UUHOLO blog: Tupiza, Salar de Uyuni, Potosi

From La Paz we went on bus down to Oruro and then further south by the train to Tupiza, where we arrived at 4am. Short note for the train - we travelled 1st class, the coach was fantastic, enough space for your legs, reclining seats, TV, refresment etc. It´s was real luxury. After some sleep we did horse trip to surrounding canyons and hills full of cactuses. I´ve (Jana) got horse walker. He didn´t respond to any commands and kept walking. No chance of trot. At the end he decided to listed at least chucking of our guide, his owner. Michal was troting like real Indian. I manage with my poor Spanish to persuade guide to swap the horse with him. Horse responded immediately and within a moment he went from trot to gallop. To stop him I had to react like a real cowboy (not that I have done that in the past! Never) and pull rein firmly. It felt good. But guide got to scarred and gave me back my horse-walker. At the end we become friends and manage to trot all the way back.

Following day we started 4-day trip in jeeps across the altiplano around vulcanoes and salt flats, all quite high, between 3,500 and 5,000 m. Really interesting, first few days it looked like a Dessert Road in New Zealand, later on the landscape has changed to agoons full of flamengos and finally at the end we crossed some huge salt flats, cactus islands etc. The best were flamengos and salt flats where they collect the salt. Somewhere there is only 20 cm of the salt, somewhere else up to 100 metres. The trip took over 900 km, so we were really glad for any opportunity to do some walks (eventhough the gtound was really cold). For flamengos and cactuses we used probably the whole memory card of the camera. I´m looking forward to see all the photos. And we have slept in salt beds - beds actually made from salt blocks.

The trip finished in freezing Uyuni where we had to wait the whole afternoon for the bus to Potosi, which eventually arrived with 1.5h delay. At 3 am we have arrived to the highest located city of the world - 4,100 metres above sea level. (How do I miss Wellington´s 0 metre above sea level! - much more easy to breathe). Michal has last few days diarrhoea, so he´s proud of getting slimmer and slimmer. I was in similar situation couple of times already. Yesterday we visited local silver mines, where they are mining for over 400 years now and that was a real experience. They have started mining by the time Spanish occupied the Bolivia and from than not much have changed. Dynamite and shovel are still the most important tools for their daily work. Miners work between 10 - 24 hours a day, usually without leaving the mountain. They survive on coca (the leaves, which they chew - tea from coca is very popular and helps to overcome problems with high altitute), cigarettes, alcohol and soft drinks. In the mountain they have little chapels where they pray, places where they workship they god of mountain and all of them look very happy and friendly. I have to say I haven´t seen more smiling bolivians than inside the Cerro Rico mountain. Although the fame for Potosi is over - in year 1650 it was the biggest city of the world and the richest city of the Americas - there is still plenty to see. Beautiful architecture, about 80 churches and cathedrals, the mint etc.

We´d like to keep going to Sucre, but there is a blockade on the road as well as rail so we have to change the plans and go back to La Paz... From there off to lowlands to jungle and pampas.

Z La Paz jsme vyrazili v utery rano autobusem do Oruro a odtamtud vlakem dal na jih do Tupizy, kam jsme dorazili asi ve 4 rano. Kratka poznamka k vlaku - jeli jsme prvni tridou, teda luxus nejvetsi. Hromada mista na nohy, polohovaci sedacky, televize, obcerstveni behem cesty. Krom toho, ze s nama jel vagon zabozroutu (cituju Michala) a ti se obcas rozhodli vetrat v nejprasnejsi casti cesty a prach byl vsude, si nemuzeme stezovat.

Ubytovali jsme se a vyspali, a odpoledne vyjeli a 5-ti hodinovou vyjizku na koni do okolnich kanonu a kopcu posetych kaktusy. Ja dostala kone chodce, ktery zaryte odmital jakekoliv pobizeni a nakonec teda aspon reagovala na mlaskani panicka vzadu. Misa si klusal o 106. Ja jsem jednou vymenila kone s pruvodcem a chtela si vyzkouset, jestli reaguje na povely. Reagoval. V cuku lete presel z klusu do cvalu a ja brzdila jak pravy indian. Pak se pruvodce vylekal a dostala jsem zase kone chodce, ale zkamaradili jsme se a klusali jsme vetsi cast cesty zpatky.

Dalsi den jsme zacali 4-denni vylet v dzipech na nahorni planinu, sopky a solne plane, vsechno docela vysoko, mezi 3,500 a 5,000m. Docela zajimave, prvnich par dni neco jako Desert road na Zelandu, potom laguny plne plamenaku, no a nakonec obrovska solna plan, kaktusove ostrovy a tak ... Nejlepsi byli plamenaci a ty solne plane. Obrovska plocha, kde se tezi sul. Nekde je vrstva jen 20ti cm, jinde az pres 100 metru. Nasedeli jsme v dzipu pres 900 km, takze jsem byla rada za kazdou moznost prochazky. Na plamenacich a kaktusech jsme vypraskali asi celou kartu. To budou obrazky! Jo a spali jsme na slanych postelich - kvadry soli poskladane do tvaru postele.

Tura koncila v Uyuni, kde jsme museli preckat odpoledne cekanim na nocni autobus do Potosi, ktery nakonec odjel s 1.5h zpozenim, ale ve 3 rano jsme sem dojeli, do nejvyse polozeneho mesta na svete ve cca 4,100m. Poslednich par dnu mam (M) docela slusny prujem, takze hubnu jak zakon kaze (pozn Jana - ja uz ho mela aspon 2x). Vcera jsme se byli podivat do mistnich stribrnych dolu, kde se tezi uz pres 400 let a to byl docela zazitek. Zacalo se tu tezit za Spanelu a od te doby se podminky moc nezmenily. Dynamit, lopata jsou porad nejdulezitejsi soucasti prace v hore. Lidi pracujou mezi 10-24 hodinama denne, vetsinou bez opusteni dolu. Prezivaji na koka (takove listi, ktere se zvyka - taky caj z koky pomaha na prekonani problemu s vyskou a vsichni ho tu furt piji, nebo tu koku zvykaji), cigaretach, alkoholu a nealko napojich. Maji v hore i kaplicky, kde se modli, mista, kde uctivaji boha hory a vsichni jsou tam hrozne v pohode. Musim rict, ze jsem zatim nevidela vic usmivajicich se bolivijcu nez uvnitr Cerro Rico. Presto ze ma mesto nejvetsi slavu za sebou - v roce 1650 to bylo nejvetsi mesto sveta a nejbohatsi mesto Ameriky - porad je tu na co se divat. Krasna architektura, asi 80 kostelu a katedral, razirna minci atd.

Dal jsme chteli pokracovat do Sucre, ale jak silnice tak vlak jsou blokovany, tak to musime stocit vecernim autobusem zpatky do La Paz. A odtamtud dolu do nizin do dzungle a pampy.