February 4th- Potosi, Bolivia

Hit the mine tour this morning, then off to the tour of the Bolivian mint. Back in the days when Bolivia was minting money. Sorry no pics. Actually only one for which I was promptly scolded.

Starting to like this town. Maybe one or two more days, then catching the night bus south toward the Argentine border.

February 3rd- Uyuni to Potosi

Got back to Uyuni last night and went out for a nice dinner. Steak, fries, and vegetables for $2.25. 2 beers ran the tab up another $1.25.

Then grabbed the 9am bus to Pitosi, which is a mining town 6 hours east.

Found a hostel (private room) for $2.75 per night. A new record. The good news is that despite the recent stock market slump, you´re still rich in Bolivia.

Met a couple from Switzerland and set up our tour of the silver mine for tomorrow.

Check out the pics of my room and the courtyard at the hotel. A little banged up but quite a bit of character.

Also, the lady in the first pic was on our bus with the baby slung behind.

February 2nd- last day in Desert

Headed out at 5 am this morning to see some geisers and catch the sun rise over the hot spring lake. Also, had a chance to take a dip in the hot spring prior to breakfast. Pancakes....mmmm

Then dropped two of our passengers off at the Chilean border and headed back to Uyuni

February 1st- More desert

We left our guest house today and rolled out across the desert for more spectacular views. Had a nice party tonight at the lodge where we played cards and had a battle of wine vs. beer pyramid. I think team wine won based on height.

Keep in mind that in order to complete the pyramid, I had to run out into the desert to the "store" to grab another. While doing this, I busted my ass and bruised my hip. Ahhh the taste of victory.

January 31st- Into the Uyuni Desert

Woke up early to grab some grub, water, and snacks for our jeep trip into the desert.

I´ll let the pictures tell the story from here.

Oh, almost forgot, be sure to check out the "where is scott" link at the top of the blog for a real time link to my location on google earth. Also, I´m posting additional pics to my facebook page.

January 30th La Paz to Uyuni

Ouch. Spent a last celebratory night with my roomates in La Paz prior to my departure. So feeling a bit rough for my trip to the bus terminal for a 4 hour bus ride followed by a 7 hour train ride to Uyuni, where I will head into the Bolivian desert.

January 28th- La Paz Bolivia

OK, this is a repost of my San Pedro Prison tour. Mainly because my initial entry contained a bit too much information. For the dirty details, you can ask me over beers when I get back. For now, lets just say this:

The tour was a riot. And it is not technically legal. So I was essentially paying off the guards and hiring a private security detail to ensure our groups safety in the prison.

Note the pics of me with my body guards, lifting weights, and standing in the food line with the prisoners.

Ha. Crazy.