My friend Racheal arrives this morning at 6am, poor girl has been on a overnight bus from Uyuni. I go back to sleep for a bit but I have a early start for my first morning of Spanish class. MeGusta Spanish school is a 15minute walk away, and I arrive on time to take my level assessment test. I am not a beginner, which is good news but I am the only one at my level so will be in private lessons this week. My tutor Andrea is lovely and I enjoy the lesson reviewing previous knowledge. Lessons finish at 12.30 and as I walk back to the hostel the girls pass me in a taxi. They are heading back to the Mirador cafe so Rachael and I walk up to join them. It is not so easy walking up, I blame the altitude for my breathlessness but I think it might be lack of fitness. Lunch at mirador again, it is super cheap in Bolivia so we are all happy eating out.
The girls say it is now snowing in Uyuni, much colder but also it is hampering the tours so travellers are stuck in San Pedro. I feel lucky to have had such a great tour.
Today I wanted to do a city tour, just to get my bearings a bit. It is Sunday, so the streets are really quiet as I make my way to the Condor cafe. This cafe runs tours on a not for profit basis and they support local community projects so I feel the 70bolivianos they charge for a city tour is money well spent. We meet at 10 o’clock and we are a group of 5; two Aussies, two Americans and me. The first stop is the Catedral on the main plaza. It is Sunday so we are fortunate to find it open and we can look around. It is quite simple, no ornate angels adorning the ceiling but pretty in its own right. The janitor locks up behind us, bolting the huge door and fancy gate. The main plaza is still not busy, apart from a school group practicing for the city’s celebrations on the 26th May. The guide explains the Bolivian symbol or shield, with the Potosà hill in the background and Llama in front. The motto on the government building is ‘stronger together’ with the 9 stars representing the departments that make up the union of Bolivia. The current president created a new constitution in 2008, recognising more of the indigenous people’s rights but also said this created a new Bolivia and thus he was eligible to run an additional term!
The San Francisco church is famous in Bolivia, and it is very popular. The bell tower houses the bell that was rung on the 26th May and initiated the start of independence uprising across South America. The bell was rung that hard it cracked, and this is how it remains as a reminder. It is around the church that there are some nice vendor stalls selling a myriad of souvenirs. Behind the church is the central market and we walk through the centre. There are fruit & veg stalls, cheese sellers, a meat section and well to be honest there is everything here. We sample some chorizo from a stall that is famously run by seven sisters. The chorizo is spicy, which makes a change as the Argentinian and Chilean food was surprisingly bland.
We walk on to Bolivar park, this was created and donated by a eccentric childless couple who also adopted over 80 orphaned children. The park has a big children’s area with a dinosaur theme, but also a replica Effel tower. It was constructed by Gustov Effel himself as he was a friend of the couple. We then hop on a local bus, only 1.50Bols one way (anywhere). We are heading up the hill to Recoleta, the oldest part of the city. There are several streets that are named after cats where the freedom fighters first planned the uprising for independence. The cat streets lead us to a cobbled square that overlooks Sucre. This is where the tour ends but close by is the Mirador cafe where I have arranged to meet the girls. This spot is amazing, and we spend the whole afternoon sat in the deckchairs looking out over Sucre in the sunshine. The cafe is great for food but best is their cafe frappe which is deliciously cooling in this lovely weather.
Today we move to Sucre, Vanessa & Shivani are still here but the others left yesterday. I am really excited about Sucre as I have heard great things about it. Right now I am mostly just wanting some warmth and a laundry. We eat breakfast and run errands, we have decided to get a taxi to Sucre as it is £20 for the 3 hour trip. I have to go to the pharmacy, not wanting to get too graphic but I can’t breath through my nose. I learn later that it’s common and the blood is from blood vessels bursting with the altitude…..it’s disgusting! Anyway, we say goodbye to Potosí and clamber into our taxi. The road has loads of bends that our driver speeds round, and he seems to prefer overtaking on blind ones but we make it to Sucre in one piece. He charges me an extra 20 bolivianos to drop me at a different hostel which annoys me after our agreed price but for £2 I just go with it. The sky is blue and it is about 5 degrees warmer which is lovely, I am already liking Sucre. We settle in to our respective hostels (Rachael from BA is joining me Tuesday, so we wanted a nicer place) and wander the streets a little. Sucre has a Unesco protected central area and is very beautiful with its white walled buildings and churches. We chance on a great restaurant for tonight, called Florin with a international menu and I have a great bowl of pasta.
