Moving On

So yet again we are packing our bags and moving on to pastures new. We don't have to be out of the hostel till 11. We were woken at 6 this morning with what I can only describe as a world war siren, and a short while later with bells ringing. We drifted back off, but literally opposite the hostel is a building site. They start early here and then finish for their siesta. We have already bought our tickets for the bus and head towards the shop to drop of our luggage so we can have our last feww hours exloring Uyuni ... the shop is closed and there is no way we can walk about in this heat with our backpacks after half an hour I spot the lady in the shop and run over to ask her if we can leave our bags and she tells us that the bus is no longer leaving at 1.30 so I ask her for a refund and she kindly obliges and luckily we manage to book a different bus that will leave at 1pm so we drop our bags and go for our stroll. Its crazy that in this place there is a prison as well as an airport. The Dakar rally takes place here and I honestly believe that's the only reason why they have it as I can't see some of the people who attend doing the journey we have just done. Theyre are very strange statues throughout the town that have an affiliation with witchcraft as well as the asscociation with trains. The train system was a big factor in uyuni because it was how they transported the minerals from Chile to Bolivia but obviously with the restrictions that are in place is the reason why they now have a train cemetery. We return to the place where we will catch the bus and board shortly afterwards. The bus isnt quite the luxury we have been accustomed to but it has wheels and im sure it will get us there , however after an hour it becomes apparent that the seats are a lot smaller and it is really cramped, this is going to be a long 3 hr journey. We travel through random countryside and for the first time in a long time i witness a thunderstorm which doesnt seem right in the current landscape. The bus driver keeps randomly beeping his horn and i soon realise it is to get the llamas off the road. As we drive through the landscape the different coloured volcanoes and mountains make for quite a sight but the amount of rubbish caught between the prickly plants is unbelievable, they have bin wagons here, but where the rubbish is dumped is questionable. After 4 long hours we arrive in Potosi and im shocked at how big it is. There are lots of narrow winding streets all on slopes and we are currently at 4000metres above sea level which is causing me a few problems with the altitude, but nothing to worry about. They have a natural remedy here of either chewing cocoa leaves or making tea with them . The concern here is that most of the people barely have a tooth in there head, i suppose the same effect as when you sniff a lot! We share a taxi from the station with the Brazilian guys that we met in the ticket office and arrive to our hostel, they have nor booked in advance and when they arrive they're is no room in the inn so we say our goodbyes and get checked in. The hostel is impressive and also has a kitchen which is unusual I Bolivia. As soon as we arrive there is a guy in reception offering the mining tour, and there is quite a lot of mixed feeling about this as it's renounced for being dangerous, but hey ho we both book onto the tour.
We order a large beer and while Mark finishes off the bottle I go to the supermarket to buy the essentials. We will have spicy noodles tonight and all the ingredients are available including really hot chillies. As I'm preparing dinner we can hear lots of music outside and when I go out there are young boys in a parade playing all types of musical instruments in a procession through the street , this is followed by really impressive fireworks. We think this is the only one but various bands follow suit and all evening various processions pass through the street followed by fireworks. The scary part is some of the fireworks are hand held and they're seems no problem with this even with the amount of people around. We head to bed just after 11 and even though the jovalitys are still going on I fall asleep instantly.Read more