After a nearly 30 hour journey from BA to Santiago to Iquique to Santa Cruz, we finally arrived in our 3rd country of the trip - Bolivia. Organising the visa we needed at the border was absolutely no hassle which we were both very relieved about - after all, it was 1:30am and the night before was spent in an airport so we both bombed. We caught a cab to the dingiest of hostels - the first room key they gave us opened into an unmade room and the second key opened into a made room but by no means clean or hygienic. It was the first time we had to whip out our spare pillow cases we had bought from home for situations like this one. We slept hard and long and left the hostel and the city of Santa Cruz as we woke up.

The bus ride to Sucre was possibly the worst 11 hours of the trip so far. The bus had a nauseating smell that we couldn't quite put our fingers on, the roads were gravelled from beginning to end and included kilometres going up steep mountains with vast drops just beyond the road. We drove close 10km an hour for about half the journey and at one point, the bus pulled over and we watched as the local men and WOMEN dropped drawers and did their business right next to the bus for all the world to see. It wasn't just a toilet break though - we noticed the driver lying under the bus with a flash light fidgeting with the under of the vehicle. We were very pessimistic and expected we would be there for hours, but luckily, the driver seemed to know what he was doing and got us going after about 20 minutes. The worst part of the journey is that Jeff had come down with a serious stomach bug and he was feeling seiroulsy sick Smelly, bumpy bus + sore tummy = bad combo!!!!

We arrived in Sucre 3 hours later than expected and made our way to a road with many hostels along it with the intention of looking for the best and cheapest but by the time we got there, we were ready to take to the first place that had availability and that's what we did. A vibe less 'hostel' with no communal area or kitchen. Jeff spent a lot of our 2 days there in bed recovering from his lingering illness. We did fit in a walk around the city - most of the building are white washed and the roads are very neatly kept as are the squares dotted around the city, with fenced off gardens and lawns. We got a glimpse of the different culture of dress and behaviour - the older women all were flared skirts overalls and multicoloured shawls which they use to carry their belongings or their babies and they all have bum length black hair tied in piggy tail braids topped with bowler hats. We noticed that most people don't move for anyone - if we were walking down a thin pavement, the people approaching us would walk straight at us and we would have to dodge them by pressing against the wall or jumping into the road. We even noticed a girl bringing her pet goat into a veterinary clinic as we were walking.

Things are very different here and its going to take a while to get used to major differences

1. We have to carry toilet paper around with wherever we go - it is a luxury even in hostels!!!

2. We have to carry water around with us as the tap water is not clean to drink or brush our teeth with.

3. Because the water is unhygienic, we are wary of any food that requires washing like fruit or raw veggies and salad.

We headed off to Potosi once Jeff was recovered. This a town of about 100 000 people living at 4070m above sea level. The city's main focus is its huge silver-mine - the Cero Rico, that has been mined since 1546. The silver has been depleted over the years so the 10 000 miners who still mine today make their money from find lead, tin and other minerals.

Our first glimpse of the city was...brown and colourless. The bus took us on a route to the bus station and we barely saw a tree but once we ventured in the centre of the city where our hostel was, we realised that tin fact the city had a lot of character. We took a long walk during sunset through the bustling pedestrian streets lined with restaurants and local arts and crafts shops. The city is a grid of hills and each time we walk passed a road leading from east to west we saw the beautiful reds, oranges and pinks of the setting sun against the white and brown buildings along the long avenues.

We had wanted to go on a tour of the mines on our first full day in the city, but because that happened to fall on a Sunday it was impossible as the miners don't work then so instead we spent the day chatting to the other travellers at the hostel - A girl from Switzerland, Marlene who had been travelling with her partner for over a year and still had another whole year ahead and couple from Colorado, Ted and Sarah who happened to be planning their trip to the salt flats after Potosi as we were. Ted is involved in tourism at home and also speak semi fluent Spanish. Our plan was to do a 3 day tour of the slat flats from Uyuni but they suggested for us to join up with them on a tour from a city called Tupiza, slightly further south than Uyuni and do one extra day on the tour. This appealed to us as we had heard about some serious nightmare stories of incompetent tour operators and it seemed like Ted had been in touch a reputable one who was willing to give a good deal for a 4 person trip. He also had accommodation in Tupiza for the night before the trip started. It seemed too good to be true - a great couple that we got a long with and everything pretty much organised for us - so we agreed and the plan was set to leave for Tupiza the next evening and to leave for the tour on the Wednesday morning.