Silver of Potosi Villa Imperial de Potosí, Bolivia
Villa Imperial de Potosí, Bolivia
This hostel is great but still very cold. The city is at 4,090m elevation, so it’s not a surprise. There is plenty of hot water however and for 20p we can enjoy a bounty for breakfast including scrambled eggs so I am happy sat by a gas heater. Potosí lies at the foot of the Cerro Rico (rich mountain) which produced 60% of all silver mined in the second half of the 16th century. It was at this time one of the worlds largest cities and bigger than London. The Spanish crown became very rich from the spoils of this mountain and forced indigenous people to work in Potosí’s silver mines through the traditional Incan mita system of contributed labor. Many of them died due to the harsh conditions of the mine life and natural gases. At such a high altitude, pneumonia was always a concern and mercury poisoning took the lives of many involved in the refining process. Once this became an issue, Spain sent thousands of African slaves to work in the mine who also met a similar fate. In today’s mine the men work as cooperatives but it is still very manual and a dangerous occupation. The final silver is due to run out in 7 years and with 60% of the men still working in the mine, I wonder about what the future holds for this once majestic city. You can do tours of the mine and Shivani has signed up for one with an ex miner this morning. I don’t doubt it will be interesting but it’s not something I want to do, so Vanessa and I are going to stroll the key highlights of the city. We wander through the central plaza, noting that alot of the houses have external wooden balconies on the upper floor which is a new style. It is always interesting to view the central market but we were less keen on seeing the meat sellers who were busy sawing a carcass. It didn’t look like a very hygienic area, so I will perhaps stick to vegetables here. There is a pretty church sat behind the market, San Lorenzo. The guide is happy to let us in for 10p and also lets us go up and view the city from the roof. We have a great view of Cerro Rico as a backdrop as well. Shivani is back for lunch, proclaiming that the tour was an eye opener but she’s not in a hurry to do it again. Our plan for the afternoon is to visit the Casa de moneda, what was once the national mint of Bolivia. I can’t remember the numbers but this was one of 8 mints that produced coins for the Spanish crown. In the 16th century this mint created millions of silver coins and they were shipped over to Spain, as the men toiled in very manual processes and poor conditions. The museum is interesting, lots of examples of early coins that were hand stamped and erratic shapes through to the later rounded coins. The Potosí mint stamp was made up of overlaying the letters PTS & I from the city name. The story we were told was that the US dollar symbol evolved from the S & I being overlaid. The museum still has the old machinery that was powered by mules walking a drive on the floor below, all made of wood. We also view later machinery powered by steam until the final electric machines which were from the US but only used for around 20years before production was closed down. Bolivia’s currency now comes from Chile and is made from nickel. We found a great restaurant for us tonight, enjoyed a mustard pork dish in a lovely warm room.
