Uyuni Bound

So today´s adventure into the silver mine was all that you would think, dark, dusty and depressing. We crawled into the llama blood splattered entrance to the mine with two other tourists and two guides. About one hundred yards in you come to the entrance of the mine´s ¨museum.¨ Then we worked our way along the first level. Dust and asbestos floating in every breath. Then down through a very narrow and shallow path way to level two, actually just an open area to take a break before crawling down rickety wooden ladders to level three. 300 meters under ground. Workers passing by in trolleys eager to partake of our ¨presents¨ coke, coca leaves, and dynamite. The dust is amazing. It was so hard to breath. When we took off to leave, miners were bringing huge logs down through the narrow shaft that we had to climb out of. It was absolutely miserable and I suppose that is the point of the tour. To you West Virginians out there imagine a pre-union coal mine complete with 19th century technology. Of course the hilight has to be getting to blow things up. We bought our own dynamite and with a few other groups set off some big booms for excitement. Yes mothers it was all supervised..............by drunk Bolivian miners with mouths full of coca leaves. Anyway, in the morning some time we head off for Uyuni and the big desert trek into Chile. Hopefully we can get plenty of rest before we take off for the bitter cold Andean Desert. By chance that we don´t have internet in Uyuni we will get in touch ASAP. Love you all.