I really want to share this with all of you.

Here is some background: My stepmother is from England. Her niece and niece's husband (both in their early twenties...just graduated from college) have been traveling around the world for the past year. They set up a website to keep a diary of all their travels and share with friends and family.

Here are Mark's writings about Mark's and Thea's travels through Bolivia. VERY INTERESTING.



Marks Travels
6th Jun 2007 - 22nd Jun 2007
Embaressing Bolivia

Hello all,

Bolivia is one of the world poorest countries and before i arrived here i was full of aprehension. After all, what was i to expect of a country ranked the 3rd poorest in the world???? Anxious thoughts from my friends and family were not uncommon about our safety and welfare whilst in Bolivia, but ironically, Bolivia is where i have felt most safe.

There is no welfare system here to spunge from, if you are sick, you die, if you are disabled, you have to beg, if you don´t have a job, your family has to look after you. Best of all, wait for it ......... if you get sent to prison you have to provide YOURSELF with food and water in order to survive. Basically, if you don´t have a family to provide for you you DIE. For crying out loud they don´t even get holiday pay!!!!!!

So why am i telling you all of this? Well, one would think that a country with such an unstable economic system and social structure like Bolivia would be in ruins. There would be uproar, social unrest, murders, rapes and muggings just to survive. How wrong one would be.........

Ironically, Bolivia has little to no violent crime, very few muggings and the local Bolivians are renowned for their honesty. But why??? There is poverty everywhere and most people are literally on the bread line. Why are these people not moaning about they´re government, they´re welfare system (or distinct lack of it) and the fact that they have been dealt a rough deal in life. Afterall, they must see people like me and look with jealous/ envious eyes as i open my wallet in the restaurant and the huge amount of Bolivianos sticks out like a sore thumb. An amount that an average Bolivian would probably not earn in a month or two.

Perhaps it is because Bolivians have never heard of human rights therefore why would they complain if prisons do not provide you with food and water? Isn´t prison supposed to be a punishment for your wrong doings and breaches of justice anyway, not a holiday camp with satelite T.V and pool tables. This must be the reason why Bolivia has only a small amount of crime. Who would want to go to jail????

Bolivia is not a materialistic culture, it is not a culture of complaining, it is not a culture of envy and greed. It is simply a culture of survival. Of course, this is very sad and i wish Bolivians weren´t so poor but because they are they somehow have morals and ethics far superior to those of a western country such as England. Why do we complain so much about our situations in England? Why do people fight, steel, murder and rape? Is it because they are hard done by? Is it because they´re governement doesn´t provide them with sick pay, doll money, disability benefits, council housing if you are poor etc? Is it because they have T.Vs, DVDS, an electric cooker etc?

Why do people complain about paying taxes if they are wealthy? Would they rather people who are poor suffer like those in Bolivia or Africa? Are we really that selfish that we can no longer reason and help others?

I suppose the point i am trying to make is that in England we have everything we possibly want. We are a buying culture, if we want it, normally we just go out and buy it. We are looked after well by our government? We have the right for freedom of speech and to be able to criticise things if we want to (which we do at every available oppurtunity)? Yet somehow, even with our brilliant welfare system, supurb standard of living and fantastic lifestyles our society still fails to function properly. People commit crime, we lack morals and ethics, we fight. What are we not happy with? What could possibly make our lives any better?

On the other end of the spectrum, a country like Bolivia is in dire straits but, in my opinion, the people within that economy/ country that make up the society somehow seem to function as one, as a community, with care and consideration for others. This society altough fundamentally wrong in our eyes, actually functions well. Where did we go wrong????????

I´m not saying i have all the answers, far from it, but it seems in our bid to strive for a better life and standard of living we have somehow missed the point. We have gone from a community with pride and togetherness during and soon after the war to a bunch of individuals just out for themselves. Of course, all of this is MY OPINION and many may disagree or have other thoughts. I just find it a shame that it has taken travelling to make me realise how lucky i am. As for the majority of people living in ´the western world´ they´ll simply carry on thinking they are happy coming home and watching telly every night after work. Complaining about they´re job, our society, our people. WHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE WE HAVE???????????

