Hello from Bolivia, again!!!!

Well, as you guessed, we are still in Bolivia, but only for 1 more day hopefully, oh, and there's another strike today, everywheres shut, what a surprise! But anyway,to take up from where we last left off, somewhere in Northern Bolivia en route to the Salt Flats.

The Salt Flats were our next destination after our wonderful experiences in the lowlands where the weather was tropical to say the least. However, Uyuni, the small town which is the jump off for the Salt Flats tour, is a stark contrast, the total opposite infact, cold and nowt to do but wrap up warm and eat pizza.

Upon arriving in Uyuni, we booked a hostel and all importantly, a 3 day 2 night tour of the surrounding area. The next day we left for the tour, and on board were to Germans (yea!), and a girl from Poland along with her Yank boyfriend (much better craic). Anyway, the tour consisted of us being driven in a Toyota Land Cruiser for the 3 days, so we would all come to know each other that bit better. The first stop on our tour was a massive train graveyard which consisted of around 20+ really old trains just rotting outside of Uyuni, from the good old days one suspects. Moving on, we headed towards the Salar de Uyuni, the Salt Flats. As you can see from the pictures there really arent any words to describe then. You can see for miles, just total whiteness. Formed millions of years ago when the sea reached that far in, but when the Andes got pushed up and cut the sea off, it soon dried up leaving vast salt and mineral desposits to form the Salt Flats. Locals mine the salt today for all sorts of uses, including building houses, as we stayed in one such abode.

After making some funny pictures on the Salt, we headed to see some giant cactus which appeared slap bang in the middle of the flat, strange but beautiful. After this, we made it to our fisrt stop were we saw some 1000year old mummies in tombs, the 6000year old ones had been stolen apparently. The next day, we were back in the jeep and on our way to see some cool geological landforms including volcanoes. We passed by a red lake, which the guy said in Spanish was due to volcanic deposits, but im pretty sure it was due to red algae, hence the pressence of so many pink flamingo, which was strange to see considering we were at 4500mts and around zero degrees C. That night we nearly froze, it was -15 C outside, and inside wasnt much better, so bed apparell that night included every item of clothing we had. The next morning however was a treat, well for Lauren anyway. Firstly we saw some geysers at an elevation of 5200mts which were really cool, and after about 5minutes of explaining what they were to Lauren, we moved onto her favourite, the hot springs. It was 5am, -10C so i decided not to get in and just snapped away at the pretty landscape, but she asures me it was bliss. From here it was on to the Chilean border to dump everyone off while we headed back to Uyuni just in time to make the overnight bus to Potosi.

We spent 2 days in Potosi, and the main reason for going there is to do Silver mines tour. So we relaxed the first day (I psyched myself up secretly) and got ready for the mine tour the following day. To start with, we all had to change into miners gear, as seen from the pictures, very fashionable for underground folk. Then we headed with our guide to the miners market to buy them gifts like Coca leaves, soft drink and dynamite, which no license or anything was needed to aquire, i could of bought hundreds and blew anyone up, nobody in Bolivia would of been any the wiser. Anyway, off to the mine we went. Our group started off with 6, but this 6 soon became 2, Lauren and I. As the others wimped our, Lauren and I descended further into the depths of the mine. Crawling and scrabliming on my arse, it was a feat and a half for both of us, but we made it. The air was stiffling with so much dust and the heat was searing the further we went. Then we learnt that each miner has a life expectancy of 40 max and most die of black lungs, good money though! Outside, we had a bit of fun, after drinking, our guides decided to make some bombs for us. They assured us that they wouldnt go off for at least 3mins so we could get some pictures in, then they went off, with quite a bang too, must be so much louder down in the Silver mine.

Once we dusted ourselves down, it was on to Sucre, or next stop en Route to Brazil. There wasnt a great deal to do here, just a tour of the biggest dinosaur tacks in the world, we tried to capture them on camera, but we were quite a distance from them. Also, Lauren decided to fall ill, so she was bed riden for a while. One highlight was the fondu we had. We have both been missing food from home so much so this was a treat, especially for me as Lauren was still ill so all the more for me. Beef, cheese, salad, beer, what more could a guy want.

With my plate well and truely cleared (licked), sure enough we were on the move again, next stop, Santa Cruz, Bolivia´s second largest city, and at 400mts, we knew we would be back to normal altitudes once again and the heat we had been longing for since departing the jungle would finally be back. Our main intention in Santa Cruz was to book the train to Brazil for the next day, but the Bolivians being the proverbially t*** they are, didnt have any space left and were striking for the next few days, so the only train we could get was the so called self proclaimed "death train" ,on Wednesday, which would take us over night to Brazil. A blessing in disguise really as it was half the price of the train we wanted to get, and a few more nights in Bolivia wouldnt dent the budget as much as the same amount of time in Brazil would.

So we got a hostel and decided to get aquainted with Santa Cruz. It really was much a do about nothing here,so we headed out a little to a local Nature Reserve. Here we saw loads of nice butterfly, giant turtle, parrots, and our greatest find so far, a sloth. This guy was amzing, he moved so slow, but captured our hearts in an instant, I called him John, though Lauren insisted on Slothy, very original. We spent the rest of the day swimming and had a go at canoing, then it rained lots, so it was back to the hostel for siesta time. We decided to catch a movie one night, and the cinema was such a time warp. Outside, you knew you were in Bolivia, however, once inside the door, it was like being transported to the US, it was soo Americanised. But I enjoyed the normality, and Lauren enjoyed the popcorn.

And thats about it up to now, just waiting out for this train. Next time you hear from us, we should have been to Rio and some Islands just off the Brazilian coast. But this is S.America and things never go to plan, so until next time, hope you are all keeping well, we miss you dearly, especialy the cooking mums. Lots ofLove Adam and Lauren.

xx