Departing for Sucre and Potosi

I left La Paz one evening on a 7 day cross country trip that would take me to an old colonial town called Sucre. (The word colonial always makes me so angry - clearly I have not yet forgiven Colonizers for what they did to us "The colonized.") I took a Trans El Dorado night bus to Sucre. I made a Dutch friend at the terminal and she was the one who was kind enough to wake me up in the morning when we got to Sucre. I completely passed out. The bus had a fully reclining chair and that combined with the rocking motion of the bus put me to sleep. I sleep much better on planes, buses, ferries, boats, cars, trains etc than I actually do on my bed. I get some form of " performance anxiety" when I try to sleep in bed - the task that lays ahead weighs on me. I begin to think "Now, I am sure I will have insomnia," and that is exactly what happens. While in motion, there are no such expectations and therefore I sleep like a baby. 

I stayed at a hostel called Cruz de Popayan and I began to realize that when hostels in Bolivia said they had wifi, they actually meant that there was a corner in the reception where you could get a (pretty crappy) connection. I had to cast aside all dreams of sitting on my bed, staring out of the window and blogging. I had only one day to spend in Sucre and I immediately went exploring. As soon as I got to the city center, I bumped into my Dutch friend. I was so happy to meet someone I knew. She was traveling alone too and we decided to spend the day together. We went to a cute little French place and had lunch. After that we walked for ages to get to the city viewing point. The main part of the city center was quite full and that's when I realized that Sucre was a big deal. It used to the capital of Bolivia long before La Paz. At the viewing point we had an amazing view of the city. It started to rain and we went to a bar close to the viewing point. We ordered Lipinas (Quinoa beer.) That was quite refreshing. 

I traded backpacking stories with my Dutch friend and realized I was a fake backpacker. Her 21kg backpack had a tent, cooking utensils etc. My 18 kg backpack mostly had clothes. She had been hiking up mountains with her backpack, pitching up her tent, cooking for herself etc. That is a very intense type of backpacking that I do not think I will attempt any time soon. I do enjoy little pleasures such as a roof over my head, a bed to sleep on, hot water when showering etc. I don't actively seek out unnecessary hardships in life as I think I had my fair share of that in boarding school. 

I slept really early and woke up the next day in time for my 3 hour bus ride to Potosi (silver mining town with The Mountain that eats Men.) I stayed at a hostel called "Hostal la Casona" which again only had internet in a little corner of the reception. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant close to my hostel and had my first "piso sour." Piso is the national alcoholic drink of Peru, Bolivia etc. It was delicious. That night in Potosi was cold, dark and full of terrors. The blanket was made for someone half my size and I had to decide if I preferred having my upper body or lower body exposed (they were not both going to fit under the blanket.) In the middle of the night I woke up gasping for air and that is when I realized that Potosi was significantly higher than La Paz (which just happens to be the world's highest capital city.)

Adventures lay ahead starting with The Mountain that eats Men.

Last days in La Paz

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My last days in La Paz were spent with the sweetest people. There was this lovely Haitian girl who worked at my hostel. She took me to buy a simcard which turned out to be a very long process in an office with long queues that resembled the queues in Government offices in Nairobi (though with no one trying to jump the queue.) When we finally got to the counter, the whole process had to be done in Spanish and I realized I would have been completely lost on my own. Who knows how to ask in Spanish how to top up data bundles on the line? Not me. After buying a sim card we took a "matatu" to another part of the town to eat pork. The matatus in La Paz are like matatus back home - Nissans actually. I was quite amused. We got to the pork place, but they were closed for the day. We went back to my usual eating place called "Alaya" on Murillo street. They had the largest food portions of traditional Bolivian food. I only needed one main meal a day when I was in La Paz. That food would keep me full all day. 

In the evening I was picked up by a wonderful Lebanese/Palestinian friend of a friend and her fiance. We went to the newest and largest mall in town and had huge pork chops for dinner. They were such great company. Both had been born and (mostly) raised in Bolivia and they tried to explain the interesting religious elements I had noticed in Bolivia. They told me stories of people making 300km pilgrimages on foot to religious sites and going up hills on their knees to pray. I spent the next day with the same friend at La Paz's first mall that her grandfather had built in his youth. Her family was really warm and we ate a huge lunch with her family at her aunt's restaurant at the mall. She took the day off to help me plan the rest of my South America trip. I was really touched by her kindness. We spent hours looking up train tickets, printing maps, buying warm clothes to prepare me for the Siloli desert and the Uyuni salt flats (http://www.thekenyanexplorer.com/blog/2014/4/27/traversing-the-bolivian-salt-flats-and-desert-day-1, http://www.thekenyanexplorer.com/blog/2014/4/28/traversing-the-bolivian-desert-and-salt-flats-day-2 .)

