BOLIVIA

THE LAND OF SALARS, ALTITUDE AND BOWLER HATS

 

Welcome to Bolivia...

The Bolivian border

Bolivian Customs at 5038 m above sea level

The Bolivian numberplate

Bolivian money, the Boliviar, which comes in the form of 50c, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 denominations.

At 2007 exchange rates B16 = £1.

Laguna Verde

The Beast and the Bikers at Laguna Verde

Nuno had a crash and broke his panniers and protection bars on his motorbike.

LAGUNA COLORADA

Making dinner in the middle of Bolivia

The Laguna Colorado hotel

A baby vicuna. Vicunas are only just recovering from near extinction.

The sand roads at 4500m with mountains towering up to 5700m

A bit bogged down... if only we had remembered that we had diff lock! Salt flats aren't always as solid as they look.

Llamas

Llama Farmer herding her llamas up for the night

Bolivian Petrol Station

At the fuel pump

San Juan de Rosario

Burial chambers for the dead. Mummies from 1200 to 1500 AD were found in these stone piles

SULTANS OF THE SALAR

The road out onto the Salar de Uyuni

Testing the water. One night of rain had left about 20cm of water on the Salar

Solid salt

Sultans of the Salar

Reflections of a Beast

Protecting the Beast from the corrosive salt

A salty breakdown

Saltwater wells in your engine

A salty tow to the island when Jason's bike broke down on the middle of the salt flats as the starter solenoid connectors dissolved in the salt water

Salt cystals that form in squares

Our campsite for the night on Isla Incahuasi at the centre of the Salar de Uyuni about 10km from Isla de Pescadores

Trent and Pete working on Jason's salt coated bike.

The Salt Hotel

Salt dining at the Salt Hotel

A Beastly tow... after Jason's bike stopped again we towed him to shore until...

..the Beast stopped at the edge of the Salar..

...and we got a tow with a salt truck about 3km into town before the Beast spluttered back into action. Salt had soaked the spark plugs and engine and the oil filter was full.

A salt splattered engine

Getting rid of the salt is an important part of coming off the Salar as the concentrated salt corrodes metal very quickly.

POTOSI

Potosi was the start of the royal mint for Spain. It has been a mining town for 460 years, starting in 1545. The Cerro Rico (rich mountain) still produces gold, tin, silver, zinc and iron. It is estimated that the Spanish took 8,000 tonnes of pure silver from Cerro Rico. Potosi is a UNESCO protected town.

Biker and Beast Miners - Chris, Greg, Alexis, Trent, Jackie, Nuno, Tatiana and Pete

At the miners market where you can buy miner's lamps, alcohol, axes, wheelbarrows, fuses and dynamite. It is suggested that people going on tours buy some presents for the miners.

Jackie demonstrating a stick of dynamite

Potosi from the Cerro Rico. Located at 4000m, Potosi is the highest populous city in the world. It has 140,000 inhabitants who all struggle to breathe daily. Coca is chewed to overcome altitude sickness.

Making dynamite

Miners chewing some coca to overcome working underground and also working at 4700m above sea level. Most miners only manage to survive to a grand old age of 55 before they succumb to lung cancer.

'Tio' the god of the miners who is offered coca, cigarettes and alcohol on a Friday for safe mining.

The geology of the mountain that is still producing minerals.

An ice cream seller in Potosi. The ice cream is being mixed in the silver bowl on the right over a massive vat of ice... not the most hygienic but delicious.

Fruit juice seller in Oruro

The hot springs just outside of Oruro where we all enjoyed a private bath... Jason and Greg enjoying it more than most!

Scenery on the way to La Paz

LA PAZ

La Paz - the highest capital in the world is situated at 3,600m above sea level. It is built in a valley with mountains towering above it. The road down into La Paz drops from a breathtaking 4,200m.

Iglesia San Fransisco

La Paz has a Witches Market which supplies the superstitious with..

...fertility dolls and...

...dried llama foetuses, frogs and armadillos. These are used to ward off evil if they are hung over doorways.. we think they are to ward off any visitors as well as the smell is unbearable.

A visit to the informative Coca Museum gave us an insight into the beneficial uses as well as down side of Coca. Coca is used to combat altitude, used in pain killers, antiseptic and is still used as a flavouring for Coca-Cola. It takes 328kg of Coca leaves to make 1kg of cocaine. Bolivian Coca grows at altitudes between 500 and 2000m.

LAKE TITIKAKA

Lake Titikaka is located at 3,800m above sea level

The rickety ferry across the lake to the southern lakeside part of Bolivia and then onto Peru.

Copacabana

Aymara ladies peeling potatoes at the side of the lake in Copacabana.