Crossing the border to Brazil

We got taxis from the train station to arrive nice and early at the border crossing into Brazil. It seemed to take an age at the Bolivian side as we had to Q up and then visit 3 different desks were things were written out by hand. But after an hour or so we were all through into no mans land and on our way to the Brazilian side. That´s where it all went wrong.

´The computer says no´ sprang to mind as we found out that the system was down on the more sophisticated Brazil side of the border. It was only 9am, so we had plenty of time. We waited until 11:30am in the baking heat of what looked and felt like a petrol station, only to be told that the border was now going to close for a 3 hour lunch break!!! Fortunately there was a cafe of sorts in no mans land so we were also able to have lunch, and a decent traditional one too.

It was a very long, boring and hot day ... we finally got through at 4pm.

Next stop, the Pantanal which we would attempt to get into at night - they guides were not sure about whether we should try it and we found out why later!

Santa Cruz

Have been away from internet access for a while, so lots to catch up on here! I´ll try to stick to the highlights.

Santa Cruz was very ´civilized´compared to everywhere else we´d been. Lots of proper shops and nice places to eat, and a real city feel to it. We didn´t have long there and it was v hot, so we didn´t overstretch ourselves. Had a couple of nice meals and just ambled around taking in the culture.

There weas a demonstration going on that added some spice to the afternoon. Lots of people shouting and letting off firecrackers, loudhailers, banners, etc. But all the locals were just taking it in their stride - I think it´s a fairly common occurence in Santa Cruz.

Early evening we made our way to the train station for our (upgraded) overnight train to the Brazil border. Just two very luxurious carriages. Huge comfy reclining seats with leg rests, and dinner served at our seats. Movies (in Spanish!). Got a decent sleep, which I wasn´t expecting!

35 min flight from Sucre to Santa Cruz

This day was a lowlight of the trip! We arrived at Sucre airport at 9:30am for a 35 minute flight to Santa Cruz. The airport is tiny and the runway is short, so planes need good visibility to land. Unfortunately the cloud hung low for most of the day. So we were stuck there for hours and hours waiting for our plane to come in. The only fun was playing cards all day! Finally at around 6pm we were informed that our flight was cancelled. Great!!! We were given the option of free accommodation in Santa Cruz (with the possibility of a repeat the next day) or a flight to La Paz (in the wrong direction) with onward flight to Santa Cruz. We opted for the latter.

We got to La Paz just around 7pm and they would not let us on the connecting flight to S Cruz as it was full. The next plane was delayed, and took off just before 11pm. We finally arrived in a hot, sticky S Cruz just before midnight. All our bags had arrived except for the rucksack of my room mate. After a lot of tears and batting of eyelids etc. at a young, helpful Bolivian guy, he eventually searched the outgoing plane to Miami and found it in the hold. Lots of cheers, clapping and hugs from us all at S Cruz airport.

What a day. Our room was around 30c at 3am. What a change from a few days ago.

Carnival in Tarabuco with the Bolivian President

Bolivian president and his wife

On our full day in Sucre we were lucky enough to coincide with a carnival in a large village nearby that was brilliant: It was very, very traditional and the Bolivian president attended. There were many different groups of musicians, most of them playing pre-Spanish traditional wind instruments. No pan pípes, mainly very long quena type instruments. These group´s had dancers with lethal jangly things on their heels. Think of cowboy spurs and expand them several times to saucer sized circular saws on the back of wooden platfrom soles. We did notice a few cut toes from the odd accident! There were also some groups playing charangos, guitars and accordions. It was a real treat to the eyes, but not the ears - without exception all the music and singing was absolutely dire!! Tuneless and out of tune, especially the female high pitched singing.

The costumes were also colourful and traditional to the area. The president was dressed in the local traditional clothes, as were many of the locals. We were surprised that there was relatively little security for the president. Our guide had only seen him once before, in La Paz, and said that on that occasion there was significant security.

I took a lot of pictures and a fair bit of video. We were so, so lucky to coincide with this local carnival - definitely a real highlight of the trip so far!