During the process I realized that my sense of direction was even worse than I had ever known. While in Kenya, I had booked hostels in Argentina in the following order - Buenos Aires, Bariloche then Mendoza but when I looked at the map well, I realized that entering Argentina from Chile by road I would first get to Mendoza long before getting to Buenos Aires. Yes, yes. I know! Dumb plan:-)

I noticed a few oddities before I left La Paz -

1. You could withdraw dollars from the ATM (which I was quite happy to do given that in Argentina dollars were in very high demand and there is the "official rate" and the "blue dollar rate" which differ by 30% i.e. if you change your dollars on the streets in Argentina (which of course has its risks) you can get up to 30% more Argentinian pesos than if you change them at an official place. I withdrew as many dollars as I thought I would need in Argentina so as to never have to use the bad exchange rate given at the ATMs.

2. Strikes were almost a daily occurence in La Paz. I had heard of a few, but only witnessed my first the day before I left La Paz. It was peaceful but  made me realize that Africa and South America have lots in common when it comes to taking to the streets to express discontent with the Government. 

3. Bolivian internet was an all time low. I initially thought the horrible speed was hostel specific, but my Bolivian friend assured me that this was the norm countrywide. I will never complain again about internet in Nairobi. Ours is operating at the speed of light compared to what I experienced in Bolivia. 

4. Safety belts are not common in Bolivia. My first time to belt up in the country was when my friend and her fiance picked me up. Prior to that I had gotten used to saying a silent prayer every time I got into a taxi in La Paz as none had safety belts. I did love how cheap cabs were though in La Paz. I used to pay between USD 0.50 to USD 2 for most rides. 

The king's quarters

After a few days at Estrella Andina, I remembered I was meant to be on a tight budget. I moved to Hostal Republica (which was the home of one of Bolivia's former presidents.) I loved how such things were possible in Bolivia - staying in a presidential home for a few dollars. The place was comfortable and built in that Spanish way where the rooms were mostly upstairs overlooking a courtyard from which I could imagine a lovestruck lad would sing "Fiiiiiigaro, figaro, figaro!" as the object of his affection peers from her window and sighs, "If only I could leave this room, but my evil stepmother has put a spell on the door. If I touch it I will surely die.....sigh!" 

I always have the random luck of getting to places on people's birthdays. It was the birthday of one of the ladies who worked at the hostel. As soon as I arrived there was cake and snacks. I indulged and joined in the festivities. I instantly liked this hostel and the people working there who made me feel like family. Having eaten, I was told that there was going to be free beer tasting at the hostel all day. "Ati atya??" I instantly knew I was home. I noticed a very beautiful black girl in the group when we were singing happy birthday. She was the first black person I had seen in Bolivia (other than myself:-) and we instantly started chatting. She was great. She was Haitian, a lawyer doing her Masters in Bolivia and working part time at the hostel restaurant. 

The hostel had a tour company across the road. I crossed over and booked a trip for the next day to Copacabana, Isla del Sol and Lake Titicaca (http://www.thekenyanexplorer.com/blog/2014/7/19/miscarried-baby-llamas-and-ancient-godspart-1-of-3). I spent a few hours in the afternoon napping then woke up later to eat what I believe has to be one of the tastiest (and cheapest) steaks I have ever eaten. Hostal republica had a lot of great things to offer. 

As I ate my steak I met some other friendly tourists - an Italian guy and a German girl. I was telling them about my bad luck trying to go to Peru and they almost convinced me to try get there on road...."They don't really check documents at the border when you are on a bus..." I almost got tempted, until I had a vision of myself sitting in a Bolivian or Peruvian jail waiting for the non-existent Kenyan embassy to bail me out. It is never that serious.

The italian guy told us the most humorous story about this one Swedish backpacker he met during his South America journeys. They traveled together for a few days and the guy only had a small bag with him (despite the fact that he had been backpacking for months.) He did not have a change of clothes either. Every time they got to a river or lake, he would take off his clothes, wash them and walk around naked waiting for them to dry. One day they went to the beach and out of his little bag, he took out a shovel to build a sandcastle. The guy didn't have a change of clothes, but he had a shovel? Misplaced priorities anyone?

I slept well that night.

Mercado de Hechiceria (The witches' market) and Sagarnaga

I spent my first idle days in La Paz walking around the area close to Estrella Andina (my hostel.) I discovered a particularly fascinating street called "The witches' market". They had all sorts of interesting charms there. I still think the most curious thing I saw was the miscarried baby llamas that were sold as good luck charms. The longer I stayed in La Paz, the more fascinated I grew with the mix of Catholicism and the belief in Pachamama (Mother earth.) I heard about sacrifices that were made to Mother Earth (especially in August) and I wished I was still in Bolivia at that time. 

I ventured a bit further in La Paz and found myself at the San Francisco church. It was built to honor St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron saint of the environment and animals and a major advocate for poverty as a way of getting closer to God and humanity. After this, the next main place on my map was "the big market" or something of the sort. I went there expecting to find a market market - local crafts, unique stuff etc. Instead it turned out to be a lot of shops selling Chinese goods - handbags, electronics, misc. items......It was so underwhelming. 

When I was in Bolivia, I always seemed to attract old men. Most of them were quite harmless though, so I stopped making up my imaginary fiance who "is quite jealous and is waiting for me at the hostel." Quite a few ended up just wanting to walk around with this conspicuous stranger and hear about Kenya. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did not have ulterior motives. 

