In High Places

After my last class in Sucre I set off with 3 girls from the Spanish school to do a 4WD tour across the highest and largest salt lake in the world - Salar de Uyuni. At 3665m above sea level, the small town of Uyuni (think "Northern Exposure" without the snow) was bitterly cold when we arrived at 1.30am. The 11 hour bus trip included frequent stops for minor repairs (ie. hammering something underneath the bus) so we were grateful to arrive at all.

The flat, dry salt lake looks like a desert of snow and is blinding without sunnies. Over 3 days in mostly barren landscapes we also saw a coral island of cacti, multi-coloured lakes with flamingoes, weird-shaped rock formations, and belching, sulphur-smelling geyers.

Unfortunately our Landcruiser had "lost power" so we were reduced to 5km/hr up hills and constantly passed by other 4WDs, making full days of driving on bumpy, dusty gravel roads a little tedious. But we amused ourselves by playing car games (I Spy, Celebrity Heads etc) with the 2 Spaniard brothers in our jeep to practise our Spanish/English.

After a chilly 4am start on the last day, we were relieved to stop for breakfast at hot springs...I chose not to de-robe, but defrosting my frozen toes in the water (30 deg C) was the highlight of the trip!!

In the middle of the night on another bus, I said goodbye to Guro, Sandra & Sara, and stopped to explore the highest city in the world - Potosi (4070m). Once booming with 1 million inhabitants because of its importance as the world´s biggest producer of silver, the city is overlooked by Cerro Rico ("rich hill"), which is still mined in medieval conditions. A tour of the mine reminded me why I love travelling so much...amazing new experiences. At the miner´s market we stocked up on gifts for the miners - coca leaves, dynamite, cigarettes and juice. Then we suited up in yellow rain pants and jacket, wellies, and a hard hat with torch. I had been handling the altitude surprisingly well (just puffing walking uphill) so initially I was reluctant to stuff coca leaves in my cheeks, followed by drinking a capful of 95% alcohol, but "when in Rome"...by the end of the tour I was asking for more!

We walked, sometimes hunched over, through the narrow tunnels, passing miners, some as young as 13. A clay statue of El Tio, the god of the indigenous miners, is anointed twice a month by pouring alcohol on its eyes, chest, legs and erect penis. Unfortunately I had forgotten to ask for an English-speaking guide so didn´t understand everything, but I think this ritual means the miners are wishing for strength, agility, and safety while underground, and fertility to produce offspring to continue working in the mines!

We climbed into a small place in a very humid part of the mine where 5 miners were taking turns removing buckets of ore up from a deep hole. I had a go at turning the crank to actually experience how difficult this work is...no wonder they are all so thin and strong. 8 million men have died since the mine began about 400 years ago (not exactly a good safety record, don´t you think Kal crew??!!). We witnessed a dynamite explosion, thankfully once outside, which scared me so much that I let go of my camera before I could take a photo!