Bolivia part 2

Bolivia  was a very interesting place to say the least. After the terrible border crossing as you read about in my last post, I already had mixed feelings. Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and everyone I met said it would be the cheapest howeever I didn't find it that much cheaper than Peru. The food was more bland and simple than Peru with still your standard Menu del Dia at lunchtime for 1.50 which included a watered down juice drink, soup, a plate with rice, meat, and sometimes beans or some other side. Lots of potatoes and surprisingly not a lot of quinoa except in soups.  As in all countries in Latin America fruit seemed to never be eaten in meals, but rather in juices. Salads were usually included in menu del dia however a salad means three pieces of lettuce with lots of water on it, maybe a tomato and lemon dressing.  While I did really enjoy the soups as I did in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia as well.. the main plates were quite simple.

I'm writing this post up using an awesome bluetooth keybaord that Patric (sailboat captina) let me borrow as we sit on a desolte bay in Cuba. So I'm not totally sure where I left you in Bolivia but I biked "The Death Road"  which was apparently the most Deadly Road in The world until they finally made a new road a few years ago. Now the road is only used by bike tours and a very select few locals who live on the old road. While I can see how it was extremely dangerous for two cars to be on the road, going down on a bike was exhiliarating but I never thought I was going to die. There were places where you could chose to be close to the edge, I chose not to be on that side on the road. The first portion was absolutely freezing and I thought my hands were going to be frozen to the bike. Then as we went down the weather got better. There were awesome snacks along the way and then at the very end we had a huge buffet which ... I didn't really enjoy. The group was a lot of fun and we all got along really well. Two solo french travelers, argentian couple and myself. The ride back was quite long on the new road and there was lots of traffic but the new road I felt very safe. I had heard that roads in BOlivia were pretty terrible but I think that is pretty outdated as most of them now seem to be paved and  seemed quite safe to me. 

I had the lovely opportunity to meet up with Dan Boyle (friend from teaching in Korea) and girlfriend Lillie in La Paz for breakfast. They had been traveling in Chile and various other places for a few months and so amazing to see them again. They visited in Phoenix Jan 2014 when Lillie ran the PF Changs Half Marathon. If all things work out, I will see Dan again this year in Korea!

After La Paz I headed to Sucre. Dan and Lillie really liked Sucre. I arrived in Sucre and met a guy from Lets go Bananas hostel commune in Cusco and joined him and some other Frenchies and headed to see "Dinosaur Prints"... I thought that this was kind of going to be a joke and when I got there was so impressed. It is a UNESCO world hertiage site because they have the most Dinosaur footprints in the world... The tour was actually quite impressive and I learned a little more about dinosaurs and being able to literally step next to the prints was amazing. Because of the tectonic plates moving the footprints are on a huge wall like thing which makes it even neater to think about which way they were headed, etc, etc!  The rest of Sucre was okay, but just a cute little city.

From Sucre I took a day bus to Potosi  which was an incredible ride up through some mountains. I sat next to a very friendly guy on the bus who was extremely curious about nearly everything about me and the USA. One thing we talked about that really made me think about life was time zones. He didn't understand that in the USA we have three different time zones because we have so much space. I think if Bolivia had an interstate you could drive across the country in maybe 15 or so hours.. I explained that it would take you days to drive across the USA and that is even on fast interstates. No speed bumps on the interstate in the USA. Then I pulled out my phone to show him on google maps a few things like where Arizona was and just comparing the size of the countries. He also didn't understand how we could have different weather in different states. Explaining all these things in Spanish and seeing the lightbulbs go off was really cool and a moment where I am really happy that I had the ability to speak spanish and the opportunity to talk to a local. Staying in hostels in what many say on the Gringo Trail is hard to meet people from the countries which you are visiting which for me is a huge bummer because you don't know a country unless you know the people.. and not just ones you encounter in a hotel or restaurant.  Speaking of restaurants, it was sad to see in many restaurants many many of the moms working with their kiddos all over the restaurant but particularly in Bolivia a lot of the kiddos are put to work at a young age. One particular restaurant one little boy must have been about four or five and was bringing everyone their utensils, the juice, and soup meanwhile mom was cooking tons of food and when it was ready the little boy had to bring it to the guests. Then the other child was being watched by the five year old as he climbed all over, wandered into the street, and back in every once in a while for big brother to get him some more juice. This wasn't an uncommon sight for Bolivia or really any third world country but just  hard to see sometimes. People of other countries must work much much harder to earn much less money. That woman charged 10 Bolivianos or 1.30 for all of her meal. There were probably fifteen people in there when I went so she made a whopping 20 bucks... Nothing for all the work she did nearly on her own.

