Potosí, Bolivia

Due to lack of time, I did something I normally wouldn’t do – take a night bus arriving in the middle of the night. I bought a bus ticket from Uyuni to Potosí, leaving 7:30 and arriving past 1 am for 35 bolivanos ($5, 3 hours)…but was jittery enough that I bought another one for 6 pm, arriving at midnight, for another 30 Bs. Tried to get a refund on that 35, but was unsuccessful. Was told to go sell my ticket on the street…I just gave my ticket back to the woman and told her (in bad Spanish) to sell it again without paying me. She was confused, but after much hemming and hawing, accepted. Seriously though, hesitating over free money?

The bus was an experience. Bumpy bumpy bumpy. Also, despite being seated, there were plenty of people standing in the aisles for at least an hour – turns out we were making local stops. After arriving in Potosí at midnight, I caught a taxi for my hostel. I was really quite paranoid at this point – I’ve heard too many stories about people getting taken to random places and having money stolen. But that taxi had a radio, and the lighty thing on top – I was alright. We randomly picked up another woman though.

I took a taxi, my first since Buenos Aires almost 7 weeks ago, since I didn’t want to walk 20 minutes to my hostel late at night. But that ride took over 30 minutes…since the driver and the woman weren’t able to find my hostel! That was a bit of a headache… I’m glad I can communicate relatively okay now in Spanish though, or I would have been freaking out. After many circles, we found my hostel… a block away. Oops. Continue reading →