Sucre is the capital of Bolivia, who knew? La Paz is certainly the most famous city in Bolivia, but Sucre is an immaculate, whitewashed, leafy-squared historic town, with some amazing architecture and beautiful churches. It's also very safe. But it's a town where there isn't much to do, so we simply enjoyed relaxing and catching up on some admin. However we also had the time to experience Bolivia's colourful and impressive produce at the central market. It makes the UK look embarrassingly lacking in effort. Bolivia does benefit from a range of extreme altitudes, temperatures, and landscapes, from the barren volcanic altiplano to the Amazon rainforest (although no coast, Chile stole their link to the sea a while back, still an ongoing diplomatic spat. Although amusingly Bolivia still has a navy, even though it's a landlocked country). An absolute must visit is the juice ladies right in the centre of the market, where any combination of exotic fruit and veg can be juiced for a very small amount. There are also amazing herbs of every variety, a whole avocado section with more varieties than you could imagine existed, and a slightly ropey meat section..
Having witnessed the hideousness of Uyuni town, the closest city we could reasonably reach that afternoon was Potosi. It's very much on the tourist route but was initially a place we were going to skip, heading straight past it to Sucre. We're glad we didn't as it's a very important and historic Bolivian city, and at over 4000m one of the highest in the world. The city was founded in 1545 as a mining town (predominantly silver) but the wealth soon started to flow, and Potosi was the location of the Spanish colonial mint (also considered to be the first mint in the Americas). The same building now houses the Bolivian mint today (sadly closed during our visit). The cathedral is also definitely worth a look although the opening times seem a little erratic. The city is dominated by the large Cerro Rico, a mountain overshadowing the centre which steadily increased the city's wealth through mining large amounts of silver. The silver was carried by llama to Panama, and then shipped on to Spain. Today, the mountain is still very active with over 180 mines and up to 10,000 miners at any one time, however the silver is becoming harder to find so copper and lead are also now mined. The ore is processed in Potosi, then exported worldwide. The conditions in the mines are notoriously appalling, and stories of child labour are rife. However as a tourist it is possible to visit the mines with a number of tour operators based around the square, so I signed up (Charlotte didn't). A large number of people advise not visiting the mines, perceiving it as a form of unnecessary voyeurism, and obviously moderately dangerous. To say there is a lack of health and safety is an understatement, this is homemade mining at its finest! Roof collapses and accidents are fairly common, and it's easy to see why. The mine entrances are small holes in the rock, and the tunnels that lead into the mountain are even smaller (Bolivians are not known for being large). The method of excavating and tunnelling is to start by hand, then just use dynamite, which incidentally you can buy at all good newsagents in the area. The debris, and eventually silver ore, is extracted and also pushed to the surface by hand on small wheeled carts, weighing almost a tonne when fully loaded. However, it wasn't the physical method of mining that is shocking, but the mental state of the miners and their plethora of coping mechanisms for living underground the majority of their lives, whilst reducing their life expectancy to below 50. As a way to impact the lives of the miners when visiting as a tourist, it is strongly encouraged to take gifts, which can be bought in the miner's market at the base of the hill. However the gifts on sale for consumption in the mine are as follows: large filterless cigarettes, vast quantities of coca leaves, 97% proof alcohol, fizzy drinks (a form of fanta is the most popular), and of course sticks of dynamite with a short fuse.. The miners are excessively superstitious, as they tend to believe that the mountain is a living entity that both gives, and takes from them, at will. They believe that the antithesis to Pachamama (Quechua for mother Earth) is an evil devil called El Tio. By worshipping El Tio (and it's worth noting that this has no religious connotations, although they are predominantly devout Catholics on top) they can appease the evil side of the mountain and thereby satisfy Pachamama to give them as much silver as possible. There is a statue of El Tio in all 180 mines, which is routinely worshipped with regular parties and sacrifices. By drinking 97% alcohol, offering some to El Tio and pouring some on the ground for Pachamama, it is believed that the silver extracted will then be minimum 97% pure. However the truth is that the miners get extremely drunk very quickly, whilst smoking strong cigarettes in very small enclosed spaces, cheeks packed with coca, and all the while using homemade dynamite from the local newsagent. In the same vein they sacrifice llamas every year to offer blood to Pachamama and El Tio, believing that their blood will therefore not be taken in return. The reality is that the mines are inherently unsafe, although allegedly only 7-8 miners die every year from cave ins (albeit countless more outside the mine for adverse health reasons). The following photo is of Ephraim our guide sitting next to the adorned statue of El Tio deep in the mine drinking from a bottle of pure alcohol, with a filterless cigarette placed and lit in the mouth of El Tio.