I discovered this place close to my hostel that had amazing local food in huge portions and for great prices. One afternoon I decided I wanted to go check out the La paz party scene. I went online and found people talking about "Oliver's traveller pub." I went in and the feel was quite familiar - felt like many Irish pubs the world over. It was nice to go back to speaking English for a few hours. I grabbed a cold beer and was animatedly chatting with the bartender (oh how many words one can hold inside them when they are in a place where they don't really speak the language. I talked and talked and talked. I was so happy to be able to communicate fluidly. 

Another tourist walked in and I tried not to judge him, but I feel like I have met his type many times before - older, weather beaten, of unclear occupation and unsound mind, believes he is the real tourist while all the rest of you are amateurs etc, holds views on Africa that date back to around when Joseph Conrad wrote "The Heart of Darkness" or stuck in the pre-independence era of the mid 50s. I was spot on in my judgement. He walked up to me and asked "What are YOU doing here?" I thought of not being combative, then decided that strategy would mean I would have to suffer through some mind-numbing soliloquy on his life in the wild wild South America. I told him, "same thing you are doing here. I am a tourist." He seemed taken aback by the words coming out of my mouth (probably having expected a response in click sounds and hand gestures.) 

I did have to suffer through some part of a soliloquy in which he tried to find some connection to me by telling me about some distant relative's Nigerian husband (who turned out to be a 419 scam artist.) I found some way of escaping the guy. Later on I did go back to Oliver's pub for drinks. On that night, free shots were being offered for dressing up in costumes (which were at the back of the bar.) I got into my costume and enjoyed my evening of shots and English.

The world's highest capital - La Paz, Bolivia

Having had a fair bit of "challenges" starting with leaving Brazil for Peru only to be told I couldn't go to Peru, and then having to change plans and fly to Bolivia, I was quite pleased days later to finally land in Bolivia. There was quite a bit of time when I thought that my South America trip was going to have to unceremoniously end given my visa issues...(Mini-rant alert: VISAS are the last form of widespread state sanctioned discrimination! Why should people assume that because I come from A: Africa and  B: A developing country that somehow I am going to run off into their country and never be found? On the other hand, why do people assume that because you come from "The Developed World" you should just be allowed to get into our countries without any questions asked because you obvioooously would not be coming to do anything dodgy (Wildlife trafficking, sex tourism) and we should just be honored by your royal presence in our unworthy borders...anyone feel me??) Ok. End of rant.) 

I finally landed in La Paz around 4am. True to their word I was able to pay for my visa at the airport. The airport seemed quite porous - some people waved me in, told me to get out of the main terminal and get some cash for the visa (only accept Bolivianos.) I then walked back in through security (without actually being checked), paid for my visa and left. When I got out of the airport my first thought was "Waaaaah! Are those temperatures for real? It was freezing. Brazil had made me forget that there are places in the world where 40 degrees celsius by 8am is not common. Given the hectic nature of my arrival in Bolivia the only place I had been able to get online was a really swanky hostel called "Estrella Andina". I later learnt that it was owned by the former Minister of Tourism. It was really well done. It was more like a hotel than a hostel. It was definitely above my price range, but I was so exhausted after my hectic trip that I stayed there 3 nights before I finally started looking for a cheaper place.

I got to the hostel from the airport at 5am and was up at 9:30am to make sure to get breakfast. It had been many days since I had eaten a proper meal. Estrella Andina did not disappoint. It was breakfast fit for a king - eggs, yoghurt, all sorts of fruits, cereals, fresh juice etc. There was also lots of tea - I am a tea addict. I saw one called "coca mate" and didn't think much of it. I was drinking that for 2 or 3 days before I realized that this was coca coca. Strange but true. The consumption and sale of coca leaves is legal in Bolivia and is protected under the UN convention of narcotic drugs because of it's historical role for indigenous communities. It is also really good for altitude adjustment. La Paz is the highest capital city in the World at 12,000 feet above sea level (for some context, Mt. Kilmanjaro stands at 17,000 feet above sea level.) I had been warned that I would have headaches and issues breathing in Bolivia, but I was actually quite fine, until I got to Potosi (http://www.thekenyanexplorer.com/blog/2014/6/10/the-mountain-that-eats-men) The one thing though that was difficult was walking uphill in La Paz. Even a small incline on a street felt like a mountain. I felt quite embarrassed heaving and panting all the way up such streets. 

I spent the first few days idly exploring La Paz, and eating - A LOT! Bolivia is the poorest country in South America and food was really cheap. Actually everything was really cheap - it made me realize how expensive Kenya is. I would pay USD 2 for a decent length taxi ride, USD 3 for a 5 course meal in some places, USD 3-USD 10 for different hand knitted winter gear etc.  On day one I ate Fritanga - a huge spicy pork and egg meal.  I loved the food in Bolivia - big, meaty, great prices! Yum! 

Those first few days in La Paz were spent in total relaxation mode - I was so happy to have taken 2 months for my South America trip because this allowed me to have such lazy days when I needed them. 

