Life has got a bit complicated

There is so much I could write about the last few days, but I´m not sure I have the energy to do much. There are also emails to reply to. So briefly ...

I fluked my arrival in Potosi to coincide with the town´s biggest fiesta of the year - a huge dance festival. The hostal senora explained that the Saturday night was the local groups. She clearly felt that the Potosi region campesinos were more worth watching than the dance troups from the rest of Bolivia that would display their talents through Sunday until, she said, 5am on Monday morning.

Armed with a map and strict instructions to keep valuables well hidden, I went and stood at the back of the Saturday night crowd where my height advantage meant I got a splendid view.

Complication no. 1 was a discomfort in a delicate place that turned out to be, excuse me, piles. I have had them before and they go away in a few days but, believe me, they are painful.

Sunday started with a visit to the museum of the Bolivian mint. It opens for about 3 hours on Sunday and is closed on Mondays so a delay would have been measured in days. For about 300 years Potosi produced enormous quantities of silver and made coins for Spain. Visits are only permitted with a guide. A small group of gringos did get an English-speaking guide, but we were hustled through too fast. Maybe she was in a hurry to get away to the dancing.

Next on the agenda was an Internet cafe to see if I could get a Spanish translation of my indelicate complication. Eventually I did, and I had noticed an open pharmacy, so I did get fixed up with some ointment. Unfortunately it doesn´t work instantly and two more sessions of standing to watch the dancing (which will be described as best I can in another post) left complication no.1 worse by Sunday bedtime.

Monday was booked for a tour of the Potosi mines. The silver is mostly worked out, but mining co-operatives still extract zinc, copper, tin and some residual silver in fairly appalling conditions. Even Bolivians cannot scamper along the shafts without stooping now and then. They were dreadful for me and the altitude (4,300 masl) was almost as high as the Salkantay Pass so I struggled for breath as well. However, the full account deserves a post of its own and it will have one! One day.

Complication no.2 was mine dust in my eye. Contact lens wearers note that in an old silver mine your hands get filthy and there are some pretty noxious chemicals in the dust, so I couldn´t just remove the lens straight away. I don´t know how long it was before we emerged and I was shown a tap, but by then I think the eye had become scratched. I took the lens out but the eye is still sore and the vision very blurry. So I am wearing my glasses instead of contact lenses and not seeing terribly well.

Complication no.3 is not of my doing, thank goodness. Tomorrow, Tuesday, there will be a big strike in Sucre, which is my destination after Potosi. Strikes are a sport in Bolivia second only to futbol. They are reported to be peaceful but they do generally involve barricades and Sucre may well be inaccessible tomorrow.

Ho to the bus station only to find that (1) lots of people are going home after the fiesta and (2) others have doubtless decided to beat the strike by travelling on Monday. All the buses are full. An alternative is a shared taxi. They also depart from the bus terminal and I hear a cry, "Sucre, Sucre, Sucre." My information was that a bus would cost 20Bs and a shared taxi 30Bs. That may be true for most of the year, but see (1) and (2) above. The demand was for 60Bs ($12). Lacking options, I paid up.

At least the taxi was much quicker than a bus, and it dropped me at my chosen hostal in Sucre. It had been recommended by the senora in Potosi and is listed in the travel guide, so I elected to give it a go. It turns out to be very central and right across from the market.

So here I am in Sucre with a roof over my head, supplies for 24 hours in my room and the prospect of a day not spending any money tomorrow because everything will be shut. Although I will hunt for an Internet cafe that is exempting itself from the order to close the doors.

Complication no.1 is now responding to treatment and I am optimistic that complication no.2 will be much improved by a night´s sleep.

And my information is that the strike is for just one day (probably), so on Wednesday I can tackle complication no.4, which is finding a new pair of jeans in Bolivia that fit me ;-)

P.S. Those crazy NZers who competed in the 240km Atacama Crossing race both finished. Robert Jarvis was the overall winner. If you sent him an encouraging message you will have received his account of the extra long Stage 5. If you want to read it anyway, send me your email address and I will forward a copy.