Potosi

Unfortunately Martin was very ill with altitude sickness when we got to Potosi. Potosi is the highest city in the world. He was sick on the bus, shaking and had a massice fever. He couldn't eat for 2 days and was really not well. So I went to the silver mines alone.


The gifts that we had to take for the miners - dynamite, coca leaves, pure alcohol and food.

The devil that they worship in the mines. They are giving him lit cigarettes and if he smokes them all it is good luck. They also give him alcohol in the hope that he will get kinky with Mother Earth and make her happy so she will bring goodness to them.

Me looking ultra sexy on 'Rich mountain.'

They gave us a demo of the dynamite explosions - yes - this bit of dynamite was lit. He stayed sitted for a while, then had a drink, and then casually walked to where he was putting it. Rather scary!

The young miners. It was friday, so they were drinking as they had finished work. The youngest was 17 and started working with his Dad at the age of 8. Working in the mines obviously has severe health consequences and the the life expectancy is 40years after beginning work in the mines, and 10-20 if they work deep in the mines.

I didn't get very far. They have to do this for hours and hours. Very hard work.

The minerals that were mined - fool's gold and silver.

The roads that we drove on to get from Potosi to Uyuni. Perfect for Martin with altitude sickness. The buses even drove through streams.

Bolivia - Uyuni: Part 1

The train cemetry. We were a bit bored and so had to make it a bit more fun!




A dance festival in the middle of the Salt Flats.







The Fish Island in the middle of the Salt Flats. Very bizarre. The salt is thought to originate from a lagoon - so it was once a normal island.








The Salt Flats.







I think it's the only time I will be bigger than Martin!







More fun in the salt.








A Pre-Inca Cemetry. Some of the skeletons still had skin on - very wierd. Don't know whether I like looking in tombs.







The Salt Hotel was really nice and did keep in the warmth a little. The lonely planet states that it is an illegal structure however. I wonder if they thought about what happens if it rains?!







Martin, Jose and me sheltering from the wind in the lava formations.

Bolivia - Uyuni: Part 2

There were hundreds of flamingos on each lagoon. Beautiful creatures.



This shot took a lot of effort. It was really difficult to get a decent picture of the flamingos with our camara.



The cooks fed is with the full works wherever we were and whatever the weather. It was great. I think corned beef fried in egg was the wierdest thing we ate.




The Stone Tree in the desert.





Our tour group for the second part at our second nights accomodation. It was extremely cold and possibly the worst night's sleep we had as we were sharing the room with another 3 people - 1 of which set the alarm for 3.30am. Nice.





We got up at 4am to see this sunrise. It was impressive, but I don't think I have ever felt so cold. The temperatures were subzero and it was thermals all the way.






Natural geysers in the desert.




With frost on the ground we somehow managed to strip off and climb into the glorious natural hotsprings.

It was the first time we had been warm for days. Getting out was a different story. Martin's shorts froze instead of dried!!

Bolivia - Uyuni: Part 3

The desert. We went around in a convoy of 3 jeeps.



The Blue Lagoon. The volcano in the background was the only active one in the area.





Alpacas








The Red Lagoon





The Valley of the Rocks in the desert. Where's wally?









The 'village' where the hostel was the 3rd night. Lots of stray dogs and not much else.







Watch out for the Llamas!

Bolivia - La Paz - Sept 2007

La Paz. A gorgeous city. Very hard to walk around though because of the altitude and steep hills. Good training for the Inca Trail.

The Cathedral. The only photo I could get was from the coach as we left. Camaras on display are not a good idea!

The Coca factory. Coca leaves fix everything in Bolivia and Peru!!

An interesting way to get the ferries across Lake Titicaca. The rafts did not look the most sturdy either. Note the lads with the sticks steering the rafts. Bet they had coca leaves.