First things first… Congratulations to Jon and Louise on the birth of their beautiful daughter and Amy´s niece, Matilda Mae, born yesterday at 4pm. HUZZAH! We went to the poshest restaurant in Sucre and toasted the new arrival. Several times.
So, where were we? From Uyuni and the salt flats we travelled to Potosi… THE HIGHEST CITY IN THE WORLD! Sounds cool, but we could barely breathe. Potosi used to be rich and well famous for producing coins and for silver and that. We went to “Casa de la Mondea”, our first museum visit of the entire expedition (culture? Pah! Plenty of that in London). We were herded into a Spanish tour, of which of course we understood very little, so we decided to giggle at the back like naughty children, taking illegal photographs. The last straw was one hour in, when we were introduced to some mummified 19th century rotting children. In glass cases. In dresses. Imagine our distress. Then imagine our joy when we saw a chink of light and an open door… RUN! And we did, like Steve McQueen.
This face haunts Potosi. What is it about?
Potosi is an imfamous mining town, and tour companies operate trips down into the depths of Cerro Rico, the mining mountain. Should we go down? Gulp. We don´t like dirt, we don´t like dark, we don´t like enclosed spaces, we are not sure about dynamite, and dying from a cave-in is not our favourite. We are particularly unsure of tour guides. FACE THE FEAR.
We booked our tour for Valentines day, how romantic! Nothing like poverty and appauling working conditions to get you in the mood. Mmmmm, sexy. Went with a company who support eco tourism, “Greengo Tours”. Spent an hour with the tour company owner, an amazing man named Julio who has been fighting to protect the mountain from irresponsible tour companies and Grouchos who throw dynamite willy nilly around the mountain, resulting in gradual erosion. It is now illegal, owing to Julio´s valliant efforts, but the law is being ignored. Here´s the culprit, actual dynamite. On general sale, whatevs.
Julio has asked us to write to UK Guidebooks to help educate Grouchos about the dangers of such ridiculous “fun” explosions. We have all the documents and we are now officially eco-warriors!
So… the tour. You know when you´re in the middle of a mountain, right? And it´s boiling hot and pitch black and bits of rock are falling from the sagging rafters, and you have to pull yourself up a vertical hole using a thread-bare rope (no safety belt here) and you are sort of having a panic attack and definately have an anxiety rash, and you encounter a troop of friendly neighbourhood miners who casually inform you of some impending explosions in the vicinity whilst drinking 96% proof alcohol and smoking tabs? Happy Valentine´s Day!
Here is their God.
He´s the Devil, right? Sure, cool, roll with it, go with the flow, man. Yeah, I know he´s, like, terrifying and that, but we´re well open-minded (mine-did) innit. Especially when we´re trapped in a rabbit warren and can´t stand upright.
“Carry on Caving”?
Fear aside, it was an enlightening (not literally) experience. Sitting drinking and laughing with the miners was proper amazing and all the more authentic as we were the only four tourists in the mine. The other two Grouchos were Gina and Matt, our new best friends who we met at the salt flats. Matt is a cage-fighter and ex –marine, which helped us pap ourselves a tiny bit less.
After visiting Bolivia´s pretend capital city (La Paz) a while ago, we now find ourselves in Bolivia´s ACTUAL capital city, Sucre. It´s clean, pretty and a teensy bit European-looking. If there is, in fact, money in this country, this is where it lives. Very, very different to Potosi.
Had a Valentine´s, post-mine Coca Sour cocktail on Monday evening and we pulled! The barman gave us these which made us stupidly, girlily happy. See…
Had our celebratory Matilda meal yesterday, wetting the baby´s head with a bottle of Bolivian vino. Then a glass of Bolivian vino, then a bottle of Bolivian vino. Welcome back Hangover, we´ve missed you ol´ friend.
Took said hangovers to see some dinosaur footprints this morning, some might call them pock marks in a quarry, but we know better.
Besides, this fella was there which proves they were real, doesn´t it.
Off to Colombia soon. Can´t wait.
Love
A & H xxx
OH. MY. GOD.
ReplyDeleteEven reading about the mine has made me feels sick / clammy / slightly faint. You're very brave! I had a meltdown in bloody Cheddar Gorge, this is HARDCORE mining. Nice work!
I too had a Matilda induced hangover the other day, spooky, I wonder if it's a new baby phenomenon no matter where you are in the world?
LOVING your updates ladies, keep 'em coming!
Mucho love
Lou-Ondy
xxxx
anxiety rash!...knew it had to come out sooner or later with all your crazy adventures.
ReplyDeleteblog is ace.
thanks for my post!
love
Jadex
Hi, Girls,
ReplyDeleteApologies for my tardy response to your latest brilliant update, but I have, latterly, been busy visiting my beautiful new granddaughter, plus having dealings with a Demented Crazy who ought to be immediately institutionalised. (See your emails for further elucidation, Amsie.)
