Sunday the 14th of November; LA PAZ, GETTING ACLIMATIZED IN A QUIET CITY

Sick and stomach problems, no new stories during this trip. Why is this town so dead? Ow, it's Sunday. A stroll along so churches and a recommended market with weird stuff? Well, the Lama heads looked weird, but besides that not many weird stuff. Shopping with Johanna worked out well, we are a good team. Getting some warm clothes for Brrrrrr...olivia. And what do we find here? Chili Con Carne! What can food be sooo good some times. We wanted to do a prison tour with real prisoners in La Paz, but damn 400 Boliviana each is far too expensive! So because we didn't had enough travels the last 2 days we decided to take a 12 hour nightbus to Uyuni. Get some snacks and be prepared for a bumpy ride. And they like surprises in South and Central America, every time they come in the bus for another payment of a so called tax fee. What a night, the first 6 hours were okay (why didn't I sleep now?). After the break it started....dengedengedang! No asfalt, not even a dirt road...it was just a local bus with big wheels driving through the dark cold desert. Johanna and I kept eachother warm, there were big pieces of ice inside the bus on the window!

Monday the 15th of November; UYUNI, WHITE WONDERS OF SALT, CACTUSSES AND CHILDISH VICENTE(?)

05:30 arrival in the desert town of Uyuni, a group of people with flyers for the salt lake trips waiting for us. Everybody comes for the same thing here. So just pick a company, bargain and at 10:30 you will be in a 4WD Toyota Landcruiser for a 3-day trip with complete strangers and a Spanish speaking driver Juan. Oscar and Tony from Bolivia, Hennah from Oz, Martha from Italy and Johanna and me. First stop at a train cemetary, what a touristy picture place. Yes, and they already call me the monkey, because I'm so childish to climb in everything. The day was followed by amazing white colored land scapes of salt, islands of cactusses and climbable rocks/arches in salt lakes. Johanna was even more sleepy and dizzy then I felt the last days, so she already had a 'nice' Bolivian tattoo on her arm. A lunch with Bolivian speciality Quinoa in a salt hotel and taking all sorts of perspective pictures with the white landscapes. Crossing many ghost towns. The scenery is getting better and better. Our accomodation the 1st night was way better then expected (although you have to pay extra for a shower, using power etc.). Our group was the most active one, visiting mummy graves in a chilly evening, banging on doors in town to learn about history.

Tuesday the 16th of November; JOHANNA'S UNFORGETTABLE BIRTHDAY

07:30 breakfast, Johanna didn't expect anything for her 21st birthday. Me neither in the middle of nowhere... But after communicating with the people here I managed to give her a fresh and warm birthday cake including 1 candle. Happy birthday! Although I have to practise the birthday song a little bit beter :-) A long day full of stunning colored lagoons and lakes, unsubscribable mountain landscapes, thousands of different Flamingo's, volcanic atmosphere, more lama's and apalca's, delicious lunch, it getting better and better. Johanna, you are having an awesome birthday! But why am I wearing just a t-shirt and getting tanned and the rest of the group is acting like eskimo's? The accomadation the 2nd night was a little bit more 'basic'... Most people had to wear several layers of clothes, a sleeping bag and several blankets to avoid freezing. The pasta was the worst ever, at least there was a bottle of vino tinto. Opening it was my challange, I had to ask the locals in Spanish for a 'kurkentrekker'. A long sleepless night with a Bolivian in the room who was talking and laughing in his sleep all the time. I banged my head in the dark during my nightly freezing search for a toilet. No water or heaters in this place and it was around -10 degrees! So beds together and keep eachother warm.

Wednesday the 17th of November; THE LAST PART OF WONDERLAND

04:00 and wake up with a massive headache! Yeah, 4.200 meters high, lack of water and the freezing temperatures... Driving up the 4WD to 5.200 meters. A moon landscape and the most wonderfull star sky you can imagine. Smoking geysers and ice all over inside the car. Brrrrrrrr! The girls stayed inside the car all the time. Untill the hot springs at 4.200 meters. Take off that winter suit and jump in, we were the 2nd group that arrived so it was really quiet. How amazing, sitting in hot pools surrounded by thousands of Flamingo's in a moon landscape! AWESOME! Johanna forgot her bikini but she had to go in, so improvise :-) A long lasting day in the back of the car. Still amazed by all the different landscapes and the small villages. Having a lunch in a local restaurant where not many people stop. More childish climbing on the Salvador Dahli rock formations. Crossing green grassy valleys with streams and ice and lama's wondering around. Twisters (sand storms) all over the area. Too many things to take pictures of. Arriving in Uyuni and having a few 1ltr Potosani beers in the sun with loads of other travellers. Already leaving to Potosi. Arriving in the middle of the night, ringing door bells and banging on doors of hostels to catch sleep. Johanna and I are a good team, until now we managed to fix everything and we are both close on our budget.

Thursday the 18th of November; MINING LIFE BLASTS!

Checking out Potosi, this place feels more like Bolivian life, not too many tourists. Check out the mining tour with The Real Deal, a new company. Spending hours in the dark dusty mines. 10% of the population in this town works in the mine (under bad circumstanses). Climbing down several levels, feeling that breathing is getting more difficult. Visiting chemical factory's, where is the safety and protection here?! No wonder they get sick. The lower you get, the smaller the tunnels...sometimes you have to crawl through small holes (better not be claustrophobic). Some people don't want to continue at that lower lever where you have to crawl. Johanna kicked some stones on the people below us (not on purpose, but made me laugh a little bit). Mining life is hard, but the miners are chewing coca leaves all day and the alcohol they drink during work?... 96%! Wicked and strong stuff. Trying to push the loaded trolleys over the rails...damn, better fix those rails. If they should spent some of that tourist money in making the conditions a little bit better, it would be way more efficient for the miners. The mines are not made for Dutchies, hit my head so many times. The best part was definately making the explosives and blast! Playing with dynamite. The funny thing is that you can buy dynamite on the street everywhere in this highest town (4000mtr) of the world. And everyone is allowed to buy it. The (ex)miners are crazy, but what do you expect when you spend your life underground all the time with drunk horny guys? :-) Meeting up with other travellers in Potosi; a nice night to get some advice for the rest of our trip. And I got a new favorite (huge) dish; Pique Macho.

Friday the 19th of November; ONE NIGHT IN SUCRE...BUT IT WASN'T SWEET

Travelling...sometimes living the dream, but sometimes it's different. Enough cool people in the hostel and we all decided to go to Sucre. Floortje, Cathy, Cole, Jenna, Johanna and me. No problemo during the 3.5 hour bus trip. The drinking games started in our cheap hostal... I was quite smart with some games :-) And I learned when it's enough for me. So time to stop drinking and time for some fresh air. Some other ones thought I was a pussy....life it's not about drinking yourself sick though... I left, experiencing the Sucre nightlife on my own. Coming back, not everyone was happy with my act. Ok, if your so called good friend don't even want to take the time to really talk and going out is more important...USELESS! I know I'm not the average person. For me it has been enough; too many people with comments about my age, behaviour, not drinking enough, childish, unpredictable etc. I'm leaving and follow a way I don't even know where it goes to...

For my real friends; Thanks for all the good moments! Those I will remember...

I miss something after a long time, and it's not a 'patatje oorlog'...it are my friends, my friends from The Netherlands, from Asian and Australian/NZ/Fiji travels...you were the best!