La Paz

We arrived in La Paz which would be our last destination and final day with Kike as our guide. The following night we would meet our new guide who would be our Peru Guru. We got to reception and got our rooms, and looked at our note from our new guide. 'Henry' introduced himself in the note and said to meet in the hotel restaurant, and we also noticed another 10 people would be joining our group! This was an exciting yet daunting idea as we had been such a small group for so long, however we would be losing Sun and Christina from our original group.  Susan and Melisa were also nervous as they would be joined by another Melisa in their room for the duration of our stay in La Paz

We had 4 days in La Paz, so it was one of the stops we could relax in and actually unpack our bags, as we had a few days to explore. The group went out for lunch to an English style pub and decided to have a look around the famous La Paz markets for some last minute Bolivian shopping. We also took a detour down the witches markets, which had incense, tiwanaku figurines and the gory llama phoetuses! 

We also caught another Bolivian parade in the street which was very noisy, and full of colouful clothes and dancing.

Awayo Textile Guitar Cases

We spent a good deal of money on presents and general tat. That night was our final meal with Kike as our guide, however he had a few days in La Paz and decided we were cool enough to stick around with afterwards. We went to his friends Thai restaurant, where he also invited his friend who would tell about the death road mountain biking we'd been tempted to do. The death road is a small thin trail that goes down a mountain side with a sheer drop for the majority of the way. Many cars have gone over the edge and also many cyclists if they haven't been paying attention! You can see why Kike needed a professional to sell it to us. We decided to bite the bullet and do it the following day, as it included all the safety gear and lunch. We carried on with dinner and ordered our Thai food. Steph went for a mild Thai green curry, whilst Tom went for a Pad Thai. Unfortunately it would be Tom to get ill that evening, and we don't know if was a late reaction to the malaria tablets or if it was the questionably fresh prawn curry! Kike said his thank yous and goodbye speech, and we headed home to fight over the toilet.

The following day was a big one for us. We had to survive the most dangerous road in the world, and then try and make a good first impression that evening with our new group. Kike officially went from guide to friend, as he was now off duty and wanted to join us on the Death Road even though he's done it many times before and lived to tell the tale. We got up and got picked up by the Altitude biking team. Sun and Swiss Thomas also came along for the scenery but didn't fancy the biking! They drove us out of La Paz which gave us an idea of how densely it was populated. We headed out of the city and we headed up into the mountains.

 They geared us up in protective clothes, and we started our cycle down a smooth road to get us used to the bikes and practice braking... A lot. 

We stopped for a snack then headed to the very top of death road where we hyped ourselves up and started the daunting cycle. It was really bumpy and very sore on the bum, plus it was slightly wet so braking to hard could result in a slide to far. The weather wasn't great so there was a fog clouding some of the views. This was probably a blessing disguise as the sheer drop could have spooked us but we cycled along blissfully unaware. The weather was really temperamental and we stopped at the most famous drop to take pictures and in each one the weather was different. 

At that altitude, a lot I people say you get all four seasons in one day. The guide took our pictures as personal cameras are not allowed on the trail as people have died from focusing on their selfies!! We also had our own personal paparazzi, as Thomas and Sun would zoom last us in the van taking pictures. We got to the end with no injuries (apart from Susan zooming round a corner and landing in a bush), and we got given a t shirt as well as had victory photos taken.

We stopped at a hotel for lunch and then went back to La Paz. The girls were told new Melissa was in their room, and we got showered and ready to greet the group.We knocked on the girls onto the way up to the room and met new Melissa who was a friendly Australian lady. The 5 of us headed upstairs to the restraunt and saw a few new faces sitting there. Unfortunately some of the groups flights were delayed so we would meet them the next day. We met Scottish Andrew, Polish American retired couple Andrés and Bossana, and Australian cousins Elanna and Kate. We also met our new guide Henry who seemed a bit more serious than our other guides (or so we thought). Henry was a Peruvian local, and lived in Cusco. He had previously been an inca trail guide, and had done the trek over 500 times! He briefed us about what our Peru journey would involve and what we should expect. He also told us the following day we would visit a Tiwanaku ancient site so to be up early for a bus. 

