Finishing up in Bolivia

Since leaving La Paz we've had many a long journeys and seen many strange things. Leaving the capital, we took an sleeper bus towards the south of Bolivia. We didn't sleep so much on the sleeper bus but made up for it with many quiet nights in the quiet, university city of Sucre. Sucre is very different from most of the other parts of the country we visited. It's white-washed buildings and roominess contrasted sharply with the claustrophobic chaos of La Paz. We took many strolls in the Mediterranean-like atmosphere, had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at a French Restaurant, and visited some excellent museums. One of the museums boasts a 1.5 kilometer wall of rock that is covered with various dinosaur tracks.

From Sucre we hopped over to Potosí. Potosí is the highest city in the world at 4,060 meters above sea level and is adjacent to the probably the worlds most famous mine. The strength of the Spanish empire was built in large part on the silver extracted from the "Rich Mountain" that towers above the city. Some 6,000 miners continue to mine the mountain to this day for its silver, zinc, tin, and lead. Indeed, the touristic highlight of visiting Potosí is a trip to the mines. We dared the risks of accidental explosions, collapses, falls, asbestos, etc. and journeyed inside with our guide. It is estimated that at least 8 million people have died in the mountain during its almost 500 years of exploitation. The first part of the tour consists of buying gifts for the miners, which can include coca, cigarettes, dynamite, and alcohol (for ritualistic use). We then ascended into the darkness with only our miner's headlamps to light the way. Near the entrance we gave offerings to the statue of the underworld god, "Uncle", which looks exactly like Satan. We spread coca and alcohol on his head, shoulders, hands, feet, and yes even his protruding penis, all to give us the powers we needed to endure the mine's hardships...and gain more fertility. After nearly 2 hours crawling and climbing through treacherous tunnels we emerged unscathed, thankfully protected by Uncle Satan. Unfortunately his favoritism did not extend beyond the walls of the mine shafts, since that night I (Alex) came down with a vengeful case of the runs.

Next we took the beautiful, yet bumpy ride to Uyuni, the dusty town next to the largest salt flats in the world. We joined a tour group full of Brits and Aussies, leading us to have to constantly control the urge to speak in a false accent, on a two day tour of the hallucinogenic, white desert. We spent one night sleeping in a hotel made exclusively of bricks of salt. This mesmerizing 48 hours can only be truly appreciated by viewing the pictures.

Our last stop in Bolivia was in the small town of Tupiza, which is located in the middle of an extensive network of incredible, multi-colored ravines. We chose the "triathlon" tour which consisted of jeeps, horses, and down-hill mountain biking. Kaitlyn truly impressed me with her mountain biking skills. Just when I thought I had left her in the dust while straining my nerves to their limits while speeding down the boulder-strewn roads, I would turn around to find her right on my rear wheel. It appears that we gained some prime bicycling abilities at the least in Nicaragua.