Denver the last

After the mine visit in potosi, we spent a further two days in the city, one day we climbed up an old church spire which afforded us panoramic views of the city and surrounding mountains.

Upon leaving Potosi we headed to Sucre the Judicial capital of Bolivia, the main square had some beautiful architecture and some of the most important buildings in Bolivian history, the liberty house where the Bolivian independence documents where signed over 400 years ago. Whilst in Sucre we visited a dinosaur park, a 300m wall which contained over 5000 fossilised dinosaur footprints, belonging to 4 different types of dinosaur, although now vertical, the wall had once been the floor of a swamp, and it is thought all the fossils on show where preserved from the same day!

After sucre we took an overnight bus to Cochabamba, a nice little city with very few things to do. The main attraction here is a huge statue of Christ, bigger than the one in Rio, however after catching a cable car to the foot of it we realised how tacky it seemed on comparison, in the base of the statue a souvenir shop, and what we thought memorial plaques but on closer inspection we realised they where infact adverts for local businesses. You could also climb up the inside of the statue and view out of the arms, I'm surprised they hadn't put view points outbid the statues eyes and sell it as seeing through the eyes of Jesus!

From Cochabamba we travelled to Oruro, not that there was much there! We visited a mining museum, that was based in am old working mine, it housed equipment that had been used and a number of different Tio's. Oruro host Bolivia's equivalent of carnival, which the town appeared to be getting ready for, cleaning away last years decorations ready for the new ones to be put in place!

Going Underground

Going underground
From Uyuni we travelled to Potosi, the world highest city, with the worlds highest brewery. Unfortunately this was not the reason for our visit.
Potosi was, at one time, the richest city in Bolivia, and the grand buildings, and churches are a testament to that. The vast wealth in the city came about from the silver mines located in the surrounding mountains, these our now a large part of the tourist routes in Bolivia.
So the trip to the mine started with us being geared up in wellies, protective clothing, hard hat and headlamp. We were taken by bus to the miners Market where our guide explained about the different items on sale, and we purchased some ourselves as gifts to the miners. The guide then showed us the procedure for chewing coca leaves, the cigarettes the miners smoke and the 96% proof alcohol they drink, as well as the dynamite!
After a short ride we arrived above the processing plants the minerals mined are sent to, the guide again took the time to explain the process as well as the dangers of the by products, which include high concentration cyanide.
Finally we arrived at the mine, and we where given a few minutes for some photos by the carts and at the entrance to the mine, after a safety briefing we divided into groups of 5/6 and headed into the mine. First point of call was to give thanks to El Tio the miners devil, although catholic men the miners believe God does not enter the mine, so inside the mine they worship El Tio. Each day upon entering the mine they give coca leaves, cigarettes, and alcohol to El Tio in exchange for safety, good mineral, strength and fertility, and we did like wise!
The guide led us into the main shaft of the mine, calling out whenever there was a low part of the ceiling or a cart filled with stone heading our way, at which point, it was a case of dive into the nearest alcove and off the tracks!
The first group of miners we visited involved us climbing up a shaft and through some small gaps on our hands and knees, upon reaching the point of work we were greeted by a large chap called don pedro. he was huge! god only knows how he had gotten through the holes we had crawled through. Don pedro was really friendly posing for pictures, answering questions, and sharing the gifts of alcohol. He explained about the three main minerals found in the rock, zinc, tin, and the occasional streaks of silver. We all had a go at shovelling stone into a wheel barrow before trying to wheel it off!
The next group we came across where about to load one of the carts, which was astonishing to watch, as a slide was opened and a ton of stone filled the awaiting cart, the leader of the cart was a 17 year old who had been working in the mine for 5 years already!
The final group we met, again involved climbing and crawling in small spaces, was led by two brothers, at first they where a little stand offish and held up the miner-gringo divide, but as soon as alcohol and cigarettes where passed around, they opened up and would speak to us in a more friendly manner, I can understand the hostility toasted the tourists as the miners see very little of the money paid for the tour. 10% of what we paid goes to the mine, and that money isn't necessarily fed down to the miners who entertain the tours!
All in all the tour was an amazing experience but it's not something I would rush back to doing in a hurry, it gave us the insight to see the horrendous working conditions that these guys put up with, sometimes for very little money, as each group of miners works as a cooperative, so if the mineral in the area they are mining is poor then so is the amount of money the refineries pay for the product!

