Potosi

Uyuni was a litttle hole, so we decided to get out asap, hence took the bus at6 pm, meant to take 6 hours, ended up getting into Potosi at 3.30am. The bus was tiny, and crammed full of stinking Bolivians. In the seats in front of us, there were families of 4 sharing 2 seats. It was so hot that condensation was dripping from the roof of the bus! The road wasn´t paved any of the way, so it was like gravel roads. it was disgusting, we would have got off if we weren´t in the middle of nowhere! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience! in potosi we did a mine tour where we dressed up in protective gears and then went in the mine to see them working. was amazing to see, we were struggling to breath really hard and it was stiffling hot, and these guys do it at least 10 hours a day. the youngest ones we talked to were 16 and had been working since they were 14, thats what struck me the most, it was so sad. that and the bus trip was really one of those"we don´t know how lucky we are" moments.

We left Potosi on teh overnight bus (but paid top dollar this time and got a flash one!) and once we had navugated the crazy bus terminal, made our way to La Paz, where we are now. Amazing market shopping, where you can buy dirt cheap Bolivian goods, and crazy stuff like dehydrated llama foetuses (apparently for good luck and prosperity), magic potions, and heaps of herby kinda stuff. last night we went into the city centre and it was ridiculously busy, people everywhere. it took us ages just to get the courage up to cross the road! it´s only meant to be 2 lanes each way, but last night ended up 4 or 5 on each side. they hjave policia in the middle of the street directing traffic and the traffic lights are manually operated. we had our tastiest mean from a boy in a street stall, we all ate dinner for under 2 US dollars.

Today in town there was some kind riot in the city, policia everywhere with shields etc, what sounded like gunshots all the time, but we couldn´t see anything and no one seemed to be worried, so it was fine. ha ha ha

ok, must dash, adios!

ps, attached photos of us on teh salt lakes, they´re pretty sweet!