¨Well, we are in Bolivia¨

Wow, so its been awhile, and i have a bit to cover. I think this will be a pretty good post, although dont get too excited to read it, just know that im excited to write it.

So after accomplishing nothing but relaxation and a wierd prison tour in the La Paz area for a week, it was time to move on. Our last night in La Paz was Natasha´s (one of the girls from london) birthday. Unfortunatly that day and the night before i had developed a bit of a belly bug, so much so i was forced to call home and seek advice. And here´s my piece of advice: never doubt the amazing ability of Cypro. it cured my problem in 3 days instead of 3 weeks. But before i was cured i came down with a bit of a fever as well, and with the help of my madre/doctor and the people i was with i became quite convinced that i very may well have malaria. everybody gave me malaria pamphlets and info about doxy, the drug you take for malaria. that night i decided that the next day i would go to a clinic. however, 10 hours of Vicodin induced sleep did me well, and instead i made the 20 minute walk across town to the brazilian embassy. the woman gave me a list of visa requirements and the forms to fill out. all i had to do was go back to the hostel, get a photo, my yellow fever paper, and a printout of my bank statements and $130. the only complication: the embassy was closing in one hour. so i hoped a bus back to the hostel, ran around finding everything and finishing the forms, and went back out looking for a bus. i got one going the right direction, but not to the exact street. after sitting in the aweful La Paz traffic for a few minutes, not moving at all, i jumped out and ran the last few blocks to the embassy. i got there at 12:42, three minutes before the closed, and the woman who worked there saw me come in. i dropped off my papers and ran across the street to an ATM, waited in a short line and ran back with the money. the doors were closed, but all my stuff, except passport and debit card, were inside. i pointed and mouthed to the guard that i had to get my papers, and he opened the door. i picked up my stuff and ask the woman if we could do it. she said they were closed. i looked at the clock, it was 12:47, two minutes late. i tried to explain what happened, and she said in very slow and rather loud spanish, ¨we close at 12:45.¨ so that was it, i walked out with everything i need for a visa but not able to turn it in. the next day was thursday, and they take 48 hours to go through, so if i did it then i would have to wait till monday. screw that. when i get to Buenos Aires, ill go to the brazilian embassy there. oh, the reason i even want this visa is that everybody i met in La Paz is going to Bahia de Salvador in brazil for carnival. this city has the biggest carnival celebrations in the world, and i figure that im down here, may as well not miss this event.

so that night i took a bus to the colonial town of Sucre, hoping for warm weather. it was raining when i got there, and there isnt much to do in sucre, so after 20 minutes in the bus station, i got a bus to the once prosperous silver mining town of Potosí. it was raining there, too, but i wanted to visit the mines, so i got a hostel and slept and read the rest of the day. the next day i had a tour starting at 9, and after doning our mining clothes (just nylon pants and a jacket and helmet to cover our regular clothes), my private guide and i set off. i asked him if i could leave my jacket (with passport and debit card) in the locked closet with our other clothes, and if it was safe. his reply to that wasnt reassuring: ¨Well, we are in bolivia,¨ was all he could say. so i grabbed my passport and card and shoved them in my jeans pocket under the nylon pants, nice and safe. the outside of the mine was bad enough, ill put photos up when i can, but the inside was insane. they are working in the same conditions as they were when the mine opened, many, many, many years ago. there is no map, the tunnels are only about as high as my waist in some places, and almost everything is done manually, with a shovel, axe, wheel barrels...they miners work 10 hours a day with no lunch break, and with the price of silver down they are only getting 50 bolivianos a day, about 7 dollars. last year they were making 300 bolivianos a day. anyway, you cant really get the idea reading about it.

i took a bus from 7pm to 2am to a town called Unyni, where the world´s highest and largest salt flats begin. i set up a tour leaving the next day, and bought a train ticket out of town the night we would get back, it worked out perfectly, something that doesnt happen very often, and got me really excited. having banana juice served to me in a plastic bag with a straw sticking out also got me excited. the tour was cool, the salt flats go on for-EVER. we took a couple funny pictures and drove on. this tour cancelled all the tree planting i have ever done. there were 6 of us plus our driver in an old Toyota Land Cruiser, with a big rack on top with our bags. we drove something like 600 km in 3 days on 2 full tanks of gas. anyway, the next day we saw some cool lakes and load of flamingos. that night was very cold, but we had lots of blankets. day three we were up at 4:30 to see the sunrise by massive geisers and nasty sulfer pools and vents, producing an aweful smell but were a brilliant thing to see. that day was ALL driving, for 10 hours almost. the group consisted of an irish couple, a brazilian couple, and a swiss guy. the brazilian couple was from Salvador, where i am planning on being for carnvial, but they wont be there when im there, unless i stay longer or come earlier. the irish couple joined me in going to the argentine border, but they had emergency passports because their real ones were stolen in La Paz, and i guess argentina doesnt accept emergency passports without a visa, so when i walked across the border no trouble, they had to go back to town and get a visa from the consulate. so we would meet at the bus terminal, where i waited for a few hours with no sign of them. i got my bus to Salta, where i am now, and where its very warm, and unfortunatly havent seen them since. maybe in BA, cause they were planning on being there for xmas as well.

ok, im getting kicked out of an overpriced hostel and have to find somwhere else to stay, so, chau.