Today the whole hotel is up by 6am, full of excited tour groups ready to set off for the salt flats. This is except Yuval who is properly ill, to the point he wants to stay in bed but can’t due to the schedule. We pile him into the front of the jeep after plying him with a mix of medicines and head out in the dark ready for sunrise on the salt flats. The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat at over 10,000 sq km. It was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few metres of salt crust, of which the flatness has little variance in elevation making it perfect for perspective cheating photos. The sunrise is amazing and seeing the salt flats revealed, the hexagonal tessellations is once in a lifetime moment. We drive on to visit Isla incahuasi (fish island), one of 33 random out of nowhere islands that exist within the salt flat. The island is apparently the top of the remains of an ancient volcano, which was submerged when the area was part of a giant prehistoric lake, roughly 40,000 years ago. The cool part is that it is covered with gigantic cacti. These apparently grow at a rate of 1cm a year, so are pretty old. The still rising sun creates some magical views across the flats. We have a traditional cake for breakfast, of which I manage 3 slices. We then go back onto the salt flats for crazy pictures and videos that are heaps of fun. Yuval is still unwell, and I cannot imagine how devastated he is in missing this highlight. We stop briefly at the Salt museum and more interestingly the Dakar rally monument & flags that look great flying above the flats. I imagine rally racing across the flats would be a lot of fun. Our final stop is the Train cemetery just outside Uyuni. Trains were once a big deal in transporting minerals and in early 19th century they were set to expand this until fractions with Chile stopped the project. Most of the abandoned trains that can be found in the Graveyard date back to the early 20th century and were imported from Britain. The salt winds that blow over Uyuni, have corroded all of the metal and there is a lot of vandalisation. We clamber over and through the engines regardless, getting a few arty photos. Lunch signals the end of the tour, and the stewed steak reminds me that I won’t be having Argentinian steak again. The whole group has been discussing next moves for a couple of days and it makes sense to get out of Uyuni on arrival as there is nothing there, Potosí being a good logical stop that isn’t too far. We all get on a local bus to Potosí with Yuval propped near an open window for fresh air. Potosí is four hours away and I am grateful I went to the loo before I got on as it is a bumpy ride with no facilities. We pull into Potosí the highest city in the world and it feels more vibrant than Uyuni. There are two British guys that we have been chatting to, Gerry & Paddy and we all set off by taxi up the hill to the hostel. The group ends up in separate hostels but all meet for dinner in town. The area is very interesting and the main plaza (10th of November plaza) is lit up in different colours. I select trout for dinner as it’s the house special, not sure where it would have been fished but it is very tasty.
Last night was difficult, I wasn’t cold but I think the altitude hit me as I have had a throbbing headache for most of the night. It could be dehydration as I haven’t drunk alot of water and I can’t breathe through my nose, so I am a joy this morning. I drink the rest of my water with a couple of paracetamols that I could find once everyone is awake. On a positive, I am already dressed! A bit of fresh deodorant and I am ready for the day ahead. We have proper American pancakes for breakfast albeit with dulce de leche rather than maple syrup but they are tasty. My headache goes pretty soon after we set off which is a relief. Our morning is spent at different points in Rocks Valley. It is pretty incredible walking through these high rocks that don’t seem to belong on the landscape. The group all enjoy scrambling and climbing the rocks before we move on. We reach a viewpoint where we can see down the vast Inca Canyon. It feels very strange to see such diverse landscapes on this trip and certainly not what I imagined Bolivia to look like. We move on and have lunch at the Black Lagoon, we are able to walk for a bit around the area and I wander alone to the other side to see Llamas. It is a beautiful and tranquil spot that has a lot of bird life as well, more a wetlands environment. Our last stop is a old train station that would have been active in transporting minerals across Bolivia, we stop to sample local beer including quinoa, cactus, cocoa and honey. Honey and quinoa were the better two, and we have kept the bottles ready for our salt flat pictures tomorrow. Tonight we stay on the edge of the salt flats, at a salt hotel. Two words ‘hot showers’ a bargain for 15p and it is bliss getting warm and clean tonight. A fun evening of cards, campfire and a cheeky bottle of wine with our chicken dinner makes for a great last night.
