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Archive for April, 2006

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Flamingos are cool

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

The next day I was finally off on my final tour of Bolivia – the Uyuni salt flats and the southwestern part of Bolivia.  We set off the first day –  of us – to the salt flats.  We first stopped in a little town called Colchani on the way where we went to a salt museum (where everything was made of salt).  The town looked like a ghost town…I guess everyone who lives there mostly just processes salt but have another house in Uyuni (which is not all that of an attractive town).  The highlight of the salt museum was a little baby llama they had there that was so cute and soft – I couldn’t stop touching him.  In retaliation, he couldn’t stop eating my hair.

[read on]

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How many Bolivians does it take to fix a bus?

Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

Rather obligatory at this point, I finally brought myself to shower after the mine tour.  Afterall, it was now a balmy 57 degrees in my room.  I spent the rest of the day blowing dust out of my nose and coughing up black loogies.  For dinner, I tried llama, which was pretty good.  I managed to stay up a little later than my 7:00 the previous night as well, though not much.  I have learned that turning the lights on in the room actually heats things up by a few degrees, which make all the difference in the world. [read on]

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“The mines are not for women”

Monday, April 17th, 2006

I arrived in Potosí at 7am, a little late, which I welcomed since it would give things a chance to warm up a bit.  My taxi driver gave me a nice tour of the city on the way to the hotel.  It’s a cute city planted in the middle of barren mountains.  Potosí is a colonial town existing purely due to the presence of the Cerro Rico, or Rich Hill that was discovered in the 16th century to contain large amounts of silver.  Back then, it was one of the largest and richest towns in the Americas.  Obviously, this is not true today; the town still only exists due to the mines, but unfortunately there is hardly anything left.  The reason I came to Potosí was to take a tour to the mines, where you enter not in a little touristy area, but right down where they’re working.

[read on]

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Selling wafers to Bolivians on the street

Sunday, April 16th, 2006

The next afternoon while wandering around one of the squares, I fell into some entertainment.  I saw a large crowd gathered in a circle and went to check out what was going on.  In the middle of the circle were two men (one who was putting on a dress), and a younger boy, about 18.  Must be some sort of comedy act, I thought to myself.  I stood and watched for all of about 2 minutes when the man in the dress said hello to me.  Hola, I replied back.  “Where are you from?”  Chicago.  “Ah, Americana.”  Sí, sí, I said outloud, thinking to myself, please stop talking to me and just continue on with your act.  Everyone was looking at me now.  An old man next to me started to ask me questions while the man in the dress continued.  The man in the dress told me to step forward (presumably so I could see the act better).  I stepped forward two or three steps.  More, he said, and this continued on.  Soon enough, I was in the middle of the circle, part of the act. [read on]

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A touch of history…and a splash of mustard

Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

After a few days laying in bed my fever finally broke (with a few recurrances of relatively low-grade temps of 100), so I headed out to eat some proper food.  I had been invited to a restaurant on the corner by the owner (one of those who kept talking as I kept repeating that I was very sick and wanted to return to my bed).  I planned to get a soup and some juice.  I ended up with some huge bowl of soup with porkchops piled high and some strange black veggies that were very bitter.  To drink, well, no juice…they suggested a fruit carbonated drink.  Not being a fan, I opted for the other suggestion which tasted and looked like a sweet tea except for the fact that it had something resembling testicles laying at the bottom.  I had seen it on the streets and was interested to try it, though I left the testes be. [read on]

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Down for the count in Oruro

Sunday, April 9th, 2006

Of course I couldn’t sleep the whole night without waking up, but this time I woke up with an overextended belly, my bladder so full I was cramped.  Here’s the dilemma…it’s 3:30 in the morning and I have to pee.  Not only is it a little weird walking around someone’s house in the middle of the night (though this house was just rooms, all opening into a courtyard), but it’s even stranger when you have to leave the house to go out to the yard to pee.  I laid there for a while contemplating my options…lay here in extreme pain or unlock the door and go outside and relieve myself.  The pain was substantial, my bladder making the decision for me.

[read on]

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