Another rant gone, and i´m sure more people i have annoyed. So for those of you who read my blogs to find out what i´ve been up to and not for a lecture in geography, sociology or economics sorry you have had to wait so long ...................

The majority of Bolivia is on an Altiplano which is to be frank, extremely high up. Bolivia is quite similar to Cambodia. There are dirt tracks for roads, baron landscapes, litter is frequently spotted at the side of roads and some parts, put bluntly, look like they have been hit by a bomb!!!!!

My first stop in Bolivia was La Paz, the highest capital city in the world (even though it is the unofficial capital). La Paz is no ordinary place, at a stagerring 4000 metres above sea level the city, although quite ugly up close, is based in a canyon surrounded by snow capped mountains and the view from afar as you drive in is quite remarkable taking your breath away - literally. Breathing at this altitude can sometimes be quite difficult. Translated into English La Paz means ´The City of Peace´ because when the revolution against the Spanish started in Peru and Bolivia a peace treaty was signed here to stop the revolutions. Why in La Paz? Easy, because it was half way between the capital of Peru (Cuzco) and Bolivia (Sucre).

There are few colonial buildings left in La Paz and therefore it is difficult to find places and building of marvellous beauty. However, half a day walking around the city unearthed some treasures. The Plaza Murillo surrounded by a graceful cathedral, the presidential palace in Italian Remaisance style, Palacio Quemado (burnt palace) and the Congreso Nacional (Congress Building). In front of the Palacio Quemado is a statue of former president Gualberto Villarroel who was dragged into the Plaza by an angry mob and hanged in 1946.

Whilst in La Paz i also played golf with Simon (you´ll see him in the pictures) at a PGA affiliated course recognised as the highest golf course in the world. It cost 90 US Dollars
but it was well worth it as the course was kept immaculatly and i had a caddy with course knowledge (not that it helped very much). The course was hard but due to the altitude and the thinness of the air up here i hit the ball a long way. A respectable 102, 31 over par was achieved. The best thing about the course was its location in a place called the Moon Valley (so named by Lance Arnstrong after a visit to Bolivia) because the landsacpe apparently looked like the face of the moon (check out the pictures and decide for yourself).

Also, our Intrepid Group decided to go mountain biking on ´the Death Road´ a 64 km stretch of road from La Paz to Coroico. The road starts at an altitude of 4800 metres and winds around mountain after mountain past valley after valley until it reached the subtropical vally known as the Yungas at an altitude of 1600 metres. In case you are all wondering why its called death road, its because over the past 10 years on average 55 people have died in vehicles per month (because they are so scared they drive drunk) and 4 cyclists. How you may all be asking??? Well, it dirt track for a start, it a 2 way road only wide enough for 1 car and the drops can be up to 1000 metres steep (sheer i promise you). Oh yeah, theres no barriers anywhere. I mean come on its Bolivia!!!!!! I know what you´re all thinking, and yes 58 kms were downhill and only 6 km up, so it wasn´t to bad and the pool at the end was a real treat.

From La Paz an overnight bus (which was very scary as the bus driver was a lunatic) took us to Bolivias official capital, Sucre (altitude 2790 metres). Founded in 1538 as La Plata, its name was changed to Chuquisaca before the present name was adopted in 1825 in honour of the first president of the first republic. Sucre is beautiful, and full of old Spanish colonial buildings painted in prestine white creating Sucres other name ´La Cuidad Blanca´ owing to the tradition that all of the biuldings in the centre are painted in there traditional colonial white.

