Hola todos! I am writing this one on the bus just about to blow into Potosi. Grouping these 2 journeys plus Oruro together to bring the blog back up to speed since didn’t really get up to anything worth writing about.
After election day I was up and out of my place in La Paz around 10am, after a brief cable car ride I am at the bus station and do the usual thing, find the shoutiest bus boy barking “Oruro” and before you know it I’m sat on a bus and within about 15 mins we are on way. First we go up to El Alto where it pulls into a new bus station and this bus fills up to the brim fast. Then half hour later we are on way properly. Once of El Alto you at properly back on the flat plateaus of el Altiplano – it’s flatlands with mountains in the distance but we are still near 4000 meters above sea level out here!
The ride into Oruro is pretty uneventful save passing through some poverty stricken looking small towns on the way in the middle of nowhere. After a few hours we are into Oruro. Like many South American cities it’s pretty grotty on the outside as your greeted by that familiar red brick that’s used for all the informal housing here. After doing the usual thing of finding a taxi and getting to the little Airbnb I booked for 2 nights I go for a wander it’s not that bad if basic, you got some cute little parks and this giant statue on an overlook, I make plans to go up there tomorrow but ended up bailing on that idea. I go out have some food and a gentle few well earned beers and turn in for the night.
My next day in Oruro I get up at 5am generally feeling like crap but don’t manage to get back to sleep. By about half 9 I drag my ass up have a shower then go have a look about town. I eventually end up going for a coffee where I end up talking to this cute local lady who notices my suffering and recommends I go to this farmacia by the university and get this hot drink thing for my coughing and spluttering, after chatting for a bit she shows me where it is and I buy the orange drink she recommended. Go back my gaff, get the kettle on and drink this thing, it does completely flush my lungs out for a while and I’m breathing way better.
When I say I felt like crap I was bunged up like hell and found it very hard to breathe. I think it is a triple combo of the 4000 Meter altitude, hangovers of my damn mucous cold that had been giving me trouble since Lima and bad quality air, which can be attributed to the fuel they use here; it is a cheap nasty gasolina which is high in sulphur and low in octane and you can smell it when your out and about in the streets, so yeah been coughing up lots of flem while I’ve been here.
I later meet back up with that local lassie for a vino and some grub in the evening but not too much comes of that. I am back fairly early and get myself sorted for the ride to Potosi.
So for the journey to Potosi, do the usual thing in the bus station and I’m soon on way, this ride is a bit more interesting as we head into more rugged terrain going down to Potosi, or rather up should I say. This is what is probably going to be the highest place in altitude I will be visiting on this entire trip at 4100 meters above sea level. Though the mountains we pass through on way there must have been higher.
After about an hour of driving through more plateau flatlands we end up ascending into valleys that ate high up but green with shrubbery, I would imagine this is what the Scottish Highlands looks like – haven’t been but another one on my list to do when I’m back!
While we don’t see many views being in these valleys it’s still something to see and break up the boredom of the journey. Like going to Oruro you also pass through little villages and towns on the way though they looked a little better than the ones outside El Alto.
Going beyond these valleys we end up overlooking vast canyons like this could be Nevada or something. For the views this has definitely been one of the best travel days.
After about 5 hours we trundle on into Potosi. Now first impressions were not great as it was a bit of a nightmare getting from the bus station to my hostel and the place looked a bit grotty and arriving after dark didn’t make it that better, that said once settled in and after having a bit of a look round the square things looked a bit more hopeful, I am going to do a walking tour next morning to get the lay of the land and maybe try to get onto a tour of the mines.
Tomorrow we explore the city which once boasted the biggest Silver mine in the world!
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