Back to the bus station in Potosi to board our bus destined for Sucre. The road between Potosi and Sucre was entirely sealed and in great conditions so the ride was comfortable and seemed to go pretty quickly. We were entertained by a chap selling little pottles of some magical cream similar to tiger balm, with all sorts of Spanish superlatives used to describe the little tub of goodness. He actually did pretty well from it too! We stopped at some border control and people thrust themselves out the window to buy bags of juice and other goods from the children below. New Zealand really could learn something from such commerical activism!
We had a little pamphlet for a hotel in Sucre associated with the Potosi hostel so we jumped in a taxi and trundled off there some 4 km away. Ben was looking into Spanish lessons and a homestay so I checked into a dorm while Ben left his stuff there so he could head off to his possible homestay place to check it out. We took a wander around the central plaza, dotted with buildings which all explain the UNESCO World Heritage Site status. We found a small cafe with an almuerzo, lunch of the day three course cheap option. It was surprisingly good value with soup, meat and rice and some yoghurt to finish. After lunch Ben headed off and I returned to the hostel to kill time on a horribly wet afternoon, action packed with perhaps the loudest thunder storm I had heard.
Sitting around the hostel wasn´t exactly exciting but I did get my photos updated and backed up to my hard drive so that was a bit of a bonus. I decided to head into town for a coffee at a renowned cafe, the Joy Rider, which is a Spanish/German setup which also runs mtb tours around the area. I pulled up a chair on a table on the mezzanine floor and got into my Spanish book. There were a few people on the table next to me having a few drinks and playing a dice game, which looked pretty fun. After a while, they invited me to join them, which I did in an instant. The game was actually pretty fun, combining luck and bluffing and a form of punishment for the looser at the end of the round. Their punishment was a decent smearing of sunscreen which they had bought and all disliked because of the smell, but it soon turned into finishing half ones drink!
We played the dice game for several hours and ordered some dinner. We also invited a girl who now occupied my old table to join us. Emily, from San Fransisco, was a photographer carrying around a 5D and 24-70 f2.8 as well as a power book; all pretty serious but her photos are pretty amazing. www.emilypolar.com My big steak never arrived and after I said to the waitress ´2 minutes or I don´t want it´ i headed down and cancelled it for good. I kept the side of fries and did not have to pay for them so it saved me 40 bolivianos, which is probably a good thing anyway!
I organised to meet Emily at following day for a trip around the nearby areas. After some talk we decided to jump a bus out to the seven cascades a bit out of town. It was a great little ride with all sorts of people getting on and off, some carrying live chicken and so on. We got off at the last stop in some small dirt road village and asked locals how to get to the cascades. They all just pointed into the valley which seemed to make sense. After quite a bit of descending and climbing rocks etc, it became apparent that were were probably in the wrong area. (Looking at a map a girl had in the hostel the following morning confirmed we did in fact have the wrong area.) Not to worry, it was a good little day out of the city and pretty enough.
We headed back into town and made our way towards the mirador in Recolleta, which is meant to afford great views of the city. We found a lovely cafe at the end of the strip of tourist stands and pulled up a sun lounger and our books. I flicked through Emily´s photos and finished a decent chunk of my book, as well as drinking one of the best iced cappachinos I have ever had! I vowed to return the next day for another, which I did!
That evening I caught up with Ben for a meal, which turned out to be at the local casino, but it was relatively cheap and pretty decent actually so we left happy. We decided to head back to the Joy Rider for a few drinks and to see who was there from the hostel. We ended up bumping into the same group from the night before, so we yarned with them for a few hours (until we were kicked out at closing time around 2am) and played a few more rounds of the dice game. We said our goodbyes and headed off to our respective hostels, tentatively arranging to meet the next day on the bus to La Paz.
The following morning I felt like doing pretty much nothing, so bought by bus ticket to La Paz from the bus station, did a few laps of the market streets and headed back up to the mirador for another iced coffee and a chunk of John Grisham. I met an Australian couple up there who had followed my recommendations to make the trip up. I headed back down to catch up with Ben, although he never showed so probably got held up somewhere. I finished off my city tour by heading to the supreme court and lovely parks nearby. Off to the bus station by taxi to get on my first long distance ride in Bolivia so not sure what to expect. Pretty sad to leave Sucre to be honest, as I could have spent another day or two just relaxing and chilling out. It has a great feel to the place and many good options for eating and drinking.
I had a pretty average bus waiting for me so I got my luggage on board by carrying it up several flights of stairs to the ticket office, where they weighed and tagged it before lowering it back down to the bus by a simple pully system. I met the girls from the previous two nights and boarded the bus. The heaters were already cranking and because I had the window seat the vent was right up my right leg, combined with the open window I would be in a state of hot/cold sweets the whole night!
