supposed to be spectacular! I hope to write another update soon after that tour. 

Lots of love, 

Emma xxx