October 18, 2002 - Sucre, Bolivia
I lived in Sucre for 2 weeks. It was a good place to hang out with cafes, restaurants, pubs, colonial buildings, an interesting cemetery, a strange castle, and 100s of dinosaur footprints 8 km from the center. Perhaps it was not the best place to study Spanish because I spent my evenings speaking English with other travelers - but fun non-the-less. I had classes in the afternoon, along with salsa and cooking lessons in the evening. The weather was the nicest I have encountered - not too hot in the day, not too cold in the night, and a nice big thunderstorm most evenings after lots of sun. I usually stopped by the market in the morning to enjoy a huge fruit salad with yogurt and nuts that was made right before you for less than $0.40. I lived with a family in a large house built in 1912 that also housed the Peruvian Consulate and was a few blocks from the main plaza. There were all sorts of bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. The family had 4 daughters, one of which is the top ranked tennis player in Bolivia. Everything was opposite of my life last month. South America is all about extremes.
October 21, 2002 - Santa Cruz, Bolivia
I made my way west to Santa Cruz to visit Susana - a Bolivian who worked with me back home for a few years. It was nice to catch up and meet her new husband.
October 30, 2002 - Potosi, Bolivia to Salar de Uyuni to Salta, Argentina
High Altitude Geology Fieldtrip: I made my way back west to Potosi, the worlds highest city at 4070M (13,353 ft). In the 16th and 17th centuries so much silver was produced from the mines that at one point it was the worlds largest city at the cost of millions of lives. After buying coca leaves, dynamite, and fuses on the street we toured a few levels of a mine that is still operating today. It was very hot and the air was horrible. At times I was walking in ankle deep water. At times I was crawling. We met two 14 year olds who had been working in the mine for two years for $50/month. After 2 hours I was happy to see the blue sky. I was stuck in Potosi because of a transportation strike, but luckily a friend was there to motivate me to climb up even higher to some lakes with great views.
In Uyuni I organized a 3 day Land Cruiser tour around southwest Bolivia. First we visited the strange Salar de Uyuni - a 12,000 sq km (450 sq mi) salt desert at 3653M (1198 ft). There was white salt every direction you looked. We visited islands in the middle of the salt, Valle de las Rocas, and many lakes with thousands of flamingos. The second might we stayed at 4572M (above 15,000 ft) at the bright red Laguna Colorado. On the way to a geyser basin we reached 4876M (almost 16,000 ft) at 6AM. Before descending into Chile we visited Laguna Verde with the Lincanabur Volcano towering behind it. I just passed through Chile for a day on my way to Argentina. After spending months in Peru and Bolivia I was greeting with 4 lane paved divided highways and neon lights. The economic crisis in Argentina allows one to spend almost nothing for high quality food and hotel. At times I feel like I am stealing. One evening five of us went to a fancy restaurant and had appetizers, steaks, salads, and bottles of wine for less than $5/person.
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