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Hola Chicos y chicas,
Soy en Sucre, despues de 4 dias para realaxar. Hmmm, not sure if that's right so here's english. Hi guys and gals, am in Sucre after 4 days of rest. As I said in my last blog I felt I needed space to rest and feel the strong emotions within, a sense of needing to cry and grieve. So initially I went to Potosi rather than go on with the 3 other gals. This was hard as I really enjoyed their company, 2 of them especially I felt a close bond to. But sometimes other things take precedence. Getting to Potosi was such a trial I found myself with others again all the time in Potosi.... It really is hard to travel alone. And as most use the guide books which tell the same same stories so you also meet the same people along the way and continue to be in company.....
In Potosi there was a special event to do. I mentioned the beauty of the architecture, mid 15th century on and actually in better condition than expected. Potosi is also the highest city in the world. Given 8 of 12 people in the Jeeps were ill with altitude I continue to be grateful to feel no ill effects. You go a bit slower as running is not a good idea but then it's nice to have a slower pace of life too . I slept in a converted old convent that though unfinished was lovely. There were a NZ couple whom I spent time with, as well as fleeting meetings with 2 really friendly young English guys, a young french woman (I now know as Helene) and her current traveling companion from Algeria (who I apoloise to for forgetting her name) and a lovely french couple. I managed to get confused trying to speak 3 languages at once.... I recommend Potosi for a 2 day visit.
However the second reason for visiting is not for the faint hearted. I am glad for doing the visit, but while this left a major impression on me, it is not for the beauty of what I saw, rather the awfullness of life compared to what we are so lucky to know. Potosi mid 1500's was one of the 4 largest, most important and richest cities in the wold. The 5000m mountain on whose slopes it was built was found to have major silver (+ other rich mineral) deposits and these funded the great city. Needless to say mining here was purely manual given where it was and the era. Now you can visit the mine, not simply an uneventful trip in but a full blown visit. I say this with clarity as will be explained. Although we are 450+ years further on the actual mining conditions remain essentially the SAME as then. I am not joking. We learnt of difficult conditions in the past in history in school. Here they remain. Bar some use of electricity to pipe air into the mine, and electric mining lamps, the conditions are as so many years ago. I cannot say they are awful. This utterly demeans the trials these guys go through every day. I say the mine shafts but these aren't of even floor or height, I ducked almost to my knees to get along them at times, saw 2 guys pushing 1 ton carts full of rubble, 4 guys puling and pushing the 2 ton carts. No donkeys here, manual labour. I saw the guys hammering a chisel into stone, 2m in 2 hours to place dynamite to try to find a new seam. I saw the 13 year old boy starting his career to death. I felt the very fine dust stifle my breathing, the high altitude stifle everything, felt the heat, saw the guys doing their 10- 12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, each week incorporating a double shift, no holidays. I saw them shovel 200kg of rubble into a sack in 1 minute, then saw the guys pul these up after the other sack had returned. I scrambled on hands and knees up and down shafts to get to different levels to see all this, banging my head, scraping my knees, all the time knowing these guys barely have any water in the mine, don't eat anything (they chew coca leaves as an energy booster + something to minimize altitude effects + appetite suppresant), saw no safety gear for them, heard of toxic gasses being ever present. And then I heard of their salary- on an average month 2000 bolivianos. This is good pay, taxi drivers getting 1000. Then I remembered Uyuni. My first town in Bolivia and first chance to get Bolivianos cash. I took out about 100 pounds. This came to 1500 Bs...... I now remember from when I taught in Sudan what 3rd world means. How we are priviledged. And how little we truly know elsewhere. Then I heard of the retirement plans these guys have which encourages them to mine, as family groups, uncles, nephews, brothers, sons. Their retirement plan is simple- death. No more, no less. Aged on aveage 40- 45. Only if they have 80+ % dust in their lungs can they retire, but then to what life? Their wives and children get a pension after death, of sorts..... And the guide, himself a miner outwith the tourist season, made a very pertinent statement. He did not understand why we rich foreigners came to look at such an abysmal situation. And none of us could answer. Talking after we all agreed it was worth the trip, to know, to give a little to the welfare funds of the miners, to give gifts to the actual family groups we came upon. But as I write, I do not REALLY have an answer to this question.....
After the mine, again in high sunshine and heat we had a play with the gifts we kept (the same as we gave to the miners) A wee bit of fizzy drinks to quench the thirst from dust and heat. And the fun of watching the guides load up our own sticks of dynamite. Only a pound and 20p or 1.5 euros to you squire, available in any market stall, no age limit to buy or use....... Light these. And give them to us to hold. Fuse lit, as in a cartoon. But real. Then they took then 40m away and we watched and listened to them explode..... Really. It was so easy to buy a simple stick of dynamite for yourself and let it go off. I know what to do- I watched. Interestingly, I forgot to mention the late bus from Uyuni to Potosi also made an unscheduled pit stop..... a rear tyre literally expoded as we sped along the dirt road.... the noise was louder than dynamite- I can verify that now
After Potosi I came to Sucre with the intent of finding space and rest. Tthough I recommend it, this type of travel is tiring, packing and unpacking every few days, trying to plan where to go next, arrange accommodation and transport, see what there is to see, find places to eat etc etc. That's partly why I decided before going to noly accept a single room (no dorm chaos unless 100% necessary) and no cooking.... I also wanted to have the space to be and let my emotions out if that was right in Sucre. In the end it didn't happen. Maybe the moment was gone. I don't know. I do know I was again a lot in company as well as having my own time. I came with the NZ couple- makes a cheap taxi cheaper. I ended up in a hotel not hostel so should have missed meeting people. This didn't happen outwith the hotel.... As said, it can be hard to be alone. The first night I went to eat in a Dutch run cafe (with various traditional Dutch foods) I met Helene and her companion + an English guy I met some time ago but can't remember where... that's travelling and poor diary keeping for you... In the end I spent most of the evening chatting to Helene. It was one of those magical meetings where you felt you simply connected and got on so well, holding similar views and attitudes, and simply enjoying the connection and chat. It didn't matter there is a big age gap. These moments of magic mean so much to me as they are real and personal. When leaving the pub I met James, a young English guy I spoke to a few times in passing while on the Uyuni trip- we ended up going back in to chat (and drink) more. Again a lovely conversatin, but not the same connection. However a lovely evening, if a tad pissed.... That'll be the pisco sour....
