La Paz and the Death Road

We got to La Paz and it really is dizzying - busy, hectic and high.

We stayed opposite the San Pedro Prison where an English man, Thomas McFadden had been held for 4 years for attempting to smuggle drugs. If you haven't read Marching Powder, make sure you do. In this prison the inmates have to buy their cells and often the inmate's wife and children would come and live with him inside. To make money, there's plenty of restaurants and shops that the prisoners run inside as well as the production of some of the cocaine in Bolivia! There have been tours for a few years but after all the latest publicity, the guards don't like it so much anymore and we didn't fancy our chances.

 

We'd heard about a new restaurant that had just opened in La Paz called Gustu. It was opened as the sister restaurant to Noma (voted the best in the world) and is a social project providing training for local people. All the cuisine is entirely Bolivian, with different plants and all sorts selected from the incredibly biodiverse geography of the country. We found out you could get a 15 course asking menu with wine and we thought por que no?

And it was incredible. We tried everything from mashed muña (a herb which is a cross between mint and eucalyptus) served with trout, to chicken hearts on a peanut purée, to llama shoulder, to shredded rabbit on choclo (their huge corn they have out here), and each came with a wine or beer or spicy cocktail. One couple left after course 11 as they couldn't eat or drink anymore... amateurs, we were in it for the long haul... And after 4 hours we were practically asleep at the table, such a great night.

Struggling to keep up with all the drinks, making a backlog

 

John had been keen to do the Death Road but I wasn't, as last time I was on a bike going downhill, I managed to go over the handlebars... Anyway, no time like the present to face your fear. Stupid really as apparently there's a serious accident every week. But we were soon kitted out and ready to face the three hour ride on the World's Most Dangerous Road, John's chain came off, good start.

Our group...Dont be fooled by the tarmac, this was a nice warm up before hitting the gravel

'Safe Sarah'. My thumb spasmed for ages afterwards from constantly pressing the brakes.

But this photo looks like I'm going much faster...

John is excited. Sarah is hiding her fear with a really big helmet

Great views and adrenaline rush. Next stop, the jungle.

 

Sucre - The White City

We didn't have much time to spend in Potosi, so that night, off we went, three hours north to Sucre. We were too late to take the bus though so we began our 'flash-packing' and took a taxi. For a three hour drive it put us back a whole $15.

Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia and the 'White City', so called because all of the buildings in the old town must be painted white. And it really is beautiful.

Our favourite thing to do here was visit the fruit stalls at the market everyday. Here the ladies would chop up any kind of fruit and you could get a gorgeous fruit salad or fruit smoothie for 40p. Happy days.

After a few lazy days, it was time to head to dizzying La Paz. There were blockades happening all over Bolivia though so the only way to get there was an overnight bus to Cochabamba and then to fly, more flash-packing.

 

Potosi, home of the mines

The actual town of Uyuni, where the salt flats are, was a little bare, so we hopped straight on a bus to Potosi. At 4,300 m high, the altitude was going to be a test. And of course our dorm room was on the top floor. But the view was worth it.

 

One of the main things to see here is the silver mines. They're run as a cooperative and the miners work for themselves, selling their minerals at the end of the day. The miners can make a fair bit more than they could working in town but the conditions haven't been updated since mining began there 500 years ago so the miners who work there cut ten to twenty years off their life expectancy. We decided to go on the tour to see how they work.

First you buy the miners gifts, usually cocoa leaves, 96% alcohol or a stick of dynamite will do. Dynamite will cost you £2.

Before heading into the mines, all smiles

The first things that hits you is the dust and then the heat, it's hard to breathe down there and so cramped. You have to crawl at times. The miners can't eat down there as if they get the dust in their stomachs, it can make them sick. So they chew cocoa leaves instead, to suppress their hunger and help with their headaches. They could easily be down there for 12 hours at a time.

Down here they worship the Tio, because God can't help them down there. His penis had fallen off though.

The boys were put to the test to carry some of the minerals for some miners working. Each bag weighed the same as a human, it looked tough...

A drink was necessary...

Happy for some fresh air, although still too high