Miscarried baby llamas and ancient gods

Bolivia was a fascinating country on so many levels. One of the first things that struck me on getting there, was that majority of the people were indigenous. They had a particular look to them that made it easy to tell them apart from foreigners. Majority of them were short, slightly plump and wore their own traditional clothes. Of course there were loads of younger people on the streets in western clothes, but one had the feeling that the general population was still closely tied to an older culture. 

I planned a day trip to lake Titicaca - the world's highest altitude lake and also to the town of Copacabana and the island Isla del Sol. Copacabana is best known for it's 16th century shrine that houses the "Lady of Copacabana" - the patron saint of Bolivia. She is to Bolivia, what the "Virgin of guadalupe" is to Mexico. I had read a bit about Lake Titicaca and Isla del Sol a bit before my trip, but nothing really prepared me for its beauty, magic and splendor.

I had a Bolivian English speaking guide for the trip and he definitely earned his money. I was the most inquisitive tourist. All the questions I had been holding in my head, were finally asked that day. He came to pick me up from my hostel at 7am. We got on a bus, and he started off a great history lesson on Bolivia. Bolivia has close to 35 tribes with the Quechua, Aymara, Guarani and Chiquitano being the largest tribes. Despite 55% of the population being fully indigenous and another 30% being part indigenous, it is only in 2006 that the country finally had an indigenous president - Evo Morales. Ever since the country's independence from Spain in the mid 1800s, the country had been ruled by a Spanish minority.  

Though the country is mostly Catholic, the version of Catholicism practiced here is a mix between regular Catholicism and traditional religions. People believe and respect "Pachamama" - Mother Earth. I remembered my first day walking down a street called "Witch's street." I saw all sorts of strange paraphernalia, but the strangest one was definitely the hundreds of dried llama carcasses. At first I wondered if someone had killed grown llamas and dried their bodies, but my guide informed me that those were the bodies of miscarried baby llamas. It turns out llamas have lots of miscarriages and the fetuses are believed to be good luck charms. People buy them and bury them in front of their homes or keep them for other purposes. I also recall that later in the day when we went to the  basilica at Copacabana, all the images depicted a devil who looked more like a villain in an Antonio Banderas film than the usual devil images I am used to seeing. Also the images of biblical characters all resembled indigenous Indians. It reminded me of seeing images of Jesus in Ethiopia with a huge afro and disciples who looked very Ethiopian. Bolivia, just like many other countries had been compelled to take on modern religions and had customized them as much as they could.

We started our two and a half hour journey to Lake Titicaca. Once we were on the bus leaving La Paz for Copacabana, I saw very curious characters who kept on jumping on the road. Some were dressed as zebras, some as donkeys and some as pigs. I initially thought that they were advertising one thing or the other, but it turned out to be a national campaign on road awareness and good citizenship. The people dressed as zebras, stood at zebra crossings and showed people that this was the right place to cross the roads. Those dressed as donkeys, taunted drivers who were making an "ass" of themselves by breaking traffic rules and those dressed as pigs grabbed people throwing trash on the road.....Wonder how this would work in Nairobi:-) I can imagine criminals getting their own costumes and using this as an opportunity to steal side mirrors, pickpocket pedestrians etc....

We had a great discussion about "Death road" during the journey. This is some extremely dangerous, steep road that cyclists (especially tourists) toured. I don't know how to ride a bicycle and I think there are many opportunities to almost get killed in Kenya (tribal clashes, terror attacks, matatus.....), so I never need to seek additional ways to risk my life:-) My guide seemed to think that it was a perfectly safe thing to do. "Only three tourists died last year." Part of the road to Copacabana made me think we were on our own "Death road". Bolivia has the most beautiful and rugged terrain I have ever seen. It is quite common to be on a bus that is driving on a narrow road on the edge of a cliff and continually overtaking other buses on blind corners. At some point I just stopped stepping on my own brakes and decided that the bus drivers must surely know what they are doing as they always drive on dangerous roads. 

We finally got to the narrowest part of Lake titicaca and stepped off to get on a boat for a 15 minute ride to Copacabana. Our bus also got on another boat/ferry. The bus was much larger than the ferry. I have no idea how these boats don't sink. Copacabana was a beautiful coastal town, but was quite empty on the day I visited it. It turned out, weekends were the time everyone came there. My guide amused me with stories of all the great Bolivian druglords who would throw parties every now and then for everyone in Copacabana, donate millions to the Basilica and feed the masses - sort of like CSR for drugdealers. He said sometimes these feasts lasted days. The main attraction at Copacabana was the church. I loved the artwork in there depicting indigenous angels, dramatic looking devils etc. 

We had lunch in a really cute little place. One of the things I loved most about Bolivia was just how cheap it was. We had a three course meal with a beer included for less than $3 (KES 270). My guide told me that a few years back, we would have had the same meal for $.80 (KES 70). I was simply amazed. After having survived on one main meal a day in Brazil (to keep costs down.) It was amazing to know that I could eat all I wanted in Bolivia and not run out of money. 