Okay.. back to Potosi! The main touristy thing to do in Potosi is to visit the mines. The mines tour was very intense. I am not usually a person to be nervous or afraid, but there were a few moments where I absolutely wanted out but you are stuck in.  First we started off by visiting the Miners Market where they stock up on their needs of the day. The main purchases there made by miners are sticks of dynamite, huge bottles of pure alcohol for less than a dollar a liter, and then coca leaves.  The sticks of dynamite seemed very scary to me but after visiting I understood why they were needed.  Coca leaves were and are still used today by miners in order to decrease their appetite, a stimulant, decrease thirst, and contintue working for many hours without feeling that they are tired. Coca leaves were outlawed for everyone but continued to still be allowed for the miners to use  when there were only slaves in the mines. Typically the miners start working at the ripe aage of 13 and have so many health problems due to the breathing conditions, and alcohol not many of them live to see past 40 years old without some sort of major problem in their health. Our van picked up a miner who was waiting for the bus and he was only 50 but looked to me like he was 95.  Before we got to the actual mne we went to the processing pant where they would bring the huge piles of things looking like dirt which were copper and silver to be processed.  Then we geared up, put some coca leaves in our mouths and entered the mines. The first part wasn't too bad. I didn't think too much of it.We had to be very careful of the  minig carts coming down the railways filled with over two tons of materials to be taken to the prcessing places. These would catch speed and you were in big trouble and appartently could die if you were on the tracks. Our guide was very good about knowing when they were coming so it was no surprise but to watch them fly by was scary. We continued on and on  and I believe they say that we walked 3 miles in the mines in total. Much of this walking was through wet uneven surfaces, always bumping my head on the ceiling with my helmet. I didn't realzie that my camera would become so dirty and worried that it wouldn't work again, luckily ti was fine just had a dusting of sulfur on it. We crawled down into little side parts of the tunnel where guys who did not work for a cooperation were working on their own. We didn't get to see them use their stick of dynamite but usng the sticks of dynamite saved over days and days worth of work. Mining there is all about luck, if you are lucky and join a good cooperation and find good things in your piles of collected dirt after working for so long you can continue moving up higher until eventually being able to found your own cooperation if you would like For the unlucky ones who dont find minerals in the places in which they can mine, they must work long and hard hours for less than 100 dollars a month and just hope to eventually get lucky. We had all bought gifts in the miners market. I bought teh little package they put together which was coca leaves, a two liter of juice, and some coloring books for their children and delievered it to one of the independent minrers who told us about his working coniditons and his life. We crawled so much I was sore the next day.  The amount of dust I breathed in and my hands turned yellow from crawling on the sulfur was terrible. I cannot imagine working day in and out in the dark and dust. The final thing we did before leaving the mine was praise the mine God whose name I forgot. The guide continued talking about the lives of the miners and how it was once South Americas richest town then they wre robbed from all the Spaniards and other people who came to cash in. He had the nasty alcohol that the miners would drink. It was literally rubbing alcohol, he did the normal chant that the miners would do and we left a burning cigarette in his mouth then he toasted to all of us and each had to take a swig of the alchohol.. It was wretched to say the least. Then... we finished the first tiny little bottle after everyone in the group had some and we were so relieved... then he pulled out another bottle and said that it was bad luck to only have one round, everything comes in two.. So another nasty swig and we were finally out of the mine. I was extremely relieved when we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel... literally.  Potosi was my favorite plaza in all of Latin America. It was so lit up, cute and quaint, and tons of school children always in and out of the square.

