The Devil´s Miner, Sucre and Beauty treatments in Santa Cruz!

Potosi is known not only as the highest city in the world, but also in the 16th Century, it was the richest due to the silver mines. When I first heard about the silver mines, I thought, hmmm... interesting. What I didn´t appreciate at the time was the horrors concealed within those mines. 8 million people are predicted to have been killed trying to exploit the silver from the mines. And there are still children as young as 10 years old working in the mines. Miners normally live until 35-40 years old max. due to silicosis (a disease that rots the lungs from the inside due to the gases and dust they breath in). And they earn pennies for the privilege. We watched a film called the Devil´s Miner on the first night in Sucre, about a 14 year old boy and his life in the mines after his father died. The film had a profound effect on me. And although it is normal for me to blub at movies, this was part sadness and part horror I think. That these things still take place in the 21st Century makes me shudder.

Anyway, let´s lighten up this blog a bit!!

Sucre is a beautiful city. It´s very different from a lot of the rest of Bolivia, and has a lot of beautiful colonial architecture. We went on a city tour, and it´s interesting to hear how much the Bolivians hate the Spanish, and how they relish in telling the stories of their independance. We went to visit the markets of Tarabuco, which were less touristic than many of the other markets we´ve visited, and were full of locals buying their cocoa leaves, clothes, sandals, food and dynamite (sold to the miners!). In the evening we watched an amazing show of different Bolivian dance styles telling stories from the past.

Then it was off to Santa Cruz. In Potosi some of the group went to see a football match between Real Potosi and Flamingos (a Rio football team) and guess who was on the flight with us. The entire Real Potosi team. This caused great excitment as you can imagine. Although the team was flying economy class with us, and were mixed up with the rest of the rif-raf! We then arrived at our hotel to find the team were also staying there! They are a pretty big team in Bolivia, and the teams are apparently playing for the title of South America cup holders, so apparently they are pretty well known and good at that! You´d never catch Chelsea travelling economy class! And i´m sure there´d be more of an uproar. They definitely wouldn´t have to wait in line, and let us pass through security before them!!!

Santa Cruz itself was a bit dull. It´s a business city primarily! So we went shopping and treated ourselves to massages (5 pounds for 20 mins) and eyelash extensions (10 pounds). So now all the girls are relaxed and fluttering!! Others also had hair treatments (8 pounds) and pedicures (3 pounds 50!).

So now we are in BRAZZZZZZIIIILLLLLL.....

A bit a a hellish day with internal flight, 2 hours wait at the Bolivian Border in the heat and humidity and then a much easier trip through the Brazilian Border. At least the hotel here in Corumba has a pool, with a poolside bar! Luxury!! Off to the Pantanal tomorrow.

Hugs to all :-) x

The crazy world of Bolivia

Bolivia is indeed an amazing country for many reasons. The landscape is so rich, and yet the people are so poor. After La Paz we went to the desolate town of Uyuni - the gateway to the spectacular salt flats. The town itself had little to recommend it, and with a military base next to the hotel and the style of the buildings, it had more of the feeling of downtown Karbul!! Desolate indeed. The plan for the following few days was altered due to too much rain on the salt flats. The first day we went out in a 4x4 to see the rock valley and lakes with flamingos. The scenery was amazing! Our driver was completely crazy. He would laugh maniacly at the smallest little thing and kept stopping to speak to people and visit lady friends in every town!! We ran out of petrol twice (Luckily there was a full petrol can on the roof) and the 4x4 had black smoke pouring out of it into the car. But hey... this is Bolivia! We stayed in a basic little place in the middle of nowhere, and then headed off to the Salt Flats the next day.
What can I say... the salt flats certainly are a miracle of nature. The landscape is indescribable. White salt and blue/grey sky. It was great fun messing around on the flats taking crazy perspective photos and now everything is salty!
Off to Sucre tomorrow.

La Paz, Bolivia

Crazy city! About 1.5million inhabitants (although they are not sure how accurate this figure is!) but it feels like many more. The roads don´t seem to have any rules, the drivers jump red lights, the crossroads are chocka block with cars trying to go in all directions, and you take your life in your hands every time you try to cross the road, as they don´t stop at the pedestrian crossings either!
The country itself is very poor, and for us dirt cheap. It feels a little bit wrong just how cheap it is. I had a soup and sandwich for lunch in a good restaurant today for the equivalent of about 3 quid. And you can buy trousers, alpaca jumpers, tapestries etc. for between 4 and 8 pounds! It´s difficult not to go wild, and buy it all as it is all so beautiful! You can barter down the prices, but when you realise you are arguing over 20p, it sometimes seems a little pointless. They need that money more than we do!

