Our adventure started out bright and early on Tuesday morning when we left Karola's at 6:30am to head to the bus station in La Paz. We picked up a physical therpist friend of Karola's, Vilma, who joined us for the trip. From La Paz we took a bus to Oruro (about 3 hours away) and there visited a nursing home, Hogar la Sagrada Familia, run by catholic nuns. It is kept immacuately clean and many of the residents help out with daily tasks. We learned that the facility is subsided by the church and residents stay for free when there families could no longer support them. We used monetary donations there to by blankets for the facility, since the central heating was too expensive for them to use. After that we had lunch in Oruro and jumped on a 3:30pm train to Uyuni.
The train ride took about 8hrs and took us through a lot of the counrtyside of Bolivia and we saw a gorgeous sunset over the landscape. We arrived in Uyuni and went straight to bed at our hotel, Tonito Hotel. The hotel is run by friend's of Karola's, Mark from Amherst, MA and his wife, Sussie from Uyuni, Bolivia.
After breakfast at the hotel we took a short stroll through town to pick up sunglasses and water we started off on tour to the Salar de Uyuni. It began with a stop at the train cemetary, where old trains are left to rust away.
Then we headed into the Salar de Uyuni (which means place of salt of Uyuni). It is 12,000 sq kilometers of salt flats, all you could see for miles around was white salt. The lake had evaporated and the salt hardened. Underneath the salt was a lake filled with litheum, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. It was truly amazing to see white salt all around you for miles and miles. While at the salt flats we had lunch and hiked on one of the islands that was made up of coral with lots of wild cacti growing. We were able to witness a traditional offering to Pancha Mama and a ceremony to have one´s soul return to her. We all felt privileged to be part of such traditions.
After leaving the island, we stopped to take some fantastic pictures. The photos were possible because the background was all white so we were able to play with the size and depth of objects, it was a very fun experience and we all shared numerous laughs. We got to see the sunset and the longest shadows of ourselves we had ever seen. The day was truly amazing. Once back at the hotel we had fantastic pizzas to top off the night and taught CPR to Suzzie, the owner of the hotel.
We headed to the train that night and boarded for an overnight ride at midnight, which left most of us sleepy the next day. We arrived back in Oruro at 7am and grabbed a quick breakfast at a hotel and headed for our next adventure to the mine.
We were warmly greeted and given two presentations on how mines in general in Bolivia are run and how this specific mine was operated. We then all grabbed hard hats and headed to the mine sight. We gave a presentation to the miners on first aid, including CPR, the Heimlich, splinting after finger injuries, proper body mechanics for lifting and the importance of stretching and staying well hydrated. After sharing our information we assisted the miners in practicing what they had learned. We were then given the opportunity to learn about traditional mining beliefs and practices. We learned about Tio, the protector of the mine, and how the miners pay respect to him to ensure safety and good luck while working.
The exchange of information of current thinking of first aid and ancient mining beliefs and superstitions was an excellent comparison of our cultures. It was a fascinating experience for all. After our enlightening trip we headed back to the bus station for our journey back to La Paz. We were certainly a tired group, however had a much better appreciation for some of the deep routed beliefs in the Bolivian culture and a greater appreciation for how drastic the difference in landscape were across the country.
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