Into Bolivia

Well we have a lot to recount from an exciting last week. So we will try not to leave anything out.

We spent Christmas Eve in a fun fashion (mostly). Tracy was still recovering from a rough cold, and Adam decided to ride a bicycle out about 7km into the desert to try his hand at sandboarding. Turned out to be the only one there. It was a surreal experience to be in the middle of a giant desert, on top of a giant dune, alone. Sandboarding was fun, like snowboarding in the hot and without turning abilities. We decided to attend mass on Christmas Eve at the small Catholic church in San Pedrio de Atacama. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. We were lead into the church by a 30 minute processional of children dressed in traditional clothing dancing to drums and accordians. The mass was really wonderful as the priest gave a wonderful sermon while standing right inn the middle of the people. You could see that this priest was disinterested in being high and holy and felt much more comfortable standing right in the middle of the people in the church, conversing with them during mass. He talked about the dificulty of singing songs about joy, peace and hope while living in a world full of hunger, injustice, war and ugliness. He went on to resolve his sermon by explaining that he feels this is exactly why we must sing songs about these things and why Jesus was sent into a world full of these things. It was a beautiful sentiment and I think the setting and the Spanish language made it all the more beautiful. At the end of the mass (which did not conclude until midnight), the church proceeded again, led by the children and the musicians, to the town square where they placed baby Jesus in his manger.

Christmas morning at 8am we loaded into a bus and were driven to the Bolivian border where we would cross the Atacama Desert over 3 days. We watched as all of the Europeans and Australians went through getting their entrance stamps and read the poster on the wall explaining all of the requirements for us to enter Bolivia, some of which we did not have. At risk of sounding like we felt victimized (as our dear neighbors here in LAtin America have to go through a million more hoops and processes in order to apply to enter the US, which is a hope that has very little posiibility because most applications are denied), it was an interesting experience. We were alloowed to pass through the border, but our driver had to hold our passports until we could go to the immigration office in Bolivia to officially go through the process.

From the border crossing we loaded into a 4x4 with 4 Swiss folks and a Bolivian driver named Jose (who was an excellent driver and a knowledgable guy pointing outlots of great things along the way). Our frist day we passed by several lagoons. The most impressive of which were the Laguna Verde, which is colored a bright and impressive turqoise and set against the backdrop of a dormant volcanoe. The other was the Laguna Colorada, which was an amazing Lagoon that is colored bright red due to the microorganisms and minerals it contains. It was outlined by deposits of Borax, which were bright white and looked like snow. The lagoons also had thousands of bright pink flamingoes walking around eating and occasionally flying to a new spot.

We then continued on to a location that contains geysers and volcanic activity. This location is over 16000 feet altitude. Which means if you climb to the highest point in the continental USA, you will still lack about 1500 feet of being at the altitude we spent this little bit, and it was in the desert, surrounded by mountains which went much higher.

The evening was spent in a very basic room that blocked the wind and that is about it. The temperature was below freezing at night and the altitude where we slept was well over 14000 feet. Altitude sickness effects people at random, no matter how fit or healthy you might be, and Tracy got bit by it. Our driver made her a home remedy drink for atitude sickness. This is a cultural remedy throughout Bolivia, PEru ecuador and Colombia. She finally started to feel well enough to get some rest and would cope quite well throughout the rest of the journey.

On day two we continued through the desert, seeing more lagoons filled with pink flamingoes, wild ostriches, vicuñas (which are related to deer, but remind me of a mix between a deer, camel, giraffe and horse) and occasional llamas. We got to see amazing rock formations, volcanic rock flows (from thousands of years back) and incredible desert landscapes.

On night two we slept in a small hotel that is located about a mile away from the Salar of Uyuni, or the Uyuni salt flat. The hotels walls were made of bricks which were made of salt and the floor was covered in salt. The tables and chairs were made of.... yes, salt. It sparkled in the light and was an amazing thing to see.

The next morning we woke up before sunrise and drove into the salt flat. Words cannot describe what it is like to be surrounded by salt in every direction. It looks a lot like snow in the desert. It is bright white and feels like another planet. The colors of the sunrise reflected wonderfully off of the salt. We stopped along our route through the salt flat at the lone island that stuck up out of the thousand square mile flat. The island contained thousands of giant cacti, asome of which were close to a thousand years old. Again a bizarre and mind blowing landscape. We were able to relax and eat breakfast here by the island and take fun pictures (which we will try to upload once we get to good internet).

Finally we arrived to Uyuni, Bolivia and Jose took us to his home for lunch where his mother had prepared llama steaks and vegetables for us. It was really delicious and a great finish to an amazing trip. Our busses have been fun, but this kind of travelling was amazing.

We finally got our immigration issues worked out in Uyuni and now have our Bolivian Visa. Yesterday we travelled about 10 hours to Potosi where we currently sit.

Potosi has the honor of being the highest altitude city of its size at over 13,500 feet in altitude. We have adjusted to this for the most part, but it is impressive to see. The city was once of of the richest cities in the world due to mines rich in gold, silver, copper and other valuable minerals. As has unfortunately been the case with much of the rich resources in Latin America, exploitation has been the name of the game ever since the Spaniards arrived and every other power in the world has followed suite in trying get their riches from this place.

This morning we toured a convent that thrived in the 16-18th centuries, but still is in operation. It was actually the most enjoyable 2 and a half hours I have ever spent in a convent. The art, all done by local artists from Potosi, was incredible and all frames, adornments and shrines were made of gold or silver. The most impressive, however, was the self flagellation instruments. I dont think any tour of a convent is complete without some mention of this, so I was rather content.

This afternoon we dressed up in helmets and head lamps and took a trip into the mine. We were able to meet many of the miners. On the way, people visiting the mine are able to stop at the miner market and buy gifts for the miners. They benefit from the gifts and are thus willing to take time to talk to the gringos who have ventured into their mine. We took big bags of leafs (which the miners put in their cheeks to offset altitude, weather, hunger and fatigue), cigarettes, big bottles of soft drinks, dynamite (yes, you can buy large sticks of dynamite on the street) and alcohol to them. This was not really a gift basket of things we thought they might like, but things that we were loaded up with by the market people and our local guide. (I am guessing if we showed up with broccolli and tofu, the miners may have been less apt to give us their time). There was actually an interesting explanation of how each of these items helped the miners deal with the extreme conditions in which they work (i already mentioned the coca leaves and the other items, such as alcohol, have similar explanations). We were able to see only a small amount of the conditions they experience, but they are really nasty conditions. Most miners are only able to work in the mine for 10-15 years before either being too sick to continue or dying. Most miners who make a career of mining die at age 35. These statistics made us look at the faces of the miners in a different way that I dont think can actually sink in on the same day. (The Devil´s Miner is a documentary about this that I hear is wonderful --Thank you Maria!)

Tomorrow we head to Sucre to celebrate the entrance of a New Year. Thanks for reading all of this, we will take time to post pictures as soon as we get an opportunity.