Potosi and La Paz

Captain's log: Stardate 02101.6

A few weeks ago Amy's brother Peter came to Bolivia to visit us, we spent some time about the Enterprise in Cochabamba but there were a few away missions. Some of which I participated in even though that breaks star fleet protocols.

The first week in Cochabamba was pretty calm, nothing much to really report on, we went out for a few drinks and ate some food. Peter went to both of our circus centres to see what it is we do. We went up to see giant Jesus and generally saw the sights.

Peter headed off by himself on the Sunday on an overnight bus to Santa Cruz. We took him to the bus terminal and got him on the bus, but after that he was on his own.

He found a tour agency in Santa Cruz to take him to Parque Amboro (see my previous post about our adventures there). Then spent a little time in Santa Cruz and took a flight to Sucre. Due to Visa issues (when are there not issues?) Imy and I couldn't meet him in Sucre. So from there he took a bus to Potosi, where we met him on Saturday morning along with a Bolivian friend of ours Ludwing.

Potosi is a pretty interesting place, it's the main location for silver mining in Bolivia, and still has active mines (which you can take a tour to go and see although the tours are often very exploitative of the miners). We didn't have a huge amount of time to spend there. Amy and Peter were heading to Uyuni on Sunday afternoon so they only had a day and a bit, whereas Ludwing and I were returning to Cochabamba on Sunday evening, and so unfortunately we didn't get to do a mine tour, however we're thinking of going back to do so. Amy also wants to write an article on the mines and tourism, so it's pretty likely we'll return next year. Potosi is very high, it's at 4070m and so you can really feel the altitude there.

The famous silver mining hill of Potosi.

On the Saturday we went to "La casa de las monedas" where we took a tour around the old coin mint. Money from all over the world used to be made there, because it was cheaper to do it near the source of the silver rather than ship the silver elsewhere. Apparently even the dollar symbol ($) originated from the Potosi monogram. You can see the monogram in the bottom left corner here, and it's similarity to the dollar sign.

The logo for La casa de las monedas.

It's meant to look happy on one side to represent

the Spaniards who had found all the silver, 

but sad on the other to represent the

exploited indigenous peoples.

On the Sunday pretty much everything was closed, so we just wandered about a bit. After Amy and Peter left for Uyuni, Ludwing and I set off on a mission to get up the hill. After walking a bit and asking a couple of people we found a couple of guys willing to take us up to the top of the first peak in their mini bus for 20Bs each. So off we went.

On the way back down we spotted a hole and so asked the drivers to stop while we explored a bit. We didn't go in too far just 10m or so, because we didn't have any lights or safety equipment, but it was pretty cool.

After that we headed back to the city found some beers and food and then went to the bus terminal and headed back to Cochabamba. The terminal of Potosi looks like some sort of sci-fi spaceship (at least compared to all the other terminals in Bolivia).

The following weekend I went to La Paz to meet Amy and Peter. Arriving early on the Friday morning. The only real thing of note that we did there was mountain biking down Death Road, and yes that is with capitals. Luckily it has been replaced by a new shiny far safer road, and so mostly it's only used for mountain biking now. We found a tour company that rented us the bikes and included a guide plus transport and a bit of food for 500Bs each. They take you to the start point at 4700m. Where you spend around 20 or 30 minutes going down the new road to get used to your bike. Then they drive you along a short uphill section (apparently for safety reasons), before arriving at the start of Death Road. From there you continue down with the occasional breaks until you get to the bottom at 1700m. I found it way less dangerous than I expected. According to the guide there is one serious accident per week with someone on a mountain biking tour, however it usually involves someone not looking forward, or taking a selfie. We all made it to the bottom without issue.

A lake near our start point.

Warning Llamas!

Finally on Death Road.

One of the many Death Corners on Death Road.

With some fools sat on the edge.

Us being fools sat on the edge.

Close up.

Stood on the edge (sorry mum).

Getting lower now

That's all for Peter's visit. Not much more has been going on really. We had our Circus director Daniella and her two four year old twins Camilla and Adrian over to our house today to cook cup cakes. Which was pretty fun. I gave the kids loads of sugar, and then when they got hyper they all left.

Nothing more to report for now.