We were to be out in the wilderness for three days and two nights. We were told that it would be an amazing adventure, but a test of endurance too. It was reported to be ‘bone-shatteringly cold’. It would certainly not be a ‘cozy’ road trip. We were warned that our bodies would need time to adjust to the high altitude (4900 metres above sea-level at the highest) but that in return we would be rewarded with spectacularly beautiful vistas, altiplano lakes, Salvador Dali-esque rock formations, flamingos, and blindingly white salt flats. It transpired all the descriptions were spot on! We crossed the Bolivia border within one hour of leaving San Pedro. The border crossing was ridiculously basic, essentially just a brick building in the middle of the desert and a few men in uniforms. We had breakfast here, bread buns, avo, ham, and most importantly, hot water as it was ridiculously cold. We were then introduced to our driver Elvis and our mobile home for the next few days, the Land Cruiser. On first inspection, it was difficult to see how all six of, plus baggage, were going to fit in. In reality, it wasn't too bad. The middle seats were undoubtedly the best, the front seat covered you in dust everytime the engine started, and the rear bench had zero leg room. After slyly securing the middle seats we were off, and after an hour or so we reached our first stop, the blue lake. Next up were the geysers and their bubbling pools of sulphurous water, all nestled amongst Mars-esque landscapes. At 4800m above sea-level, this was when we really started to feel the effects of the altitude. We had been drinking shit loads of water which seemed to help but there was no denying we felt a little light-headed, and just a little jump or skip had us out of breath. One of the Swiss girls from our car was sick, they were clearly not prepared and had only given themselves one day to acclimatise in San Pedro. But it didn't stop us from playing the Boomerang game with the geyser steam… The red lake was our next stop, made red after the various minerals in it that support the algae. It was actually almost purple, the colour made even more spectacular by the pink flamingoes scattered along the lake edge. To say Rob was excited by this is an understatement, he was like a kid at Christmas, eyes lighting up as he spotted them, “flamingos Charlotte, look, flamingoes, in the desert!’ To be fair, it was quite a sight, to drive for hours through such arid and barren landscapes to then come across that, it really took our breath away. The hostel we were staying in was actually better than expected, despite us sleeping in a dorm for the first time on the trip. Clearly we were going to freeze our arses off but we felt more prepared that others with our down (thank you NorthFace) jackets. We were also treated to the most incredible sunset, never have we seen such a melody of colours. So yes, it was cold. It was most probably the coldest sleepless night's sleep I have ever had. My main issue was my nose. Everything else could just about be covered up, but the nose was an issue. The remedy? Pulling my hat down over it. Once that was sorted, I was able to get a few hours. Rob of course slept like a baby. The first of our morning spots was a rock garden, similar in form to some of Dali's paintings. With zero health and safety concerns, people were clambering all over them which was a bit of a shame. Not to be a bore but I am sure it damages them and they won’t be the same in years to come. A brief stop was made for a desert chinchilla type animal sighting, found hiding in the shade of a rock, can’t remember its name, but it sounds something like a focaccia. Our lunch stop was at another lake, with more flamingoes nestled amongst some beautiful mountains. I was on DJ’ing duty at this stage of the drive, so naturally the tunes were on point and we were having mini driving raves, safe to say everyone was having a lot of fun. A black lake was our next stop, along with some more interesting rocks. By this stage, no-one could really be bothered to get out of the Jeep by this stage so we so we didn't linger for too long. There were some green blobby plants called Milliones, interesting because they look fun, but also because they grow only one millimetre a year. Accommodation on the second night was a salt hotel. It sounds much better than it really was. We think it may have been a fake salt hotel. But we had our own room at least and managed to get five minutes of hot water which was much needed, we