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havnt really updated this for ages have i, probably going to struggle to remember anything so might not be very interesting..... sooo went to potosi from uyuni with ayelen and clara, bus journeys are quite different in bolivia to argentina and chile - instead of air conditioning and reclining seats you get squeezed in next to lots of big fat bolivian women wearing about 10 different multicoloured dresses and bowler hats, who are usually eating chicken and being quite noisy and smelly. also the roads tend to be lacking any kind of smooth surface, so you usually end up with a few bruises after several hours of bouncing. still the scenery makes up for it, probably the best ive seen anywhere in the world, really varied with loads of mountains, desert, jungle, canyons, all sorts. had quite a good chat with a surly bolivian man next to me, who livened up a bit when i gave him a cookie, then arrived in potosi, which is the highest city of its size in the world - 4070m above sea level! makes it quite hard to walk around and go up stairs, especially when you're really unfit and lugging round a massive backpack, but we eventually arrived puffing and panting at a really cheap hotel, 20Bs, love bolivia. potosi used to be one of the wealthiest cities in south america because of a huge mountain full of silver, but the spanish plundered it all and then went away. there is still an active mine here though, mainly tin and zinc i think, which is the main reason people visit the city. you can go on a tour of the mines, i was a bit reluctant to go and watch people suffering with a load of other tourists, but decided it would be worthwhile in the end and we found an agency which donated part of the tour money to improving healthcare for the miners which was good. also on the way you stop at the miners market to buy gifts for the miners, like coca leaves, water, dynamite(!), booze, cigars, etc, which they seemed genuinely grateful for, so at least felt like we were contributing in some way. was quite fun going down the mines at the start, got our hard hats and lamps on and chewed loads of coca on the way up - really helps with the altidude - and had a great time clambering around in the dark. then you see the appalling conditions these miners have to work in though and the reality of the mines starts to sink in a bit, they're down there 8-14 hours a day in medieval conditions - we saw one guy down a tiny hole who would be hammering a shaft into solid rock for 12 hours straight in 40 degree heat, loads of dust everywhere, pretty horrible. got to help with some shovelling and handle dynamite, and saw a demonstration of it exploding which was pretty cool, but otherwise was quite a harrowing experience. very interesting and i think worthwhile to see the less beautiful side of bolivia, not really something i'd like to repeat though!
otherwise had quite a relaxing time in potosi, there was some sort of festival on with a mariachi band playing which was cool, and spent quite a long time wandering round the city. the girls priorities of talking, shopping and talking about shopping tended to conflict with my priorities of finding beer and food then sitting down, but could usually find some kind of compromise! they wanted to stay another day to visit the casa de la moneda, but i wasnt that fussed and wanted to get moving so headed off to sucre on my own. absolutely awesome i got to travel with some actual south americans, and quite pleased with myself that i was able to communicate with them! hopefully will keep in touch, they invited me to go visit them in mar del plata at the end of my trip, to drink mate on the beach and go to some proper milongas (underground tango clubs) which will be awesome if i have time.
got on the bus to sucre half hour before it was due to leave and was subjected to all kinds of punishment, first of all a bolivian lady sat next to me with a rather boisterous little boy, who proceeded to slap me about the head repeatedly and wipe yoghurt on my arm, whilst chuckling to himself. luckily i knew how to deal with the situation, having known mcquillan for several years, so gave him a good tickling which soon put an end to any horseplay. then another lady got on and had an argument with the first lady who apparently was in her seat, so i ended up with the cutest little baby ever poking me for a while. then she decided to change the babys nappy right next to me, which was lovely. then some more ladies got on and argued about the seat next to me, guess they just liked the look of me, eventually all of them squeezed in at once, including the little boy who gave me a few more cheerful slaps, and i finally ended up with various smelly bolivian children asleep on my shoulders the whole way. nice.
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