Sucre, due to its outstanding beauty and history was named a ´Patrimonio Historico y Cultural de la Humanidad´ (UNESCO World Heritage Site). We only had a day in Sucre and i took it upon myself to be the tour guide for the day so that we could see all of what Sucre had to offer. Unfortunately, Simon, Tammie and Thea (the stingy brits that they are) didn´t tip me anything. The tour included a walk around the Plaza 25 De Mayo which is large, spacious and surrounded by elegant buildings such as Casa de la Libertad, the Cathedral and the churches San Felipe Neri and La Merced. Nearby to the Plaza 25 de Mayo is Plaza Libertad containing a huge Obelisk erect4ed using money raised by fining bakers who cheated on the size and weight of their bread. Afew more blocks down was Parque Bolivar with the huge and quite stunning Corte Suprema de Justica (its location in Sucre is one of the reasons behind the status for Sucre being one of Bolivias two capitals). Parque Bolivar contains a monument of a minature Eiffel Tower in honour of Bolivias richest 20th century tin barons.

From Sucre my journey through Bolivia took me to Potosi, the highest city of its size in the world (altitude 4070 metres). Not alot happens in Potosi nowadays but in 1545 after the Spanish discovered silver in the Cerro Rico mountain and by the 17th century Potosi was one of the biggest cities in the Americas. However, as the amount of silver in the mines deteriorated and silver was found elsewhere by the Spanish, Potosi became little more than a ghost town. Today, mining continues in the Cerro Rico mines but only for tin, zinc, lead and tiny bits of silver.

It was the mines that attracted me to Potosi and to be honest if the mines weren´t there i certainly wouldn´t have visited. Somehow, Potosi was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. My comment on this is that UNESCO must have been drinking heavily during their visit to Potosi and had there beer goggles on because, in my opinion, its one of the ugliest cities i have ever been too!!!!

So, at 6 foot 4 inches i decided it would be a good idea to have a look in a silver mine!!! Not the brightest idea ever!!! My tour entailed a visit to the miners market where we bought presents for the miners like coca leaves, soft drinks (for the extra sugar) and DYNAMITE. Oh yes, for 17 bolivianos (about 1 pounds 10 pence) i bought a stick of dyamite, a fuse, a detonator and some amonian nitrate to increase the size of the explosion. The miners market was v. weird, mostly due to the dog carcas sprawled all over the pavement (check out the picture, Bolivia at its best). We then went to a processing plant before spending 2.5 hours down the mine. The boys went down to level 3 (not for the claustraphobics amongst us) and the conditions the people work in are dreadful. I needed a facemask to even breath (due to the dust), it was pitch black and worst of all i was constantly hunched over. The average size of the tunnels was about 3.5 feet and in the shafts connecting the various levels of the mine i was crawling through holes on my belly (and it was a close fit i can tell you). As it is a working mine, contact with the workers was common and 4 or 5 times we had to hug the wall to avoid the mining train being pulled by MEN carrying the rocks and minerals they had just mined. After 2.5 long hours underground, we finally resurfaced, What preceded was the highlight of the day by far. The boys on my tour made dynamite bombs and blew a whole in the side of the mountain. Brilliant!!!!!!!

Before you all buy your next silver ring, set of earrings or necklace though just have a little read of this next passage. Workers in the mines start as early as 8 years old and the maximum amount of time people work in the mines is 30-35 years.After that, they die of lung cancer or some other horrible disease. On average the workers earn 1500-2000 bolivianos a month (about 116 pounds) and its a family thing, so this job i spassed down from generation to generation. Heres the kicker though, in a survey taken in the mines 90% of the miners worked in the mines because of the lack of other job oppurtunities. Miners work 8-12 hours a day, they cannot eat in the mines because the dust gets into there stomachs causing them to vommit or have diarhoea (two things you don´t want 100 metres underground) and they work 1-2 ´double shifts´ a week (basically 24 hour days if they need more money).

Heres what puts a lump in your throat though...... the miners are so happy. They always think positively, have a good sense of humour (apparently) and never moan. No jobs are passed on, when you are asked to do something, YOU DO IT. They work at 4300 metres up, in the dark, 100 metres underground. Kind of makes you feel stupid for complaining about your job dosen´t it. Never again will i complain about working in an office. Who cares about office politics ....... at least you and whoever is bitching about you has a good chance of living regardless of what happens in the ´slagging match´.