We got on a boat to begin our 1.5 hours journey to Isla del Sol (Sun Island). There was something so magical and serene about being on Lake Titicaca. I found myself feeling overwhelmed with emotions of gratitude for how lucky I was to be at such an amazing place. Without planning to, I found myself closing my eyes and praying. I felt very peaceful. Even as I think back to that moment, I can almost feel that tranquility - a feeling like I was at one with the world and all of humanity and nature. At that moment, I felt Pachamama. I opened my eyes and found the guide looking at me. I told him what had happened, and he told me that the lake had always had great spiritual significance to the Incas and that what I was feeling was not uncommon. I know I felt something when I was on that boat on Lake Titicaca. 

We got to Isla del Sol and got off the boat. The island was believed by the Incas to be the birth place of the sun god. We began our great trek to the temple in the island. We came across a lovely young girl with an alpaca. It was my first time to see an alpaca and I was beyond thrilled. They are different from llamas (though I don't quite see the difference), but the first thought in my mind was the line "Bad llama! Bad llama!" You will only get this if you watched "The Emperor's new groove." It was a 45 minute walk up the mountain to get to the temple. Bolivia is the highest altitude country in the world, and I definitely felt it during that hike. In general, I am horrible walking up inclines (Mt. Longonot almost killed me), and in this case oxygen was in short supply. I was panting for 50 people. My guide told me of a delegation of Tanzanian politicians he had brought there recently. Apparently one of the ladies had passed out. In retrospect, he shouldn't have been telling me such stories as I was struggling to get up the mountain. The views from the mountain were spectacular! It made all my panting worthwhile. The temple was a bit anticlimactic. It looked like a one storey building under construction. The views though on our way there, made the trip very worthwhile. 

We got back down the mountain and took a boat back to Copacabana. We were the only two people on the boat. I lay down, basking in the sun, feeling the water rocking the boat. I didn't realize I fell asleep until I was woken up by the guide once we got to Copacabana. I had another 2.5 hour bus ride back to La Paz, got to my great hostel (Hostal Republica - used to be a former President's home), had a great steak dinner at an amazing price. I slept like a baby. 

The mountain that eats men

One of the towns I visited during my cross-country tour of Bolivia was Potosi. Potosi is a mining town (originally was mostly silver, but now is primarily zinc and tin.) I looked at my itinerary and it read "Tour of Silver Mines in Potosi." A smarter traveller would have read up on this expedition in order to know what to expect, but clearly I didn't - until I had already gone to the torturous mines. 

Some brief history of the mines. It all started in 1545, when an Indian shepherd, who was spending the night at the mountain, started a fire and saw pure silver where he was. For centuries, the mountain enriched the Spanish monarchy. For close to 200 years, over 40,000 MT of pure silver were taken from the mountain, of which close to a quarter directly went to the Spanish monarchy. Native laborers were used to work on its mines through the traditional Incan system of mandatory public service but the Spanish manipulated this system to essentially use forced-labour. Many of the miners died due to the harsh working conditions in the mines. It is estimated that over the next three centuries, over 33 million Indians worked in the mines and close to 10 million of them died as a direct result of the work.  To compensate for the diminishing labor force, the Spaniards started importing 2000 African slaves per year. An estimated 30,000 African slaves were taken to Potosi during the colonial era. African slaves were also forced to work as human mules. Four mules were replaced with twenty African slaves. Given the high number of deaths that took place in the mines each year, the miners named it "The mountain that eats men."

Centuries later, working conditions in the mines are still not much better than they were before. The mines have no lighting, no safety regulations or inspectors, no modern rail cars and no pumped-in oxygen, leaving miners to inhale a fine deadly dust. The average life expectancy of the miners is 40 years with most of them succumbing to lung conditions. The mountain itself is also at the risk of collapse given how much has been mined from it and given the fact that the mining is unregulated resulting in shafts throughout the mountain. 

So we were to leave the hostel at 7am for the mine tour. The lady who was to give us the tour arrived around 7:15am and took us to a room with lots of dusty clothes, boots, headlamps etc for us to wear/carry. I later realized that our guide was the widow of a miner who had died in the mines a few years back, and she had to take on this risky job to feed her two children. We hopped into a van and left for the mountain. She said that we would stop by some shops and buy gifts for the miners (alcohol and coca leaves.) I was a bit surprised about the choice of gifts, but just went with the flow. The alcohol was quite scary looking - no brand, no label, no nothing. It looked like something you would use to sterilize surgical instruments, pour on a snake bite or something along those lines. Coca leaves are legal in Bolivia. It's the only country in the world where the sale and consumption of coca leaves is legal. It is even protected under some UN regulation because of its "cultural significance to the indeginous population." 

We got to the mountain around 9am, and the van left us at a point 4300M (~14,000 feet) above sea level. This would be the point we would enter the mountain from. I started feeling a bit nervous when we got out of the van and I realized just how cold it was and also how thin the air was. It was not easy to breathe. The next 3 hours in the mines were what I would describe as some form of outer body experience. We got into the mines and I realized that I would have to stoop most of the time and in some parts crawl. I was not the tallest in our group. There were four really tall Dutch girls. I felt bad for them. It was dark, it was damp, there was very little air. There were points when everyone was coughing or gasping for air. I was encouraged to chew some of the coca leaves we had brought as gifts for the miners. I think that's the only reason I didn't pass out. Coca leaves help with altitude issues. Most of the tunnels were so low that you had to go in hunched over and there were a few points you had to crawl. We blew up some dynamite in the caves and I can still feel the BOOM in my heart. Terrifying. I started having crazy thoughts. I can't tell if it was because of the coca leaves, the altitude or both. I started thinking about the Chilean miners. I started getting scared I would lose the group and forever be lost in the mountain/die in the  mountain.