We were kitted out for the mines from our hostel at 9:00am on Monday. This included pants, jackets, gum boots, hard hats and head torches - within 5 minutes we were were sweating but we had a good 5 hours ahead so we had to ignore it. Before heading into the mine itself, our guide took us and the rest of our group (an English couple Rob and Helen, 2 Irish girls - Kelly and Breedge and an annoying Australian girl - Asher, and Ted the American) to the miners market. Now, this is no ordinary market of food and drinks... here you can buy anything from dynamite, nitro glycerine, detonators, 96% alcohol (for drinking, not cleaning) and cocoa leaves. These are items used daily by the miners. They can spend up to 24 hours at a time in the mine and so chew on coco leaves and drink alcohol to sustain their energy. Jeff took the opportunity, (once safety had been confirmed of course) of smoking a stick of dynamite like a cigar and we all got to have a slick of the 96% alcohol from the lid of the bottle - a healthy morning!!! We bought a bag of goodies for the miners including dynamite, cigarettes and coco leaves and headed off up into the mouth f the Cero Rico. En-route we got some beautiful views of the city from up high. The idea of the trip is to get a feel for the life of these miners. We ventured into the mine in single file and walked along a long narrow and extremely low tunnel which required much ducking and dodging and trudging through ankle deep mud. The chorus of 'Cuido' (pronounced Gwardo) was heard from the lead to the tail of the line warning the person behind of low spots. Our head lamps shone on orange and red growths on along the tunnel which we were told was deposits of cyanide...don't touch!!! We were lead up a floor but not via stairs obviously but with smart rock climbing and rope work. We met a cooperative of miners who took the dynamite we purchased and preppiing them for explosion. We sat in nook dug out of the mine waiting for the miners to prep and detonate the explosives. We all switched off our head lamps and sat in darkness so thick that you couldn't see the hand one inch in front of your face. Meanwhile, our guide Davide told us stories of the mines history, the people who work in it and the legend of the devil, Tio that the miners lay offerings to for their success and safety. After a 15 minute wait we heard the miners rushing towards our shelter and then finally heard and unexpectedly FELT the five explosions they had set up. It was quite overwhelming and nerve racking being so close to an explosion that you could feel the waves and pressure on your body.

On the way out of the mine we stopped at a t a nook close to the exit where some of the rock of the tunnel had been carved into the 'Tio' the miners devil - it was surrounded by alcohol bottles and coco leaves that the miners had left as sacrifices. There was even llama blood on the walls around it sacrificed by a more ardent supporter.

We were told that Monday is close to a Sunday in terms of work for the miners. This means that most of the miners spend the day playing soccer and getting heartily drunk. After emerging from the mine and stripping off our sweaty mining gear we headed to the local miners hang out where beer was shared and beer was drunk. Most of the group wanted to head back to the hostel, but not my Jeff - he was very anxious to spend the afternoon with the miners and he got to do it with the help and translating skills of our guide. So once we were all safely dropped off, Jeff hopped back into the bus with Davide to spend an afternoon playing soccer and drinking with the locals. As it turned out, there was only about 5 minutes of soccer played and about 3.5hours of beer drinking. He was lead into a local drinking hole of the miners where they spoke and drank all afternoon. He loved the afternoon and I think it is fantastic that he is so open to such an experience as it can be quite scary to most. He arrived back at the hostel just in time for a quick shower, a rushed dinner and a cab ride to the bus station for our 10 hour trip to Tupiza - GOOD LUCK JEFF!!!