After this we headed out to dinner. On the way out we saw Kike looking lonely in the foyer so invited him along too. Henry was unaware he was another G adventures guide, so Kike was on a mission to be a bit meddlesome and to pretended to be an annoying tourist and test Henry .We went back to the English pub and ordered burgers bigger than our heads while we got to know our new group. We told Elanna and Kate about our day at death road, and they decided to miss the Tiwanaku site and do the death road the following day instead. This meant there were 2 spaces on our trip, and as Sun and Kike were still in the area, they came along instead. The night started to get a little boozy, with Henry realising Kikes game and thankfully seeing the funny side. The two bonded and started buying rounds but once again our tummies had other ideas than a boozy night out in La Paz. Getting reputations of losers, we returned to our hotel with our tails between our legs.

The next day was the Tiwanaku site, and Kike appeared smelling still of booze, and acting like he hadn't slept much of it off. Henry however, was nowhere to be seen, and we received a message saying he'd had a hotel mess up and had to stay behind. He later admitted he too was feeling slightly worse for wear! We did however get to meet the late arrivals to our new group, another pair of Australian friends, Maryanne and Ryan, and Irena and Elana, an older pair of ladies who had been friends for a long time. 

(pictures of the new group will follow soon so you can put names to faces)

We boarded our coach and met our new female guide for the day who gave us some interesting facts about Bolivia whilst we drove through La Paz. 10% of Bolivia's market is legitimate leaving a staggering 90% black market. This explains why Bolivias economy is in such bad condition and why it is the poorest country in South America. She also told us the history behind why the bolivian style of dress is so unusual. They initially wore such large hats to make fun of the Spanish women when they invaded the country, and the woman wear such heavy beads at the ends of their braids to make their hair grow faster.

We had to head upwards for the Tiwanaku site, so Melisa suffered really badly with altitude sickness that day. The Incas are often the most well known ancient people in Peruvian/Bolivian history, but the Tiwanaku people actually existed far before and for a much longer period of time, roughly from around AD 300 to 1000. They also had a strong influence on the Incan traditions that are so historically prominent today. These people were also very clever and inexplicably good at accuracy when it came to building. The buildings we saw were all incredibly straight with perfect right angles, and it is still a mystery today as to what made them so straight, and how they measured them to be that way with such rudimentary tools available to them at that time. Our guide explained to us about the largest pool they made, in a shape to reflect the stars and how Pacha Mamma (mother earth) was their God and everything should be made to please her. Henry would often pour a drink on the floor as a gift to Pacha Mama before drinking it himself, so it is still a belief that is widely practiced today.

The Tiwanaku people also wore metal bands around their heads to deform their skulls and elongate them. This is often reflected in their sculptures and rock carvings as can be seen below. These same statues are often engraved and carved with patterns and imagery of various influential figures and animals in the Tiwanaku history one example being the puma.

There was also a sun gate, which would make the sun shine at both sun rise and sun set. This was an indication of how important mother earth was to the Tiwanaku people, and how they viewed both the days sun and the nights stars as a powerful influence and a strong connection to Pacha Mama.

After our tour we went to a small stall and bought some Tiwanaku souvenirs to send home. They were small keyrings, handmade with slate made by the women selling them. We bought one of each figurine to bring luck to our families. Steph bought the Pacha Mama, (mother earth) the three headed woman who brings good luck for her mum (and also because the three heads looked like her and her sisters) and her Dad the frog figurine, who brings luck in professionalism and money. Tom bought the traditional Tiwanaku sculpture, the shape to reflect the stars, and also the Turtle, who brings health and long life. For ourselves, we bought the Condor figure, who brings luck to travellers!

That evening we got back to the hotel to find out the best news. Guilia, our Brazil guide was in La Paz and had agreed to meet us along with Kike for dinner! We had missed Guilia so were so glad to hear from her. We decided on a steakhouse just down the road from our hotel, and Steph went for a Jack Daniels flambeed steak, and Tom a tasty looking burger. Tom was still really unwell from the night before so didn't eat much of his at all, but Steph having recovered from her sickness destroyed the whole large steak and chips, making up for the food she'd been missing out on.

