Early start for a local bus ride to Potosi, about 4-5 hours away. Very mountainous and very barren. Virtually no plant life at all just rocks and dirt. Had brunch on arrival and a brief walk around the centre of town and the mercado. It is quite a picturesque town, particularly the central area around the plaza. Potosi's history is steeped in silver mining. The Spanish plundered the area and ran the mines with slave labour using both local indigenous people and slaves brought in from Africa. The existence of so much silver encouraged the Spaniards to establish a mint in the mid 1500's, to turn some of the silver into coins. Today the mint is the largest building in Potosi and a magnificent museum providing a detailed look at the processes used to mint coins. From the initial method of hand stamping coins, to donkey driven mills and finally the introduction of steam to make the entire process more efficient. It also has some wonderful art galleries displaying the work of past Bolivian artists. Dinner tonight was in a local Bolivian restaurant. Unusual system of operation. As you enter you order and pay and then take a table. When you finish you simply leave. We didn't realise this and caused a bit of confusion when we simply sat down at a table expecting a waiter to take our order. All sorted in the end and the meal was simple but tasty.
The next day we only had the morning available before we caught a bus to Uyuni. I headed straight to the cathedral museum. A little different here in that the cathedral is only open when mass is in progress but you can pay for a guided tour. The styling was somewhat different, some gothic influence and bright colours of blues and burgundies on a mainly white background. And of course gold leaf everywhere you looked. A climb into the bell tower provided a sensational view over the town, in all directions. The cathedral also had a small mausoleum which contained the coffins of about 9 prominent citizens as well as the femur bones of many Spaniards. From here Delfina and I headed to a pastry market. Got a little lost on the way but with the help of some friendly locals we eventually found it. I have never seen so many pastry products in one place. Some were stacked a metre high. Bolivians love sweet food and to them this was obviously heaven judging by their purchases. We brought a few items for the upcoming bus trip. The little puff pastries soaked in honey were the pick of the bunch. We headed back to the plaza and our designated meeting spot to be met by a huge celebration in progress. The usual marching girls and bands were there but so were a great number of indigenous dancers in extremely colourful costumes, There appeared to be 4 main groups judging from the colours. Green, pink, blue and black with orange highlights. The dancing was what we had winessed before. Very energetic and performed with genuine pride and passion. The Bolivians I have met so far have a genuine love for their country and take pride in sharing their love and knowledge.
Our bus trip to Uyuni was again through some mountainous country. Again very barren with the odd herd of llamas and their minder. Uyuni looks like a wild west town. Dirt streets, mud brick buildings, no greenery. All it needed was the tumble weeds. And also very cool. It is the primary starting place for tours to the salt flats and as such plays host to many tourists. Not much to do, so after a dinner of pizza it was back to the hotel. This will be our last night in relative comfort so we need to make the most of it.