Salt flats

Salt flats
Day one

We where picked up from our hostel at 8am and taken to the Chilean border for our exit stamps, this took about 40 minutes, despite our drivers best attempts at queue jumping 16 people!

After another 30 minutes in the mini bus we arrived at the Bolivian border, here we got our entry stamps, and met up with the 4x4's, in which the most part of the next three days where to be spent! After a hearty breakfast of bread, dulce, fruit, yoghurt, coffee, and coca leaf tea we set off to the first attraction, the White lake, here we got our first glimpse of flamingos. Stop number two of the day was the copper saturated, green lake, with impressive mountainous and deserty surroundings! After an hour or so in the car we stopped at the hot springs, and our first days lunch, smash and hot dog sausages! After lunch we made the climb to a mighty 4,800m and went driving through the geyser fields, with photo opportunities galore! We finally made a small descent to 4,200m and here we found the red lake and our first nights accommodation, a residencial with no running water! Highlights of day one include the drivers door swinging open whilst driving, finding the driver had his wife and child with him, meeting a french guy who is cycling around the world, and discovering toilets worse than Glastonbury!

Day two

We Rose to a crisp morning having had a decent nights sleep despite the altitude and we were the first car on the road, only for Habib to realise he had left his hat in the hostel, so our lead was less than it should have been

First point of call today was the rock tree, a piece of volcanic rock that if you squinted and had the sun in your eyes looked remotely like a tree! The drivers wife took up a position in the rear of the car next to katie allowing me to move into the middle of the car for a much smoother journey!

From the rock tree we drove to a number if lagoons, including the ironic deep lagoon, it was only 20-30cm deep, and the aptly named stinky lagoon, due to the high sulphur content, this lagoon is home to the largest population of flamingos in south america.

Our lunch stop on day two came at timely point, the car got a flat tire just as we were pulling into a huge collection of rocks, the scheduled stopping point, but funnily enough the road leading here had been the smoothest we experienced! The six of us found shelter under an overhang and set about watching 3 men, a woman, and child trying to repair the puncture, the jack was in place and the wheel off in a time a F1 pit crew would of been proud of, as was the smoothness of the spare tire! Thankfully they decided against using the slick, and instead replaced the inner tube of the original wheel! All was well and lunch was good, then the health and safety issues started, as the spare wheel wasn't being used Habib lay under the car to reattach it to the van, at the same time, with the car still jacked up, his son and another thought it a good idea to climb into the car! Fortunately no one came to any harm!

After lunch we drive continuously for about 3 hours, onto and across a smaller salt flat than the main one we had come to visit. it was at this point I was thankful to be in the middle of the car, no banging of heads on ceiling, no curved spine from bending, and no knees under my chin. Seeing one of the other cars from our tour group broken down was a welcome sight as it allowed us 10 minutes to stretch our legs!

Once across the flats we stopped in a small town called San juan and the car then sounded like it wasn't going to start! The final leg of today's journey we were told would take an hour, and it was the longest hour in a car ever! driving over mud, sand, grass, pretty much anything other than Tarmac, all that kept us going was the promise of a hot shower and flushing toilets, at the salt hotel! After praying that each corner was the last, we finally made it to the hotel, and everything, including the beds was made from salt or cactus wood! Our hopes and dreams were dashed when we were told that there was no hot water and that there was very little water to shower with, fortunately we had been the first to arrive, and took advantage of the limited resources! Once "clean" and settled we sat about playing cards again, only for a brief interruption of a sand/salt storm brewing in the distance!

Day three

Again another early start, this time before sunrise, and a race across the salts followed, to reach incahuasi island to see the sunrise. As we reached the island the first signs of Dawn were emerging, so a run up to the top of the island was required, we just about made it in time to catch the sunrise! The island itself was quite a sight with an abundance of cacti ranging in sizes, some as big as 12 feet!

We ate a pancake breakfast at the island before speeding out across the salt flats, an our next stop to take the obligatory depth perception photos, with a volcano luming in the background!

Next we saw the salt refining plants, and a stop off in a small village, showed us the manufacturing process, that makes the salt edible, all of which done by hand, and in what looks like someones garage!

