Last days in Bolivia...I think

After Potosi I headed to a little town called Uyuni to spend a night. It is a stop for most tourists in Bolivia. It was a 6 hour bus ride from Potosi to Uyuni. Nothing really to do in Uyuni. The exciting stuff is outside of it. It is the launching point to visiting a whole bunch of natural wonders. The most impressive is the Salar de Uyuni-Salt Flat. The worlds largest salt flat. I took a tour with some Australians, Irish ladies, and a French woman. Everyone must take a 4 by 4 to get there. All Toyota Land Cruisers I think...whatever they are called. So our Bolivian driver drove us across the salt flat, which was covered in water due to the current rain. At other times of the year it is completely dry. So we were driving over the salt that was covered with up to a foot of water at times. The sky was blue with scattered white clouds and we could see mountains in the distance surrounding the flat. And it really is completely flat. We could not tell where the horizon was which made for some great views and really cool pictures. In the middle of the salt flat is the Salt Hotel, which is completely made of salt. Inside people can stay and there is a salt museum with salt animal figures, tables, etc. I walked around the salt flat in my bare feet so I would not get my shoes wet. Well at first it was okay, but after walking a little the salt really hurts your feet! Regardless it was amazing and I am so glad I went to see it.

So then the transport fiasco began from Uyuni. After Uyuni I wanted to head to La Paz so I could get closer to Peru. Well there was a huge transportation strike in La Paz so there were no buses going there. I sure did not want to stay in little Uyuni another night so I took a bus to a city in the direction of La Paz to a city called Ururo. Never had heard of it before. Well thankfully I met a couple ladies from Argentina doing the same thing. So arriving to Ururo at 4am we all found a hostel to stay for the night. We were told that they may be buses the next day for La Paz. The first thing the next day we try to find out if there are buses. Well nobody knows anything and tells us to go to the bus terminal at 6pm to find out. So we spend the day exploring a pretty, but not a very touristic city. We went to the bus terminal a little before 6pm and found out it was closed. We still had no idea if we could get to La Paz. We started asking people what was going on. We heard there were taxis and vans going to La Paz. So we thought that was the only option. The first taxi there offered us $100 for the trip, which is a huge rip off in Bolivia. Awhile later we hear some guy saying that the strike is going to be suspended until 7am, and they are some buses going to La Paz and that there is already a line for tickets on the next block. We run over to the next block and get in line. People are stressed and some trying to cut. Thankfully, we get to the front of the line and buy our tickets for 20 Bolivianos. 1 dollar = 7 bolivianos. So we are all relieved and wait to board our bus. We get on the bus half an hour before we are supposed to leave (at 7pm). Well at 7pm some guy at the front of the bus announces...¨Bad news everyone. The road to La Paz is being blocked by angry miners who are drinking and blowing things up.¨ We were crushed! Everyone had to get their refund then get off of the bus. The bus drives off. So then we are standing on the sidewalk not knowing what to do. Then some other people gathered around us saying that if we got enough people we could all get a private bus that could go another route to the Paz. We all stand there trying to figure things out for awhile then suddenly the bus shows up again. Someone announces that now we can go to La Paz. So everyone is screaming and running towards the buses. It was a mad rush of people running to the bus doors. We ran on the bus and grabbed some seats. This time we waited another half hour or so before we left. People were on the bus clapping and cheering when we left. Eventually we arrived in La Paz at midnight. I don´t think I want to take a bus in Bolivia again for a long time.

So here I am in La Paz until tomorrow. I am heading back to Cusco. Today I visited some of La Paz including the Witches´ Market, San Francisco Church/Museum and the Coca Museum.

Dinos and Mines

On my last day in Sucre I took the Dinotruck to a dinosaur reserve and museum. Ok there were no real dinosaurs. However, I got to see the largest collection of preserved dinosaur footprints in existence, which was pretty cool. Supposedly, the footprints were formed around 40-60 million years ago in what used to be a lake. Eventually the lake dried out and through a geological process (which I will not attempt to explain here) the footprints were preserved. There are footprints for over 250 species of dinosaurs. It was surreal to witness. The rest of the park was pretty goofy with fake dinosaur statues and sounds. Definitely a far cry from Jurassic Park, nevertheless, it was amusing.

Yesterday I left Sucre for Potosi. A mining city that was once one of the largest cities in the world during the height of its mining success. Now a little less than 200,000 people live here.
It was a city divided between two cultures-the Spanish and the Indigenous people. A river literally separated the two. The Spanish side being the rich side. The Spanish used the indigenous people as slaves in the mines. The mines are still active today. However, nowadays each miner works independently and sells his or her minerals to the processing companies. Everyday between 7000 and 20,000 miners go to work. Today I took a half day tour of the mines. It was incredible. Before heading to the mountain, my tour group and I had to gear up. Put on proper clothes for the mines including a hard hat with a light. Once at the mines, we needed to buy the miners items to thank them for our visit. Some of the gifts we bought for them were coca leaves, dynamite, crackers, cigarettes, and soda. I am not kidding. The miners chew the coca leaves all day. They say it helps keep the dust out of their lungs and gives them energy. They also believe that the devil is the god of production so they present gifts to statues of him asking for him to bless them with many precious minerals. They give the devil statue alcohol, cigarrettes, and coca leaves. Inside the mine, we heard explosiones and watched the miners work so hard. Then we blew up a piece of dynamite outside of the mine. It was crazy.