Sucre
A 12 hour overnight bus ride from La Paz had us arriving fresh and rosy faced in Sucre just after sunrise. Sucre is the site of the signing of Bolivia´s independence from Spain and as such was renamed after the general who led the cause, Mr Sucre. Sucre itslef is home to one of the worlds oldest universities and it shows today with a young population and plent of cheap eateries.
Sucre gave us the chance to catch up with two amigos we did the Inca Trail with last month. And what better way to catch up than with some over-sized beers and some traditional Bolivian dancing. We learnt the history and culture of Bolivia and local customs in how to woo (lads stamp your feet) via the expressionist art form of dance. We even had the fortune t experience first hand the dancing on stage at the end!
The following day was ´Dia Del Muertos´ (or National Celebrate the Dead Day). So what better way to escape the mourning than an excursion out of town to see the dinsosaur steps. A short jeep ride and a longer hike up had us arrive at some million odd year old dinosaur footprints. No T-Rex prints but approximately 400 others measuring over a metre in length. Quite an amazing sight to behold, and what with South America lacking Europes tight regulations you can actually touch and feel them yourselves.
After a long hike it was time to refuel with a spot of unch, as this was included in our tour we left it to our guide who assured us we would have a traditional Bolivian lunch. What with it being National Death Day we arrived at our guides ´friends´ house which was hosting a wake for the father of the household who died nearly two years ago. No i am all celebrating life and death, but you could easily of been mistaken into believing that the guy died that very week.... we arrived in a large open room where one wall contained a shrine built of flowers and photos with several locals around celebrating his life! Our turn to mourn the guy we didn´t know, and celebate his life with a varierty of home made liquers and self brewed alcoholic beverages. Needless to say it was an awkward experience, made worse not only by the fact they sat us in the middle but also that there was a very very drunk local youth who was intent on being the best of friends, however could only communicate in terms of football players names ´Lumpard... Von Persay... Stefan Jirrard´. A charming fellow i´m sure but very persistent. When our guide informed us that we didn´t have to eat and drink absolutely everything we were given it was time to go but we must take the food away with us if we couldn´t eat it all there. Our cue to leave but not until we had all individually paid our respects to the grieving widow.
Potosi
A short three and a half hour bus ride had us climbing 1.5km in altitude to the worlds highest city, Potosi. Situated at 4,100m above sea level the city of Potosi is home to the Cerro Rico mountain. The Cerro Rico is/was the worlds richest silver mountain, and largely funded the Spanish expanse in South America. The mountain is still mined today, but after 500 years of extensive exploitation is turning into a mountainous game of jenga.
What better way to experience the history of Potosi than to delve right in. We took a day trip into the mines to better understand and appreciate what conditions the miners work in.
We started with a trip to the warehouse to get kitted out in overalls, wellies, hard hat and head torch. Then off to the refinery to view some of the output aand process, think more wooden handles and sieves than industrial plant. Our final stop before the mountain had us visiting the Miners Market and picking up a few gifts for the miners, soft drinks and coca leaves. Aswell as trying a shot of the miners favourite tipple, 96 percent alcohol, Miners Vodka!
So into the mines we went, after getting about 200m into the mine we stopped so our guide could tell us about ´Tio´, the underground devil the miners honour and worship to keep them safe. As we sat on th cold rock 200m from fresh air we felt the mountain rumble and the rocks above and below us tremble! If we wern´t scared then we definitely were when our guide said ´that was a little too close´. Apparently they´re supposed to give you warning before using dynamite inside the mines! Our two hours in the mines consisted of some very low whilst squelching through the damp tunnels and traversing four different levels. This by far was the most daunting challenge going up and down some very rickety, off balanced, slippery wooden ladders (some with missing rungs) in the dark. After descending our firstour first level we could smell the freshly detonated dynamite but were kindly led a different way further into the mines. More scrambling and climbing led us to a true Indiana Jones scene where we were required to crosss a 10ft wooden plank which had a near bottomless black pit running on both sides of it. Just shy of two hours in the mines was plenty enough to experience the difficulties the miners go through and why they honour an undergrond devil to keep them safe!
A final note on the miners... they do no t get paid anything, but work as part of a cooperative taking a share of what they can extract from the mountain. Despite the pre-medieval conditions, lack of safety and distinct possibility of death from cave-ins (or within years from lung disease) the lure of the mines is strong as successful miners can expect to earn significantly more than the average Bolivian.
On a lighter note to end the blog... we went to the cinema in Potosi, but as we sat comfortably eating our popcorn waiting for the film to start we were kindly asked if we´d like to see something else instead.... it seems that Hollywood films shown in English with Spanish subtitles are not too popular in the worlds highest city!
A&G
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