We got to a place in the mine where I got to see how the miners thought of mortality when in the mines. The average Bolivian is very Catholic, but there is quite a bit of syncretism too - where elements of Catholicism are combined with elements of traditional indeginous religions. Deep in the mine we found a terrifying statue of the devil that was adorned with flowers, cigarette butts and libations of alcohol had been offered to this "protector of the miners." Our guide explained that the miners were Catholic when out of the mines and they believed God was protecting them outside, but once inside the mines they believed this was the devil's domain and therefore they prayed to the devil and offered sacrifices to the devil to "protect them from cave ins, prevent any injuries, restore them to good health etc." I can kind of understand how one would want to cover all their bases - pray to God to keep you safe, but also pray to the devil not to do you any harm.....

I left the mines with such deep respect for miners who have such a terrible job, risking their lives daily to feed their families. It is sad to know that many the world over have to pick between life and your next meal. 

After this I went out for lunch with some of my fellow comrades (from the tour.) We all bonded over just how terrifying that was. I remember being so happy when I saw sunlight as we approached the exit of the mine. For a while there, I was really beginning to believe we would not get out. We went to the local market and had lots and lots of food for less than USD 2/person. After that I went with a few people to have a drink in the park and almost missed my night bus to Uyuni. I remember having to run around like a mad woman with my huge backpack looking for a taxi when the one the hostel had called decided not to show up. I made it to my bus just in time. It was such a local bus - lots of hawkers ON the bus, people playing loud music from their own little radios and lots of noise. 

Traversing the Bolivian desert and salt flats day 3

The third morning of the trip was tough. Though we had gone to bed around 9pm to be ready for 3:30am breakfast and our 4am departure, the cold had kept me up all night. I barely slept a wink - I can't sleep if I am cold. It was freezing! We had a quick breakfast at 3:30 and left the hostel around 4am. The ride was dark and cold. I tried to sleep in the car, but again it was too cold to sleep. After driving for close to an hour, we stopped at the amazing steam geysers at "Sol de Manana (morning sun)." It was so cold outside, but I could not miss a chance to see them up close. I got out and the first thing that hit me was the overpowering stench of sulphur. It really smelled like some giant monster had farted - really badly. The view was amazing though.

We then hopped back into the car and continued to "Laguna verde" - The Green Lagoon. The lagoon gets its remarkable color fom the high levels of lead, sulphur and calcium carbonate....in short...don't try swimming or drinking water from this pretty lagoon. The best part of the trip was when we finally got to the natural hot baths. In the middle of the freezing desert, there were nice jacuzzis:-) All natural. It was the best feeling getting into that hot water. Everyone sighed with relief once they were in. At first we were the only people there given it was so early. 20 or so minutes later, lots of other tourists descended on us. This didn't change the magic of the moment though. I was sitting in this hot water looking all around me and I could see volcanic mountains in the desert and miles and miles of nothingness blurred by the steam rising out of the hot water. It was surreal. After half an hour in the hot baths, the driver said we needed to leave. Those of us who were going on to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile needed to catch our 10am bus. 

Leaving Bolivia was dramatic. We got to the bus at the border around 9am and thought we had lots of time. For some reason, the driver of the bus to San Pedro was hurrying us. None of us was amused. Such panic mode is what results in luggage being left behind....and we had a full hour. We never understood what the rush was about. At the border, we had to go to the Bolivian customs and get our documents stamped. The driver was still following us speaking in rapid Spanish. As I was waiting in line, an American couple approached me and asked if I could give them some Bolivianos for them to pay their entry into Bolivia, in exchange for dollars. I was a bit suspicious - wondering why they didn't change money before until they told me about the earthquake in Chile. I had no idea there had been an earthquake in Chile, when we were in the desert. He told me that they had left under such hurried circumstances and couldn't find any travel bureaus. I changed some money for him. The driver came again with his rapid fire Spanish and panic mode tendencies and I was really getting irritated. He was also harrasing one of the other girls I had been in the desert with. She had a traditional Bolivian mask and it had a bit of animal fur, and he was insisting she leaves it behind as she wouldn't be allowed to get through Chilean customs with it. She stood her ground and said she would keep it and declare it on entry into Chile.

In an hour we finally got to Chilean customs. It was a very serious process - thorough scrutiny of passports, all suitcases offloaded and scanned etc. When the customs official saw my passport, he called his colleague over to look at it. They said it was the first Kenyan passport they had seen. A few people in our bus had some bags of coca leaves and the rest of us had coca tea. We were allowed to declare and get into the country with our coca tea, but not the coca leaves. The girl with the mask was also allowed to get in with her mask. Five minutes after clearing with customs we were dropped off somewhere in the middle of the desert town of San Pedro de Atacama. I had directions to my hostel from the main bus terminal, but had no idea where we had been dropped off. It was definitely not a bus terminal. 

