| April 7th Went mountain biking today to Death Valley (about 5kms from San Pedro) and to some pre-inca ruins. I was knackered as its hard work and the route was all over stones and slightly scary. Finished at about lunchtime, then headed to our usual hangout, Cafe Export. I recommend it, its about $5 for a huge pizza and a beer. Watch these calories pile on...In the evening went out for a few beers and met up with some of the other folks from the South American Safaris truck (SAS). I think I am in love with one of them! April 8th Left San Pedro and headed towards Bolivia. Its quite strange but after we passed the border and had our passports stamped, we were in no-mans land. It was owned by nobody...its like that for about 30kms till we reached the Bolivan border checkpoint. It was really high up and so it was quite chilly, almost time for long trousars. We drove further into the Altiplano (high plateau) and passed through different landscapes, from the totally barren to small clumps of grass with the occasional Llama there. We visited the Taito geysers at 5000m, and then Laguna Verde. That was really nice, a clear lake with salt deposits and some flamingos (not pink as in Miami vice, due to a different diet!). Went round a couple Lagunas b4 we camped for the nite. People were dropping like flies with altitude sickness, adn everybody had on about 5 layers of clothes, quite funny! At nite, there was 3 of us in out 2 man tent and it was still cold. My nose was running, I had a headache and I was shivering - I felt bad, and had no sleep! Nobody else did, so in the morning everyone were like night of the living dead! April 9th We drove further onto the Altiplano and into the bleakest sceanery I have senn. There was totally nothing there, I got some great fotos of that. Today I was cooking so, our team made bangers and mash and a veggie mix! Pretty talented...at one stage I was reminist of the naked cheif! April 10th We started out at about 7ish and then at about 8.30ish we crashed. We got stuck in the mud. So we all started to dig out the truck and get the sand mats out. At about 12ish, we knew this was going to be a hard dig. We flagged down a Bolivan army truck which was passing - they tried to help, but failed...we had to pay them some diesel and dollars for their attempts! Then some folks got right under the truck and started to dig the mud/clay out. Then this guy arrived with his tractor and some wood to help us. We all gave then, exhausted and waited...He pulled us out slowly, but after 10 hrs there we were free. We rode to the nearest town in the back of the tractor. Seemingly this guy owned a hotel as well, so we ended up staying there. I wonder he sets these traps, as not only did he get money for helping us out but we stayed in his place. We were all exhausted and filthy - we were glad to have a hot shower! April 11th We headed onto the salt plains. Salar De Uyuni is the biggest salt plain in the word, it is amazing. Huge Salt islands and a thick crust of salt in some crazy patterns. We picked up a local guy who was going to guide us at the gate, he left his bike in the back with us. Then we went off the main route as this guy know a path, then we crashed! There was a few injuries after that, Nicole flew into the bike/ Richard flew into the front of the truck and I landed on Neil and the hard bolied eggs landed on me. I have several cuts and bruises - we sent Nicole to hospial to see if anything was broken The truck is stuck there. We started to dig and collect rocks from the nearby island. Its weird there there is even a shoreline and water marks, where the tide has gone in and out. It looks like it was a sea still there, even though it has all dired up. So we sat and dug foir a few hrs but weren�t getting anywhere. The water table was rising and making it even muddier there. We had to be picked up from another truck and taken to town (2hs away) We got picked up by the SAS chaps whom were suitably impressed with our catologue of crashes. They passed rounds heaps of booze and everybody was pissed soon after. We drove into towm and it was like one of these party buses that cruise round London . I felt like more beer after that so we all got even more drunk...so its been exciting. We are waiting here in Uyuni, for a jcb to dig out the truck. so we could be here for a couple of days! Its really stuck and there is no way we can dig it out without help. The water table is rising as well....exciting! The salt plains are ace, but we are all sick of them! April 12th Woke up feeling a bit dodgy, so after I used the internet, I went back to bed. Then I started to vomit and have bouts of cold sweats. I was feeling yuch. My diarehea came on soon after. I think it was a combination of altitude sickness/local food and alcohal that pushed me over the edge. I started to write out my will, I was in a bad way. Monica and Darren got me some drugs (Noxom) to kill most things in my gut - sure enough after 20mins I felt better. So I lay there until about 7ish when I passed out. I woke at 1am and the woke again at 7am. So I never saw much of this place (Uyuni) but its quite nice. Its very old fashioned looking