Ayuda!

FYI - LINKS TO PICTURES OF BOLIVIA AT THE BOTTOM

Its been several weeks since the last email because my life has been more boring than usual (until this past weekend) - consisting of working (preselling telecom services to institutions) and going out in la paz and thats about it. More or less waiting for the government to announce the winner of the bid which has been postponed 5 times so far. next announcement date has been set for monday - we shall see.

so getting frustrated waiting for some type of news on the telecom project - i weasled my way into a trip to Potosi in southwestern Bolivia (situated between 11,000 and 13,000 feet - excluding peaks and bordering Argentina and Chile). The purpose of the trip was to do preliminary work on an Ecotourism proposal for the IDB (int'l dev. bank). And they need a finance guy to validate the viability/sustainability of the proposal - so there I am on a 5 day trip with Peter, Mela (his wife), Allen Robinson (tourism consultant from colorado), Anna Maria (bolivian architect), Freddy Yupa (bolivian tourism consultant), and the guides (Eberth and Rubin - both very cool).

Potosi is one of the poorest departments in Bolivia although it has a very rich silver mining history (much like the rest of bolivia - all the wealth was taken out of the region). It is also home to the largest (and highest - although everything seems to have that description in bolivia) salt lake in the world. There are also dozens of volcanoes, lakes, some ruins, etc. Also, this is an area of extremes recording 25 degrees and negative 30 degrees Celsius in one day (a world record).

The project will build hotels, restaurants, sewage and water systems, electricity, telecommuniations, transportation, etc. in communities in this region to increase tourism. It is currently very isolated and infrastructure is bleak - so only backpackers hit it. The project will include 5 or 6 sites and a ethno-historic museum in Uyuni (the starting point for seeing this region). The communities provide the materials, land, labor, etc. and receive a percentage of the gross revenues in return. The rest of the money covers operating expenses, infrastructure and goes into a pool for future tourism investment.

anyways the trip was awesome. it entailed being driven around potosi by rubin in a toyota land cruiser visiting various communities and talking to local leaders, businesses and others involved in tourism. along the way we crossed the salar de uyuni (the salt lake) several times which was very cool, passed dozens of volcanoes, saw some ruins and saw almost no human beings. a few highlights included watching a group of israeli girls take naked fotos of each other on the salar, a bit of hiking, and spotting various native animals (vicachi (similar to a rabbit), rhea (similar to a ostrich), llamas, vicunas, etc. - but no pumas). oh and we had to stop every time the light changed or a shadow moved so that allan and peter could take photos - this was very annoying.

the community meetings were an experience. we met mayors, alcaldias, townspeople, business men, artists, tourism officials, etc.. we also went to several town meetings. it was awesome to see the hope and wonder on these peoples faces as we described what we hope to accomplish for them. although personalizing the names on the map makes the urgency to get project funding much deeper and personal. but the hugs, handshakes and words of encouragement are something i will not soon forget.

and peter is an absolute hero. we were in towns of 500 people or less most of the trip and without fail he knew 3 or 4 of the people in each community and many more knew him. he has an excellent repoirte with these very simple people. so good, in fact, that he was asked to be the godfather of two children during the trip.

the most interesting 24 hours began the night we slept in the town hospital in san pedro de quemes. well it used to be a hospital but the doctor left and now it is just an empty building with beds and some old medical instruments. i was a little freaked out by the prospect of sleeping in a bed with old malaria or hepatitis germs but this was an act of kindness by the community - so there wasnt really anything we could do but accept it. (the blood on the wall next to my head didnt help)

the next morning we headed out to for the hot springs near the border with chile (about 70 kilometers). about 10 kilometers from our destination, in the middle of nowhere the jeep suddenly died. we hadnt seen a house or a person in 2.5 hours and had traversed the worst road i have seen on my trip (for those who know - much worse then the road from Coban to El Estor in Guatemala).

luckily the weather was nice, we had some food and water, and we were near the border with chile -(being near the frontier we were optimistic that there must be a military station somewhere). after several hours of 3rd world mechanics 101 and jeep pushing - a group of us set out to find help. and as luck would have it - help was less than 1 kilometer away in the form of a military station. the four soldiers were ecstatic to see us - we were a little bit of entertainment in an otherwise miserable and lonely existance for these guys. they let us use their radio and stared at me. and after a couple hours of trying we got through to san pedro and help was on the way.

unfortunately, help got lost a couple times on the horrible, winding unmarked roads. so we waited from 11am til 8pm when they finally showed up in a very small pickup (and 12 liters of beers). incidentally - the truck is the alcaldia's. so 10 of us piled in for a 3 hour ride in the dark - sitting and drinking in the back of this little truck on this shitty, dusty road with visions of hospital beds in our heads.

we all hopped out of the back of this god forsaken pickup for dinner at 11pm. we were a site for the locals - a bunch of gringos covered in dust, coughing, and miserable.

the next morning - we are informed that the only mode of transportation back to uyuni (where we have meetings and get the train to la paz) is the same truck. so after 5 of us get in back with all our luggage - the locals throw in another 4 kids for good measure - and all our luggage. goldberg is now pissed off. needless to say, this segment of the trip is filled with various problems. the highlight of which is getting stuck in the salar (when it is wet it is much like cement) and pushing the pickup out of the salt mush while getting sprayed with salt and water and generally soaked. there were many pictures of gringos stuck in paradise throughout the trip. i will try to scan some - but make no promises as i am very lazy.

much more to tell later over beers - but i just got back on an overnight train and want nothing more than to go to bed.

oh here - if interested are links to bolivia fotos since i have a crappy camera and am lazy

this is the view from my apartment in la paz:

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/south_america/bolivia/illimani.html

and links to pics of the salt lake in uyuni and other areas in potosi:

http://www.min.tu-clausthal.de/www/lager/excursion/pict_07.htm

http://www.bolivianbeauty.com/SalarDeUyuni/MainPage.htm

http://www.cinemascope.com/photos/bolivia/index.html (great slide show)

http://octobre.free.fr/photos/Altiplano_Salar_Uyuni/