Climbing up the silver route

Hello from Potosi, the world's highest city. But Potosi isn't just the highest city IN THE WORLD (which Ismene and I were very worried to visit because of the altitude), it also once sat upon a land laden with silver that funded the Spanish empire for centuries. Though the silver mines lie barren, the remanets of a wealthy past can still be seen through the colonial buildings. It is said that if the Spanish took all the silver in Potosi, they could build a bridge from Spain to Potosi and still have silver to carry across! Wow! 

We only stayed one evening to visit the museum (La Casa de Moneda) which was once Bolivia's mint, and we learnt loads about it. Apparently, there was a time when Bolivia produced coins for the whole world. It definitely seemed like very hard work (or should I say slavery?) for the natives.

On our way to Uyuni, we also went climbing in a place called El Eden, a beautiful mix of grassland, sandy dunes and cool rock formations! Dan said it's a place that is getting more popular with climbers all around the world but when we were there, it was just us and the vicunas. 

The climbs were easy even though being at 4100 meters (my highest ever climb)! Luckily the altitude didn't affect me. The rock wasn't loose and it felt fun to climb and I thought that it felt amazing to be climbing again!