onsdag 30. januar 2008

Bolivia




This is taken in Chile, just a few hundred meters from the border to Bolivia. Its at about 4200 meters if i remember correctly. It was quite funny to turn off the asphalt road we were on at the time. The driver pointed further down the road and said that was the road to Argentina. Then he turned off the road down this barely visible track and said, "This is the road to Bolivia".






This is somewhere on the Altiplano, it doesnt really do it justice. The landscape and colors are amazing, definately one of the most beautiful places i have been. It is really windy and very cold at night though.











The salt flats of Uyuni. They are covered with a thin layer of water this time of year, and thus reflect everything like a mirror. It is a spectacular sight. It is the biggest in the world of its kind, but due to the water we werent able to go fast enough to really explore it. In the dry season you can drive on it like a proper road, so its possible to go further.








Another one of the salt flats.















We werent alone on the flats. These two girls were busy looking at the pictures they´d taken.
I thought it a good moment to take a picture of them:)











On the road from Uyuni to Potosi. It is one of the worst roads i have ever been on. It doesnt really show here, but a trip supposed to take 6 hours took almost 10. The flat only took about 20 minutes. Its hard to see here, but the tire they´re putting on is actually much larger than the flat one. They removed a few parts of the break system to make up for it. That´s using your head.








The train comes here twice a day, so its quite safe to nap.














We´re off to the silver mine in Potosi. First we have to stop and buy the miners some gifts. Coca leaves, alcohol and dynamite. Those bags are full of Coca.
Read more about the mine on wikipedia :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potos%C3%AD










I bought a stick of dynamite as a gift. It was only 10 Bolivianos, which is less than one Euro.
We spent the better part of two hours walking and climbing around the mine. Its not made for tall people, and the work is extremely hard.
The miners are divided into 3 classes. The 3rd class miners do the dirty work and earn 50 Bolivianos a day. The 2nd class handle the explosives and drilling, while the 1st class generally oversees the work and owns the equipment. A lot of children also work here, i saw some which cant have been older than 7.





She´s not a miner, but she works separating the minerals from the piles of rocks the miners bring up. She´s 77 years old and loooves her Coca. Spry as a mountain goat, she jumped and half ran down to the road below.
















It´s true, "More beer for more friends"!
A handy 5 litres of friendly beer for those special moments.





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