Further Wanderings

As far as our South American destinations go, Bolivia was out in the backwoods, well off the usual itinerary of most tourists. But as illustrated already, its a haven for budget backpackers on the Gringo Trail, and they very much have
their own “standard route” through the country. So far all of our destinations had been firmly on this route but, partly according to plan, partly not, we were taking a diversion way off the usual tourist path.

The part that was NOT according to plan was our visit to the town of Oruru. The fact that we’d stopped there at all was due to a transport strike, which had closed the roads both through and in the town. We arrived late in the afternoon and, given that we needed to change buses out on the road, decided to spend the evening in Oruru rather than take our chances standing on the side of the highway in the middle of the night.

This guy got on our bus as it was preparing to leave Potosi. He played his small stringed instrument (kind of like a cross between a ukelele and a mandolin) and then (as expected) made a plea for some money from the passengers. I was kind of annoyed by his guilt-tripping his captive audience like that, but looking back on it I don’t mind so much and am happy to have contributed something.

[read on]

After a long break from writing, we finally continue the ‘blog with more travels in Bolivia.
Just as after a long break from travel in Sucre, off we went bound for Potosi.

Potosi is a fascinating place. By some measures it’s the highest city in the world, at 4100m above sea level. And it’s really kind of in the middle of nowhere. No lakes, rivers or good agricultural lands anywhere nearby. The reason for building a city in such a forbidding place was Cerro Rico “the Rich Mountain,” which sits behind the city and contains one of the richest silver veins ever found. In the 16th and 17th century the Spanish conquistadors exploited the mountain to its fullest using thousands upon thousands of indigenous and African slaves. Thousands upon thousands of these slaves died in the process while the colonials took the riches of the mountain and in addition to enriching their home country, turned Potosi into one of the largest and richest cities in the world at the time.

The legacy of the colonial mines lives on in the rich ornamentation of the city, which sits scattered amongst the more modern but much less glamorous recent constructions. Meanwhile the mining of Cerro Rico continues.

A altiplano pueblito (village-ette) on the way to Potosi

[read on]

The trip to Sucre was one of the nicest overnight bus trips I've ever taken. We both slept like babies! Having woken up at 04:30 that morning and taken a dramamine before departing doubtless had something to do ... [Continue reading this entry]

I'll do things a bit differently for this entry. First because there's not THAT much to say beyond what's in the photos themselves, and second because there are just SO many pictures. So as we've done at times ... [Continue reading this entry]

Sorry it's been so long between entries... First our laptop needed a repair (everything was fine except the power switch, meaning that you just couldn't turn it on!) and then we stayed three nights in a place without electricity, so ... [Continue reading this entry]

Somehow or other it's easy to forget how big a country Argentina is. When we'd arrived in Mendoza I sort of thought, "okay we're up north now," even if just on the edge of the north. But from ... [Continue reading this entry]

As if we didn't do enough lazing about and drinking local beverages in Santiago, we did plenty more of it in Mendoza. This wasn't my first time in Mendoza. A good thing, since with all the laziness, we ... [Continue reading this entry]

We ended up arriving at our hostel in Santiago rather late. Not really according to plan. Our flight from Punta Arenas had been delayed by 3 and a half hours, turning a latish arrival at 23:00 into a ... [Continue reading this entry]

When I first heard of Torres del Paine this was the natural "translation" of the name. Which, if you take it word by word, is actually two thirds correct :) Our plan for tramping/hiking/trekking in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine ... [Continue reading this entry]

It's a bit unfair on Punta Arenas that we had to visit it immediately on returning from Antarctica. Just about anywhere in the world would suffer in comparison. Even leaving aside the scenery and wildlife we'd just spend ... [Continue reading this entry]