We stopped at some random little truck stop setup for dinner and refreshments, although I had already packed a few empanadas etc. I did get a hamburger and cold chips though, which wasn´t that great but helped fill a gap. I managed to get some pretty decent sleep and nothing from my bag nicked so a pretty good night really. Bring on La Paz!!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Uyuni to Potosi: 01-03 November
Well, Ben and I had a good night chilling out in Uyuni and kicked the day off with a breakfast at the Cactus Hostel cafe. Earlier we has visited the bus stop to get a ticket to Potosi. We bumped into Angry Ross the Irishman, who had raved about a particular bus company and how well he had done to get a ticket to Sucre, 2 hours beyond Potosi, for 65 bolivianos. We thought this was pretty classic given we got our tickets to Potosi for 20 and a ticket from Potosi would likely only cost about 20 at the most, but he thought the bus was 'fucking grand' so he was happy.
The journey did not start well for me, with several ominous signs of a rough ride ahead. My tummy hadn't been feeling that good since waking up, and at the ATM a small fart provided more than I bargained for...so back to the hostel to sort myself out and unpack my diastop pills for a 6 hour bus ride ahead! The actual bus journey was pretty nice, with a surprisingly comfortable bus and great views of the country side as we made our way towards the world´s highest city.. About 3 hours in my stomach started to get pretty knarly with hard core cramps and lots of butt clenching going on to stop a disaster. The bus broke down at one point leaving us on a bridge yarning to a engineer on his way to Potosi for work, which gave us insights into all sorts of things like wages, cost of houses in Potosi and La Paz and all sorts. He gave us his phone number and invited us to come over for dinner (alhtough we later could not get in touch with him).. Angry Ross was classic, just looking at the bus saying 'what a fucking disaster' and when I said it was probably just a typical occurrence and would be fixed soon he just kept saying 'if it was simple it would be fixed, what a total disaster'. He had no water, no food or no medication for altitude and I resisted giving mine up because I can't stand unprepared people who just expect others to carry everything.
Nearing Potosi I was seriously considering getting the chap to pull over for a dump but Potosi was only half an hour away so I held on. Ben offered to get my bags from the roof upon arriving at the bus terminal (something I had already considered) so that I could run or at least hobble to the public toilet, assuming there was one. Getting off the bus I asked the engineer chap for directions to the toilets and gave my empanads to Ross, who was still asking for food but I wasn't exactly going to eat it! I grabbed a full roll of loo paper and made my way briskly over to the loo, paying my 50 cvts to the lady at the far end. It was a basic setup with small cubicles separated by rough wooden sides and doors. The first two doors I opened were occupied, nasty sight that, but the thrid was ready to go. No toilet seat, great, but I didn't have the energy to squat so just sat on the rim, nasty! I was reminded about a scene from an American Pie movie when the character Shit-Break had been given lots of laxative and had to run to the girls toilet, unleashing such fury that all the other occupants left in a hurry screaming. It wasn't the best 15 minutes of my life but with half a roll of paper used up and much Purell sanitation gel used on hands etc I was ready to go...but hang on, no flusher.....I had to leave the toilet in a horrile state and walk over to a barrel of water to get a bucket to flush the goods away . I did so, hoping that no one would go in while I was fetching the water haha.
Potosi was hustle and bustle, with lots of traffic, street vendors and general commotion. We got a taxi to the main square, from where we would find a hostel nearby. We asked the taxi driver and some tourists for recommendations and found a fantastic places in and old magestic building around the corner. It was odd to see that the streets surrounding the central square were fall of abogados, or lawyers, there literally must have been 40 or so just on the way to the hostel 2 blocks away. Sucre, which is only 2 hours away, is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and retains the highest court in the land, so I suppose there will be plenty of lawyers there also.
Upon checking in, a double was not much more than a dorm so we went for that and headed onto the streets to find stuff to do. The streets are narrow, barely wide enough for two cars and winding around the hillside. With views of Cerro Rico as the backdrop to the town, we pottered around found some tour agencies and generally got our bearings. I had to return to the hostel to have another episode, leaving Ben to explore. Ben would join me shortly to watch the Devils Miner, a docco about the history of the mine and a 14 year old who had been working in there for a few years. Such a horrible existence for such a small kid supporting the entire family which put me off going to the mines on a tour. The tours weren't going to be operated for several more days due to a local fiesta and bank holiday, but after watching the film I was less inclined to hang around and be a tourist in a mine that has killed 8 million people over the years.
Ben and I made our way around Potosi for a couple of days, heading up a mirador for a great view of the city and visiting markets for fresh fruit and roast chicken and chips. Our second night we watched the Motorcycle Dairies, which was a great film about Che Guevara and their adventures along Routa 40 in Argentina up to central america. We decided to head to Sucre on a night bus given we were both not keen on a mine tour and wanted to keep moving. We packed our bags and headed to the bus station. We got out of the taxi only to realise that there is a different terminal servicing the long distance routes, so we had to walk for quite a while. After all that we were unable to get tickets to Sucre until the following morning, which we booked and headed back out onto the road for a taxi or collectivo back to the hostel. We settled on a little collectivo bus which was soon full to the brim winding its way around the streets, seemingly further and further away from where we wanted to go. We managed to get off with our large packs through the 20 odd people crammed into the van and started to walk, asking for directions every now and again. We actually met some interesting characters on the way and got a good feeling for the city at night so it was quite a little adventure.
