ok so finally i can actually put a blog up on the day it happened! Cant seem to upload photos to either offexploring or facebook though so that will have to wait still :(

so we are now in Potosi, the highest city in the world at over 4100m i believe. we are used to the altitude though which is good given what we did today!

so start from yesterday on the bus from uyuni, there are so many things in uyuni which are 24 hours but which are closed all the time! including ATMs and internet cafes... such a weird little town in the middle of nowhere! i was a bit sick in the morning but better by the time we got on the bus thank god

so we got a bus from there which was much better than we expected. we thought it would be a little town bus with bench seats but it was ok. like a bit bigger than a mini bus. was ok though given some of the roads and the high mountains we drove around on the way to potosi!

we had been given advice that dont even try to walk from the bus terminal to koala{s den cos its about a half an hour up hill with our 30kg bags at 4100m... so we were like... sweet, taxi is only 8bolivianos (5 boliviano to our $1 approx) so we though taxi.. fine! but then there was a road closure due to environmental purposes apparently. we still dont know what those purposes were as there didnt seem to be anything abnormal]! we must have walked for 15-20 mins then managed a taxi thank god. would have taken us about an hour and a half we think! got to koalas den and thought we may have had a booking which seb had emailed earlier in the day after much hassle. he said that they might have had a mix up and had put us in a matrimonial bed by mistake... were like yeah whatever haha. so we set up in an awesome room with cable tv (havent seen that the whole time we have been here!) and a HEATER IN OUR ROOM! so exciting! and a hot shower which seb loved given that she hadnt had a shower in 5 days. i seem to get the luck and get the hot showers and then she will try and always have a cold one... feel a bit sorry for her haha

ummm so we set up and went to find the internet cos we hadnt been on it in 5 days or so... seb checked her email and found that the email we sent to koala den was actually undeliverable... the funny thing being we stole someone elses room at the hostel! we dont care though.. not our problem HAHAHHA

um ok so this morning we got up and got breakfast, yep bread again. they have so much bread and pizza here its insane!!

so i had decided at the last moment to go on the mine tour here. its a tour into a real working mine where the miners have really short life spans from cancer and bad conditions etc, there is no safety there whatsoever so i had originally not planned on doing it. at the last moment i decided i would have to deal with it and just jump. we had a great tour guide (in engligh!!! what a novelty!) and fromt he start he was an absolute pisser, told us we had the good group (which we did, we went with 4 English people who were great fun), we were the backpackers and they were the fudgepackers, and then nicknamed our group the llama f***ers... hahaha so funny to hear him swear with the South American accent! we donned our lovely gear including pants, jackets, helmets, gumboots, and headlights with a power supply and headed into the mine (not before stopping to buy presents for the miners we met there, including soft drink (for energy as they dont eat down there) coca leaves (helps with the altitude and hunger) and of course, for 20 bolivianos DYNAMITE!!

We went through and the first part was bad but ok, first level had dusty air but was ok. the hard part was the second and third level where we had no air (remember we are at alitiude as well as being inside a mine) and we had to literally slide to get down the levels. when you get down that far too its incredibly hot and we were sweating just being down there as there is no air down past the first level. we went down to the third level. it was SO HARD getting back up that bit too. took some photos but imagine trying to climb up a nearly horizontal rock wall, you have to duck cos the roof is so close to your head, you are wearing gumboots, and the limited air you get is full of dust and silocine, and even asbestos apparently. i also had a huge rock land on my foot which has made it swell up and stuff so that was fun!

I was so glad to be out, and still now and happy to be able to breath fresh air and not have to go down there again. It was frightening the conditions down there, they dont get holidays... ever. they work for themselves in co op arrangements which means that if they dont work they dont get paid. they cant breathe down there, and the worst part is that the youngest worker down there is 8years old. yes 8. the boys push along the trolleys, its so sad. they love it though and are proud to be doing it most of them. it is illegal to work that age of course, but like everywhere else in bolivia there is corruption and no control over things like that.

after we got out and recovered breathing in real air, and got to put together dymanite!!! we put it together and even held it before the assistants run it a 100m or so away and we watched it blow up! i took a video, pretty funny.

so now we are back, we have the arsenic, dirt and other crazy minerals off our hands (hopefully! no biting nails for me for a while!) and we are all snugg in our wikked hostel. think me and seb are gonna go find some food, some wine, and chill out tonight in our nice hostel. its nice to stop here cos we have been so busy for so long that its great to chill out and watch FOX and HBO and just have some wines and meet some more of the great travellers we have met so far.

next is sucre where we are hoping to go horse riding... fingers crossed i dont fall off!

loving it all so far and time seems to be going so quick. we have done so much and seen so much that i think it will take all my lifetime to go through and remember everything i have done... and its only been 2 weeks.

xo