were all covered in dust. My hair was a disgrace and it remained a disgrace as the hot water quickly turned to ice cold. We had a choice the next morning - lie in and miss the sunrise but have breakfast on the salt flats, or get up at 4.15am, chase the rising sun into the middle of the salt flats, scramble up a stupidly steep cactus island, exhausting ourselves in the process, and then have breakfast on the salt flats. Obvies we chose the second option, we were only here once! The views were the definition of sublime. There are very few words to describe the magic. Naturally Robert and I had had a disagreement over my apparently ill-timed couple selfie requests so there are no photos of the two of us up there. Just the sky. But that was, on this occasion, enough. And then, photo time! Ahh, the moment I had been waiting for - playing on the salt flat time. Elvis our guide was a bit of a joker and had come prepared with props, this clearly wasn't his first time as he knew all the right angles and how to set up the shots. Phone memory almost full we took so many, so here are some of our faves. As you can see, we soon made up. Our pre-lunch stop was at a steam train cemetery, located on the outskirts of Uyuni. Apparently they could not decide what to do with all the old trains so they just decided to dump them, like they do with all the rubbish, in the outskirts of town. It was a rather bizarre sight but there was oddly something rather nice about these rusting beasts all being lumped together. And then, it was time to part ways. Of course, numbers were exchanged with promises to share photos and stay in touch. Rather unlikely as other than the experience we had just shared, we all had very little in common. Uyuni incidentally is a total shithole. We had made the terrible decision to stay the night there but on arriving we quickly agreed we needed to get the hell out of there, so found a bus to take us to a little town called Potosi instead.
All in, we paid 120,000 Chilean pesos with Cordillera Traveller for the two nights accommodation and with all meals included - and the food wasn't too bad either, the fruit and veg was even peeled. Our words of advice of any future intrepid adventurers?
So we can can see why it may not appeal to some. You are stuck in a 4x4 for three days straight, with four strangers and a driver who can’t speak English. If you get a bunch of duds, you’d be in for a rough few days. Luckily, we had a good group. Two quiet and very green Swiss girls, and two louder but just right Brazilian bankers whose dollars were basically falling out of their pockets. The Brazilian girl was a bit of a princess but if there is ever a trip to beat that out of you, it was this! Your guide too is key! Ours, Elvis, had been doing the drive for years but this was his first with Cordillera so he had everything to prove. I can see why some complain of the repetitiveness, heres a blue lake, there’s a red lake but we loved every minute, Elvis took the time to explain things to us (in Spanish, Rob is getting quite good now and can understand most things) and it never felt like we were waiting around. It was the most incredible experience, we are sure our eyes will never see such beauty again. Couldn't recommend it more. The Atacama Desert is a must see in Chile, and completely different environment from everywhere else we have been in South America. It also wasn't part of our original plan to go to the Salar de Uyuni (Bolivian salt flats) as the Lonely Planet are scaremongers and made it sound like we would end up with a drunk driver who would send us careering off a mountain ledge. But we decided to do our own research and the more photos we saw, the more we knew it was something that couldn't be missed. All the information we read said that it was best to book a tour to Bolivia on arrival in San Pedro de Atacama. Unfortunately our overnight bus from Salta in Argentina didn't leave until 1am, which is really far from ideal when you are slogging around all your worldly possessions. The bus seat wasn't a 'full cama' either (completely flat bed) and we were sitting next to the loos which helped to deteriorate our moods further. However when we reached the border at sunrise and got our first glimpse of this magical deserty oasis, our moods improved. Thankfully we lucked out on the accommodation front after I brokered an extremely generous deal with the owner of Lodge Altitud. Set a little out of town ensuring a good nights sleep (finally), it had a pool complete