I was eventually able to walk around with my backpack, find the main bus terminal, book my ticket out of San Pedro to Santiago that was depart in two days, and get to my hostel.I got to my hostel and it was a desert oasis. The name was Hostal Mamatierra, and it was just perfect! Beautiful, clean, had hot water 24 hours a day, wifi, really friendly staff, friendly travelers etc. My first course of action was to take a really really really long hot shower. It felt so good after not having been clean for a while. The next thing was to find out where I could do laundry. I took my laundry into a place in town - the town center was 10 minutes walk away. I am very liberal in my use of the word "town". It was a few streets with shops and restaurants, but after the desert this felt like New York. I then went to a restaurant that had a decent offer for a 3 course meal. I had salmon. I was quite pleased with it. Chile's strong economy has been credited a lot to its export of salmon, wine and berries. That salmon was amazing! I had my lunch with a really great beer from Patagonia that tasted like chocolate. 

The one thing I had done before leaving the hostel was to get on wifi and upload around 20-30 pictures from the salt flats and desert. That was my saving grace. As I was having my lunch, my phone crashed. It is a touch screen and the keypad stopped working. I couldn't unlock the screen. Within minutes, the phone started pressing its own buttons. This went on for half an hour then it went on VOK/KBC mode - those rainbow colored lines across the screen reminiscent of Kenyan TV circa 1980s. Then the screen went completely white - repeat. I think it has something to do with that dodgy solar connection from the desert. Thankfully I have a camera with me and a samsung tab (that I was able to hack whatsapp on....so life continues.)

I got back to the hostel and met my roommates. They were two friendly Californians who were in town for a friend's wedding. They invited me to join them and their friends for dinner/drinks. It was nice. We got back to the room, and were getting ready for bed when another earthquake happened. I had no idea what was going on.The room was shaking like a boat. I thought I had drank too much at dinner. Thankfully my roommates knew what to do. We all got out of the room and joined the other people in the hostel courtyard. After a few minutes, the world stopped rocking. I slept really well that night in my warm room with all the comforts I could ask for. 

Traversing the Bolivian desert and salt flats day 2

On the second day, we woke up at 8am. We were informed that we were now done with the salt flats and would be off to the Siloli desert. The desert is part of the Atacama desert, and is characterized by rock formations produced by strong winds in the region. There was a bit of morning drama as one of the people in our group wanted to go see some llamas that were in a church compound, and we were  running really late. Everyone else said that they would rather leave, but the offending party insisted on going. By the time she came back to the car, tensions were high. I read my kindle. I don't like drama, and didn't want to get involved in any. Thankfully by later in the day things had cooled off, but there were definitely three camps in the car 1. The "we were meant to leave here at 8:15 and it's 8:17am. I am going to fume and sulk" camp, that had one occupant. 2. The next camp was the "Wow. Who cares about time. I am going to do a bit of yoga and meditation at every place we stop....and only start looking for the loo at the exact time we are meant to be on our way" camp. This camp had one occupant. The rest of us were in the "I'm not too bothered as long as we get to see everything" camp. It was not a trip without drama. 

The day was amazing! Among other great sites, we got to see amazing volcanic rock formations in the Siloli desert. The most beautiful rock formations were the "Arbol del Piedra" and the "Desierto Dali." I had the most amazing pictures, but unfortunately my phone crashed within hours of leaving the desert, and I was only able to salvage a few pictures...which I am sharing here. I hope to upload the rest in future when I hopefully get my phone fixed in Nairobi. We passed amazing volcanic mountains on our way with the most stunning being Volcan Uturuncu that stands at over 6000 above sea level and also Volcan Licancabur that stands at around 5900M above sea level. We passed many beautiful lagoons in the desert with some having quite a few pink flamingos. It was great to see wildlife given that none can survive in the salt flats where we were the previous day. We also passed some really cute animals that look like gazelles. 

In the evening we got to our accommodation for the night. This place was by Laguna Colorado and was REAL...like really REAL...no real electricity, no showers, no meat for dinner. It really dawned on me that we were in the middle of the desert. At this place all 6 of us were kept in one dorm room. I was actually happy to have so many people in the room because I thought it meant we would be warm....wrong......That was the coldest I have ever been since leaving Boston in 2009. We ate dinner - spaghetti and onion stew....The next day we were to begin our journey at 4am...breakfast at 3:30am. We went to sleep by 9pm to be up in time. I saw everyone get into their beds with sleeping bags. I really wished I had a sleeping bag. I slept in all my warm clothes...which wasn't much. There was a guy who had a silk sleeping bag. Definitely buying one next time. It's really light weight, and silk is an amazing material - warm when you are cold, and cold when you are hot. 

Before I slept, I took my phone to the kitchen to beg for them to charge it for a few hours so that I could use it the next day for pictures. Big mistake. The power was only going to be on in the kitchen for 2 hours and the connection seemed dodgy...wires hanging out, loose sockets etc....and they said the power was solar. The next morning when I picked my phone, it had not charged at all....and the next day is when it lost its damn mind. I think the connection in the Siloli desert did my phone in - more on that drama in my next post.

