Archiv der Kategorie: World Trip 2018-19

Bolivia, World Trip 2018-19

Wild West in Tupiza

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Our plan of following the sun seemed to be working: when we arrived in Tupiza after a very uncomfortable minibus ride (squeezed in the back with barely any legroom), the sun was shining and the mountains around town were glowing in a beautiful red. A good welcome! On our first full day, we decided to climb up Cerro de la Cruz for a view of the city. It was a bit of a walk along dusty roads first, but the climb itself took shorter than expected and brought us up to a beautiful viewpoint. Seriously, the views in all directions were just stunning!

Since it was getting hotter and hotter, we then took advantage of the free swimming pool in the partner hotel of where we stayed. It was not as nice and refreshing as expected, but a reasonably good way to relax a bit before we had to get some things done, like booking the Uyuni-Tour, getting our laundry done etc. Travel life! We also spontaneously decided to book a 3 h horse riding tour for the next morning, since the prices were really low and it seemed like a great way to see this desert landscape.

Good idea! Next morning, we headed off together with Ladina and Kevin from Switzerland, who should also be our Uyuni group as we found out. We first took a colectivo to the place where the horses are kept, and off we went! The first place we visited was Puerta del Diablo, the devil’s gate, an impressive rock formation where we briefly got off the horses to take some pictures.

We then passed by Valle de los Machos – some more funny looking rocks – to Cañon del Inca, a really cool canyon. But anyways – the whole trip so far had been amazing!! Riding horses in this kind of landscape feels exactly like the thing you should be doing. Sometimes we were going fast, and it felt a little bit like in a Western movie.

So when our guide asked if we didn’t want to extend the trip to 5 h and add Cañon del Duende, we didn’t hesitate for long… We took a route that connects the two canyons – actually quite a long ride, but very beautiful once again. Cañon del Duende itself can be explored better by foot, as it’s quite narrow in the end and you have to climb up and down some rocks to see it. It’s a really cool place with unreal rock formations!

I’m really glad we came all that way even if it meant a long ride back whereas our bones and muscles were starting to hurt and we were out of water since we had only planned on a 3 h ride. But… the landscape and the feeling of riding a horse in these kind of surroundings more than made up for it! Very much recommended.

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Bolivia, World Trip 2018-19

Potosí above and below earth

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Our bus ride from Sucre to Potosí was one of the most annoying and uncomfortable ones so far (next to the minibus to Toro Toro) and we arrived in the rain and got kicked out into a rain shower. The whole time during the bus ride, weather had been dry and sunny… We do realize that our bad luck with weather on this trip (starting in the Solomon Islands already) is influencing our mood, so we have decided to skip any places where the weather doesn’t look good going forward. Luckily, in Potosí the rain stopped quickly and we were treated to a nice and sunny afternoon. Originally, we had wanted to straight away do a tour of the mines that afternoon, but since our bus got delayed that wasn’t possible anymore. In the end, this was nice though since it gave us the chance to see Potosí – a cute little town that very positively surprised us! I’m not sure why this place is not recommended more. I think even if you don’t go on a tour to the mines, it’s worth a stop if you’re headed to Tupiza afterwards.

We especially liked the views from the cathedral – the typical Potosí picture you see on posters is taken from here I guess! You can see Cerro Rico, the mountain where the mines are located and the town stretching to all sides. Very well worth the entrance fee and breathtaking climb!

For Sunday morning, we had booked a tour of Potosí’s famous mines. Unfortunately/fortunately there are no miners working on Sundays, so you’re basically visiting empty mines. Unfortunately because it would have been interesting to see them at work and talk with them. Fortunately because it would have maybe felt a bit like a ‚human zoo‘. Anyways, it was what it was. We had a funny guy as a guide who had worked in the mines himself before. He first brought us to his place to get our protective clothes, helmets and headlamps, then we went to the miners market. Not really a market but more like a couple of hole-in-the-wall shops which all sold the same drinks, cookies, coca leaves…and dynamite! Yes, you read correctly. Potosí is the only place in the world where you can legally buy dynamite. We bought some, as well as some of the other stuff as presents for the miners, and off we went up Cerro Rico.

I was a bit anxious before visiting the mines about how the small tunnels would make me feel – and it’s definitely nothing for claustrophobic people! Straight away in the beginning we had to climb down a ladder into a small dark hole. The tour continued through tunnels of various heights, sometimes you really had to duck and squeeze (especially when going up or down a level), sometimes you could walk upright.

Along the way, we learned about the difficult life of the miners and all the health and safety risks they are taking. The life expectancy of a miner is 40-45 years only! I was shocked when by the end of the tour I asked our guide how old he was – 35! He looked like 50+ to me, having lost most of his teeth and having a hunchback. But no, this guy is only 4 years older than me, but looks like his best years are long gone by. And he even only worked in the mines for 5 years!

To ‚protect‘ themselves, the miners have built little statues on different places in the mines called ‚Tío‘ to who they bring some high percentage alcohol which gets poured over various body parts, coca leaves and a cigarette which they light and put in the statues‘ mouth. Doing so every now and then should help them make it safely out of the mine again.

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The most exciting and a little scary moment was when we got to try out the dynamite at one point of the tour. Beforehand, this idea sounded fun and cool, but after spending an hour or so squeezing through tunnels, I wasn’t so sure anymore… How stable are these tunnels really and what if something collapses? Waiting for the explosion, my heart was certainly beating faster and I was glad when of course after a loud ‚boom‘ everything was fine. I guess our guide knows what he is doing as a former miner and he brought us quite far away before the explosion. It gave us a good impression though, of the risks that these people are taking every day and what is completely normal for them…

All in all, the tour was very interesting and made me understand Bolivia better. Mining plays a big role in the country and there are often road blocks when miners are protesting for better working conditions. Now we know why.

Bolivia, World Trip 2018-19

Short stop in sunny Sucre

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In Bolivia, it often makes most sense to take night busses since distances are big. So once again we sat on a night bus – from Samaipata to Sucre. This time, there was only semi-cama available and we had read pretty bad things about this ride – but were positively surprised! The road is almost fully paved by now, our bus driver was driving carefully in the corners and we got some ok sleep. We even arrived ahead of time! Tupiza Tours – hereby also recommended. Unfortunately, arriving early also meant that at some hostels, noone was opening the doors yet…So we spent over an hour walking around searching for an affordable place to stay. Sucre is a bit pricey in the center, but as always it did work out in the end!

The good news was that the sun was shining! And since we (sometimes) learn from our mistakes, we straight away went out sightseeing after a wake-up shower. Sucre most definitely is a very pretty city with whitewashed buildings, cute plazas and a nice viewpoint at La Recoleta. It was a bit of an exhausting climb up but very much worth it!

After that, we spent some more time walking through the picturesque streets and exploring some markets – but to be honest…after half a day, we had seen it. People seem to stay in Sucre for really long, but even though we found it a beautiful city, there just wasn’t enough to do and see for us.

So after a night at KulturCafe Berlin, a really cool hostel-bar, and some sleep, we hopped on a bus to Potosí. Anyways, it had started to rain again, so it was good to keep the sunny memories of the day before and get going!