It was a lovely way to say goodbye to Kike and Guilia, as both guides had been so different from each other, but both so passionate, insightful and entertaining. It also gave us a chance to also say goodbye to Sun who would be leaving our group the following day. He was a lovely member of the group, and an incredibly interesting man who took some lovely pictures of us all, and who loved a glass of red at any time of the day.

After our dinner we packed our bags and went to bed after a cuddle with everyone. The following morning we boarded Henry's bus to go cross the Peruvian border and head to Puno. Guilia had left at 6am but Kike came out to wave us goodbye. We pulled away from the hotel and we waved Kike off down the road until he was out of sight.

Uyuni Salt Flats and Siloli Desert

We left Potosi after visiting the mines, and it was a long drive to get to Uyuni, the entrance to the Salts Flats. Steph was still feeling really ill, so we had to make a few stops so she could get out for air! At one point she was sitting on a rock, ready to vom at the side of a road in the middle of a mountain range, and she noticed a large egg underneath. In fear of it belonging to a snake, we hurriedly got back on the coach and carried on. As we neared Uyuni, we saw lots of llamas and went round windy roads. As we arrived the sun was just setting over the tiny town, and it was a pretty pink spectacle. 

We checked into our hotel, and got our glad rags on as it was still Melissa's birthday. We headed out for dinner armed with party hats and minion balloons that Kike picked up earlier. Uyuni is actually like a ghost town which is odd, as it must house a lot of tourists in order to get to the salt flats. There aren't lots of bars or restaurants, and there wasn't much choice for dinner but Kike knew a place called lithium that did food. We went and had burgers and pizzas, and the cocktails started flowing in prep for the next bar. We unfortunately couldn't carry on with the party animals as Steph's stomach was still playing up from the malaria tablets.

Birthday Girl

The next morning, we were quite grateful for not going out, as everyone looked a little worse for wear and we had a long day ahead of us. We left our main luggage at the hotel, and packed smaller rucksacks for the next 3 days, as we would be travelling by jeep, so space was limited. We went outside and saw 2 jeeps waiting, one with a map of the salt flats on its bonnet, so Kike showed us the route we would be taking. We both crammed in with Susan, Melisa, and Kike in the front. Steph was feeling better that day, so this was officially going to be the party car, especially as Romeo our driver had a party mega mix in his car with some classic 90s club bangers.

We headed out of Uyuni and into the desert, but first stopping at a deserted train graveyard, which housed tons of rusting old engines. It was really interesting and the graffiti and rust made it look like a film set. One train had even been made into a swing so we fought over that ending in a few injuries!

injuries from fighting over the swing

From there, we drove for a few hours and went to a Bolivian market to stock up on wooly hats, gloves and sun glasses for the salt flats as they can get chilly! We also purchased a toy dinosaur as Kike assured us it was an essential for Salt Flat photos. We entered the Salt Flats and had to really stop the urge to take perspective pictures as that would be done the day after. We drove for about an hour on the salt flats, with literally nothing around to look at apart from blue skies and white salt. It was a really surreal drive! We found the island we needed to get to and watched it grow larger and larger as we drove towards it, it looked much nearer than it was though so it was a trippy experience.

 We got to our hotel that was right on the edge of the island and got out of the car. Standing there, was the cutest, fluffiest animal you'd ever seen in your life! A baby pecuna had adopted the hotel and roamed around looking all wide eyed and cute.

 Kike told us that the owner of the hotel was present, and that we had to be on our best behaviour as he could be a little strict! The accommodation was split into sexed dorms, so it was the first night we'd be apart. The rooms were amazing, built entirely from salt, beds included, with a mattress on top for comfort. They were comfortable little huts that stayed really warm and housed 5. 

We went to the similarly salt structured dining room and had some tea. There was a very friendly cat which fell asleep on Steph, while tom had a photoshoot with the pecuna outside. It was so tame that it came into the dining room and had milk from a bottle In front of us! 

We sat down for dinner which was a pretty horrible tasting steak and then played cards, whilst we watched the sun set over the salt flats which looked incredible. The owner of the hotel wanted us out the dining area and into our rooms at 7, so we had to sneak the boys into the girls dorm and continue our games there, with a few rums Included which was naughty as alcohol had been banned too! When with Kike though, rules were a bit more flexible. We went to bed fairly early as we had to be up at 6 for our day in the flats.

