The day after being really sick I was feeling better and better. I bought a busticket for a bus going at 6 AM the next morning down to Tupiza. Afterwards I met up with a dutch guy who I had met along the way a few times already. That night I felt good enough to have some proper food again, so I went together with the dutch guy to a pizzeria and had some pizza. Eventhough my stomach was acting up again, my headache was fading away.
The next morning I woke up around 5AM to catch my bus. Once I got out of the hostel I bumped into a girl I had met down in Ushuaia and who I had met quite a few times along the way already. Turned out we were on the same bus down to Tupiza. The bus turned out to be a really old shit bus. The seats were not comfortable and on top of that the bus happened to be extremely freezing. The first few hours of the journey were horrible. I thought my toes were going to freeze off. The windows didn´t shut properly and the door of the bus was being closed with a piece of tape. Around 9AM we arrived at some town in between where the bus stoppped for 2 hours. Afterwards the bus was thankfully a bit warmer due to the sun and we continued our journey for another 3 hours to Tupiza. The bus was loaded with local people all sitting on the floor – not the most comfortable way of traveling. Once we got off the bus we searched for a hostel. Once we found one we went for some lunch. On the streets I bumped into one of the english guys I had done the Salt flats tour with. He joined us for lunch. Afterwards I went to book me onto a horsebackriding tour. The woman at the office recommended me to go for 3 hours as I had never done it before. In case I really liked it I could extend the tour with 2 more hours. I went back to the hostel and had a shower. Later on we went for some dinner in town.
The next morning I woke up a tad early as I wanted to buy a Gaucho hat for the horsebackriding tour. I went to have some breakfast in town and bought me a typical cowboy hat at the local market. I dropped off my bag at the hostel reception and went on to the tour. An 18 year old Bolivian boy was my guide for the day. Thankfully my spanish is getting better and better, so I was able to have some really nice conversations with him along the way. We walked to the edge of town where they had their horses waiting. He showed me my horse and gave me some small instructions how to control the horse. Then we were off into the mountains.
I was amazed how easy it turned out to be to ride a horse. I had heaps of fun and was certain to go for at least the full 5 hours. Along the way I asked my guide whether I could extend the tour to a full 7 hour day. Once we had a little stop we met another guide – a 20 year old boy. He asked me whether I didn´t want to join for a full 2 day tour. I gave it some thought and thought 1 day would be sufficient. Once we had some lunch I met the other 3 boys I had done the salt flats tour with, they had just been finishing their 2-day horsebackride adventure. They told me it was definitely worth going for 2 days. The tour wasn´t too expensive anyway, so I decided to go for the full 2 days. The tour turned out to be amazing. Around 17:00 we arrived at a little mountain town where we were going to spend the night. The hostel consisted out of 2 rooms with a lot of beds. We played a bit of footbal with the local kids and helped our guide to carry some food for the horses. That night we went to make a campfire a few minutes walking. Because of the height it was extremely cold, so after an hour I decided to go to my bed.
The next morning we woke up around 8AM. We had some breakfast and then went back onto our horses. We did some more galoping which was really really cool. We got back to the place where we had lunch the day before. After 2 hours of chilling out we went on making our way back to Tupiza. Once we were nearly back in town my horse started to run off into a different direction. It was hard to control the horse. The horse then started to make all these noises and another horse started to response on the other side of the bushes. Turned out her son was at the other side, and apparently she could sense her son was near. My guide was able to calm my horse and then we went on back to Tupiza. Once back in town I went to my hostel to pick up my bag. I then went to buy a busticket to make my way up to Potosi. Afterwards I met up with the english boys to have some dinner. After dinner I went back to my hostel to catch some needed sleep.
