Bolivia

Trip Start Mar 29, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Bolivia  ,
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

So after the Pantanal we left Brazil and crossed the border into Bolivia. First stop was Santa Cruz but didnt see much of it as it was only a stopover. On the Saturday we arrived in Sucre, the historical capital of Bolivia which I spent the next few days exploring. Its an awesome city and really pretty. Lots of old white colonial building and churches. I found it really interesting learning about Bolivias independence at the Casa de Independencia (or something like that) where they signed the independence treaty from Spain in 1825. The rest of the time there was just spent chilling out, recovering from a cold and enjoying Bolivias dirt cheap food and drink (this has continued for the last week or so, lol).

After that we went to Potosi, famous for its Silver mines and the millions of slaves that have died in them. Unfortunately I was too rough to go down the mines but nearly everyone else did and said it was an absolutely harrowing experience Casa de la Libertad
Casa de la Libertad
 . Conditions havent really improved in the last few hundred years and the average life expectancy is about 40 or so. Children have to work 24hr shifts as well. The poverty in this country is a real eye opener and its certainly made me less keen on silver jewelry :(

After Potosi we headed for the salt flats in Uyuni, one of the most striking landscapes on the planet. It was incredible. First of all we headed to this train cemetary where there was all these disused trains (shipped over from Dudley of all places, lol). From there we went and saw a family who have to pack at least 3000 bags of salt a day to make just enough money to survive and then we went on a drive across the salt flats to these amazing caves where coral had formed since the area, millions of years ago i may add, had been under a massive lake. 

The next day we got up super early, after staying the night in a hotel made of salt (!!!) and saw the sun rise. It was amazing. We then spent the rest of the day exploring the amazing landscape. Definitely worth a visit if you can make it.

Following a lovely night train we arrived in La Paz where I again decided to chill out as I hadnt been well all week and wanted to save some money. For the record, I REALLY wanted to do the bike ride down the "most dangerous road in the world" but cant really afford it. However, I took a wicked city tour yesterday and visited the moon valley which was pretty cool.
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