Salf Flat Sunset

The next morning we packed up and got back in the party car. We drove out into the salt flats for a couple of hours. We still don't understand how Romeo could navigate where we were going as it was just salt and no roads. We had some stops to make before we were allowed to take our perspective pictures. First was the small island that you could climb. It was covered in cactus and was a good 20 minute hike to the top were the views were amazing. 

We got down and headed to our next stop, the Dakar racing monument, and the flag island which were next to each other.

We climbed the monument and danced around the flags trying to find the UK flag but with no luck. It was safe to say that we were all very overexcited. 

We got in the car again and found a pod spot for pictures. Kike was an expert photographer when it came to the salt flats now, so he knew it looked best with no mountains in the back ground. He took pictures of us for a couple of hours, whilst we exhausted every idea possible including running out from Pringles cans and being attacked by dinosaurs. From there, it was out of the salt flats, and into the desert.

We adopted a cook and a couple of staff from the hotel we stayed in the night before, who would join us along the way. They also took pictures in the salt flats too! We drove to a nearby village and they set up a lunch they cooked that morning for us which was tasty. Kike said that in the small village there was a site with mummies in so we took a walk over whilst they cleaned up lunch. There was a wall surrounding the graveyard but no one there to open them, so in true Kike style he convinced us to just jump the wall and have a look! Inside were mud huts filled with skeletons and skulls. Some had 2 bodies in and others just a few bones. A lot of the tombs were looted though so there wasn't much else in them.

From here we got back in the car and embarked on our long journey over the Siloli Desert. It was really scenic with mountains and blue skies surrounding us, but we couldn't help getting a little bored, so Melisa and Steph resorted to rapping and singing for a majority of the 7 hours.

We stopped at a rock where we looked over to an active volcano and took a seat on some rocks. We also noticed a little like pride rock from lion king so took advantage of that photo opportunity.

We carried on and eventually got to our next hotel which was owned by the same owner. This was an eco friendly hotel so had solar panels and light saving bulbs. Again, it was split into male and female dorms so we unpacked and went for food. The food cooked by the bring along Cook was tasty, and we followed routine and went back to our rooms for cards and rum. The rum flowed a lot, and with Steph feeling better, we decided to celebrate Melisa birthday again as we were present. To stop noise complaints (even though we were the only people in the hotel) we went outside to the lagoon that neighbored the hotel. The stars were out and looked stunning against the mountain backdrop and we listened to music and danced on tables till the early hours. We had to be up at 5am so we didn't go to crazy, but it was a very surreal way to spent an evening, and we were proud to say it was Kikes first time drunk in the salt flats. We got to bed and woke up early to start our drive around more desert. We didn't have much breakfast and realised we hadn't taken our malaria tablets with dinner so we popped them at 5am on empty stomachs. This would be prove to be a big mistake later on in the day. 

That day we had lots of stops, including some rancid smelling geysers, and also the 'Arbol de Piedra' which is the 'stone tree' located amongst lots of other interesting large rocks. 

We drove with the lagoons being our destinations. There were coloured with algi and housed thousands of flamingos! We reached the summit and were awe stricken by the amazing scenery. 

We stopped for lunch at the hot spring and got in to the pool with the best view in the world. It was so so warm, on the verge of being a little to hot and boiling us. The water was crystal clear so we took a dip while lunch was prepared.

From there we headed back to Uyuni, with the aim to catch an overnight train to Oruro and then transfer onto a bus to La Paz. After a day of about 14 hours driving, we were pretty sick of jeeps, but thanked Romeo for being a great driver and for providing good music. Kike said that he wanted to thank us for making his drive in the Salt Flats so memorable, and he would think of us rapping every time he listened to his mega mix. 

Kike arranged rooms for the girls and boys to shower and change. Here, Steph realised the malaria tablet on an empty stomach was going to reek havoc with her tummy, and the burning sensation in her chest started. The overnight train seemed like a nightmare. We got to the station and waited for a while and boarded the train. 

