After departing La Paz we started on a journey that would take us through several towns including Oruro, the capital Sucre, Potosi an old mining town and eventually Uyuni, where we would take a tour through the Salar de Uyuni; the worlds largest salt flats.
So, our first stop was Oruro where we stayed overnight. It was a really cold and a fairly windy town. It was laid out in a large grid and within the center it was extremely busy with both people and traffic. The best thing about the town was a bakery we found that served up delicious cakes and hot chocolate!
We left Oruro the next day towards Sucre, the constitutional Capital of Bolivia. Being at a much lower altitude, 2700m, it was much warmer and as such we decided to stay put for a while. We found the lovely Pachamama Guest House and for around 100 Bolivianos we had a double ensuite room with ‘hot’ water (that really was hot!) and the use of a shared kitchen along with a rather nice grass covered court yard to relax in. The owners were really friendly and helpful.
Sucre was a lovely town to walk around in. It had an impressive market in the center where you could buy everything you needed from fresh fruit and veg, meat to kitchen utensils and appliances. On the upper floor was a selection of food stalls where you could eat a filling, tasty meal for around 10 Bolivianos. On the lower floor, around a court yard, there was loads of fruit juice sellers that would mix you up a healthy concoction of fruit. My favourite being the ‘Super Vitamino’ that literally had every fruit you could imagine in. What was good was that you didn’t just get a tall glass of fresh juice, but when you’d finished they refilled your glass with the remaining juice from the blender! I think these juice stalls where similar to our pubs. Everyone, of all ages, seemed to stop by at lunch and after work for a quick drink and a chat before heading on their way. Great invention!
At Pachmama we met a great couple from Austria, Claus and Ursula. They are also doing a round the world trip and started just before us in November. We had a couple of good nights in the kitchen exchanging travel stories and the different destinations we had all been to. Our ‘other’ list is growing all the time!
Eventually it was time to move on and we caught a bus to the old mining town of Potosi. Set at just over an altitude of 4000m it is one of the highest cities in the world and got very cold at night. We stayed at the Hostel Maria and the room was equipped with hot water, heating and some extremely thick blankets that were certainly very welcome at night! I spent most of the days walking around the city which I found quite interesting, in particular sitting in the Main square and doing a fair bit of people watching. Sandra went off to explore the mines, which I decided to steer clear of for fear of claustrophobia. Having read lots of blogs and reviews in travel books it seemed the best idea. They are very hazardous places to visit with extreme enclosed spaces. They are actually ‘working’ mines, so you get to meet the miners in action. Over to Sandra…
[...miners visit will appear here...]
Next up Sandra decided to go to Tupiza to do a bit of horse riding, while I decided to go straight to Uyuni for the salt flat tour. Now I really would have to use my ‘pigeon’ Spanish…!