All in all, the salt flats and the Siloli desert was the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life. The colors, the vastness of the desert, the tranquility. Bolivia really does have the most stunning landscape. At so many points, one felt like they were on the moon. I have never seen anything like it. 

Traversing the Bolivian salt flats and desert - day 1

I got into the town of Uyuni around 11pm on a Sunday evening, and was off for a desert expedition early the next morning. I left my hostel around 9:45am and walked to the place where we would be departing from. We were to leave at 10:30am but by 11:30am there was still no progress. In La Paz, I had been told that the trip would be in a 4*4 and that we would be 6 in total (excluding the driver.) I eventually met the other travelers as we waited for our transportation to arrive. There were 2 German girls (one who was more Australian than German given she had a really strong Aussie accent, and had lived there a long time), one German guy, one Uruguayan guy, one French girl, the Bolivian driver and myself. By the time we departed, there was a long line of jeeps leaving the town for the salt flats and the desert. I am a tourist, but I must confess that I feel a bit upset when I realize that I am not unique.....all a thousand plus of us heading off to see the same sites:-) Our driver was really great so pretty soon we were able to lose the long lines of jeep.....vroooooooom.....Eat our dust:-)

Our first stop was the train cemetery. Construction of the rail was completed in 1892, and the trains were mostly used by mining companies. In the 1940s, the mining industry collapsed and many trains were abandoned here.  It was such a beautiful sight. All these abandoned trains in the desolate space. It looked like something from an old Western film. It was beautiful. After this we drove for hours and all we could see around us was salt. We passed some little salt hills in the beginning, but after that the landscape was all flat. It was amazing - as far as your eyes could see, the ground was all white. I have never seen anything like this - except for snow - and even with snow, there was always buildings or cars to break the landscape. In the car, one of the other travelers began talking about all the really creative pictures one can take given the never-changing background. I was about to eat a banana I had in my bag when she mentioned that it would be a great prop for pictures. It is the fascinating little beat up specimen you will see in pictures below. When we got out at the spot where people mostly take such pictures, I was amazed. The ground was solid salt and we were told that it extends even more than 9m deep into the ground. It was solidified salt. We had a fun time taking crazy pictures here before sitting down to enjoy our lunch - a little picnic on our salt carpet. Brilliant! During lunch hour the Uruguayan guy and I ironed out some differences.....Suarez is the devil for what he did to our Ghanaian brother - Asamoah Gyan, but I don't blame all your countrymen.... just him.... and malipo ni hapa duniani (payback is on earth:-)

The Uyuni Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni) is the world's largest salt flat at over 10,000 square km, and an elevation of more than 3600m (~12,000 feet above sea level.) It was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. The salt is extremely rich in lithium. 50-70% of the world's lithium reserves are found at Salar de Uyuni. 

After this we drove for half an hour and arrived at the Incahuasi Island that was full of giant cacti. This was where I learnt for the first time that I had been doing it all wrong in South America. For a while I had wondered why in many washrooms, water pressure was too low to flush toilet paper. Many times I had waited for cisterns to fill 2-3 times before finally being able to get rid of all toilet paper. In the loo in the island, there was a sign that read, "Do not flush your toilet paper. Put it in the waste basket." I asked one of my fellow travelers about it, and she said, "Yeah, you should never flush toilet paper down the loo in most places in Central and South America." I was clearly confused, but I have taken it as it is......though I must say a latrine would be a much better option than having a pretend toilet that doesn't flush toilet paper.....who wants to have a bucket of crap in a loo......literally...

Enough about random crap. That island was amazing! Just imagine being in the middle of hundreds of miles of salt flats, and suddenly seeing an island with giant cacti in the horizon. I think Uyuni salt flats and the desert are an amazing site for sci-fi movies. I have never ever seen anything like it. The island was a hill, and in the beginning I had no intentions of going all the way to the top, but I somehow climbed up the whole hill. Every few meters I went up, I would look down and see the most stunning views of the island and the salt flats - I just had to keep going till I reached the summit. I sat at the top for a few minutes and marveled about nature. When one finds such beauty, you just want to save those images in your mind (and in your camera) forever!

Other amazing sites we saw were Devil's cave - a pre-Incan cemetery from about 500 - 800 AD. 

Again we drove for hundreds more miles in this amazing landscape and finally got to the Salt Hotel around 7pm. True to it's name, most of the hotel was made of salt. Our beds, were pillars of salt. The ground was granules of salt. The benches were pillars of salt. Something had been bothering me for the better part of the day. Within minutes of leaving Uyuni (around noon), my phone network had gone off, and had not come back since. I had enquired about it and someone told me "duh. We are in the middle of nowhere.....of course there is no phone network." I panicked and wondered "Oh gosh. Does this mean we also won't have wifi where we are staying?"  She added "In fact we probably won't have any electricity for the next few days." Now, I really panicked. I had been using my phone as my camera,and the battery was almost done by the time we got to the Salt Hotel. There were no sockets in the room. Thankfully a kind lady in the kitchen agreed to charge my phone for me for a few hours. 

I slept moderately well that night as the salt in the room made the temperatures bearable.