When looking back at Bolivia, we have told a few people that the attitudes are quite awkward and if you differ slightly from that rule it can be uncomfortable. A prime example of this was a soon as we sat down on the train, Steph needed to be sick so Kike asked the attendant if he could open the toilet but he didn't want to as the rules were he couldn't till we started moving. At this moment a man came up with his child who was desperate for a wee, and yet the attendant still wouldn't open the door. It was going to be a very messy journey, so Steph had to resort to a sandwich bag instead, God knows what the little boy did! After a pretty rubbish journey we arrived in Oruro and found somewhere for some tea. We got onto another bus and from there we went on our journey to LA Paz.

Potosi - Silver mines

From Sucre we had a 9.30AM bus pick up to Potosi. Potosi is a Town that has basically developed around a huge mine which is still live and working today. Before we arrived here we had been warned that this probably would not be the highlight of our trip, nor the most pleasant experience but it would be pretty informative, eye-opening and unique to say the least.

When we arrived we took a walk around the town which was a mix of huge colonial old builds from the peak of the Spanish rule and more modest and basic new builds similar to that in the majority of deprived Bolivian towns we had previously seen. Many of these surrounded the base of the huge mine which served as a permanent backdrop when walking anywhere here and was an ever present reminder of the tough working nature of this place.

The main square in Potosi with the mine as a backdrop

Closer to the mine

Potosi was also extremely high above sea level..
over 4000m good altitude training for Macchu Picchu

A typical street in Potosi

A view of Potosi

That afternoon we headed to the mint house. This was the largest and grandest looking building in the

whole town and was built by the Spanish to process all the silver  extracted by  indigenous slave labor from the mine. We took a tour of the mint house and viewed some relics, old coins and artifacts from the colonial times. As an indication of the plentiful supply of silver exploited by the Spanish here there was a huge array of silverware to view that had been recovered and preserved.  There was even a toilet made of silver.  We also saw the equipment, working areas and techniques they used to process all the mined silver into coins. Originally the coins had a ratio of 90% silver 10% copper. They were so soft (silver being a very soft metal) that people would literally snap coins into pieces to pay for things in smaller denominations. Eventually the next in line to rule didn’t like the idea of this so changed the to ratio 7 parts silver to 3 parts copper to make a harder coin but produced more denominations.

The mining was so intense, Spanish rule so strong, and slave trade so appalling that it was said enough silver was extracted to build a bridge from Potosi to Madrid and solemnly, another bridge back from the bones of all the slaves that died working there. It was really interesting to visit the mint house and quite eye opening to realize that this relatively small south American town was actually once the richest in the world during the Spanish colonial times. 

One of the coolest things to see was the history of the American dollar sign $ that we are all familiar with today. Apparently it derived from the old PTSI mint mark found on Spanish pieces of eight. The mark appeared on silver coins minted from 1573 to 1825 in Potosí, and would have been widely recognized throughout the North American colonies. The mint mark, composed of the letters "PTSI" superimposed, bears a strong resemblance to the single-stroke dollar sign . 

PTSI mint mark

Another theory is that it may have derived from the Pillars of Hercules with an s shaped banner around them. Either way, it’s a strong indication of the historical wealth and importance the Spanish once held.

 The Two Pillars of hercules on the left

After the minthouse we headed out for some dinner and were given a short briefing on the day ahead of us tomorrow. This would be a trip into the actual Potosi mine that produced all this silver!! Not only that but it is still very much being mined to this day so is fully active.

To give us a brief history of the mining in Bolivia and to help us fully appreciate what we were stepping into tomorrow morning, we watched a documentary that night that was produced by a German film company. It was about two young boys aged 12 and 14 and was filmed about 10 years ago. It followed their lives working in the Potosi mines as children and was a pretty hard hitting bit of footage to watch. It was entirely real and quite hard to watch at times but apparently a genuine snapshot of what mining life was like and to a certain extent still is. 

The documentary we watched

It is not uncommon at all for children as young as 10 to be working in the mines to support their families. It is only recently that the government of Bolivia introduced a law to make it illegal for anyone under the age of 14 to be working in the mine. Sadly despite this child labour in these horrific and quite scary circumstances still occurs. Kike our guide has actually met the two brothers now in their adult lives both in their twenties. He said the older one is out of the mines and trying to make a life for himself in the tourism industry, however the younger one is still in the mines trying to support his young family.

