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Hello again…it´s time for another blog update…
We left the fine food and wine of Mendoza and headed north to Salta in Argentina.Another long bus ride of 16-17 hours.Found a hostel which turned out to be pretty manky, the room smelled gross, we had chain-smoking fellow guests who were very noisy and Mark constantly reminding me of why had I picked such a crap place and he was sure he was going to get bed bugs.
Anyhow, we got a day tour to see the famed seven colours hills - it was ok.We saw lots of little rural towns which were a stark contrast to all the modern cities and towns we had been in and there were a lot more indigenous people.
It was then time to say goodbye to Argentina and hello to Bolivia….another overnight bus to the border.For whatever reason we decided it wasn´t necessary to get some more Argentinean pesos out of the bank because surely there would be ATM machine in Villazon (border town of Bolivia) to get local currency.WRONG….we had 30 Argentinean pesos (about GBP5 or AUD11) on us to get tickets to Tupiza (the town 6 hours away we were to stay at).Villazon town was not a place you wanted to get stuck in, the majority of the population is involved in moving contraband items across the border.Anyhow I recalled that we also had USD20.We went to find an exchange place and could change our pesos but they would not exchange our US1 dollar notes, we were, however, able to exchange our one US5 dollar note.We cobbled enough money together to get our tickets to Tupiza, where surely there would be an ATM there.WRONG again.However, this time there was a bank that we could do a cash advance on our credit card so we were in funds again…woo hoo!
The contrast from Argentina to Bolivia is amazing…the move from developed to third world was obvious.We left behind the modern buses with large comfortable seats to local buses with no suspension.They fill all the seats and then people stand in the aisles as well.Further, the roads are not paved and it is wet season.Guidebook says only 2-3% of the roads in Bolivia are paved.Fortunately, we didn´t get bogged.However, the scenery from the border to Tupiza is SPECTACULAR…the best scenery we have seen on our travels so far.Lush valleys filled with agriculture and wildflowers with red craggy rocks on either side.
We arrived in Tupiza which really is the wild west.Got ourselves a decent hostel this time with a television.We booked ourselves on a triathlon tour of jeep, horse and bike.The jeep took us up some beautiful gorges and again the scenery was stunning.We took horses up a different gorge, it felt like you were in a cowboy western movie with the cliffs and cactai everywhere.Next was the mountain bike riding where they drove us up high and you just had to ride down.I decided not to partake after a very unenjoyable ride in Pucon, Chile.Mark loved it and came back covered in mud, no mudguard on the bikes and it was raining when they started.
Next day we headed off on a four day tour to the Uyuni Salt flats, the biggest in the world.In our jeep were three 22 years old girls from the US and UK and us….Mark was pretty pleased with his fellow travelers.We saw lots of cool rock formations, bathed in a hot spring pool, saw mud geysers and lots of flamingos in Lagoons (they were quite stinky) and on day four the salt flats.Because it´s the wet season we didn´t go as far in as you usually do and the flats were covered in a couple inches of water but they were still pretty amazing.We got lots of cool photos that we will add to the blog site.Our accommodation was pretty basic (reminiscent of Everest Base camp trek) and we even stayed at one hotel (I use the term very loosely) made out of salt.On Day 2 all the girls suffered from altitude sickness as we got to 4,970m, however, by the last day we had recovered.
We stayed one night in Uyuni which is the town on the edge of the salt flats and then caught a 7 hour bus ride to Potosi, the highest city in the world at 4060m.You can definitely notice the altitude, anything that has the slightest incline you start puffing straight away.Potosi used to rival Paris and London in riches and power a few hundred years ago due to the silver mining undertaken in the Cerro Rico mountain.Some 400 years later they still mine in the mountain under very harsh conditions.
The thing to do here is to go on a mining tour and holy moly is that an eye opening experience. We donned our overalls and top, helmet and bought some gifts for the miners - dynamite, detonator, ammonia (to make the explosions bigger), alcohol (96%) and coco leaves which they chew on all day as it alleviates hunger and gives energy as they don´t eat during their 8 hour shift.
Because it was a Friday this meant they left gifts for their ´God' Tio who protects them, essentially a statue of the devil.The miners drink the 96% alcohol for the first hour of the day and then dilute it with water or juice as the day goes on.As we were entering the mine, I saw a miner holding a container of this alcohol and he could barely stand up, this was not a comforting sight as we entered the mine.We walked along for about 100m and it wasn´t too bad as you could mainly stand up.However, we then dropped to level 2, there are no ladders or steps just a steep rocky hole which you have to crouch down in and eventually crawl on your hands and knees.
To get down to Level 3 was a similar hole that is about half a meter high and we dropped further to an intermediary level which did have a ladder but all the rungs would flip around.At one point we passed a miner who was sitting sadly because only 1 of his dynamites had exploded, the other was still in the rock...about 3 feet from us.We had to walk pass this unexploded dynamite.He wasn´t allowed to pull it out as he had to wait 24 hours, but that didn´t stop him from touching it, to show that he wasn´t afraid.At this point I was thinking how stupid can we be going into a third world mine, with miners who have been drinking 96% alcohol since the morning and walking past unexploded dynamite 25m underground and breathing in noxious fumes.
There is asbestos and other chemicals in the mine that the miners breathe and the average life span is 40 years.Officially no children work in the mine but it has been known some as young as 8 yrs old have and the guide knew of 10 yr olds working in the mine today.The conditions are unbelievable, no occ health and safety here.It is all pretty much manual work, they have trolleys on rail tracks but 2 men have to push and 2 men pull.There is an electric cable that takes rocks up to level one but the rest has to be carried out by hand.After 2 hours it was difficult to breathe.After we got out of the mine we then lit some of the dynamite (there is a picture of Mark holding it - you have 4 minutes before it explodes) and then one of the guides ran off and threw it on the mountainside and we watched them explode.
A very surreal experience and in the future if we ever think our jobs suck we will think back to the miners of Potosi.
Anyhow, that´s all for now.
Hope you are all well.
Ciao
Laura & Mark
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