A Frontier Town.....and Vampires!

 After a dramatic drive along "Route 5", one of the highest roads in  Bolivia and therefore the world, we "descended" into Potosi at 4070 metres.

Once upon a time Potosi was the largest and richest city in the Americas when its silver funded the Spanish empire. Shockingly, up to 8 million Africans and indigenous Bolivians died as a result of working in the mines over 300 years of colonial rule. Silver and tin mining still continue today but on a limited scale and the city has now fallen on hard times. The National Mint which functioned until 1953 made for a very interesting visit.

Mule driven ingot press

32 lock strongbox

We were staying in a hacienda outside of the city, apparently the first one built by the Conquistadors  in 1557. The original Count's family dwindled and the property's third owners actually have British connections.

We knew before we arrived that a film crew was staying and when we arrived in the evening in the middle of a (very unusual) violent thunderstorm we learnt it was vampire movie! The crew were great fun and we only missed out on being extras because we had to leave a day before the big burning scene. We were the only guests other then the crew and we watched the filming to our hearts' content.

The perfect set!

Artificial blood application!

We were also able to explore the local hydroelectric station, alone and unattended!

The hacienda is also a museum, packed with history. Guests can access the library with its collection of books dating back to the 16th century.

Chapel at Hacienda Cayara

Sucre and another trek!

To avoid a further, even longer bus journey on worse roads we took an internal flight to Sucre. Dirt cheap and very painless indeed!

Casa de la Libertad

Built by Eiffel himself too!

Sucre has very much retained its colonial feel and is a very relaxing place to saunter around cafes, museums etc. It was the original capital and the colonial home where the revolutionary Constitution was signed in 1825 has retained its character. We had not realised the revolution was so bourgeois in character, the indigenous population did not get the vote until 1952.

Zebras help encourage road safety!

Temple Nuestra Senora de la Merced

Nic getting to know the locals!

Cathedral

We spent a fair amount of time just planning the future of the trip. The labyrinthine Bolivian telephone system made telephoning  difficult and Wi-Fi is always problematic. We also discovered that surprisingly few establishments  were able to respond in English so Nic's  limited Spanish was tested to the full. However, we were able to arrange what turned out to be a great local trek. As you will see from the pictures we were at least double the age of any of our fellow trekkers, who were a complete cross-section of nationalities.included some of the few English people we had come across including a former East Enders star! The walking over the two days was long and hot but through breathtaking scenery.

Accommodation!

We had an interesting scenario on our overnight stop, in the middle of nowhere, when our guide realised that they have not got enough beds booked for us and couples had to make do with very narrow single beds but Nic did not seem to mind sharing with the two attractive French girls in the adjoining bed.

We introduced the group to  clag, our favourite large group card game and a lively evening ensured.

Carolyn's friend was our guide!

La Paz to Cochabamba

We embarked on what turned out to be a rather gruelling coach trip of 10 hours on a "local bus"and we were the only gringos. We discovered rather late in the day that the toilets on these long distance buses rarely work. In one sense, the bus was upmarket in that they showed a film in the afternoon, but unfortunately, it was " Death Race 3", one of the worst films ever made. Because the bus was three hours late, we ended up, at night time in a bus station on the outskirts of the town which was in an area very much to avoid and we had some uncomfortable moments before we found a taxi to get to our hotel.

Convento de Santa Theresa

Nun's room

Pharmacy at the convent

Palacio Portales

However, we really enjoyed our stay in Cochabamba, which in the main is rather affluent with a Mediterranean feel about it. Our hotel with its spacious, wood panelled rooms was also a real find and an absolute bargain.

First breakfast outside!

Cake decorations in the market

We explored the local market which is supposed to be one of the best in Bolivia, had an interesting tour around a Carmelite nunnery (though the instruments of self flagellation were a bit of a surprise) and an extravagant French style palace built by the tin baron Simon Patino. We also hired bikes (great until we had a puncture and had a long, dusty and hot walk back) and generally enjoyed some down time.

Just before the puncture!

The Death Road

This road became the “ Camino del Muerto “ because until a new road was built this steep, narrow dirt track was used by vehicular traffic in both directions. At its peak it was averaging one death a day over the year. Now it is only used by local traffic and mountain bikers!

When you get to la Paz you realise that there are many offices offering the death road trip and other rides in the hills surrounding the city.We found Gravity Assist’s details in the Lonely Planet guide and as they say, this is not a ride where you should skimp on the budget.

I also visited their office to have a look at their operation and was reassured by what I found.The Kona downhill bikes are excellent and the gloves, jackets etc up to the job.

Our guide for the day was Marcus. He is exactly the kind of guide you would wish for in that he successfully combined the emphasis on safety whilst remembering that this was also a bike ride to enjoy.

You do not actually have to be a terribly experienced cyclist to undertake the route, although it helps. It is more important that you have the ability to follow your guides very clear instructions for each segment of the route and then, most importantly, FOCUS on the track, because, yes, if you do not then the consequences ( ie a drop of 600 meters plus) can be dire!!

The day before the ride, we had dinner with an English couple, who, unaware I was on the ride the next day, told us their friend's daughter has just come out of a three week hospital stay after attempting the ride.

During the course of the 3600 metre, 40 mile descent we passed through snow, cloud forest and tropical jungle and had to adapt our clothing accordingly. We were in T shirts by the end!

And yes, I did enjoy it though by the end, because of the concentration levels required over the day,you are not fit for anything more then the bottles of beer lined up at the bar by the finish!

Just the two of us: Into Bolivia and La Paz

We set off alone on our first local bus on the long journey to La Paz. This included a protracted border crossing into Bolivia and a change of coach at the attractive town of Copacabana. At one point the passengers had to leave the bus for a small ferry while the bus was floated across the water separately. Eventually we passed the sculpture of Che in El Alto (Bolivia is still in many ways evolving from gaining its independence in 1825 and the subsequent revolutions) and descended to La Paz. Although in a valley, at 3660 m it is still one of the highest cities in the world.

The markets are particularly lively and fascinating in La Paz. Most of the stalls are run by middle aged indigenous ladies nicknamed 'cholitas' who wear a particular style of dress (mestiza) including very wide gathered skirts about 5 layers thick to cope with the cold, long plaits joined at the bottom and distinctive bowler hats. Apparently this style was imposed on them by the Spanish king in the 18th Century.

Freeze dried (by being left outside ) potatoes and cheese

Llama foetuses in the witches' market! 

Skirt stall!

At a Sunday dance show

 On our last day in La Paz, while Nic went on 'the world's most dangerous road' mountain bike route (of which more very soon!), Carolyn went on a city tour which included visits to the strange rock formations shown below and named by Neil Armstrong and a very impressive precious metals museum (Calle Jaen museums)  with pre-Columbian silver, gold and bronze pieces.

Valle de la luna