Wednesday 19 October 2011

Hola Chicas!!

...there we go, nearly the extent of my spanish!  But despite that, still managing to eat, find places to sleep and get buses.  Thanks Tim.

Now in Bolivia, having skipped pretty speedily through Chile & Argentina.  Chile was taxing our budget a bit, & really deserved some good walking shoes.  Still, particularly liked Valparaiso; a very ramshackle multicoloured old city decorated in graffiti and mosaic.

Argentina we didn´t do justice to, stopping in a few cities and checking out some parks and squares.  Bolivia we´ve attacked more thoroughly, with a four day jeep tour through some rugged and beautiful spots.  Desert, mountains, multicoloured lakes, flamingos and salt flats.  Incredibly high altitudes, and cold nights, but worth it.  We´re now in Potosi, the highest city at 4090m.  Previously an incredibly rich silver mining site, it is now more famous for mineral mining in atrocious conditions.  We did a tour of a community mine yesterday which was...pretty horrible.  Physically taxing, dusty with pollutants and we weren´t even working in there.  Glad we did it, glad it´s over! 

Heading to Sucre soon, then north to La Paz and hopefully some good spots to chill around lakes...