Potosi and Sucre

November 11, 2010

Today we rode to Sucre, up and over 4 mountain passes. Gorgeous ride, gorgeous views of the mountains and peaks, river valleys and for the most part, gorgeous road. There were a few rough spots but the new payment and twisties made up for the few potholes. We were shook down for tolls at 2 toll booths, 1 only charged us once though and stamped our ticket on our return. The other charged us for $b8 but gave us receipts for $b6 each time. Obviously the pocketed $b4 (FYI $b7 = $1 can)
Then on the way back another robber tried to shake us down for another road tax using an official looking receipt booker and I said no and drove away… Going with John and Sharon to the 4060 pub for dinner tonight. 4060 stands for 4060 meters above sea level. Potosi's name to fame is that its the highest city in the world. We are sleeping at 13,300 ft above sea level. Wow, and you can feel it with every step you take, every beer your drink and the bikes feel it too. They don't have much power up here, but they still have a lot more the the cars we pass. Had to daun our rain gear on the way back from Sucre for a few sprinkles. Its raining heavier since we got back to our room.

Either we are getting used to being down here or Bolivia is looking better than Peru. I know that I said Peru looked better than Chile. Bolivia's road signs are better than Peru but not as good a Chile. As we drive through these small towns, the red mud brick homes aren't as overwhelming as the were when we started our trip. In the large cities, People have money and are all buying cell phones and TVs and computers and and and. Language is still a barrier for us, but we are not as intimidated by the lack of communication as we were in the beginning. People look much the same as people in Canada, just much thinner and shorter. Down here I am an average height for a man and most women are about 5ft to 5ft 2 inch. I see many beautiful young ladies and many well weathered old ladies wearing flat rim, of bowler hats and skirts. Sounds like these people wear these outfits for their religion or to display that they may be indigenous people. Not sure yet. Have no idea how old these old ladies are but if I were to venture a guess I would think about 50…. My age…  I am probably one of the greyest haired people around. These people's hair is jet black and when they do start going grey, only a few side hairs. There is no heat in our hostel room. Currently (5:45pm) the temperature is 58ºf, little cool. Blankets will have to keep us warm tonight. Have noticed many trees that shed their bark here in South America. I thought the Arbutus Trees on the BC coast were the only ones that shed their bark, maybe they were imported from SA many years in the past??? One thing that gets to me down here is the smell of urine. People pee anywhere and everywhere. The smell can be quite strong. Maybe it will get washed away with the rainy season, which is coming soon. Many rivers are dry or down to a trickle. People say they have 2 seasons in South America, Dry season and Rainy season. Reservoirs are empty, prairies are dry, there are more clouds in the sky every afternoon, now. Had a rain and thunderstorm this afternoon.

November 10, 2010

Went for breakfast, that was included in the hotel cost, and met some guys from Belgium driving around in a 4X4 with ultralights and flying over numerous places. They saw us riding the "Death Road" from up above. Also a couple from the US via Malaysia have been riding BMW around North, Central and South Americas for the last 10 months (John and Sharon) Talked with them for a bit and they left before us but we caught up to them along the road and rode with them to Potosi. Very nice people, they are heading to Ushuaia too. We arranged to ride with them to Uyuni and they are heading to Chile while we are heading to Argentina. Turns out Sharon's spanish is very good and she was able to find us a hostel for $b140 ($20can) per night, but no internet. We will meet up with them in Ushuaia for Christmas. Turns out they were in Cusco and met a few of the people we met as well. First time we rode in rain since our trip started, but then it was all of about 20 minutes and then just cloudy. Upon arriving in Potosi, many streets were closed down due to some celebration. Apparently, its a 200 or 300 year celebration of Potosi. If people weren't in the parade, they were watching it and fighting the crowds was stupid. Most or many shops were closed and finding something to eat was difficult, but the challenge was undaunting and finally a restaurant off the beaten path was open.

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