That night with the image of the mining conditions still freshly in our minds, we all went to bed. Throughout the night we could hear what we thought were fireworks going off all night but in the morning realized it was actually dynamite used by the miners to excavate deeper and open new mining channels.

Shortly after breakfast we were picked up by a tiny little hunched over man who went by the name of little wolf. Steph actually had to give the mining experience a miss as she was feeling pretty ill from general Bolivianess. This was probably a blessing in disguise as it turned out to be quite an unpleasant experience yet one Tom is glad he did.

Little wolf

First of all little wolf took us to a little market stall at the base of the mine. Here he described how it was still a working mine and that we should buy some gifts for the miners as a token gesture for their tolerance to letting us in the mine. This consisted of cocoa leaves (something sought after by every South American worker) a bottle of fizzy drink and some workers gloves . This set us back about 20 bolivianos each (£2.00). he then explained to us how he used to work in the mines until he recently stopped to run the tours into them.

cocoa leaves and cigarettes.. Mining essentials.

He also explained to us about the tio (the devil). The miners believe tio has a greater power over every mine. It is said that the tio was invented by the Spanish rule to strike fear into the already deeply religious indigenous slaves as a way of emotional blackmail to ensure they never rebelled against the Spanish rule and terrible mining conditions. They built up fear amongst the slaves so that if they were to stop mining or disrespect the mines then tio would punish them. This was further enhanced by common mining disasters such as tunnel collapses or dangerous explosions which often killed miners. They put this down to the tio which is still a firm belief today. Because of this the miners all make offerings to tio to keep them safe in the mines. 

Little wolf also showed us sticks of dynamite which we all had a go at putting in our mouths for a picture. Bolivia is one of the only places in the world where you can freely buy dynamite on the street. Pretty crazy and quite scary. He then showed us a miners alcohol which was 96% proof. Basically white spirit. This was passed around and we all tried a little sip. We made Melissa go first as it was her BIRTHDAY of all days… as you can see it was extremely unpleasant which I can also vouch for despite being a lover of most things alcoholic!! 

Dynamite demonstration.. No actual explosion.

Little wolfs favourite drink

Melissa shortly after her birthday shot.

Tom and some dynamite. (and Susan back left)

Cocoa leaves (mining energy)

Anyway, after this we were taken to the actual entrance of the mine. We were kitted up in our mining gear and advised on the dangers. The main one being that if little wolf shouted we all had to rapidly jump out of the way and off of the track as there were 3-4 miners rattling down with a big metal cart full of rubble which cannot be stopped in a hurry. This happened a few times and was pretty unnerving to say the least. So much so that Melissa (bless her) had to leave after the first stretch of entrance after having a panic attack. Not a great way to spend your birthday. 

Mine entrance

Suited and booted.

Tom with Melissa 'G' Billic

Just before entering

We carried on and shortly came to a statue of the main track inside the mine which was of the tio. Apparently each mine has a tio statue or representation and every time the miners or anyone enter the mine they give the statue an offering.  Because of this it was covered in cigarettes, the 96% proof alcohol and scattered cocoa leaves. Little wolf made a prayer of some sorts on our behalf and we carried on into the mine.

Tio

Tio offerings

It was dark, cramped, disorientating and quite scary. We probably spent about 45 minutes  to an hour in there which was more than enough time especially with workers and carts hurling past us with cheeks bulging full of cocoa leaves and covered in muck and grit. The mine is not really mined for silver anymore as it has been pretty much exhausted. Despite this, there is still an abundance of multiple lucrative minerals being mined.

Some minerals inside the mine

Apparently the average lifespan of a miner is no more than 30 due to all the nastiness they breathe in whilst down there.  Usually most of them die from Pneumoconiosis. Despite a greater awareness these days, there is still an abundance of young men spending their lives in the mine. Some choose to do this because they have no other choice and some because they know nothing more.

It was real eye opening and something tom was glad he experienced but probably not something he would like to repeat.