141218:Taking it easy

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So today we decided to do as the guidebooks advise and take it easy and acclimatise to the altitude.

The hotel we are staying in is on a main road near the Old Bus Terminal. There were trucks and cars passing at all hours of the night.

Breakfast was included with our room, but it was a little sparse.  Jam and butter was closely controlled!  That said, the dining room was on the 6th floor of the hotel and boasted panoramic views of Cerro Rico.

The highlight of a trip to Potosi is to enter the silver mines. However, these are real, working mines with present dangers.  The working conditions are poor and not governed by health and safety. There is asbestos and silica as well as toxic gases, and you have to sign a disclaimer to say that if you die, it is no fault of the tour operator.  Also, the Government is worried about the stability of the whole of Cerro Rico as it is riddled with thousands of mine shafts and has shown some signs of collapse.

Two years ago we visited Mina San Jose where the 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground for weeks.  We also went down a working Ukrainian mine in Donetsk that had an accident a few weeks after we travelled up to the surface on its coal conveyor belts.  Call us wimps, but crawling through narrow, dark tunnels to see the appalling conditions the people who work there have to tolerate to eke out the scantiest of livings is not for us.

So instead we decided to take it easy and use the day to get some washing done.  Our hotel does not have a laundry service but told us there was a lavanderia near the Casa de la Moneda.  Bravely we decided to walk there, up Universidad.  What we had not noticed last night when we walked down to our hotel was how steep it was.  We were huffing and puffing all the way up.  Along side the road there were women selling fruit, beans, bright coloured drinks and a variety of street food.

We found the Plaza Central easily enough and the laundry.  Washing is charged by the kilo - 12 Bolivianos.  It would be ready by the evening.  We were served by a very small, old lady who hand sewed labels on to clothes for dry cleaning with a blue cotton thread.

For most of the holiday we are self-catering.  Though, that said,  Bolivia has not been that problematic for veggie food.  We wandered the narrow streets looking for a supermarket.  The streets seem to work on an agglomeration theory.  One would be full of tailors, another sign makers or another of hairdressers.

Having had no luck, we called in at the Tourist Information who directed us to a supermarket above the Plaza de 10 Noviembre.  On the Plaza a child approached us - maybe 10 years old - and tried to sell us some wrapped cake.  She was quite persistent, and also asked us about our book.  We gave in and bought one.  Having seen the child's success, we were then targeted by a persistent ice cream seller who would not leave us alone.  But after a few minutes, she left.

We have brought on our holiday a Santa and Rudolph made by our neighbours, Ava and Erin.  So the girls can track where we are, we are taking photos of Santa and Rudolph on our travels and posting them on their mother's Facebook page.  Heaven knows what the locals thought when we positioned them on the steps below a statue of Liberty.

Santa and Rudolf

Cerro Rico dominates the town

Having bought a few provisions, we caught a taxi back to the hotel.  It seems all Taxi journeys cost 10 Bolivians - about a pound.

During the hot part of the day when virtually everywhere closed, we caught up on the blog and read.

For dinner, we identified a restaurant, the Magic Apple which only does vegetarian.  We opted out of the hilly walk up and caught a cab.

The restaurant was on Oruro, and was on the first floor.  It was empty when we entered.   Service was slow, but when the food came it was pleasant and definitely homemade.  The waiter put some pickles on the table and a sauce which he said was "muy picante" = spicy.  He also said it was good for the digestion.  Despite this, Kevin steered clear.

By the time we left, people for queueing up for tables....

Being lazy, we grabbed a cab back down the hill.  The taxi chairs and dashboards often have lacy covers like the taxis in Japan.