Your behaviour at the first museum of the trip, in Gasping City, reminded me, somewhat, of Amy and her bro, Andrew’s, behaviour, guffawing around museums and castles, when little, so no surprise there, then. Bet you stopped giggling when you espied the mummified rotting children, though. That’ll put the general mood in a lowish gear, every time. Quite a lot of festering features seem to be special attractions, in that (rotting) neck of the woods, by all accounts.
DID Steve McQueen RUN...? I thought he charged about on a motorcycle, but maybe I am thinking of another film entirely.
That face which haunts Potosi belongs to Lobby Lud...and I claim the £5 reward.
Scaaaaaary, in that thar mine, but I am sooooo glad you did not have our Ondy with you, when clambering about in the mud and mire. Looby and I had the dubious pleasure of holding her hands, as she trembled in the far friendlier Cheddar Cave, gasping and digging her fingernails deeply into our arms when the guide announced, “Of course, there are several thousand tons of solid rock above our heads, in this particular chamber, with very little support, beneath, so [and here he gave a merry laugh] we cannot at all understand how it stays up, quite frankly!”; which is when our Ondy-Lou’s normally enormous blue peepers became veritable saucers of abject terror, as she assumed that the cave would suddenly realise it was making rather a spectacle of itself, and immediately crumple, in embarrassed fashion; thus toppling on top of us.
Blimmin` `ell: all that dynamite, just lying about, and, in spite of the law, chucked around, whenever the fancy takes any passing juggler! And we thought we English had problems with roaming idiots (and I can personally testify that, indeed, we DO, having recently been on the receiving end of sheer lunacy)! Where are the local Fuzz in all this? Get writing those English guidebooks, Gals! Your Julio sounds a good `un.
Is that pic REALLY of the God of the Mine, or is he an abandoned Guy (as opposed to common or garden guy, with a small “g”), left over from Bonfire Night? Not a particularly Groovy God, as they go (not that they go far, thank goodness, on those papery legs). Definitely fusty and crusty, rather bobbly in texture, colour and consistency, having obviously been made of several rolls of sticky paper and children’s fingerpaints (not to mention children's fingerNAILS, probably, bearing in mind local customs)...and best left alone. Bet nobody much gave a penny for him, in spite of his strolling beard.
(Continued below...)
(Here I go, again...)
ReplyDeleteYour new best friends sound ticketyboo; but why would Matt want to fight cages? What did a cage ever do to him? Unless, perhaps, he was locked in one, at some stage, of course; or encountered Nicolas (whose name seems to be spelt minus an “h”, oddly: I just looked it up).
Sucre looks sweet (groan), and rather delightful. Does it possess any houses made entirely of sticky edibles, a la the abode of Hansel and Gretel’s witch? Seems, from your pic, that there was yet another parade in progress: probably The March of the Undead, with mummified (although sweetened) bladders held aloft (mind you, even Morris Men go in for that sort of caper: minus the sugar-coating, of course), or some other desirable commodity, equally edifying.
Nice of that St. Valentine’s Day Barman to ply you with red roses...I DON’T think. So, wot’s HIS game, then, eh? Trust you turned him down with polite, but regretful, smiles...or, failing that, kneed him in the knackers.
Glad you munched through a lovely Matilda Meal...and supped many a drink, in her honour, of course. Not born more than a day, and she was already responsible for several hangovers, and the crazed outpourings of a mad woman who has escaped from her attic (read those emails, Ames)! In slightly less salubrious surroundings than your own posh restaurantos, Louise, Jon, The Parj and I toasted her birth in champers, across an extremely pooey meconium nappy (what you heard was not the cork popping).
You don’t say what sort of dinosaur created those footprints, but maybe you were too hungover to pay attention. That big lump of a plastic feller looks a bit like a bent-over T-Rex, so perhaps you were trolling about in his territory.
Enjoy Columbia, Darlings, and we hope to hear from you, again, when you are there.
We are all greatly enjoying your Tales of South America, imbued with fascinating tidings about The Highest City in the World, breathless tropical heat, dodgy knees, inefficient shamen, Inca remnants, dynamite fanatics, ego-warriors, papier-mâché gods, dragon mountains, and incomprehensible guides...to name but a few...
Ooodles of Love, and End Message
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Will be brief as off to bed stupidly early while the baby s asleep!
ReplyDeleteLoved the latest update. All is really good here and Matilda is absolutely gorgeous. We're getting to know her (which is tricky when she sleeps about 20 hours a day) and Henry is being a little angel so far.
Thank you for the lovely flowers! So pretty and unexpected, what with you being the other side of the world and all!
Lots of love
Louise xxxxxx
Apologies for misspelling "Colombia", above, Gals. My mind obviously wandered up into the U.S.A.!
ReplyDeletexxxxxxx