Today I took a tour of the famous mine in Potosi that estimates say claimed at least 8 million lives over 3 centuries of Spanish Colonial rule. After signing a form with Koala Tours that says they are not responsible for accidents, injury, or death that may occur inside the mine, we embarked on our tour of this fascinating, underground realm. The waiver made it perfectly clear that we would be in as much danger as the miners themselves. And although we would be i...

I'm in Potosi, Bolivia ... The Highest City in the World at 13,430 feet (4070 m). The history of Potosi is quite amazing despite the difficult living conditions like the cold and lack of oxygen associated with this altitude. Potosi was once THE largest and wealthiest city in the world ... at one time surpassing even London and Paris ... thanks to the discovery of silver in the nearby "Cerro Rico" or Rich Hill. The subsequent mining of the mountain provided so muc...

After almost 2 months working in Cuzco, I decided it was time to get moving again. So here I am back in Bolivia checking out some things I missed my first time through. I am in Sucre, a pleasant city with nice weather due to the lower elevation. The downtown area is really active and busy and complimented by the student populations from four universities. It's not a very touristy place but one landmark is worth seeing. 68 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed thes...

I am still in La Paz, one of South America's most interesting cities and also the highest capital city in the world at 12,000 feet. That's the same altitude as the highest ski lifts I used in Aspen Colorado! The city sits in what appears to be a big cereal bowl, surrounded by hills on all sides, dotted red by the brick homes that house the poor, and that lead up to the high planes and Bolivia's poorest city, El Alto. Most residents there don't even have running ...

The World's Most Dangerous Road, or as Bolivians more affectionately refer to it, Death Road, was named in 1995 by the Inter-American Development Bank. Their simple measurement? Deaths per mile! This is long before anyone thought tourists would pay to hurl themselves kamikaze style down the twisty, dirt road that has no safety barriers and drop offs in some areas as much as 3000 FEET! When a vehicle or mountain biker find their way off the edge, death is pretty m...