I Got Mine

It's your son, Ryan, here. I'm in Tupiza, Bolivia, which is about 4 hours from the border with Argentina. I was hoping to sneak in a trip to the salt flats between Cochabamba and Buenos Aires, but it's not possible.

Upon arriving in Potosí I found out that there is a blockade between there and Uyuni, thus preventing me from entering the salt flats. Having lost some time I couldn't squeeze in a trip to the salt flats, so I grabbed a hostel in Potosí. At 4000 and some odd meters there the nights get fairly cold, so I was happy to find the hostel had a heater in the room and gas powered showers! Woot woot! Literally the best shower I've had in over 2 months.

With a day to kill in Potosí I went on a tour of a mine. You gotta note, it's NOT an abandoned mine. In fact, there were workers working during the tour. They were replacing a brace that was colapsing. The tour was surprisingly interesting for a mine. Our guide was a former worker who started at age 12 as a gopher for his dad. He took us through tunnels smaller enough that you had to crawl on all fours and showed us El Tio. Apparently outside the mine, the miners worship God normally, but inside the mine they worship El Tio (a.k.a. the devil). I can see why - it's hot, mucky, dangerous and the work sucks. It certainly feels like hell. I guess if you go on a Sunday you can see them sacrifice a llama at the entrance. You'd think it's a joke until you see the blood all over the mine entrance.

After leaving the hell hole we we lit some dynomite, took some pictures with it lit and then nervously waited to watch them blow. Good times, good times.

Alrighty, I'm off to write a few more emails before grabbing an empanada and some sleep. I'm exhausted after last night and the ensuing bus ride. Last night I hung out with 3 English dudes - one of whom turned 40, 2 Yankees, 1 Irish dude, an Italian guy who can't cook pasta, a French guy, 2 girls from Barcelona and a Dutch named Has. It was somewhat of a birthday celebration, so I had some drinks against my best intrest knowing I had to catch a bus at 7am. Well worth it though, as it was an interesting mix of people - everyone having incredibly different personalities. I spent most of the night chatting between Spanish and English with the non-English natives. It was a real sign that my Spanish has come a long way. Heh heh, I think I'm ready for Argentina's differnent take on the language.

written by  ryanmyers on June 2, 2009 from Tupiza, Bolivia
from the travel blog: Ryan's First Sabbatical
tagged Mine
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