Potosi

Day 1 – The Silver City (Altitude 4,090 Metres

Again, both of us had a very broken breathless night of sleep, we hope our imaginations calm down shortly. Fortunately, we were not in a rush this morning as we were told the coaches to Potosi run pretty much every half an hour, which meant we could pack and have a leisurely breakfast before heading for the bus station.

At the bus station, we were quickly accosted by a ticket seller and we purchased tickets for Potosi and then waited for the drivers to finish eating their breakfasts before loading our luggage and getting on to the coach.

Our next destination was Potosi,  is named the silver city and was founded in 1545 when the Spanish discovered silver in the hills and pretty soon the silver that was mined here was funding the Spanish empire and became one of the wealthiest cities of the America’s.  The silver is still being mined to this day.

The coach journey was shorter than the 5 hours we thought, at 3.5 hours it was a relatively short journey for us, although we didn’t realise it we were still climbing though (we may need some more of those Coca leaves).

Arriving in the city, we noticed that it is built on a sprawling hill so after checking our phone navigation system we decided against the 30 min 1km uphill walk to our hostel.  Instead I managed to get some change from a nearby shopkeeper and we caught a taxi up the hill to our hostel.

On checking in,  we found ourselves in a nice place where the rooms were all built around a central courtyard. Also,  once inside we found ourselves inside a lovely traditionally decorated spacious room, with en-suite, again for a very reasonable price.

 

After locking up our bags we then headed out to look at our surroundings, the town seemed very pretty with nice architecture.  It had a lovely plaza which was overlooked by a quite imposing cathedral.

There wasn’t too much open at this time of day, but after searching down a few back streets we found a couple of chairs and tables outside a café/pub.  The pub had a large mural of miners outside on the walls and as there was some pretty good music being played and it was now early afternoon we sat down and had a couple of drinks and got talking to the friendly barman.

 

An hour or two later we were getting cold because the bar was in the shade and there was a bit of wind building up, we decided to go back to the hostel.

 

We were also feeling a bit weary because of a lot of recent excursions and possible the effect of the altitude which made walking uphill somewhat tiring.  So back at the hostel Shell had an afternoon nap whilst I did some reading.

In the evening, we headed out to look for somewhere to eat.  As we entered the main square we heard the sound of a band, when we got there we saw and watched a sort of carnival procession of bands and dancers pass through the square.  We were not sure what it was all about but guessed in was the tail end of celebrations for their national day on the 10^th November.

 

From here we wandered around for a bit until I spied what looked like a very local restaurant with an open grill at the entrance, so we thought we would give it a go. Inside it was packed with locals and we seemed to be the only tourists in there, perfect!

Finding an empty table, we sat down and studied the menu and ordered a couple of things and a beer and coke.  However, when the food turned up I think we were just given the special, because Shell’s chicken she ordered did not look very chicken like and looked suspiciously like a pork chop.  I tried to explain the mistake to the waiter but he just said a few words and walked off, not to return anytime soon.

In the end,  we just ate what we were given which was pretty tasty anyway and very cheap.  Whilst we ate a busker came in, whilst not perfect we were still impressed that he played guitar and pan-pipes at the same time and did a bit of singing in between.

Once we had finished dinner still being a bit fatigued and ratty with one another we decided it was best to go back to the hostel to watch a bit of downloaded TV and have an early night.

Day 2 – Closed

Again,  we both didn’t get a very good night sleep, so after getting up we went for breakfast which was served in the courtyard.   The breakfast wasn’t so good though, basically just juice, coffee and bread rolls with jam.

After getting showered we headed out to do some touristy things.  The main attraction here was a visit to the silver mines, but we had read that you got to see the miners in atrocious working conditions and the mines themselves weren’t altogether safe, you had to sign a disclaimer to enter them.  Maybe it should be something you should witness to get an understanding, but Shell and I did not feel like seeing human suffering or pay to support it.

So, after checking with our guidebook, we saw that the museum was a top attraction so we headed there instead.  After finding the museum and purchasing tickets for the English guide we found that we had ¾ hour before the tour started so we went for a wander around the nearby streets.

 

We walked for a bit before finding another pretty church which was marked on our map before heading back to the museum via a local food market, which had very rank looking cuts of meat hanging from the stalls.

 

Waiting at the gates for our tour to start, there was a call for Spanish Speakers and then a call for French speakers, but not one for English speakers.  Heading back to the receptionist we were told there was no English tour today (I don’t think the guide had turned up from what I could gather), so we decided that we would give it a miss and get a refund.

So instead we headed for the large cathedral to have a look around that, but amazingly as it was Sunday, this seemed to be shut for the day.  At a bit of a loss what to do next we headed to the bar with the miner mural outside and ordered a drink.

 

 

Whilst sat there the owner came and introduced himself to us and explained that he was a former miner which explained the theme of his café/bar which also had old pictures of miners inside along with mining lamps and TNT explosive charges on the walls (we hope they were disarmed!!).  he also explained that he had invited the miners to his bar for free drinks and was in the process of setting up a foundation/charity for the miners and their children.

He was very interesting to speak to and had excellent English so we sat there and had a couple of beers whilst we spoke to him.

We were still not feeling 100% so in the afternoon we headed back to the hotel to relax, sleep and read before getting the energy to go out in the evening.

Consulting with trip advisor I found a nearby restaurant which had the highest ratings although it said it was a bit shabby and the food took a long time as it was a one man band.  When we arrived, we found that it was empty and pretty much as billed, the owner came over and was very friendly and chatty, although we were slightly concerned by the state of his food stained jumper.

Having read the reviews people had raved about the spinach soup so we ordered two of those and then for the second course I thought it was time to check out the llama steak, whilst Shell just plumped for the beef steak.  As we were sitting there we noticed that the heating was a bit basic, a gas bottle with a heating element attached to the nozzle, we were quite happy when a few more people came into the restaurant and sat next to it, a bit of blast protection!

A few more people came into the place so we were glad that we had got our orders in early and when it came the Spinach soup was indeed lovely (apparently all the food here is organic and home grown)..  The second course came up and I must say the llama was interesting (pretty OK), although not having had it before I couldn’t tell if it had been spiced or that was just the way it tasted.

Pretty happy with the food we had we then paid and headed back to the miner bar for one final beer before going back to the hostel for the night.