The final stop on the tour was in the train cemetery in Uyuni, the start of the first railway system in south America, the cemetery housed trains dating back to the 1800's!

The tour left us in Uyuni a small town that thrives on the tourist industry, from the salt flats. Here we spent the afternoon eating and drinking with the guys from the tour!

Moon river

We took a trip to the lunar valley! This trip consisted of a few different stops, the first offering views over the atacama desert, the driest desert in the world according to humidity levels rather than rainfall!

Salar Atacama

Katie on a big rock

The second point of interest was death valley, so named because no life has been recorded there! We walked along the top of the valley before reaching the top of a huge sand dune, and being the I know better type, I didn't take of my shoes and socks for the run down the hill. by the bottom of the first dune I had half of atacama in my boots, but with some bigger jumps down the second dune I reached the bottom with only two thirds of the desert squirting my feet.
From death valley we were taken into the lunar valley national park, the park takes it's name from it's lands likeness to the surface of the moon. Our first stop here was at the salt mountains, the guide hushed us all, and in our silence we could hear the contraction of the salt as the mountains cooled from the days heat. We could also see crystals of salt in the rock!

The Salt Mountains

After a small walk we where back in the bus and on route to our final stop, a hill overlooking a large canyon, and a vantage point of the setting sun! The colours where fantastic, all sorts of reds, yellows, oranges and browns.

Top of a sand dune

The Ampitheatre

The moon rising above the Lunar Valley

Considering this was our cheapest trip, it was certainly value for money!

Starry starry night

On Saturday night we made our first outing from San Pedro de Atacama, a small 8km bus ride took us out to the edge of the desert, and onto a ranch! Only this ranch was slightly different, instead of animals and crops, the surrounding fields were filled with bright white domes, and the garden infront of the ranch contained 10 telescopes!

When we climbed off the bus we were greeted by loss an eccentric Canadian astronomer. the first part of the night involved an explanation of the night sky, both past and present! Loss pointed out the southern cross, and the amazingly bright Jupiter, and he then proceeded to point out the constellations of the zodiac with an industrial strength laser pointer!

After the mini astronomy and astrology lecture, we moved onto the lawn containing the telescopes, one pointing at Jupiter, on which we could see its moons. One trained closely on the moons surface, and another showing the whole of the moon! The remaining six telescopes where showing a number of star clusters, tarantula nebulous, both of the Magellan nebulous, and the brightest star in the night sky Sirius, this glowed a vibrant blue colour! As a close to the evening a French guy joined us to aid with the taking photos of the moon through one of the telescopes!

Once the outside things where completed, we moved indoors and drank hot chocolate were Loss explained about different projects the site is involved with, one being ELMER the second most expensive science project, behind the LHC at CERN!

Chile fact: the south pole is 23 degrees above the horizon when viewed from chile!

Under my big favela

In our previous blog I said about drinking terremotas as one of our remaining aims for Santiago. that, however did not happen as the times we attempted to go to the specialised bar it was closed. In the mean time, southern chile was hit by a real life terremota (earthquake) on the Sunday, fortunately no damage was done!

We left Santiago for valparaiso, or affectionately known as valpo, with all the promise of parties and beaches. We arrived and were found to be a little disappointed. the nearest beach was a good 20min walk, and not all that nice. We did, however, find a cool little indie bar showing music videos of Glastonbury highlights! Valpo itself was a real ramshackle place, no real order, and the whole thing seemingly thrown together, and painted in whatever colour was going cheap. From the beach the town looked like a huge favela climbing the hills overlooking the port!

We took a day trip to the nearby viña del mar, a much nicer, and a more true seaside resort! Mile upon mile of beach, with a nice artesian Market running in the prom!

From valpo we travelled north to la sereña, again with the promise of a beach, and it did deliver a hugely impressive stretch of sand covering the 10km of coast between la sereña and coquimbo! The only let down was again the 20+ minute walk to the beach, this was for safety as the land in between the coast and town was like no mans land in the event of a tsunami! Another strange thing about la sereña is the weather, every morning you wake up and it's cloudy then around 2 o'clock the temperature noticeably rises, and at the latest 4 o'clock and we have glorious sun! And our hostels balcony offered some amazing views of it setting!