Journey to Sucre

This will be a short entry! Woke with the runs ... not sure whether it was the 96% alcohol, the coca leaves, the Burrito last night or any other dodgy Bolivian things I have been consuming but it was ñot good. Slept a lot of the morning.

Fortunately was OK to do the 3.5 hr taxi ride later in the day. Although it was not cold I travelled in thermals, 2 fleeces; hats and gloves with goose pimples! Although I slept a lot of the way i did manage to notice the scenery change as we descended to a lower altitude (2500m) - it became a lot greener and the housing started to look a little more affluent. Oh, that is definitely the wrong word!! I meant that we saw a few more real breaks rather than mud based bricks, and the occasional house with a tin roof. And the people got paler.

(BTW, I am better now)

Potosi mine, Bolivia

In the morning we got kitted out with our wellies, overalls, helmets and lamps ready to visit the mine. Our Bolivian miner talked to us about the mine, its history and how it works today - as a collection of cooperatives. We were taken to the miners market to buy gifts for the miners to take on our trip. While we were there we each toasted mother earth and our group with a drink which was 96% alochol. It burnt from the lips and all all the way down, real fire water! We were also introduced to coca leaves, and tried our best to chew them up (a little, without the stalk) and make a ball in our cheek ready to face the mine. I managed a small ball, but have no idea how the miners themselves create them bigger than golf balls - they must spend at least an hour doing so. Did I say that we also played with dynamite at the market?

The mine was hell on earth. The locals believe that God looks after everything above (there is a Cathedral and lots of churches in Potosi) and the devil looks after everything below. So just after entering the mine we had to visit the devil and toast him and the miners with more 96% alcohol.

The conditions in the mine were horrendous. There was no light anywhere, except for our helmets. They were repairing holes made from all the recent rain and flooding. It was very wet underfoot. Initially it was freezing cold and then it got very hot and airless. The air was thick with dust, which we´re told was noxious. There was little in the way of roof support for the tons of rock above us.

All the miners we met were working manually. They used picks, shovels, hammers and carried their loads in trucks - pulled by rope and pushed from behind. The life expectancy of the miners is not great, both because of the day to day danger and lung disease from the dust. They don´t earn much money either. They start work in the mine as young as 15.

We walked for a while along a tunnel, frequently having to duck under the roof, bits of wood or assorted other things. There were occasional big holes along the way and shafts going up - just big enough to take a man (we realised when we saw someone disappear up one).

After we´d been going for a while our guiding miner declared that the last part of the visit was only for those who were young and stupid, and suggested I wait with some other´oldies´. I thought about this for about 10 secs and decided that I was definitely up for anything and he let me join the young (stupid) ones! I´ve been caving before so I knew what it might be like. We crawled up filthy tunnels, clambered up loose rock and down rickety ladders. We eventually came to a miner working in a very tiny space with a small hammer, just picking up bits of rock, examining them and then tapping them with the hammer. Our guide told us he was a real expert and was looking for bits of silver. Getting back to the main tunnel was a bit worse than going in, as we had to go ´downhill´on loose ground and were told not to hold onto the rocks as they just broke off - as I found out!

We got back to the main tunnel and started making our way out but were blocked by miners doing their work so had to wait. We were very tired by this point, and it was stuffy and dusty. One of the young members of our small group almost passed out and we got a little worried about her. Once the working miners realised we had a problem they let us pass and we made our way out. Glad to see the light and breathe the fresh air.

It was a hell of an experience and not one I´d want to repeat. Those poor miners who have to go down there every day ... what a life they have.

Arrival at Potosi

We´ve just arrived in Potosi after a 5 hour bus ride on bumpy dusty Bolivian roads through the mountains. Potosi is the highest city in the world at over 4000m, and is a Unesco world heritage site. It used to be the richest city in Latin America due to its silver mines. Unfortunately many many millions of people lost there lives over the centuries extracing the silver to make other people rich.

The same goes on today, but with tin. The mine is run as a cooperative and the local miners each have their own stake in the mine. Tomorrow we are going for what we are told is a shocking tour down the mines to see for ourselves the horrendous working conditions.