Sucre is 2700 metres above sea level so arrived a little concerned about altitude sickness, but when we stepped out of the plane the air was beautiful crisp and clean and felt fine!

We stayed at Hotel Indepencia which had a great feel to it, with decor of chandeliers and antique furniture.

We went out straight away to book tours and I decided to keep the following day free for sight seeing and recovering from my cold, and booked in for horse riding on the morning of our last day.

We went to a great gringo spot for dinner and had a delicious chile con carne (I have been so sick of just meat and veggies or per kilo restaurants!!!).

I went straight back to the hotel after, in hope that a few earlier nights would help me recover quicker!

I also finally discovered I could purchase skype credit to call landlines and better still i could use the Skype app on my iphone and do it over the free wifi :-)

I suprised my mum and called her at work. After 2.5 months away, it was nice to finally hear my first familiar voice from home! 

The next day I walked around the markets with a few girls from the tour and tried to take lots of photos of the women in traditional dress which was really cool to see.

And everything is incredibly cheap in Bolivia! Food, clothes and souvenirs!

I bought myself a new rainbow coloured beanie, scarf and coin purse for $55 boliviano (approx $8.50 AUD). It's supposed to be alpaca but after doing some research I doubt that!

We got the tourist bus to the dinosaur park. Not a hell of a lot to see but still interesting and for the equivalent of $8 AUD for entry and transfers can you really complain?

The park overlooks the wall of the cement quarry where thousands of dinosaur footprints can be seen. They're  now vertical due to plates shifting and are soon to be covered in silicon to protect them.

After the park, I went back to the hotel for a nanny nap as had been having insomnia the previous night (I later learned that is a symptom of altitude sickness).

Joined a few members of the group in the evening to watch a movie at the local cafe on the Potosi Silver mine.

It was a documentary following the life of a 14 year old boy & his family.

His father had died when he was young, and he and his 12 year old brother worked in the mine by day, then by night the whole family (Mum and little sister) worked guarding the tools of the mine.

It was a real tear jerker and was so sad to see the boys working in such atrocious conditions and so young with such a sense of responsibility.

It also showed the family struggling to save for 2 months and doing without to afford uniforms, shoes and hair cuts to allow the boys to go to school. The older boy was saying I want to get an education so I can leave the mines - he wanted to become a civil engineer ... When he does finally go to school the other kids end up picking on him & calling him names because he now works in the mine half the day and then school in the afternoon. The poor little boy said that going to school felt like having a vacation :-(

The conditions in the mine are very harsh with freezing to high temperatures and air that is filled with silica dust and also asbestos in the hotter areas of the mine. 

The boy had already been working there for 4 years and you could imagine the damage already done to his lungs in that time.

Men who work in the mine as adults only have life expectancies to 35-40 years. 

Seems crazy that they do it knowing this but at the very end of the film they ask a miner why? "We do it for our families."

So sad and God and we think our jobs are hard!

So another nice dinner after the movie, chicken tikka masala, naan and mango chutney!!!! Almost like home :-)

Went home at midnight and left the others to party til dawn - I hate missing out but still sick :-(

It was an early start anyway, up at 6.30am for a 1/2 day horse ride with another girl, Sandeesh from our group and joined by 2 other back packers from Wales.

Unfortunately it was misty and raining  for the first 2.5 hours but luckily it stopped on the way back. 

My horse was great but Sandeesh's was very slow!  Not sure what was wrong with the poor thing but it looked completely miserable!

We saw some great sights along the way, from the kids coming down from the mountains to go to school, the small houses that they live in, and the women working out in the forest picking up sticks.

That afternoon we caught our 4 hour bus to Potosi, joined by some locals who were squashed into the front cab of the bus and the stairs of our section. They would hop off at remote locations along the way then we'd pick up new people who would be standing road side in the middle of no where!

Arrived in Potosi, 4000 metres above sea level feeling ok ... A little giddy and like you were moon walking, but breathing was fine. 

We had a briefing on the mine tour which involved stopping at the miners markets in the morning to get them gifts of coca leaves, cigarettes & soft drinks. We would also need to buy our own masks and gloves.

At the mine you changed into the gumboots, trousers, jacket and hard hat that they provide.

There were 4 levels to the mine, only miners could go to level 4 but the group may go down as far as level 3.  The further inside the mine you go the hotter it gets with temperatures getting up around 35 degrees.

I was very keen to do it after seeing the movie but with my asthma and chest infection, was not sure how far into the mine I would get? 

I was also hoping to get the opportunity to see a little miner so I could give him a little bit of cash as when they only earn $2-4 a day, not a lot for me could go a long way for him & his family.

We went out for dinner at another nice gringo place and had more mexican!  I'm loving the change of food here but will hopefully have a chance to visit non gringo places soon and try some local dishes! 

Food at these places was cheap by our standard - meal, glass of wine, water & tip for $60 bolivianos (Approx $9-10 AUD). But at local places you could get a 3 course lunch and drink for $25 bolivianos ($4 AUD).

Went straight back to hotel after dinner as was tired due to the insomnia I was still getting.

Woke several times during the night and in the morning feeling extremely dehydrated and with a pounding head ache! Before long I was also feeling nauseous and it felt like I was having one of the worst hang overs I've ever had!!!

I had to pass on the mine trip and drug myself up with neurofen plus & altitude meds and stay in bed!

I was then paranoid I was dying as googled altitude sickness and thought