Our guide for the day said, and i quote, ´one day, i hope to save enough money to see the ocean´. This guy has never seen an ocean before!!!!!! UNBELIEVEABLE. Now, i hope, these facts tie in with the title of my blog. EMBARESSED YET???

Tired and dejected from the exersions of the day i fell onto a local bus from Potosi to Uyuni (my next destination) which took 6.5 hours on gravel roads. I had no legroom, no sleep and we arrived at 12.30 pm. Travelling heh, its a barrel of laughs!!!!!! The only highlight of the evening were the stars. With little to no light pollution the sky is always alight with stars and constellations such as Venus, the Southern Cross and the highlight for me, The Milky Way can be seen vividly.

Uyuni, to put it bluntly is a tourist town. Everything here is overpriced (in relation to the rest of Bolivia, not the world) and the streets are lined with people trying to sell tours to the SALT FLATS. Uyuni could be the gates of hell and i would still go there if it allowed me to see them. They are ............ i won´t even try.

My three day trip via 4*4 was magical and mindblowing. Such is the vastness of this place, that perception means nothing, and the contrast between the bright blue sky and blinding white from the salt puts coloured dots all over you vision.

Day one of the tour took us to the Train Cemetry where the remains of early 19th to late 20th century trains stand, rusting away. Legend has it that Butch Casady and the Sundance kid wrecked these trains and this is where the trains have been left to die. from here we went to a small town within touching distance of the Salar De Uyuni (Salt Flats) where they process the salt from the flats. Here, there was a lady packaging the salt. She earnt 20 bolivianos a day (1 pound 30 pence) monotanously packagaing 3000 1kg packs of salt and sealing them from 7am to 7pm. EMBARESSED YET???? The salt has 100% humidity so they heat it and then crush it.

Next on the itinarary was The Salt Hotel, made solely from salt from the flats. The bricks were salt, the cement was salt, the beds are made of salt. From here we went to Pescado Da Isla (Fish Island). This is a very interesting place. At 3900 metres above sea level, its very difficult ever imagining this place as an island in the middle of an ocean!!!!!! Basically it is a coral island (all of the coral is now unsurprisingly dead) and there are 10 metre high cactus scattered everywhere. Interesting fact, a cactus grows 1cm per year, so how old are the cacti???

It was then time to leave Fish Island and the Salar De Uyuni and drive to our first nights accomodation, another hotel made purely out of salt.

Some interesting facts about the Salar De Uyuni (DSalt of Uyuni):

1) 3700 metres above sea level
2) 12000 square kilometres of salt
3) The salt in the heart of the flats is 50-100 metres deep.
4) The salt has 100% humidity
5) It is still growing (which is nice becasue the majority of things of outstanding natural beauty are receeding or depleting)

It was formed millions of years ago when the surrounding volcanoes erupted and grew over 1000´s of years, trapping water from the ocean in a huge valley. As the volcanoes grew, the valley increased in height until a huge salt lake was formed. This lake had no sources of water, and therefore as the sun evaporated the water a huge deposit of salt was left behind. The result, something very beautiful, some inspiring, something...... oh just look at the pictures!!!!!!!

