Hans en Nienke: 10 november 2018: Bolivia

We're in Bolivia. We got rid of all organic material in our car (except for ourselves) in order to avoid problems at the Argentinian-Bolivian border. It took us about 10 minutes to pass it. That includes a discussion with the Argentinian officials about a form we were not given at the Mendoza border (which in fact was hidden in one of our suitcases we found out later) and a brief talk to the Bolivian immigration officer (who was not interested in our car at all, but more in bribes). The cash machine in Villazon turned out to be very kind to us. And of we went, with a wallet full of pink bank notes and a full petrol tank, despite all the negative rumours about the Bolivian borders.

So we drove happily into yet another beautiful scenery, my personal roading manager very impressed with the high quality Bolivian roads through the 4+ km high mountains. This carriage did not make it from Villazon to Uyuni. We almost didn't either. The fantastic road suddenly stopped in Tupizi before a bridge. No signs whatsoever. Eventually we drove trough the riverbed and a few canyons and found the highway again about 10 km past the town.

In Uyuni our next accommodation was in the train station. We kindly declined the upgrade to the superior (and extremely hot) old carriages in front of the station. Had a great discussion over a few glasses of wine with the manager of the hotel about the Bolivian history. Apparently mr. Morales, a in name socialist, has started to gain some Trumpian habits. Changed the law like Putin and is preparing the country for his fourth term.

Uyuni is the closest town to the Salar de Tupuna, a 10.582 square km salt lake surrounded by volcanoes, many of them still with volcanic activity. One of the small lakes in the salar is bubbling away.

Our first stop was the Salt Lake hotel, now a café. Many tourist planted their countries flags there. Nienke found not only the Dutch and the New Zealand flag, but even the Maori flag!

The salt lake itself is an endless white space where perspective is completely lost. The drivers are masters in making funny pictures and video clips. Our Brazilian companions did not completely understand the script, but the next clip is funny anyway.

Our driver Alex was a Bolivian native, chewing coca leaves all day,probably to compensate the few beers he had during breaks with other drivers. Gave us a safe feeling because the safety belts had been removed to create more room in the Toyota Landcruiser. Good thing all cars where going in the same direction. Garth, if you're looking for a new job, it's here in Bolivia.

Next stop was Isla Incahuasi, an amazing place. An island covered in Inca ruins and thousands of cacti.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. It was like standing on an island in the midst of Antarctica. Surreal.

The 5865 m. high Ollaque volcano still has active vents.

Lake Pastos grande is an oasis in the dessert. Loved by flamingos and tourists. Luckily this all looks pretty pristine. Unfortunately we've seen lots of garbage in other places. Especially enormous empty areas where the wind played with rubbish, causing every piece of shrubbery to be decorated with a plastic bag of some kind, made us really sad. Firms like especially Coca Cola (sorry Rob) are guilty of neglecting their responsibility to keep nature pristine and people healthy. Their plastic bottles (regardless of the tiny warning on the bottle) is seen anywhere, and their aggressive advertisement with ridiculous prices will quickly make South America a diabetic continent as well. So sad.

How happy are we to still be able to see this all in the mainly original state.

This is El Zorro, the South American fox. When our driver briefly stopped, this beautiful animal popped up for his regular piece of chicken. All for the tourist......

In the middle of the dessert we felt the need to build a small tower for our friend Ruben.

Not only foxes where interested in us, this (probably the most ugliest of all) dessert rabbit was keen to take some carrot from Nienke.

We then found the Laguna colorada. A multicoloured lake, full of red algae. Food source of the flamingoes. Amazing view with the willingly posing lamas in the foreground.

Quite a windy place by the way. Nienke could lean into the wind. Time to visit our second accommodation. After some negotiating we could get a 'matrimonial' room. A double bed with our own bathroom. Come on, we're not 18 anymore and prostates and weak bladders make a 'round the corner toilet a necessity. As far as toilets goes, South America asks you to adjust quite a bit. Paper does not go in the toilet bowl, but in the bin next to the toilet. I know, weird. We are used to it now, but for young couples on their honeymoon this will be an extra test!

On our last day of the tour we visited an active field of geysers and steaming mud baths and vents.

Knowing all the security measures in New Zealand we were quite surprised to see tourist jumping over the geysers and walking between the dangerous volcanic holes. Some 'bridges' were ready to collaps. Tried to tell them I was not on call.....

One of the last visits was the Laguna verde with the 5915 m. high Licancabur volcano, which lies on the Bolivian - Chilean border. Very impressive spot. Weird to think that in a couple of weeks we'll be standing on the other side in the Atacama desert in Chili.

Time to make a picture with our new friends from Spain and Brasil. Amazing how you group a few people together and it all becomes amicable and friendly. Why can't that work with politicians, are they a special breed? What would happen if you would put Putin, Trump, Morales, JinPing, Bolsonario and Maduro in a Toyota landcruiser together on a trip like this? They'd probably throw each other in an active volcano.

Luckily normal people can enjoy nature together, regardless of gender, race, age or country.

This river is called the 'Anaconda'. It stretches (or wiggles it's way) through this stunning gorge.

You'd expect to see Lucky Luke and the Daltons to be attacked by the Indians here any moment.

