Our first bus ride in Bolivia left from Uyuni to make the 4 hour trip to Potosi. The bus ride was fairly uneventful, until we pulled up at our half way mark for what I presumed was a bathroom break. After getting off the bus, we proceeded to ask where the washroom was, only to be informed that there was no washroom there. Rounding the corner of the building to look for somewhere to go to the bathroom, I encountered men lined up along the wall of the building peeing, and the tops of women’s heads bobbing up from behind bushes, as they squatted to do their business. When in Bolivia….
A few hours later, we arrived in Potosi, which is supposedly the highest city in the world. Sitting at 4,100m above sea level, there is no denying that it is high, and the altitude combined with the car pollution makes it an extremely difficult city to breath in. The hostel we stayed at had a rooftop patio with an incredibly view of the coloured hill that overlooks the city, as well as the city itself. Aside from being the world’s highest city, Potosi is known for its mine tours. Ryan and I decided that this was not our thing, and opted to spend our time there exploring the museums and churches. We stayed in the colonial district of the city, with a few beautiful churches, and old buildings, making it a pleasant place to walk around in. After grabbing a bite to eat, we headed to the Casa de Monera, or house of money. We were toured through a very old building, which was apparently the first house of money. We learned about the money making process, and how they took the silver from the mines, melted it down, shaped it, flattened it, cut it, and then stamped it. It was a pretty interesting end to our afternoon.
The following day, we planned to continue on our way to Sucre. We woke with time to head out to get money, pack up, check out and get to the bus station to catch a 12pm bus. The first problem with this plan was that our hostel had no power. We didn’t think much of it, until we headed out to get cash, only to find that the whole area didn’t seem to have power, which meant that the bank machines were down. We made our way back to the hostel to inquire about the electricity, and the manager informed us that the power was off in the entire town, he wasn’t sure when it would be back on, and that we should enjoy some complementary hostel breakfast while waiting it out. After a few hours of waiting out the power outage (which apparently happens quite often in Potosi), we went back to the manager to inquire about our options for payment. We didn’t have enough cash to pay, and we really did need to get to Sucre. He proceeded to lie to us about how there was a big soccer game and there was no way that we were going to get bus tickets to Sucre. Not knowing that he was lying at the time, we panicked, and immediately headed to the bus station to get bus tickets. We purchased tickets for the 2pm bus, without any problems. In fact, I think we were the second group of people to buy tickets for this time. Fortunately, the power had come back on sometime while we were heading to the bus station so we were able to get cash.
On our way back, we ended up in a cab with a crazy cab driver who stopped to pick up what I presume is his wife and son. He overcharged us, and dropped us 10 minutes short of our hostel due to a parade that was happening in the street. Based on the chaos that had already happened that day, we decided to play it safe and head out as soon as possible. We paid for our hostel, grabbed our stuff, and made our way to a cafe to get some pre-bus lunch. There, I ordered an omlette, which came out a little bit grey. By this point, I was overwhelmed with the strange events of the day and just wanted to get on the bus and read in peace for a few hours. Unfortunately, the chaos was hardly over. After eating a well below mediocre meal, we headed to the area where we had recently been dropped off by the cab to try and catch another one. Moments after getting in a new cab, we get pulled over because the cab had stopped in the middle of the street for me. After a few minutes of begging and pleading, the cops let the guy go. I think this was fortunate for us, because I have a feeling that our fare may have increased if our driver had have received a ticket.
We ended up at the bus station early, and made our way outside to wait for our bus. The peacefulness lasted for all of half an hour, before we boarded the craziest bus I’ve ever been on. Apparently we had picked the locals bus, and by the time we reached Sucre, every seat was full, and there were over 10 people standing in the rows. At one point, the bus stopped for gas and the people started banging on stuff and shouting “let’s go!”. It was all a bit much, to say the least. Arriving in the beautiful white city of Sucre, checking into a nice hostel, and enjoying a delicious meal at a nice cafe was exactly what I needed after the craziness of the day.