From the first days on, Bolivia caught our breath. Most of the country is above 3000m high and the air is thin, but there are also many things to marvel at.
Salar de Uyuni
The first highlite was of course the startling white Salar de Uyuni, the world largest salt flat. It contains an estimated 10 billion tonnes of salt and covers an area of 12'000 sq km. We arrived in the rainy season, so most of the salar was under water, but this made the panorama even more surreal.
As the water was just a few centimeters deep, you could walk around bare feet and shoot some amazing pictures. Later as we made a lunch break at the Hotel de Sal, a hotel really made of salt, we also had the opportunity to see a dry spot and to play with long hidden phantasies. Flow became a little toyboy in Mireilles hand and on a other occasion she was fed by him with a giant cookie.
To see the whole Salar like this and even whiter, we would have to come back in the dry season, somewhere between june and september.
The mines of Potosi
The inconvenience of the rainy season are the terrible roads. Around Uyuni most of them are unpaved and if we hadn't had 4x4, we would have been stuck in the mod many times. Some tourist busses couldn't move past rivers for more then 20 hours and one even got caught in a springflood, causing 30 death.
Luckily we made it without problems to Potosi, with a elevation of 4020m one of the worlds highest cities. Since the 16th century the mountain Cerro Rico has been exploited for its precious metals, mostly silver and copper. In the beginning the mountain was that rich with it that the streets in Potosi had been plastered with silver.The Cerro Rico is the reason for Potosí's historical importance, since it was the major supply of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire.
Nowerdays, the mountain produces much less but still kills countless men every year. Its is called the mountain that eats men. The poor working conditions are more or less the same then 500 years ago. If you are not killed by a accident, the toxic gases will ruin your lungs in 15 years. The life expectancy of a miner is short. Most of them contract silicosis and die around 40 years of age. We knew all that and also that there are childern working in the mine then we decided to visit it. To close your eyes from a terrible thing doesn't make it go away.
First we went to buy presents for the miners at the local market. Coca leafs, 96% alcohol (yes they drink that!), cigarettes. Then we changed into miners clothing and let ourselfs swallow by the mountain. If you let yourself think about the poor fortifications of these narrow tunnels and the toxic gases you were breathing in, you could easily panic. Working here is hell! Thats the reason why the miners worship statues of the devil, which they call Tio, in the mine. They pray to him for rich minearls and their safety.
From time to time we had to jump aside to let a loaded wagon pass. The deeper we went into the mine the higher the temperature rose. It was like entering Dantes Inferno. Luckily it was just a visit for us, but we will not this soon forget the faces of the miners we met, who will only escape this hell the day they will die.
Sweet life in Sucre
After this experience we wanted to give ourselfs a treat. We entered Sucre, the "white city" and ancient capital of Bolivia, with the decision to sweeten life up a bit. But driving though the narrow roads of the city was quite a challenge. It didn't take us long to crush a plastic traffic cone. Not a big deal you would think but the police officer took us to the main station where the big chief looked at us and then at the cone with a serious face. "This is like a person you know!" To teach us a lesson we had to buy not one, but two new cones.
Now we were really ready for some comfort! As Bolivia is cheaper then any other country in Southamerica, we left Moby at a parking and checked in at the best hotel in town. Five stars, the master suite, a private jacuzzi for 70 dollars a night. Aaaah the first bathtube in four month! The following pictures should make you just a little bit jealous..
Luxury, finaly we meet again! When you are travelling for six month you watch your budget a bit. But now the pendulum had swong back. We went to restaurants twice a day (for five dollars a whole meal not a big sin) and met with Eliane whom we had met in Antarctica and her Southafrican friend Shayna for drinks.
Yes we felt rich and it seemed to us that everything was affordable. At the local marked of Tarabuco, we could even have bought dynamite for 13 bolivianos (2 dollars) a piece. If we had known at this time what was waiting for us three days later, we would have saved up a bit. Exept maybe for the dynamite. We really should have bought some!