with hammocks and BBQ chill out area, and individual cabins made with traditional adobe walls - we had arrived in 4 star luxury. I knew immediately that I wouldn't want to leave. Alvaro the owner is the perfect host. Once settled, he immediately took us into town and gave us a quick tour of his favourite places. It's a small town that consists of five main streets full of dust, tourists, touts, stray dogs, and a LOT of tour agency offices. After all our research on which agency to book our Uyuni tour with, we were feeling confused but good old Alvaro helped make up our minds by advising that Cordillera Traveller were in his opinion the only company to go with after hearing consistently good reviews. So that was one thing ticked off the list. Next was trying to decide which of the many other Atacama tours we should sign up for. In the end, we opted for a night sky observation tour (handily held at Lodge Altitud and run by Alvaro), the Valle de la Luna tour (the cheapest half day tour) and a trip to Lagunas Escondidas (hidden lakes). We were told that these trips would offer us something different to what we’d see on the Uyuni tour. There are several stargazing tours available all around town but it seemed obvious to go with the one that was in our back garden. Alvaro comes alive when he is giving these tours, we genuinely believe there is nothing about the universe this guy doesn't know. We began the evening having our minds blown with some space facts before venturing outside where Alvaro enthusiastically pointed out constellations with his green laser. The best bit however was seeing some of the planets around us through his two telescopes. Due to the clearest skies in the world, we saw the craters of the moon, Saturn (where you could actually see the rings!), red stars, blue stars, and Jupiter with four of its moons. It was mind boggling and a lot to take in, but fascinating. San Pedro occupies some of northern Chile’s most spectacular landscapes. It is surrounded by volcanoes, steaming geysers, otherworldly rock formations, and the skies are very clear, and BIG. Watching the sunset and the sky suffused with all the colours over the Valle de la Luna was an unforgettable experience. A real pinch me moment. The afternoon tour is really a must do, it's super cheap and it is big enough to cope with the hoards of tourists. The surreal lunar landscapes eroded by eons of floods and wind are really all you see, it's a landscape that blows you away. We were glad that for both aesthetic and safety reasons, they don't let people walk over the sweeping, pristine sand dunes. It was made more surreal by the white salty crusts daubed all over the rock surface, salt that is oozing out of the rocks. Crazy. But tours are annoying, mainly because of the other people you can potentially be stuck in a confined space with. We were lumped with some particularly obnoxious Australians who were more eager to share their life stories than enjoy the landscapes. Our next outing was Lagunas Escondidas, severn salt lakes out in the middle of the desert, two of which you could swim in. The surroundings were stunning, and the lakes mystical. The water was freezing cold and it took me a good five minutes of fannying around before I made an ungracious belly flop entry. The salt concentration is so high that it was ridiculously difficult to swim, doggy paddle was the best we could muster as all our limbs floated to the surface. It would genuinely have been difficult to drown even if you wanted to! But the shallower parts were warmed by the baking sun, at least I hope that was what it was…
Our mornings were relaxing, made up of long breakfasts, FaceTime sessions, and some well-deserved time off from planning. The Lodge has a kitchen that is small but equipped with all you could need to cook so we made the most of it with homemade lunches and dinners. The town itself is also fun to wander round. At the centre is a tree lined plaza and a postcard perfect adobe colonial church, the second oldest in Chile. With metre deep almond coloured adobe walls, and a ceiling made from cactus wood, it was built without nails, the beams instead being held in place by hearty leather straps. All in all, it was the perfect spot to chill out before our salt flat adventure! |
AuthorsRob & Charlie's travelling adventures on their long journey back to London after living in Hong Kong. Four continents, twelve countries, lots of experiences. Archives
July 2017
All photos copyright ©
Robert Ware & Charlotte Nunn |