roadblocks, dynamite and chorizo

hello from uyuni, south west of bolivia
snapshot
altitude: still over 3.5km
weather: beanie and scarfe required
keyboard configuration in this net cafe: sucks! no idea who the hell is responsible for this...so apologies for my poor punctuation.

you last hear from me from cochabamba. well do i have some more stories for you!
after i experienced some wonderful bolivian hospitality in cochabamba -from Nilda and Ramiro-thank you Leonardo- i took a bumpy night bus ride to sucre, constitutional capital of boliva, the only capital, yes, you are sure to be reminded of this on a number of occasions whilst in sucre. i arrived in torrential rain, and caught a taxi who had all but a piece of blue tarp between the rain and us... yep, no window. people who have been to bolivia have seen this a million times.
sucre is a pretty colonial town, laid-back, and home to the glorious chorizo, yum. and it was spicy sausage... yay! the most spicy food i have had in bolivia, where the only spice to be found is generally salt and pepper on your table.
i took a history lesson in sucre by going to casa de la libertad, where the bolivian nation was born. slightly freaky giant wood sculptured bust of the heroic simon bolivar can be seen here. very freaky.

next was a short ride to potosi

potosi is another nice colonial town with a plaza, church, park benches and street vendors.
upon arriving at 9pm i signed up for a mine tour 7am departure the following day. this is THE thing to do in potosi. i wrote a lovely, creative story about this experience in potosi but my computer mysteriously shut down and i lost the story. yes i did defend my consumer rights and refuse to pay for the hour, only paid for half. not that you care, but it just means that i stormed out, creative energy gone, and now i am in uyuni, quite an unspiring place, so you are going to get it in point form
I Dianne
- voluntarily signed a disclaimer that i realise the mine might cave in and that in essence i mightve died
-wore sexy gumboots, bob the builder hat, head torch, plastic pants and jacket
-bought some presents for miners- soft drink, coca leaves, dynamite
-entered a mine where safety conditions i am sure remain as they were in the 17th century
-crouched my way through the start of the mine, crawled some of the way, climbed down some rickety ladder to end up breathing hot, dusty air where i found some miners shovelling dirt in 17th century conditions
-clawed my way back up, meanwhile dodging coca-leaf chewing miners running past with cargo, still trying to breathe...that was a little scary, breathing dust and realising these men work in this every day. dangerous stuff to say the least
-blew up some dynamite...outside the mine!
that was cool. when our guide lit it, i ran! too much looney tunes cartoons as a child led me to believe i had approximately 3 seconds to run, but this i not true at all. we had two minutes, so there was lots of time to pose with the soon-to-explode dynamite. video will appear on blog when i find fast internet.

next... a hellishly bumpy rollercoaster to uyuni punctuated by two flat tyres-at the same time. i also had the pleasure of getting the last available seat on the bus... next to the driver! yes, this is another experience to write home about. i learnt about the bolivian method of vehicle maintenance.
-if the engine is getting hot, drive with the bonnet open
-smash the temperature gage a few times in the hope it can be ignored
-still hot? open the door to the engine whilst driving and ask the assistant to throw water on the scorchig hot mechanics
other tips include,
-dont replace cracked windscreens that resemble spider webs
-tie the door shut with a piece of rope
-play really loud latin music to mask the noise of the rattling dashboard, or get the helper to stick folded paper into the gaps and hold it down to minimise shake
needless to say, i arrived in uyuni with a pounding headache and a much better understanding of vehicle maintenance. no need to enrol into that tafe course when i get back.

yesterday came back from the three day tour of south west bolivia everyone does.
day one: salt salt salt! very cool salt flats
day two: flamingos! coloured lakes, volcanoes
day three: geysers! desert, coloured lakes.... cant describe. photos to appear soon.
also on day three i experienced my first bolivian roadblock.
Exercise for the reader-
imagine you are bolivian... you can imagine you are wearing a poncho if you insist...
-30-50 jeeps a day each filled with up to 7 tourists drive past your town
-your middle-of-nowhere village cobbles together some accommodation hoping to attract tourist dollars
-tour companies decide your accommodation is too basic and they are not going to stop en route
what do you do?
teach them a lesson and build a roadblock of course!
yes, buy a barrier, lock it, build some dirt mounds around the barrier to stop those darn jeeps getting past!

yes, another interesting experience in bolivia. our cook ended up having a talent after all and she cut the lock so we eventually passed, all 30 or so jeeps.

i think its time to leave bolivia. some man just asked me how much the engine for sale at the front costs. after three weeks it seems i must look bolivian. so i take my cue and will leave not-so-boring bolivia tomorrow morning. i am taking a train tonight to villazon on the border with argentina and heading off to salta tomorrow. my first argentinian meal is likely to be the famous argentinian steak every single argentinian traveller pines for in bolivia. it better be good...