Hotel Gran Libertador Potosi

... on Spanish keyboard!)) and our argument over directions at the paeje.

The reality was that the first 10km at the Potosi end is new
tarmac. Then the roadworks begin. They are obviously aiming to pave the
road to Uyuni but it´s early days.
Here they do not close the road
as they pave it! So there are sections of single lane dug up (muddy)
slippy road to get through as the grading machines and opposing traffic
use it at ...

... for drinks! With all of that, I think we spent about 30 dollars! Look at us go.
So now I´ll back up to why this is such a luxury.

Wednesday morning, we met Felipe and started out. First, we stopped in the market to buy ourselves food for the trip. How much food was confusing, because we might be buying food for the teachers as well, who would take the food and cook us meals as well, or just ourselves, but anyways we bought lots to be on the ...

... up the ghost.Taxi for Lambourne!! Leave your coat at the door and feint quietely please.hahaha. I somehow manage to gather my muscles together from around my knees and scrabble along the dirty little cave-like passage to meet up with our first real miner who has been holed away for the past 18 hrs on his own looking for scraps of Zinc, Silver and Copper to keep himself alive when he´s out of the darkness. It´s not a nice life to live and many who have been take pity on ...

... go underground to visit the mineral miners in the mines of Potosi. All the guide books say to do this at your own risk, and that you have to sign a disclaimer absolving responsability of death and accidents to the companies that take you. F***k the guide books,I´m pretty damn sure this will finish us off but what is life without fear,I´m not about to be holed upin a wooly blanket for the rest of my life.Only time will tell...

... Bolivia. Uiteindelijk ben je nooit alleen en weet je dat er een oplossing komt als het even moeilijk wordt. Je helpt elkaar. Zo hebben een Duits koppel bij hun hostel opgehaald, omdat we hoorden dat de dag erna de busdrivers gingen staken. En in Potosí om 01.00 am waren er twee Japanners die niet wisten waar ze waren en waar ze konden slapen. Dan neemt een groep ze even op sleeptouw zodat ze ook een warm onderkomen kunnen vinden ...

... wellies... as well as a tote bag to keep everything in... by now I was sweating like a pig, and off we went to the miners market to collect some gifts and supplies... itwas already quite clear that our guide had a great sense of humour which was getting me through it! we were divided into groups and the spanish speakers went one way, and english tour split into 2 aswell...! our guides were julio (the wonder of greengo tours) and jesus (who just chomped his way ...

... All of the projects are in the rural communities, so our plan is to go in and stay for 10 days, and then come out to Potosi and have 5 days off, or doing things in the office in Potosi. Currently the big projects underway are a health centre in one town, building bathrooms for the school in another town, and a trout farming project in a third town. Saturday, Felipe had to take some more building materials out to the health centre, and ...

... ash and wait for numb mouth and alertness, lack of hunger, thirst and tiredness. A national obsession here - bulging cheeks everywhere).

After driving up to the mines, we bought tips for the miners (coca leaves, soft drinks and dynamite) at the market and geared up in overalls, gumboots and hard hats with lights. I loaded up with coca leaves (when in Rome...) and we headed into the depths of Cerro Rico with our guide. The mine shafts were low, wet, dusty ...