That evening I had my skype interivew with Gloria from Handong International School for a summer camp job in Pohang this summer.  It had been a really long time since I had an interview, nearly a year and a half but luckily it was literally the perfect fit because I had directed a summer camp and taght English before who is a better person to hire than myself? :P

The next day morning I was trying to leave my hostel which was so lovely and brand new. An argentinan girl had opened the place a few months earlier and they had all sorts of cool living spaces to hang out in and a Japanese hippie traveling painter was there working on the most amazing art work for the walls.  Anyways I was trying to leave because the owner of the hostel said that I could take a bus early in the morning to Tupiza.. however she didn't tell me that I wouldn't be able to get out of the hostel. I was looking for where someone sleeping who worked at the hostel was because I was locked in. Finally  I woke up the Japanese guy who I had chatted with earlier in Spanish and asked where I could find an owner to open the door. He told me about the staff room and to go in there. It was quite frustrating being locked in without a clue where to go.  Finally I got out and headed to the square to take a bus... and waited and there was no one, complete silence, maybe four cars or taxis went by. Finally a guy was running and spoke perfect English and welcomed me to Potosi and he told me the buses didn't start yet and that everyone was still sleeping. I arrived at the bus station by taxi as he advised and was hoping to be on the bus at 7.... All the bus companies said they had a 7 departure time however they all had an 830 departure time because the people were still sleeping. So when Bolivia sleeps it sleeps.

While waiting for the bus I went outside to get some breakfast which consisted of a quinoa apple drink... Not really sure how to describe it but I loved it and drank it all the time for breakfast. Then headed back in where as always I would be surprised at how freely kids can be left running around. A little maybe 2 and 4 year old on their own. Two year old crying and crying continuously without stopping and finally 15 minutes later after the older brother repeatedly tried to stop him from crying mom came over to pick up her kids and see what was wrong.

The bus journey to Tupiza was beautiful and I was really looking forward to some warmth in Tupiza after so much cold in Bolivia. After arriving there I immediately wanted to figure out a Uyuni Salt Flats tour group and secure that then explore.   After negociating long and hard I finally found a group and tour company I liked and had read really good things on Tripadvisor about. After hearing many mixed reviews about these tours it was important to find a good one.  I would head out the next day. Meanwhile daylight was getting short and I had to get out into my little home in Bolivia.

Tupiza was lieratlly like being in AZ with beautiful red rocks, cactus, horses, dirt raods, and beautiful hiking, and an amazing sunset.  I wished I could have stayed there longer and do another hike but knew time could be cutting things close for my next adventure.