Nienkes new friend, this recently born lama. Getting closer to Uyuni again we drove trough many valleys filled with lamas and sheep, enjoying the lush green.

From Uyuni we drove to Potosi, once the biggest town in the world. When we arrived at our hotel it was impossible to make the turn into the parking of the hotel with our 'tank'. Luckily they immediately arranged an alternative. Potosi used to be the biggest town in the world where the Spanish had their colonial mint. The Cerro Rico de Potosi has be the place of mining since before the Inca's. About 8 million people died in the mines over the centuries. Slaves died of hard labour in horrible circumstances. And many died because of silicosis and accidents. This former miner, Wilson, makes jokes on he minders market where you can buy anything from shovels to sticks of dynamite (here in his mouth). It's the place where we're supposed to buy presents for the miners we're going to visit in the mines. I tell you, at this point we were absolutely not sure what we were in for, even though we read a bit about it. We debated quite a bit if this was the right thing to do. The organisation run by former miners convinced us eventually that we would actually help the miners and even the town. If the mine would not be functioning anymore the town would cease to exist.

Still quite uncomfortable with our bags full of bottles of water, coca leaves and lollies for the children (!) we changed into a miners outfit. And then we drove up the mountain The scenery changed quickly from a nice colonial town to a hard reality of poverty and hard labour. The atmosphere in the bus quickly changed from cheerful chattering to a humbling silence. The mine was not a straight cave with lightning, but a narrow entrance with a low roof. Our helmets banged against rock points continuously. Regularly we had to jump aside to let a miner with a wheelbarrow full of rock pass us. When we finally reached a more open space we were all quite relieved.

Wilson told us about the statue of the devil here, who the miners used to thank and praise for their 'safety'. They did drink alcohol (93%) here on Fridays as well together. The miners do not have watches. They stuff their mouth full of coca leaves and when the leaves lose their power/taste four hours have past and it's time for a break. Some miners work in cooperation (it all turned to custard when the government nationalised the mines and corruption destroyed the system, soon there were far more staffers then miners), but other can't pay the joining fee of 9000 BOB's (1926 NZ$ or 1145 €) and have to keep working for themselves, hoping they'd strike silver one day.

After climbing through small holes and crevices we reached a small area designated to a father and son who could not join a cooperative. With a hammer and chisel they hacked their way into the mountain. While Wilson was talking the father prepared dynamite sticks (I know, scary..) and eventually pushed them into a hole in the ceiling, hammering down the dynamite sticks, making us all feeling quite uneasy. Meanwhile the 15 (!) year old son threw bags of stones into another hole. When dad told Wilson he was going to blast the dynamite Wilson told us to quickly descent into two holes. I thought we had to stay there till after the explosion, but surprisingly the climb down the caves and shafts led to an area close to the main entry. The blast turned out to be a muffled pop, but as we climbed down we past two man who used a drill to drill holes for the dynamite which caused so much dust we could hardly see anything anymore. Here I was thinking I'd go to the market again and buy respirators and earmuffs for a 1000 US$ to help them do everything safer. But after having been in the mines with a mouth mask I know you can't work with those things. Way to warm and chokey. Theseman know they won't get much older than 50, but they still continue because they hope to one day find the silver.

We're posing here like we enjoyed it, but Nienke came out in tears. This hard life really makes you think about the important things in life. It made a huge impression on all the people in our group. We still can't understand all the reviews we saw in their office written on the walls by people saying the tour was great/geil (Germans.....) and the best they'd ever done. Did they miss the point? Are they stupid? Amazingly the mountain is a Unesco heritage site and they are not allowed to just carve away the mountain. It's all so twisted.

Are we stupid? Here we are in Sucre 2 days later enjoying a chocolat espresso. Wilson said it's al about luck in life. We know a bit about luck and bad luck in life and it's probably so true. All the more reason to enjoy what you have and stop wining about what you do not have.

Not that these dogs are concerned about any of this.

Sucre is also a nice white Unesco heritage town. Vibrant, with a great colourful Central market and a few great museums we really enjoyed.

We found a little café in the bell tower of Santa Monica church. The owner said chose any of the 5 levels we have. Of course the top one was the best with views over the while town. The poor man had to bring our coffees and nachos in Bolivian colours up all the stairs. Luckily for him we put our order in on the ground floor. We had a brief look in the Santa Monica church when it finally opened (apparently the church closes for siesta as well) and saw a baptising event where the father (in shorts hanging on his knees and a not fitting T-shirt showing way too many rolls for a 30 year old answered his phone while the priest was spraying holy water over his child's head. 'And the times they ar a'chinging' Bob Dyland already said.

Dooms day. It was either Nienke handling a brand new scissor on me for the first time or go to the hairdressers in Bolivia. Since this guy had Celtic - Leipzig on it seemed like a safe bet. Unfortunately the guy before me had an hour long session where every facial hair was microscopically removed and replaced with horrible gels, warm towels and other nonsense. I asked Nienke to translate all the stuff I did not want (I really hate hairdressers) and prayed for a quick release from this prison. In Waikanae I'm usually done in 5 minutes, this time I fled after ten, my hair sticking up like spaghetti and Nienke laughing her head of. I think it's time to go bold....... Luckily Celtic won!