Beagle deep mud tracks

Hello from Potosi,

As mentioned in my last very brief post I am now 12000 ft above sea level. The start of my trip on La Paz was about 9000 above, I was mistaken to think that was the highest. When in the salt flats we will go up to nearly 15000, almost 3 miles. Having never really experienced this kind of high altitude I didn't know how my body would react. Oxygen starved is the answer. Walking down the hall of the hotel leaves me winded. In conversations my brain can not think of the right words. So I have slowed everything down a bit.
First I will tell yuoh more about my day yesterday while still in Sucre. We went for a downhill trek of 4.17 km. The trail was well maintained but none the less I had to watch every step to insure no sprained ankles or falls down a 1000 ft cliff. There were parts that had experienced recent avalanches (Mom don't read this part) and we had to jump and walk across wet sand so as not to fall down the mountain.
The trek was worth every sore muscle I have today. As we made each turn the mountain revealed to us a new majestic view. From water falls, to craters, sheer cliffs to views of the valley, it was an amazing trek.
What goes down must come up again. This was our ride back. In a 4x4 vehicle built in 1978 resembling a Asian tuk-tuk and an extremely experienced driver we took on the muddy mountain roads. As we ascended we hit a bumpy patch in the unpaved mud road. The mud tracks being larger than a small beagle tossed both the truck and passengers. I laughed the whole time, see the video. Just as we were completing this patch another van was coming down the road. They stopped and refused to move to let us pass. Many words were exchanged in Spanish, I would guess not all of them happy roads. At this point we got out of the truck as it tried to pass the van. I had to turn around as the driver came close to the end of the cliff and I feared I would watch his demise. Luckily he stopped and did not attempt to go around. They finally all helped to push the other van out of the way. By this time our truck was stuck in again the beagle depth mud tracks. As we all pushed the driver went speeding away up the hill without the passengers. When he hit a flat spot he finally stopped as we ran after him. A bit of a scary ride as we finally reached the top to again desend the other side of the mountain. Cheers to our driver for his 4x4 driving skills. At one point he was even on the phone. 😁
As we returned to our hotel it was time to head to our next stop Potosí. One funny thing about these Yolo tours is that they are not great about including bathroom breaks. By the end of our 3 hour bus ride the hotel was a very welcome site. Along the road on the drive we saw many small building cities. I assume they were tenements of sort. Each building was about 5 by 5 and appeared to house an entire family.
I have a ton of pictures so I will split this post into two. The next post includes how they let me purchase sticks of dynamite.

JodiRead more