Llama foetuses & other offerings

Yesterday we did a city tour that included Moon Valley - an area which used to be under water, and now the eroded soil feels and looks like you are on the moon! And the witches market. Where you can buy llama foetuses, among other things! Apparently the foetuses are buried in the foundations of a house, as an offering to Pachamama (mother earth). The builders won´t complete the work on a house if this is not done, as they believe the building will come crashing down! If you build an office block or the like you need a whole llama! The bigger the building, the bigger the llama! There are also other offerings that have to be buried with the foetus, such as sweets, and stone charms for happiness, money, long life etc.
So, we leave La Paz tomorrow and head down to the Salt Flats via a bus and a night train.
I will write again once we are in the next Bolivian town, as the next week ish will be quite remote.
Hugs to all. x

Lake Titicaca and the islands

Wow, hard to believe that Lake Titicaca is a lake and not a sea! It is enormous and spectacular. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. We went by boat across the lake to some floating islands that are made of reeds and soil, and literally  float on the lake and are ancored in place by ropes in the mud! The people who live on them live in reed houses, and eat the reeds as well as fish etc. A lot of their business now is tourism of course, but it helps them to survive, so.....
After the floaing islands we continued to Amantani island, where we had an amazing experience staying with a family. The houses are simple and rustic, but beautifully decorated with the traditional woven cloths. The families have 2 groups of tourists to stay a month more or less, and they rotate the families which take the tourists, so you feel like you have a real experience of family life. The mother cooked us the most delicious lunch and dinner. Simple but extremely tasty. We walked up a mountain to their temple to pachamama (mother earth) on the top (over 4000m above sea level!) for spectacular views over the lake and the surrounding scenery. In the evening the family dressed us up in traditional costume and took us to a dance in the local village hall. Such an amazing experience, it is hard to put it into words. We danced the night away, and them walked back to the houses for a nights sleep in the quietest place ever (even quieter than Woolpit!). It was great to be able to experience real life with the indigenous people in Peru. And i found that my portuguese can more or less be understood as spanish with a bit of help from Jen and changing a few words!
The next day we visited another island known locally as the paradise island, and you can see why from the peace, tranquility and scenery. More hills and the local trout caught in the lake at eaten at the top of the highest mountain! Yummy!
And then... off to Bolivia!

Puno

Spent 7 hours on the bus to Puno today! Lake Titicaca tomorrow and staying overnight with the families on the islands. That´s all for now! More from Bolivia in a few days. :-)

Amazonia

3 days, 2 nights in the Jungle! Awesome.... The vastness and power of the Madre de Dios River (Mother of God), a motorised canoe trip or two, Monkey island, Cayman spotting, birds, butterflies, a large tarantula, mammoth sized mozzies; but most of all serenity. What can I say. What an experience! Sleeping in Jungle lodges to the sounds of the jungle was just fabulous, and I have never felt so calm as when drifting down the river at night in the boat - eyes closed, jungle sounds all around. Peace!

Hugs to all.:-) x

Machu Picchu

Wow... Where to start! Peru is fabulous! We arrived in a blurr of international flights, jet lag, tiredness and altitude sickness (a feeling a little bit like a hangover or when you are overtired or hungry!) But the experiences so far have well exceeded all my expectations! The first couple of days were taken up with travelling and arriving in Cuzco - the base for trips into the Andes and approx 3500m above sea level (hence the altitude issues!) Day 3 was Machu Picchu. I did wonder whether all the expossure to images of the place I have had in the past would make the real thing less impressive, but i was spectacularly wrong. The whole place is awe-inspiring. A photo can never capture the magnitude of the place and the aura surrounding it. I felt like crying when I first saw it.

Excitement, Nerves and saying "Adeus"!

So, here is the map of the trip!
We fly Monday morning into Lima in Peru. Am very excited but also slightly nervous! Had a lovely send off party with some lovely ladies last night, and spent a lovely afternoon with my folks today. Well, it looks like I am actually going - the trip of a lifetime! South America.... the Mecca to which I have been drawn over the last few years. Let's see what it has in store for Jen and me! Keep you posted.....
Here is the link to our itinerary: -
http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/itinerary/south-american-dreams/sal

3 days to go!!

Only three days to go, and I haven't actually started packing yet! I have, however, finished work and spent most of today sorting things out! Getting excited now....