We started the morning with a discovery of the Convent of San Felipe. A wonderful old building that has a nice courtyard and also a rooftop to wander around on. We thought we had discovered something not in Lonely Planet, but alas its there, albeit with a cheaper price… I’m sure as soon as something goes in Lonely Planet the price goes up. Still the 15 bolivianos is a tad over $2 and the views were wonderful.
Jane did some model shots in the courtyard, before we ascended to the roof. Illness was getting the better of me at this moment so I didn’t climb the twin belltowers. You really can see all the earth coloured roofs and white walls of this beautiful city.
We wandered back to Casa Verde, to await our shared taxi. We were told we might need to pay for 4 seats as there were 3 of us. By the time you add in time wasted getting to and from bus terminals, taxi fares and the sneaky “uso de terminal” fee, the shared taxi looked good value for the $7 or so it was going to cost.
The taxi turned up and i was about to plonk myself on the front seat, when I noticed a small boy there. So Claire squeezed into the middle seat and I got in, then Jane got in the other side and wandered why I wasn’t in the front and then saw the small boy. I thought maybe it was a close fare and we were on the way. It turned out the small boy was going to the country and that was about 2/3rds of our journey. When he was dropped off, I jumped into the front seat, but the driver then went and found another woman in a nearby town to take to Potosi. According to Claire she was half my size and took up more space. Still her saving grace was she new where out hostel in Potosi was.
We arrived in Potosi and were ushered up to the top floor to check out the view…. while they cleaned the room. The view was amazing, you could see the mountain where all the mining is done and also the infamous worlds most highest revolving restaurant. Then again because most Bolivians live upon the altiplano around 4000m they claim a lot of the worlds most highest things.
I also visited a pharmacy because i was scratching my arms and legs alot and was covered in red “bite” marks. Turns out the pharmacist doctor thought it was a reaction to a spider bite and some antiseptic soap and cream definitely helped with the itching.
The cafe we went to for dinner was called 4,060 because thats the altitude. For desert we retired to La Plata Cafe, for some churros with dulce de leche. We were told they would take 30 minutes to make, and the wait was worth it when they came out we had a plate of churros each. Just quite how Claire finished hers, I’m not sure. Jane and I had takeout for the rest of ours. Mine ended up in the bin though as I just seemed to get a bit more sicker that night.
