The main reason people come to Potosi is to visit the Silver Mines, where working conditions are grim and life expectancies markedly reduced. Before going down into the mine, we were advised to buy gifts for the miners we would meet along the way: 96% alcohol (not a misprint!), cigarettes and sticks of dynamite (for mining, not leisure) were suggested. No wonder people don´t live for very long - as if the environment weren´t bad enough, the coping mechanisms don´t help much. Not only are there very few job opportunities in Potosi; the quantity of silver left is fast being depleted, so even these jobs are at risk. Although it was amazing to be able to go into the mines and see how people work down there, we all felt pretty depressed on coming out, and immensely lucky for the lives we lead. I think a lot of what we see travelling with a GAP tour group is sugar-coated and perhaps not the ´real´ South America at times, so we were glad to have gone to Potosi, but I´m sure we could say we enjoyed it.

After this, we travelled to Sucre, a beautiful city, with lots to see and do around it. While Rob went off mountain biking with the boys (who have nicknamed him ´the Adult Child´!), the rest of us had a look around with our tour guide. We visited the local markets, walked up a very steep hill to enjoy the views, and took the Dino bus to see some dinosaur footprints (while no doubt annoying the other passengers by humming the Jurassic Park theme tune the whole way there). The footprints have been verified by Swiss palaentologists to be the real deal, found in a quarry just outside Sucre. The park gives you some of the history, as well as ´life size´ dinosaur models to walk around, with the soothing background noise of dinosaurs roaring loudly. While in Sucre, we had a good night out, with our missing two from the old GAP group joining us and ending with 80s karaoke.

We then flew to Santa Cruz for a brief overnight stay, before boarding our night train (which thankfully wasn´t ´The Death Train´ we´d read about in the Lonely Planet - ´it frequently derails causing the many people sat atop it to fall off´ ... and ´it´s violent motion may make you want to throw yourself in front of it´) which would take us almost into Brazil. We´ll catch up with you across the Brazilian border, in the Pantanal, where crocodiles roam free and mosquitoes and humidity govern all else!