One of the highlights of the stay in la sereña was a visit to the archaeological museum which homes one of the moai men from Easter island!

The Moai Man

Coquimbo has a large port and a large concrete cross, which towers above the town, but the main draw from the street signs appears to be a football stadium that hosted a world cup match In 1962! The port in comquimbo has a large fish Market selling some obscure seafood, including piure, some sort of coral, it didn't look all that appetising. As per punta del este we saw some sealions in the port, but this time instead of battling seagulls, they had pelicans to contend with!

Pelicans, and Sea Lions

The Big Cross

Currently we are in San Pedro de Atacama, having made the 16hour bus journey. The weather here is lovely and warm in the day and dropping into minus at night! We have a few trips lined up here but they can have some airtime of their own once we have done them!

Inactive Volcano in the Atacama Desert

Chile fact: chile is the worlds largest exporter of copper!

Pisco sours

Now tomorrow is our last day in Santiago, 13 nights here and my how they have flown!

After leaving pucon and the volcano (copyrighted band name!), we travelled to a small town by the name of chillán, with no notable sights or sounds, except for it being the birth place of Bernardo o'higgins the man who led chile to independence! It also in the past has been bruised, battered and destroyed by earthquakes, so the buildings in the town aren't very tall! We spent our time in Chillán, fighting our way through Christmas shoppers, and hard sell PR people for restaurants in the central market!

We travelled to Santiago on 21st December, to stay for just about 2 week over Christmas! Prior to Christmas we went on a free walking tour of the city (highly recommend these tours, they do them in lots of European cities) this tour showed us the important sights, and Plaza de Armas, the square around which Santiago was built! Also in the now centre of the city, there is a park built on a hill, that divides the old from the new, this park was initially a big rock that was just in the way until some local farmers planted grass and trees on it!

As well as the walking tour we visited Cerro San Cristobel, a monument ribeye virgin Mary, seated some 200m above the city! This gave us a huge panoramic view of the city, and it was only then we realised the extent of the city and how small a percent we would get to see!

New years eve we spent eating a traditional Chilean meal, with the owners of the hostel, which also included pisco sours, and Champagne! From the balcony of the hostel we where able to watch the 20+minute firework display in La Moneda (the presidential offices). We had planned on venturing out to the square but upon seeing the crowds on tv we were glad we hadn't!

In Santiago there is a huge shopping centre, that we were forced to visit! But that story is for another time! The reason I mention the shopping centre is because of the music in Santiago, nowhere else in the world, when walking into a department store have I heard Good Enough by Dodgy, followed by pulp followed by every imaginable Mid 90s Brit Pop band, it's ace!

Now, for our last day we plan to visit the pre-colombian art museum, showing work by the mapucho Indians. We also need to buy our bit of tack! And our finally task is to drink terremote, a local cocktail in which pineapple ice cream is a major ingredient! Terremote means earthquake and the drink is called so because the first time you stand after drinking the cocktail, the floor feels like it is moving like during an earthquake! Will update you on the effects next time!

The only downside to Santiago, has been the people! Surprisingly car drivers are Well mannered and follow the rules of the road, and stop at zebra crossings and green men! However pedestrians are horrendous, three people walking towards me I have to step onto the road so they can stay Side by side, I'm penned in against a wall with nowhere to go they walk into you, at one point we saw a lady shouting at a man who clipped her heels with his bright red blind mans stick! It's unbelievable!

And finally how could I forget about Cafe Haiti or coffee with legs as it is affectionately known. About 20 years ago Chile did not import any coffee, and the home grown stuff was pretty dire, so a upcoming business man saw a hole in the Market and an incentive for folk, mainly men, to drink coffee! They opened a cafe with blacked out windows, and a long high table with no seats, he employed only good looking women, who served the coffee and flirted with the clientele, wearing only a bikini! If that isn't enough a number of times a day happy minute was called, the door locked and the "waitresses" shed the bikinis! These days there are cafe Haiti in all the business districts and both men and women are found there, they also serve the best coffee from around south America, and the girls now wear a dress that is exceptionally short, and shows off their legs, hence the brand name of "coffee with legs"

Chile fact: There are more than 2,000 volcanoes in Chile, of which 50 are actually active.