This is a hotel, made almost entirely of salt. Aside from tourist tours of the Uyuni Salt Flats, the region is also a major producer of…SALT! From the bricks, to the chairs, to the flooring, to the beds – it’s all pure NaCl.
And here is a photos of Sarah ensuring that the bricks really are salty. This is what happens when you lose a game of euchre in Bolivia…
We took so many ridiculous, fun pictures at the Uyuni Salar that they just didn’t fit into the previous post. The Atacama desert in Bolivia and neighboring Chile and Argentina is gigantic and the salt flats are the remains of an ancient ocean that was once there. They are the largest salt flats in the world and due to the immense size and expanse of nothingness, the photographer and subjects can play around with the viewer’s perspective, resulting in some surreal-looking shots. Archie, our guide, has plenty of experience with the funky picture taking and did a great job directing most of these. Some of our favorites are below:
Have you noticed that there have been a lot of WTFs in Bolivia? Here is the latest. This sign translates as “Tourist Zone, don’t pee or litter”. You wouldn’t think that in the middle of a central public tourist zone, you’d need a sign that says don’t pee here, but in Bolivia, you do. Locals are known to relieve themselves on any corner or wall they choose, at any time of day. Not sure how effective this sign is, but hey, at least they’re trying to keep the city clean…er.
The latest installment of my World Nomads posts can be found at the link below. The article is about our time on the Lake Titicaca islands and the community tourism project we visited. Happy reading, if you’re interested.
When Community Tourism Gets Too Popular
This is our buddy, Jeff. He’s much more intelligent than he looks in this photo, where he has lit a piece of dynamite on fire and is pretending to smoke it. In reality, there is no danger of this dynamite blowing up, as it requires a few other ignition components to explode. So, our guide told anybody who wanted to smoke some dynamite to go ahead and do so. Jeff was our guinea pig.
Jeff, his girlfriend Romy, and I are on Potosi’s most popular activity – a tour of the mines that have made the city famous. For over 500 years, the big mountain looming over the city has housed some of South America’s most valuable minerals, including the largest deposit of silver on the continent. The silver is now long gone, but mining continues to be a mainstay of the local economy, and former miners are now running tours into the working mines.
I have to admit, I was a little reluctant to check it out (so was Sarah – she chose not to go). The mine tours are a bit controversial – portrayed by some as a voyeuristic opportunity to see how bad people have it. And, it’s not the safest tour ever – it’s a working mine and accidents do happen (in fact, millions of people have died in these mines over the past 500 years, but largely due to the slave labor and inhumane conditions of years past). But in the end, I heard enough positive endorsements to give it a try.
After getting outfitted in all the appropriate gear (boots, jackets, pants, hard hats, lamps), we first stopped at the miners market. The only place on the continent where you can buy dynamite and coca leaves with no questions asked, the miners market is where miners go to get supplies, and tourists go to smoke dynamite.
Entering the mine feels like a passageway into middle earth. Twenty yards in, it’s already dark, damp, dirty, and hot. The deeper you go, the hotter it gets. There is no ventilation within (hence the very early death of nearly everyone who puts in more than a few years working here), but air pipes do hang from the ceiling to power the drills far below. We did our best to avoid touching the walls, as asbestos dripped from the ceiling in colorful but toxic stalactites. After basically rock climbing up to the 2nd level, we met some miners who showed us the process of preparing dynamite for a blast, and the minerals that they recovered to pay their wages. We also got to meet the Tio, the devil statue that exists within each mine who receives prayers and offerings from miners in search of safety from day to day.
In the end, I was happy to see it, but I didn’t feel good about it. While miners do reap well-deserved benefits from tourist visits, the voyeuristic nature of the tour was unsettling. But the miners are very proud of their work and their profession, and there is no shame in the work or the conditions they endure. In fact, they are proud to show it off, and happy to make an extra buck as well.
Hello friends,
As you read this, we’ll be deep in the bush looking for all those crazy animals people visit Africa to see. No pictures to show yet, but lots to come soon! Though you may have to wait a while as we’re a few countries behind on our posts…
We wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from an exotic destination – the Okavango Delta in Botswana! We’re out of touch on safari until the New Year – see you in 2011!
Hugs from Sarah and Ted
Tupiza – the hidden gem of Bolivia. Feels like Sedona, AZ.
This is an alpaca fetus. They are sold along the streets of La Paz in the Mercado de Brujas, or the witches market. Supposedly, you bury one of these under the porch when you buy a house and it brings you good luck. Personally, I prefer a 4-leaf clover…
High-altitude flamingos (~13,000 ft) in Bolivia’s southwest circuit
On one of our first bus rides in Bolivia, we encountered a river with no bridge. The Bolivian solution – float the buses across! Cars, trucks, motorcycles too.
