I'm in Santa Cruz, Bolivia now. I came here with the goal of going on a hike, which I was sure would be great because it never rains in Bolivia in the winter, right? I wasn't even going to take the tent.
Well, the sky opened up last night and let loose. So, I've spent the day taking advantage of the relativly fast internet connections here. I'm not caught up on email or anything yet, but I do have more pictures online!
Iguazu falls to part of my visit to Potosi are ready, and there's more on the way. They're in the gallery.
Enjoy.
I'm feeling "computered out" right now, so I'm going to leave it at that.
This entry comes to you from Potosi, Bolivia, a six hour bus ride from Uyuni. I just got into Potosi today, a few days later thatn I thought I would. Was sick for a few days in Uyuni, along with 3 of the 4 peole with whom I was traveling thorough northern Argentina. After a few days of doing nothing in Uyuni, we were feeling well enough to go on the tour, and away we went.
The tour was interesting. We crossed the Salar de Uyuni, which is a 12,000 sq. km salt flat. Originally, it was an inland ocean, but 20 millions years ago or so it began to evaporate. The rock surrounding it, and on the islands, is therefore coated with calcium deposits from the evaporation that resemble fossilized coral or something. The salt flat itself is just plain impressive. Big, white, and flat. At the edge of the salt flat we stopped at a village where they process the salt. They ull it out of the salar, add a bit of iodine, and bag it straight off -- quite simple really. One person bags about 1500 kg of salt (in one kg bags) each day. Hard work.
We spent the next three days going through beautiful desert landscapes at 13,000-15,000 feet, with volcanos towering in every direction. We stopped at a number of flamingo filled lakes, though they lacked the other bird life that I found pin PN Lauca at the start of the trip.
Returned to Uyuni yesterday, and headed to Potosi today. Unlike Uyuni, Potosi is a legitimate city. It's busy, and I've only seen it on a Sunday. Look forward to exploring it tomorrow.
I'm starting to feel more excited about traveling again. I borrowed a copy of Lonely Planet's "Trekking in the central andes" from someone yesterday, which gave me lots of ideas about how to pass the next few weeks in Bolivia. I'm looking forward to getting out into the mountains again -- it's been a while now. Have a few days more of city stuff to do to finish getting healthy and to see a bit more of the country first, which also promises to be interesting. It's nice to be in a place where everything is different again.
Investigating the Bolivian political situation, and trying to understand the history of what's behind it continues to be an interesting, if difficult, task. It seems like the strike was largely unsuccessful, but last Friday several different roads were blocked or cut so the strike obviously still has some support. It looks like I can buy *today's* newspaper here (Uyuni had day-or-two-old newspapers for sale, when it had newspapers for sale at all) so news should be easier to find.
More on that after I've had time to read the paper.
Finally another entry -- this one coming from a very different place than the last ones. I'm in Uyuni, Bolivia now, after crossing over from Argentina yesterday.
It's been a long time since I've written anything here, and I've covered a lot of ground. The short version is that I spent a week in Mendoza before heading up to Salta and exploring northern Argentina. Spent a week exploring Salta and some of the smaller towns scattered through the desert there, then crossed into Bolivia at La Quiaca / Villazón.
The past couple weeks in Argentina were difficult for me. I'm not sure what was behind it, but I was feeling pretty burned out and tired. I enjoyed the time I spent with other people, and saw a lot of great places, but I just didn't feel excited about much of anything. In part, I'm sure it had to do with having a cold and adjusting to higher elevations; in part I just didn't want to leave Argentina and as I moved farther north the culture changed dramatically. Mostly, though, I think a lot of the newness of traveling was wearing off.
I've since met a small group of interesting people that I've been traveling with, and we've crossed into Bolivia, both of which should keep life interesting. Definitely feeling more awake now.
The day before heading to Bolivia, the 30th of April, I started to hear people talking about a general strike that was schedule to start on the 1st of May. It was not clear exactly what that meant, but typically roads and blocked and transportation simply stops running. The main reason for the strike is discontent over the exportation of Bolivia's natural gas. (article explaining the situation) About a week ago, a contract was signed between Bolivia and Argentina agreeing to export gas from Bolivia to Argentina (and I got to see the Bolivian president when he stopped in Salta on his way back from Buenos Aires).
In Argentina, there was little or no mention of the strike in the news, and we simple couldn't find information. So, we headed north to the border and figured we would see how things were when we got there. After crossing, we asked the cab driver who was taking us to the train station. "Everything's good now," he said, "the problems have all been resolved. People realize that we need to export the gas to solve our problems. If we don't export the gas, we get no money and we can't solve our problems."
But, when we got to Uyuni, the situation appeared to be somewhat different. Here people are saying that the strike will still happen, starting on the 3rd, but only around La Paz. And, of course, no one really knows what will happen or how long it will last.
In the mean time, I'm planning on taking the standard tour that just about every tourist in Uyuni takes. It's a four day trip that supposed to be quite impressive. And, when I get back, hopefully there will be more information on the situation with the strike.
I'll be gone for the next few days on the tour, and it seems like internet access is more spotty here than in Argentina, so updates will probably continue to be infrequent.