Where to begin ! The internet connection were so bad in Bolivia that we gave up the idea of updating the site ….But a lot happened in the last 2 weeks, so here is the longest blog update ever !

Mid-march we arrived in La Paz - not our favourite city in the world but really impressive in size (situated in a valley and stretching onto the surrounding hills). Personally we found it too big and fairly ugly. Its only real appeal : a multitude of street markets all around the centre. Everything you need, you can find: from fakes designer clothes to magic potions & smelly lama foetus for good fortune in the witches market ! We obviously gave in to superstition and bought ourselves a colourful potion supposed to protect us during our travels !

After walking around the city for 2 days , we were up for some adventure and decided to do the 60km ride down the “world’s most dangerous road”, just outside La Paz . It’s basically a dirt road full of rocks, which is about 3m wide at best, making it impossible for cars and buses to pass each other . It earned his name from the fact that about 7000 people died there since its construction (!!), with buses easily falling off the edge, down a 2km drop !! In the last 5 years , 11 tourists also died there doing the bike ride - the last one was a week before we arrived, a French girl who didn’t negotiate a turn properly and went straight over the edge…..Mmmm, reassuring !

But we survived !! And we have a fancy “Death survivor” T-shirt to prove it ! The scenery was stunning, starting on the Altiplano at more than 4600m, and going down to 1300m in 4hours. Everytime we looked down the edge, our legs would turn to jelly…After a gruelling 30mn uphill (altitude is a killer !) we started the descent slowly, getting used to the road and the bikes. But after 15mn acclimatisation, we started forgetting all about caution and bombed it down behind our guide. We frightened ourselves a few times, skidding across the road and getting dangerously close to the edge, but we made it ! It probably was one of the most frightening and exhilarating thing we’ve ever done.

After this ride, we got stuck in La Paz for an additional 2 days because of a huge farmers’ strike who blocked the ONLY road going down South - no buses could leave La Paz. And that’s what we discovered in Bolivia : strikes are numerous and travel is rough n’ready. In 2 weeks we forgot all about tarmac roads and comfortable travelling in nice buses. Once able to leave the city we headed off to Sucre (14h bus away….) - another of those lovely colonial towns, which had a very European feel to it. Climate & architecture reminded us very much of Southern Spain. Our most memorable experience in Sucre probably was our encounter with what we suspect was a nest of mosquitoes in the ceiling of our hotel room. After avoiding getting bitten in the Amazonian jungle we got attacked and killed more than 25 mosquitoes (yes, 25!!) – we left the walls and ceiling of our room covered in black spots after a sleepless night !! 

Potosi and its mines was our next destination. We expected a run down mining town in the desert and found ourselves in a dynamic, modern town full of attractions. The highlight of our stay was of course the visit of the mines. Bolivia is rich in minerals, and some of the mot prolific mines are in the Potosi region (where they exploit silver, tin, copper…etc). The problem is that the work conditions in the mines date back from Middle Age : unstable mine structure, basic tools to dig, exposition to dangerous chemicals and gases, extreme temperatures (more than 45degrees Celsius at 600m under floor level) ….etc. Life expectancy in the mines is still 10/15 years, barely more than during the colonial times when Indians and black slaves from Africa were being exploited by the Spanish. Kids of only 12/13 years old still work in the mines, learning the job and getting ready to step up in the job full time when their fathers’ health deteriorates too much to keep going…. The visit was extremely interesting but truly disturbing at the same time. Like they say, once you visited them, you’ll never complain about your job again!

Next stop : Uyuni and its salt lake !!