Upon checking back into the hostel we made a beeline into town for some cheap street food at hamburger stands and a small restaurant while meat on skewers with boiled spud etc, which was awesome. We again watched another movie and got an early night ready for our 9am bus the next day to Sucre.
The journey did not start well for me, with several ominous signs of a rough ride ahead. My tummy hadn't been feeling that good since waking up, and at the ATM a small fart provided more than I bargained for...so back to the hostel to sort myself out and unpack my diastop pills for a 6 hour bus ride ahead! The actual bus journey was pretty nice, with a surprisingly comfortable bus and great views of the country side as we made our way towards the world´s highest city.. About 3 hours in my stomach started to get pretty knarly with hard core cramps and lots of butt clenching going on to stop a disaster. The bus broke down at one point leaving us on a bridge yarning to a engineer on his way to Potosi for work, which gave us insights into all sorts of things like wages, cost of houses in Potosi and La Paz and all sorts. He gave us his phone number and invited us to come over for dinner (alhtough we later could not get in touch with him).. Angry Ross was classic, just looking at the bus saying 'what a fucking disaster' and when I said it was probably just a typical occurrence and would be fixed soon he just kept saying 'if it was simple it would be fixed, what a total disaster'. He had no water, no food or no medication for altitude and I resisted giving mine up because I can't stand unprepared people who just expect others to carry everything.
Nearing Potosi I was seriously considering getting the chap to pull over for a dump but Potosi was only half an hour away so I held on. Ben offered to get my bags from the roof upon arriving at the bus terminal (something I had already considered) so that I could run or at least hobble to the public toilet, assuming there was one. Getting off the bus I asked the engineer chap for directions to the toilets and gave my empanads to Ross, who was still asking for food but I wasn't exactly going to eat it! I grabbed a full roll of loo paper and made my way briskly over to the loo, paying my 50 cvts to the lady at the far end. It was a basic setup with small cubicles separated by rough wooden sides and doors. The first two doors I opened were occupied, nasty sight that, but the thrid was ready to go. No toilet seat, great, but I didn't have the energy to squat so just sat on the rim, nasty! I was reminded about a scene from an American Pie movie when the character Shit-Break had been given lots of laxative and had to run to the girls toilet, unleashing such fury that all the other occupants left in a hurry screaming. It wasn't the best 15 minutes of my life but with half a roll of paper used up and much Purell sanitation gel used on hands etc I was ready to go...but hang on, no flusher.....I had to leave the toilet in a horrile state and walk over to a barrel of water to get a bucket to flush the goods away . I did so, hoping that no one would go in while I was fetching the water haha.
Potosi was hustle and bustle, with lots of traffic, street vendors and general commotion. We got a taxi to the main square, from where we would find a hostel nearby. We asked the taxi driver and some tourists for recommendations and found a fantastic places in and old magestic building around the corner. It was odd to see that the streets surrounding the central square were fall of abogados, or lawyers, there literally must have been 40 or so just on the way to the hostel 2 blocks away. Sucre, which is only 2 hours away, is the constitutional capital of Bolivia and retains the highest court in the land, so I suppose there will be plenty of lawyers there also.
Upon checking in, a double was not much more than a dorm so we went for that and headed onto the streets to find stuff to do. The streets are narrow, barely wide enough for two cars and winding around the hillside. With views of Cerro Rico as the backdrop to the town, we pottered around found some tour agencies and generally got our bearings. I had to return to the hostel to have another episode, leaving Ben to explore. Ben would join me shortly to watch the Devils Miner, a docco about the history of the mine and a 14 year old who had been working in there for a few years. Such a horrible existence for such a small kid supporting the entire family which put me off going to the mines on a tour. The tours weren't going to be operated for several more days due to a local fiesta and bank holiday, but after watching the film I was less inclined to hang around and be a tourist in a mine that has killed 8 million people over the years.
Ben and I made our way around Potosi for a couple of days, heading up a mirador for a great view of the city and visiting markets for fresh fruit and roast chicken and chips. Our second night we watched the Motorcycle Dairies, which was a great film about Che Guevara and their adventures along Routa 40 in Argentina up to central america. We decided to head to Sucre on a night bus given we were both not keen on a mine tour and wanted to keep moving. We packed our bags and headed to the bus station. We got out of the taxi only to realise that there is a different terminal servicing the long distance routes, so we had to walk for quite a while. After all that we were unable to get tickets to Sucre until the following morning, which we booked and headed back out onto the road for a taxi or collectivo back to the hostel. We settled on a little collectivo bus which was soon full to the brim winding its way around the streets, seemingly further and further away from where we wanted to go. We managed to get off with our large packs through the 20 odd people crammed into the van and started to walk, asking for directions every now and again. We actually met some interesting characters on the way and got a good feeling for the city at night so it was quite a little adventure.
Upon checking back into the hostel we made a beeline into town for some cheap street food at hamburger stands and a small restaurant while meat on skewers with boiled spud etc, which was awesome. We again watched another movie and got an early night ready for our 9am bus the next day to Sucre.
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