We arrived in Tupiza after allowing ourselves a day to recoup in Uyuni after our trip from Chile. The bus journey from Uyuni to Tupiza was one of our most interesting journeys so far: a rickety old bus, no sealed roads and a long wait in the middle of no where at 8am! The scenery during the journey was great though.
Arriving in Tupiza we checked out our surroundings – a sleepy town with spectacular jagged mountains all around. Once we arrived, our first day mainly involved eating! For tea (dinner for the non-Northerners) we ate a plate of tasty (if not a little unknown) meat from the BBQ! Served with the Bolivian staple: rice and chips!
The following day I (Elly) set off an adventurous 3 hour horse ride, which involved plenty of galloping and broken Spanish chat with my guide. We explored the surrounding mountains and the beautiful scenery of Tupiza. Rob, not being a fan of horse riding, followed a similar route on foot, climbing up gorges into no-man’s land, defying death a few times before timidly turning back. All good fun!
The next day we set off on another long bus journey (on better roads and an ok bus) to Potosi.
Potosi is known for its mining and history of silver and minting (and being 4060m above sea level). Expecting a quiet weekend checking out the city and muesums, we were surprised to find a carnival kicking off on the Saturday! By the Sunday it was in full flow. Dia del Mineros involves the miners from the surrounding mines marching around the city playing music as part of full brass bands. When accompanied by colourful dancers, beer and thousands of water balloons, it makes for an interesting and very entertaining occasion. It didn’t take us long to get in the carnival mood, being pelted with water balloons, returning fire and drinking beer with a drunken rable of locals. A note about the beer, Potosina: it’s apparently the highest brewery in the world!
Before the carnival kicked off we managed to fit in a very interesting visit to Casa de Moneda where we learnt about the history of Spanish coin production in Potosi from a very enthusiastic guide. It’s crazy to think that for a few hundred years, masses of Spanish coins were minted in Bolivia – 4060 metres above sea level!
After Potosi we headed to Sucre for five days of Spanish lessons. It was a marvellous feeling being able to properly unpack our bags! Our time here mainly revolved around the lessons, but we also managed to fit in one hell of a good steak, a Bolivian cooking lesson and experience the carnival tradition of the cigarette smoking frog!
Our Travels 