Day 2 saw us drive further away from the Salar De Uyuni, which was heartbreaking, but there was no need for disappointment. We firstly drove past the much less understated and quite ugly Salar De Coipasa, past the Ollague Volcano half of which is in Chile, the other half in Bolivia. This was fantastic as it is still active and therefore at its summit smoke is visible. Naturally, we didn´t venture to close. This volcanoe is famous as it still has lots of active landmines remaining from the civil war. Cocaine smugglers are renowned for trying to sneak cocaine over the border via this route on LLamas but they either get caught or killed. We then had lunch at the Laguna Canapa where we saw a flamengo (i always arrive out of season for everything). It was here where something dreadfull happened. I was using a chemical toilet (which was very expensive at 5 bolivianos a pop) and had abit of a mishap. The diagrams outlining how to use the toilets clearly stated A at the front, B at the back (if you know what i mean!!!!). Well, i NEEDED a number 2 and in my hast happened to accidentally soil the area for A. Hey it happens. As i stood staring down at my own excrement glancing between that and the VERY SMALL piece of toilet roll i had been given to ´do the job´ i couldn´t do it. I couldn´t move it myself. What followed i am not proud of, but after a less than desirable conversation with the toilet attendent trying to explain in Spanish what i had done, the inevitable happened. He walked to the toilet and peered down. What he said after this incident i do not know but all i can say is i stepped up to the plate ........................................ i payed a man in a 3rd world country to clean up my own shit!!!!!!! Whats worse is that i only had to pay 5 bolivianos (33 pence) for the privalige!!!!! EMBARESSED YET????????

After lunch, we visited Laguna Ramaditas which was frozen over at 2.30 in the afternoon. Next was Laguna Hedionda which was bascially pure sulphur. It is here that the BORAX (a substance contained in shampoo is farmed).To finish the day off we drove through the Siloli Desert stopping off at the Rock Tree ( a piece of volcanic rock eroded and shaped by the wind). Finally, we drove to Laguna Colarado which was where we stayed for our second night where the temperature dropped to -15 degrees during the night.So it was a little bit chilly.

Day 3 was a real treat although it did involve alot of driving. In this action packed day we visited the Geyser Basin (it was here that we reached our highest ever height, 5000 metres above sea level). We then drove to the Chalviri Hot Springs but on the way we drove over a huge rock in our jeep and got stuck. What preceeded was the gathering of a mass of nearby volcanic rocks to lift the jeep up and over the huge rock currently lodged under the mid-section of the car. Oh yeah, i almost forgot, it was 8 am in the morning and about -5 degrees, our extremitities were frozen!!! Once we arrived at the springs we quickly warmed up though. The only downside was getting out and braving the cold to get dressed as the changing rooms were locked. Bloody Bolivia!!! After breakfast we drove through the Salvador Dali Desert (so named because it looked like one of his famous paintings) to the Laguna Verde which the stunning Volcano Licancabur in the foreground. The water of the lagoon was as you would expect green, but most importantly it was like mirror, reflecting the collosal Volcano Licancabur making it look even more stunning. What a view!!!!

Then, seemingly as soon as the trip had started it was finishing and we had to begin the long drive home. On the drive home, i sat up front and talked to our guide Obed for a while. He was a gentle man, wellspoken, well mannered but most of alla great guide. During the conversation i asked him what he wanted to do with his life? He responded comprehensively "I do not want to be famous, i do not want to be rich. The only thing i ask is that i can provide for my family and live comfortably". I was gobsmacked. This is a man who, by his countries standards, is educated and fairly well off and this is all he aspires to have? He sees poverty every day, yet he does not aspire to be rich. If i were to ask myself that question......... well lets just say my answer would be very different. EMBARESSED YET?????

Simon, Tammie, Thea and I spent the next day in Uyuni chilling out. There isn't alot to see and do in Uyuni but it was fathers day so we all called our dads. Btw dad, happy fathers day if you didn't get what i was trying to say in my phonecall (the line was dreadful).

After another overnight bus trip on a decidely bumpy gravel road i had completed the loop and returned to La Paz. Since my return i have been to a barbers and had my beird razored off with a gilt edged razor (scary but it only cost 10 bolivianos) and seen a young boy openly urinate in the main street of La Paz with hundredds of people around him. Some people have no shame!!!! I sit now writing this blog in an internet cafe paying 3 bolivianos per hour at 4000 metres above sea level (a higher altitude than i jumped out of a plane at whilst skydiving). Bolivia really is a country of surprises.........

Love to you all

Mark x x x x x