Welcome to Potosi

For the first few kilometers in Bolivia, I booked a road trip to Uyuni together with Fereshteh. We stopped at various lagoons, drove through endless deserts, all at nearly 4000 meters above sea level. On the Bolivian side, the nearly 40-degree hot springs cost only 80 cents instead of 35 euros, and the view is truly beautiful!

After the warm bath, we had lunch with a fantastic view of the seemingly endless expanses of the Andes before heading to the red lagoon, where thousands of flamingos live.

We spent our first night at over 4000 meters above sea level; while my headaches were manageable, I still got a bag of coca leaves. Why should I refuse this natural and affordable medicine at 80 cents? Chewing on the leaves and then putting them in your cheek briefly numbs your tongue, and your appetite, thirst, and headaches quickly vanish - like cocaine, but healthier. 😉

The next morning, we continued around 8 a.m., with canyons, rock formations, deserts, and lagoons, I couldn’t stop marveling. In the evening, we also went to a train graveyard. Here, old locomotives were dismantled since they were no longer needed after the gold rush. We spent the sunset with rum and cola here, while all the other groups were already in Salar de Uyuni for the sunset. This caused a bit of unrest between our fellow travelers and our guide; ultimately, we perhaps shouldn’t have gone with the cheapest provider. Well, even though the sunset would have surely been beautiful, we’re coming back here tomorrow for the sunrise.

And so, our alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. so we could be there in time for the sunrise.

And what can I say, I was in awe. Minute by minute, the colors changed from purple to pink to rose, yellow towards blue, and because of the water on the salt, it looks like we are standing on a giant mirror.

I, of course, joined in on a few funny group photos; I didn’t want to be the German party pooper, but when it came to a photo that was supposed to look like a dinosaur was chasing me, I opted out. But one thing is certain: this is a unique place in the world and absolutely stunning. The Uyuni salt flat is the largest in the world. It formed millions of years ago when the tectonic plates were not yet pushed against each other and still lay below sea level. Slowly, the mountains rose up to nearly 4000 meters; the water evaporated, leaving the salt behind. The mountains in the background are up to 120km away and can only be seen because they are so high; otherwise, they would have disappeared beyond the horizon. The salt is up to 5 meters thick!

In the afternoon, we went to the former richest city in the world, Potosi. The city became extremely wealthy due to its mining past. The Cerro Rico mountain houses silver, copper, lead, and zinc. Silver was mined in large quantities during the colonial times of the Spaniards; even today, 11,000 miners still work here. Unfortunately, they work under the same conditions as 100 years ago; there are no machines, everything is brought to the surface with 200-kilo carts (when they are empty) over broken and old tracks. In case of oncoming traffic, the empty cart is tipped to the side at a wider spot to allow the full one, now weighing 1000 kilograms, to pass. The carts are pushed by only two people, even at warm and dusty 30 degrees inside the mine.

The mountain is also referred to as