and there tons of markets selling all manner of different fruits. The people here are very indian looking and are tiny. The westerners stick out like sore thumbs as we are so tall! I also noticed that there seems to be tons of Israelis here...escaping the troubles back at home! April 13th Up nice and early and ate some breakfast. A group of healthy guys has gone with some airbags and hydrailic gear to try to get the truck out. If its not out today, we will head to Potosi using local transport. I ate a cheese sarnie for 40p - its about the only thing I can stomach at the min. Tonite I may try some Llama steak! Apart from that, just chilling today and get over the disease! Had some really nice food here today - its strange though as meat is cheaper than cheese ( 3 quid for a steak Vs 4.50 for a pizza!) April 14th The guys came back from the salt plains empty handed - its still buried. So we are either heading off to Potosi later on local transport or or on the truck. In town today, there is a special Sunday market and it sounds like a parade is happening, somewhere. Earlier there was loud hymns being played in the streets. Monica has also fallen ill with the vomiting bug, she ate a hamburger (same as me) last nite for dinner, so she is in bed feeling crap. At least my virus has gone to a nice home! So for the rest of today, its going to be resting, eating and shopping, really tough! I am feeling better now, so thanks for all your medical advice, esp about the sepositarys! Well we caught the bus, even though 4 of the others were still with the truck which hadn{t appeared yet! The boneshaker express to Potosi was scary, over mountain passes and sheer drops. Thankfully it was dark, so we couldn�t see much, but they were so comfortable (tons better than the national express or greyhounds!) The bus stopped at 3am as there something wrong, I think the tyre went, but entirely sure. The answer to the question, how many Bolivanians does it take to change a tyre, well about 10! We arrived in Potosi at 4am and went to the hostal, San Pedro which was really nice! TV,s and al! April 15th After brekkie, we had a few hours to kill until we were heading down the mines here. Potosi is famous for its mines, and was one of the wealthiest cities in Christaindom in the 1600s. Mainly Silver, but now its mainly zinc and tin. Just heard that 2 of the guys were coming to Potosi with all our bags and passports, so it will be clean clothes later! We headed to the mine after getting changed into overalls and buying dynamite to set off! Bumped into SAS there, who said it was ace there but it was hard work. So we headed down and it started OK, until we had to crawl and bend down in low shafts. In the heat, and the altitude it was really hard work! We were also breathing in arsenic and asbestos fumes, lovely! The miners start from the age of 8 until 55, when they basically drop dead thru cancer and thru overuse of coca leaves (which I am enjoying here as well!, as it helps relieve altitude sickness and fatigue)... It was hard work down the mines...these guys worked long days. There were 4 of them pushing and pulling 2 ton wagan - these guys are strong! Left there after crawling thru the worst gaps, and climbing over sheer rock drops )which I was slighly scared of as it was an 80m drop!) and headed back to the hostel to shower. I had been wearing the same shorts, socks and t-shirt for about 3 days, so my clothes had there own personalities! Ivana bought me a bright blue monkey back pac - which is the worst thing ever with demonic eyes. It now holds an orange and coca leaves! I think its life will be brief! Went out for steak and chips last nite- I was so hungry I could most things on the menu. So I ordered Llama, which was really nice! I recommend it! Darren ordered Chin-chilla (big rat), which was also nice. SAS also turned up there, so we chatted to them for a bit until I physically had difficulty moving, sue to the tiredness at around 11ish. April 16th Went out early (11am) to buy some new trousars as these are starting to turn black! Got a nice pair for a fiver! Rest iof today will be chilling, packing, drinking and eating. We leave on the 12 hr bus ride to La Paz (the highest capital in the world) - I hear its even more scary than the other nite! yikes! Potosi is the biggest town at altitude in the world. The streets are so narrow that traffic jams are common. People just walk about and chat here on the streets. There is so many school kids here, as the miners have about 6 kids each! They get paid more than lawyers here, bizarre ( 100 Uk a month VS 40). The only traffic lights I have seen here, is a piece of rope slong across the road, and raised or lowered when needed. So, I will speak to all from La Paz, where we pick up some more people but we are still without the truck! So we caught the really comfy bus (with reclining seats) to La Paz. Interesting as some locals came abroad stinking of booze and fish. We dropped them and their fish off just b4 La Paz and they set up an impromtu market there by the road. Thousands of women swarmed over them and were buying. Fish is a rarity here, as Bolivia is a landlocked country. |