Bolivia

We arrived in La Paz after a long bus journey from Peru. It was quite an interesting journey. At one point we watched as our coach crossed a lake on a tiny floating platform. We prayed that it made it to the otherside in one piece! On arrival into Laz Paz we saw pollution, heavy traffic and poverty. The hostel that we were staying in was next door to an English Pub called Olivers Travels so on our first night we tucked into bangers and mash!! It is in this pub that we met Stewart (from Holland) and his German girlfriend Recca. They become our companions throughout our stay in La Paz. Our first day was a bit of a write off as Emily wasn´t feeling well. So we relaxed for the day. The next day we arranged to go to the prison in Bolivia with Recca while Steward worked! Boring!!!

The prison was quite an experience. We were rather worried at first but then it became apparent that it was a small community. Prisoners can pay a small amount of money to have their wifes and children stay with them. It was bizarre to see small children playing in the prison grounds. The locals that are poor get themselves sent to prison as a cheaper way to take care of their family as the food in prison is free and they have no rent to pay!! It all got rather worrying when they took us into a small room in the prison and offered us cocaine, Obviously we declined!! On leaving the prison we went to book our tickets for Sucre for the next day.

The following day we had to check out at 10:30am. Steward and Recca were also checking out so we went to the park together. However for some reason it was closed. So we grabbed an Ice Cream and went to see the monument at the top of the hill. We got some brilliant photos of La Paz. We then all hit the pub to drink and play cards until we were due at the bus station.

At the bus station our first taste of the unorganisation of Bolivia stuck! We went to get our bus and the man that sold us our tickets suddenly decided that the bus wasn´t going to Sucre anymore. Tony nearly killed him. Luckily we got our money back and went to book our coach with a better company for the next day. To make matters worse Emily then realised that someone had knifed her bag in order to steal the contains. Luckily nothing was stolen.

Yet again we had to check out at 10:30 am and entertain ourselves for the day. Emily found a chocolate shop as she couldn´t find Dairy Milk in the supermarket. We went to the main square and sat in the sunshine. It is so hot in Bolivia. Emily has got a tan but thinks it makes her look dirty however do not worry, neither of us have turned into soap dodging hippies!!!

Our coach that evening was the most comfortable we could have got. The seats were huge and as we were travelling overnight this helped a lot. Unfortunately some fat bolivian woman snored like a chainsaw throughout the night so we couldn´t get much sleep - cowbox!! Tony didn´t mind as he got to watch Predator in Spanish and still loved it.

We arrived in Sucre to early to check in. So we went to get some breakfast. Emily ended up ordering fruit with ice cream instead of yogurt. Doh!!! We do have translation problems at times. Once we got to check in we went straight to sleep. When we had stopped being lazy we went for a walk around the main square. Again the weather was beautiful. Sucre is so different to La Paz. It is considered the most sophisicated city in Bolivia. The buildings are so well designed and just gorgeous. The young people are quite trendy and there are a lot of business people. We enjoyed our two days in Sucre. Plus Tony managed to get some sunglasses for two pound!!! Bargin!!

After Sucre we got a bus to Potosi where the silver mines are. The bus was the worse one in the world!! It was so hot and there was no space. Luckily it was only a 5 hour journey. On arrival in Potosi we were pestered by an old lady for money. We understand the poverty of these people and their desperatation however it is hard to feel empathy when they are hitting you. The old lady hit Tony a few times so he hit her back!!! She then moved on to Emily! After surviving the pestering we checked into our hostel and looked around the town. It is a lot colder in Potosi. We were freezing!! After getting our bearings and eating dinner we booked our excursion to the Silver mines.

The silver mines were amazing!! We had to get all these stupid clothes on which we both find extremely amusing. We took loads of silly photos of each other. We then went to the market to buy gifts for the miners. Much to Tony´s delight we were able to buy dyamite!!! We purchased the nitrate as well!!! Our guide informed us that the miners liked to drink 96% alcohol and let us try some. It was awful. It just tasted like the strongest Vodka ever!!! Shortly after purchasing our goods for the miners we went to see one of the guides let off some dyamite. Emily kept well back while some crazy people held it just as it was being lit. We walked backwards and the explosion was immerse and it was a lot louded than what we had expected.

Inside the mines it was dark, warm and extremely claustrophobic. At times there was so much dust that it was difficult to breath but what an experience! Boys as young as 13 worked in the mines and they only had a life expectency of 15 years! The mines were blinging!! Much to Emily´s delight. Tony told her to take some of the glitter of the walls of the mines. When she did the guide quickly informed us that it was abestos!!! Fool!!!!! The guide pointed out when the silver was present. We watched the miners while they worked and gave them the gifts we had brought. It is such a difficult job and the guide did an amazing job.

We left Potosi the next day for Uyuni. What a nightmare!!! There was only one cash point and it wasn´t working!!! Emily had got speaking to a girl from Belgium named Vanessa and she ended up paying for one of our excursions as we had no cash whatsoever. People only go to Uyuni for the salt flats excursion so we didn´t want to hang around. We told her we would pay her back in Chile. We wanted to head straight to Argentina but the tour meant it wasn´t possible. Therefore we planned to go to Argentina as soon as we could from Chile.


The salt flats was an excellent excursion. It showed the true beauty of Bolivia. Although we loved Peru because of the Inca Trail it is fair to say that Bolivia probably beats it. Bolivia is so rich in natural beauty it tops the list as the best country!! We were all put in a 4x4 and travelled for three days to see different natural sights. We walked across the salt flats and we were literally in the middle of nowhere! It was beautiful. You can see from the photos that it just looks like ice. It was so hot that day as well. On the tour we also saw various beautiful lagunas (one was full of flamingos!!). As you can see from the photo above, Jordan decided to put on Emily´s pink fleece and pose as a flamingo. in addition we saw active volcanos and geesers - we could see the lava boiling on the ground and we got to jump into the hot springs!! The people on the tour was really good company. As well as Vanessa, we had Jordan and Austin also from Belgium. Rolf from Germany and Eddie from Hong Kong. We were lucky to have them as they all (except Eddie) spoke fluent Spanish. Our guide didn´t speak English so they would translate for us.


We have now left Bolivia and our next blog will be from Argentina!!