Salt Flats tour from Tupiza was absolutely incredible. I had a wonderful group which consisted of an Aussie couple I had met the day before in Tupiza and a German lady. Everyone was older than me, and all doing pretty long trips. The Aussie couple had been traveling by land in a car they purchased in Santiage and seen tons of amazing national parks in Chile & Argentina. I was the only one who spoke Spanish howeer the German lady had studied some Italian so she understood a few things here and there.  So I was the main translator for the group. In the front seat of our Land Cruiser was Edgar our driver and Modesta our cook in the front seat. Then the rest of us in the back and our backpacks tied to the top. The first day consisted of a lot of sites outside of Tupiza which were very deserty... Amazing rock formations formed by the wind and such. Domesticated llamas and wild vicuna were everywhere. We stopped at a few fields filled with llamas and could finally get some good llama selfies. We stopped for lunch in an abandoned little house. Meals were a little interesting. Lunches were generally Bolivian with Rice, meat some sauce and some vegetables and a piece of fruit with some cola or water to drink. Then two meals were spghetti and lasagna which were not so good. I may have said this before but when traveling in South America its always better not to order food from western countries because pretty much a guarntee that you will be disappointed and eat something very strange tasting which sometimes makes you sick because hamburgers can be made over the course of an afternoon where the chef makes 1000 patties at one time with the meat all sitting out the whole afternoon. Breakfasts were bread or pancakes with jam, dulce de leche which is kinda like carmel, coffee, tea. There was also snacks all included which were generally a pack of cookies in the morning and afternoon tea and crackers when w reached our acccomodation for the nights. Accomodation for the nights were very basic and simple. The temperatures were generally quite chilly and I would sleep in all my jackets and used the sleeping bag they loaned me! The final night of accomodation was the coolest in a salt hotel, where they say everything was made from salt. Which... clearly isn't totally possible. But the bed was a huge block of salt, same with the tables, chairs, and the ground had rocks made of salt.  Its all quite a blur of he days but other places that we got to visit was a red lake, a green lake, geysers, natural hot springs,  more rock formations, lakes of boric acid, lakes and the list goes on and on. The  different color lakes are from the different chemicals with a mixute of water and air they would change. The green lake when we arrived didn't really look that green and we were a bit disappointed but we ate lunch there and after lunch we got up and the lake had suddenly changed to an amazing deep green like we had seen in the pictures in the travel agents office.  In the red lake there were hundreds, maybe a thousand beautiful flamingos. The flamingos eat the red algae which helps give them their beatiful color. They are absolutely intriguing to watch as they bob their head in the water to dig for somet food, and watching them take off to fly or land they walk on water.  The final day was finally the day we would see the salt flats. Well.. we had seen a few oter smaller salt flats but Uyuni Salt Flats are the largest in the world and span 12,500 kilometers, Because of the flatness the color and the reflection of the sun you can take really awesome perspective pictures. It is quite tricky to take the photos and line up the objects but they are awesome. I am actually still waiting to get the photos from the Aussie couple and really hope nothing happened with a bad email or something! But I have some great ones. We were definitely all a little bit sad to be leaving and going our seperate ways again after spending four very close days together!

Unfortunately I had to get a room in Uyuni which was an overprices dump of a place when the salt flats ended because my bus to Chile wouldn't leave until 4am and the bus companies nor the train station stayed open the whole night. I was overjoyed to log on to use the internet and see that two things would work out for the future. One was that I was accepted to teach in Handong, the next one was that I could join Patirc and Nicole for their sailing journey from Honduras to Cuba. So I spent nearly the entire night planning, buying flights and buying things I needed such as new travelers insurance for the journey.
Coca leaves were something I had heard that you had to partake in. And part of my travel motos are do as locals do.  A bag of coca leaves cost about 3 bolivianos or .50 cents. Usually I just enjoeyed them with hot water and a spoon of sugar for some delicious tea. On a few of the hikes I put them in my mouh like a wad of chewing tabaco. The effects are exactly what you need on a hike or to get your day started. Its just like coffee and acts as a stimulant and has apparent benefits for your stomach and many other body parts.  It also helps with altitude sickness or adjusting to the altitiude. If I could have brought some home for you all to try I would have. But its something I highly recommend trying in Peru and Bolivia.

Overall I enjoyed Bolivia but found the people much more standoff ish and a little less helpful than in other countries. I did meet a few very friendly ones who generally were in tourism. The vast variety of climates from Tuipiza to the highest captiol city in the world in smoggy La Paz were incredible. Bus joureys were the cheapest in my travels but always late and conconstantly stopping in weird places on the road and adding boxes of cargo I think? There were sometimes bathrooms and sometimes rest stops. I don't think there was ever air conditioning on the buses but usually temperatures were not unbearable without it. You could always negociate the prices of the buses down a dollar or sometimes more as they have the ever famous gringo tax present in all of my travels as well. Asking locals how much they paid for something was always an indicator of how bad the gringo tax really is! I think I ended up passing through Bolivia quite quickly I was really sad to miss the amazon since the yellow fever shot didn't work out. But it's definitely a country I was mediocre on.