Next day I was able to simply wander and see Sucre. It is a beautiful city architecturally. Again very old, but as it's the constitutional capital of Bolivia very well looked after. A feast for the eyes and clean. A day alone, but that was ok, though I'd have liked to meet people later. It didn't happen which is equally fine- an early bed to regain sleep. Beautiful sunny weather again too. The next day, after sleeping in I as going for breakfast when called over by a Swss guy from the mine trip. He had met a lovely Persian/ Dutch young woman so we went to eat togther. It's what travellers do.... Bernard had to go back to Spanish Classes so Sahar and I went to see the world's biggest paleanteological site. Hundreds of metres of dinosaur footprints along a cliff. They should have been wonderful, but weren't. The set up was so awful... Very expnsive, then pay extra to take photo's, then you're 200m away from the prints so can't guage the size and scale, then you have to pay to use binoculars..... And then the false sounds of dinosaurs roaring was enough to make us leave way before the end. I made a few constructive suggestions in the book.......
After coming back we spent some time together chatting and looking. Again a lovely chat, she is a lovely person, having recently qualified as a psychiatrist she decided to volunteer in a Peruvian orphanage for 4 months before travelling and being joined by her partner. It really is a beautiful place Sucre. We split for the evening meal as I managed to get diarreha the day before, and with a 1.5 hour bus trip the next day thought a quiet night best. I also wanted to try to shift the diarreha as next day we were going to the world's biggest indigenous market. A place where local people come to sell or exchange their wares called Tarabuco. And we were to be joined by Suzanne, another Dutch woman who was coming specially from La PAz to meet me and go to the market. She was ne of the special group fom the ferry. But Bolivian busses are.... and she was due in 07.00. I booked a place on the bus leaving ot 08.00, as late as possible in the hope she's make it. And she did. Just Her bus was late (of course). Apparently only 4% of Bolivian roads are paved.... This is why the busses are what the are. Bolivia is also said to be the poorest country in the world so the busses are cast offs, patched and mended as they go. The fact they are this good is amazing. Just don't expect too much. Another peculiaruty, cars imported from Japan which have had the steering wheel converted to the left (they drive on the wrong side here.... like the rest of Europe etc.....) but the dashboard and dials left as before meaning the passenger knows the speed etc He He. The market was okay. Not as great as touted. However it was really interesting to see the multitude of native dresses worn by the different tribes. It was also lovely to have another meaningful conversation with Sahar, and as a group Sahar + Suzanne and we also met Dianna from the ferry too so were a 4. The company was lovely. We lost Dianna to another bus but as 3 had a lovely evening. It was a bit surreal being in a Dutch restaurant, listening to my 2 friends speaking Dutch (oddly reassuring, I guess memories of being in The Nethelands), then a lovely local place for not so lovely local beer, all in Bolivia, S.America....
The different tribes. Bolivia the poorest country in the world. Chile has the fiendliest people I've ever met. Thse are things I've said a few times. What do I feel about Bolivia and Boliviano's? This is not easy. I have been surprised by much architectural beauty here, cleanliness of roads (not Uyuni), the fact transport does work (mainly), the extreme low cost of the place. These things I've enjoyed, along with beautiful countryside and some good food. What has also surprised has been a strong sense of not being welcome. The older idigenous women especially show sheer contempt towards tourists and simply barge you out of their way. People don't enter into conversations as in Chile or Argentina. We found out shopping from indigenous people was also partly as unpleasant as it was as maybe they have very little Spanish speaking their native Ketchuan instead. However the lack of manners in all is hard for me who tries hard (you help only to be ignored and never thanked). Sucre is also saddened in my heart by the beauty of the place also having obvious wealth, and sheer poverty. There is a constant stream of filthy and smelly indigenous children plus older men or women begging at times almost aggresively for money. You can walk past someone and say no, turn around and be asked again immediately. These people have so little or nothing, usually it seems only children as posessions used simply to beg as the adults look on expectantly. And it's always the indigenous people. Such blatant inequality is hard to stomach. I have taken to giving food to the children as I don't know where the money goes. I don't blame them, can't as I don't know their circumstances. I just feel pain for them.
And so today, Suzanne and I have wandered around and admired the architecture. Sat in parks and chatted. I've hoped the diarreha is gone as I've a 1 hour bus trip to La Pax later tonight (another Bolivia odditiy- there are 2 capitals. Sucre the constitutional and La Paz the other- also highest in the world...). Another beautiful warm short and T shirt day. Sahar went to Potosi this morning and Suzanne will follow this evening too. I do feel more relaxed after my stay which is a good thing. I am ready to go on, with so much to do and see.
I have been so very lucky to meet many special people, some named in the blog, others not. With time I hope to meet them again, but if not have them in my heart. I wonder what is to come, but am open to it all. I hope and think....
So to La Paz, a big city, not something I like. I need to plan what else I am to do. I have a few things I know, some leads to chase . More stories to tell. More to live (watch this space). I am thankful and grateful for it all.
With love
Alan xx
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