The next morning I woke up and had a shower. I bought some Cereal and milk for breakfast and then made my way to my bus for Potosi. The bus was a tad more comfortable than the last bus. On the bus a bolivian woman instantly asked me where I was from. I told her about my travels, which was also good for my spanish. I then had a little chat with the bolivian guy next to me. A student who was visiting his family in Tupiza. Once the bus stopped for a small break a couple from Uruguay came up to me, who had heard on the bus that I had been to Uruguay as well. They asked where I had been. They happened to travel as well, although without any money. They just worked everywhere once they ran out of money to fund their travels through south america. I was amazed by the way they were traveling. Later on the bus a woman from Peru was chatting with the Uruguayuan couple and later had a chat with me. Once we got to Potosi it turned out to be dark and cold. I got off the bus and went to an internet cafe to check where the english boys had checked into. It turned out they had booked me into a hostel somewhere in the city AND they had also booked me onto a minetour for the next morning. It was good to read they had been doing all the preparations as they had been there a bit longer. Meanwhile the Uruguayuan couple asked me for a few coins as they had no money left foor food. I told them I wouldn´t mind giving them a ride into the citycenter. They got on a local bus with me. We got out at my hostel and I gave them some small change for some food. I then checked in to my hostel and went for some dinner. Once back from dinner I met up with the english boys who filled me in at what time to get up for the tour.
The next morning I woke up around 7AM as the mine tour started at 8AM. It turned out to be our lucky day, as the miners were having a day of celebration today. Inside of the mines they worship the devil. To make sure not a lot of people die inside of the mines, they have this ritual where they drink a lot of alcohol and sacrifice llamas. We were picked up around 8:30 at the touroffice. We were then brought to a place where we were given our gear – clothes, a helmet and a lamp. Once we formed a few groups and we got our guide assigned we were off to the miners-market. Once we arrived we went into a little shop where they sell all the gear and equipment needed for the miners. As all miners are working for their selves, there´s need for a place where they can buy their equipment. It was amazing to see anyone could just walk in and buy anything you´d want. Including real dynamite with fuses, detonators etc. It´s a normal gesture that people visiting the mines give a few presents to the miners. We bought some explosives to give to the miners and some beers. We then headed off to the mines. Once we arrived we encountered all the miners sitting around the entrance of the mine drinking. We gave the presents to the miners and then went inside. The mine was very dark and dusty. We had a bandana to cover our mouth so we wouldn´t inhale the shitloads of dust inside of the mine. The mine was less claustrophobic as I had thought. At most of the parts in the mine I could even walk straight up. Only when we had to climb down to the 2nd and 3rd level of the mine there happened to be some parts where we had to crawl to get through. After about an hour we went back up to the exit of the mine. There we found a lot of dead llamas laying in front of the exit. We were just in time to see two more llamas being sacrificed. They sacrificed the llamas be slitting their throats and then using the blood of the llama they would cover the walls and the entrance of the mine. We were in the middle of this whole happening, and in the end they were painting our faces with llama blood as well. It was not nescessarily something I really liked, but it was a good experience to see their culture.
Afterwards we grabbed the dynamite we bought at the market and we made it ready for detenation. Once lit you´ve 3 minutes to throw the dynamite away and to take cover. We lit the dynamite and were all allowed to hold it in our hands to take a photo. We then gave the dynamite to the guide who ran away with the dynamite to place it somewhere safe for detenation. From a distance we were watching how the dynamite exploded. Afterwards we went back to town. We checked in into another hostel, as the last one was not really great. We then had a shower and went for wander around the city. That night we went with a few guys we met at the hostel for some food in town. Afterwards we went to a bar for some drinks and later to a club. It became a fun night.
The next morning I woke up with a massive hangover. I had a shower and went for some lunch with some of the guys of my hostel. After lunch we called a taxi who drove us for 2 hours to my next destination, Sucre. The place where I am also going to celebrate my birthday. We arrived in the late afternoon. Tonight I am hitting the sack fairly early as tomorrow the whole town will be celebrating its independence day.
More news soon!
May 20th 2008 – May 25th 2008
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