Shivani and I are up early again, this time the bags are packed and we are heading to Bolivia. The driver actually picks us up early which is a first in South America and has Shivani lamenting over having to ditch her morning cup of tea. I have been up for a few hours, slightly apprehensive about Bolivia and hoping the tour will be ok. We climb into the bus and there are 3 people already in, unbelievably it is a German girl, Larissa who I met in Salta and Vanessa who I sat next to on the bus to San Pedro. The fifth is a Israeli guy, Yuval but we don’t realise this is our group as when we booked there were 2 English on the tour. Chatting to them as we wait for the immigration office in San Pedro to open we realise this is our group and we have been bumped onto another company White & Green. There is nothing we can do about this, I think there were good reviews on them but time will tell. Stamping out of Chile is easy and we hop back in the bus to head for Bolivia. We stop stationary on the road outside San Pedro for 30mins, seems to be a blockade but the police turn up and just open the gate so it must have been a checkpoint of sorts. Once open the traffic is released at pace heading onwards for the border that is only about 20minutes away. The Bolivian border is high up, windy and dusty in the middle of mountains. For us the check in was straightforward, Yuval has a more complex process of 2 forms, passport photos and $100 US dollars. The Bolivian president made it harder as a protest against Israeli invasion of Palestine, makes me realise again what a privilege travelling on a British passport is. We transfer to our jeep and meet our driver Paulo, who seems nice and willing to speak in slow Spanish. Paulo explains that our tour companies are the same and we will follow the same route which is comforting. We get a good breakfast including good coffee served at the border. A bit of a laugh when Larissa can’t find a banana because a driver took one, and she questions each of us as to how many we have had. This earns her a nickname of ‘Banana girl’ and is the first sign we will all get on well. We shove our big rucksacks onto the top of the jeep where they are wrapped in tarpaulin and strapped down. Climbing into the jeep ( I get the front!) we set off into Bolivia, following tracks rather than road… The scenery is majestic and it’s not long before we have arrived at the White Lagoon, coloured by minerals it is vast. We stroll along the edge taking photos before climbing back into the jeep to head over the hill to the Green Lagoon (different minerals create a greener blue). We continue along the gravel tracks, enjoying a flat landscape framed by volcanos. In one section we stop to view the Dali rock desert. It looks like huge rocks dropped from the sky or perhaps out of a volcano and is named after Dali as it resembles his desert paintings. Onward to Salt Lagoon Chalviry which has lots of salt deposits, there are thermal pools you can sit in, but to be honest I cannot face the cold when you come out so I just take a walk around the shore. Lunch is surprisingly good with chicken stir fry and excellent mash potato eaten in a hut above the lagoon. The Morning sun geyser basin is our next stop, nice location but not as impressive as the Geyser Tatio area I saw in Chile. A couple in the group are starting to feel the effects of altitude, headaches and nausea but I am feeling okay. Our final stop of the day is the Lagunas Colorada or Red lagoon, and it lives up to its name almost looking like blood in patches from sediment and algae. This is the best spot of the day for me as it is filled with flamingos. There are 3 different types here, including James’s flamingos which are rare. I have no idea which are which but love watching them strut and fly across the shallow Lagoon. We then have 2 hours drive to our accommodation for the night in Villa Mar. It is fairly basic, all of us in one room but we get a couple of blankets and a sleeping bag to keep out the cold. It is freezing, but we have hot tea and break out the cards for a couple of hours entertainment. Dinner is a basic tomato and onion sauce with spaghetti, with water. There is another group with us of Brazilians who have brought vodka, but I decline their kind offer as I am not sure about mixing it with altitude tomorrow. If I am honest it is so cold I just want to go to bed, I make it to 8.30pm before climbing into the sleeping bag fully clothed and wrapping all the blankets around me.
It is freezing this morning and is -8 when I am collected at 5am (as a side note, Nicky and Liam went with another company and they were forgotten, so waited in the cold for over 2 hours!). I am wearing everything I can, knowing full well that by 10am it will be roasting and around 25degrees. We drive for an hour, it’s dark so I don’t feel too bad that I sleep.
The sun is just starting to rise as we enter the geyser area. It is very cool, just looks like the floor is steaming. There is lots of steam, coming from masses of channels underground where water hits hot rock. A few larger Geysers and also conical Geysers. I learn that the colour on the surface surrounding the opening is created by bacteria and the different colours are different types. We move to another area where we can walk around but first get a surprisingly good breakfast of avocado and scrambled egg sandwich. After a stroll around the quieter area we walk through wetlands where we see large footed Coot birds and herds of Vicuña. Our final stop is a small village called Machana which was one of the first in the area. Here we see a cheerful character cooking llama kebabs to the rich throng of tourists. Time to head back and it is only lunchtime but a roasting temperature now.
There are three new girls in hostel who are really friendly so we stroll to town to get money changed and see more of the town centre. Tonight it is packing up again but this this time for a new country, Bolivia.
Today is a lazy day! It is Jeff’s birthday so we go to the French bakery for pastries, any excuse really! Shivani and I have decided to book the Uyuni tour for Tuesday, it gives me time to do the Geysers tomorrow. I am also looking forward to travelling with her as she is such a positive ball of sunshine and the 3 days are supposed to be tough going. We head into town and book the tour with Cruz Andina, we liked the fact they stay down lower in Ville mar on the first night so altitude should be easier and warmer. On the way out of town we stop for an ice cream. I choose a local flavour, Rica Rica which comes from a desert plant and tastes of malted milk. It is then back to the hostel to laze in the hammocks basking in glorious sunshine.
Tonight I am going stargazing, this was something that was recommend to me as the desert provides perfect conditions for viewing the night sky. I climb into the van and spy Nicky & Liam who I met in Salta, I had mentioned the tour to them and it is great to see them tonight. Jorge is our host for the night and you can tell how passionate he is about astronomy. He previously worked at ALMA, which is a station that houses lots of the worlds biggest telescopes for Germany, France and USA. We arrive at his house and I spy at least 15 telescopes waiting for us to use. Settling in to chairs he takes time to explain a bit of history, how the night sky is mapped and that it is divided into 88 constellations. I am sat there just mesmerised by the view of the Milky Way. Obviously it is a different view to what we see in the Northern Hemisphere but I don’t recall every seeing something like this that wasn’t in a book, just beautiful. We see the Southern cross and learn how to use it to find the South Pole. Jorge points out the scorpion, Sirius which is the brightest star and Omega century.
We have a short break where his adorable little daughter Antonio helps her mum give out Hot Chocolate (which is lovely and warming whilst stood next to a gas fire).
Now it is time for observations using the telescopes. First looking at coloured stars; red, blue and yellow. Planets are those that don’t twinkle! We see clusters of stars, a spider cluster and also Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky. We are using different telescopes for each observation and he then surprises us with Jupiter, which looks like a cookie with a fork imprint on it. We can see four of her planets, she is just beautiful. Jorge also shows us Saturn with her rings showing as one big one. Finally the moon comes up, and viewing it through the magnification is great as you can see all the craters and lakes. Jorge has taken a few photos for us but regardless this is one night I will remember for a while….
Today I have booked on a full day tour that goes out to Pedras Riojas via high altitude Lagunas. This is a 7am pick up and as the morning is really cold, I have wrapped up warm, pretty much wearing anything that looks warm that I own.
We head out and stop at a road marker for the Tropic of Capricorn, but more interestingly is a monument to the Inca Trail. This trail which I thought was just a walkway to Machu Picchu, is in fact a commercial trading route that goes through to Chile. Today’s towns were largely created from tocumbas, which were the old camel stopping points found every 33km (average distance the camel would travel per day).
Continuing on we get higher up to the volcano range to the town of Socaire where we stopped for tasty scrambled egg breakfast. Once finished, we continue our route to Miscanti Lake. This is about 100km from San Pedro and we realise that we have snow! This is quite strange in the desert but it bathes the landscape in a lovely white glow, even the small grasses look frozen.
The Miscanti lake sits in front of the Miscanti volcano. Miñique and Miscanti volcanos are said to be warrior brothers and the two lakes separated after a fight over thousands of years ago. Unfortunately we are not allowed to reach the Miñique Lake due to the snow which doesn’t bother me really as I am captivated by the snow on the volcano range and enjoy throwing a few snowballs.
We were told at this point that other tours could not make it through to Pedras Riojas due to snow but we would try. We didn’t get too far before the Police turned us around due to road conditions. We were not going to make it through, so our guide stops at a few other scenic spots showing us lava flow and native animals such as the Vicuña which looks similar to the Guanacos we saw in Patagonia. Vicuña provide the finest wool of the Llama family but are now a protected species.
The rest of the group seemed really angry about missing Pedras Riojas and were trying to get the guide to turn back to San Pedro to try and get some money back. I was more relaxed about the day and felt the snow scenery had enhanced the adventure. Luckily for me the guide insists that he is paid to finish the tour and we head to Laguna de Chaxa.
The group has calmed down and the sun is baking down on us as we survey this salt flat area. The flat exists because it sits between the Andes and the central mountain range. The water with high mineral content from the Andes cannot go anywhere and so evaporates into this slat flat. It looks a bit like a coral structure rather than a ‘flat’ and is a dirty colour, down to the fact water doesn’t pass to clean it. This Laguna is famous for flamingos but today there were only a few to find. We wandered around the crusty surface watching birds, and me trying to spot geckos.
I felt it was a awesome day with some surreal landscapes.
