The ride was a scenic one, but at one point people started getting off the bus and I asked where all of the gringos were going. Then the driver started yelling "apurate". Everyone had to get off of the bus because it had to cross the lake too and there was no bridge. So we took a boat across the water and the bus took a barge.
We were only in La Paz for a couple of hours when we took another bus in the morning trying to get to Uyuni in time to meet Jennica's friend David from high school. The first stop on the way to Uyuni was in Oruro where we were only about an hour late for the bus to Uyuni. But we caught the bus in La Paz at 7:30 so I don't feel too bad for not being on the bus.
Oruro was where I had my serious case of the culture shock. I really felt like the only white person on the street which is the first time in South America it has been like that. Everywhere else there were other gringos or I fit in. Here it was really obvious who I was and no one knew what I was doing there, including me. But I got to talk to Geno and vent and then I went to some really nice hot springs and I feel a lot better. It also helped that the places that I have been since Oruro have been a lot more turistic. But that is not the point; I am doing better with myself down here.
From Oruro we took one of the worst night rides on a bus that I have ever taken in my life. It was bumpy and so cold. Jennica happened to have a sleeping bag and that made it a much better ride, but when we finally got to Uyuni (at 4 in the morning) there was ice covering all of the windows. In Uyuni and some of the other places around the altitude was higher than the highest point in Utah. And it is not even winter here, but it is still really cold.
There is nothing to do in Uyuni, but there are a lot of tour companies that can take a tourist to see some of the sights around the city. The salt flats were so amazing. Jennica, David and I took a four day in a four runner. The first place we went to was a train grave yard. From there we took a ride to the salt flats. It was really impressive, but I don't think I want to go back I was there and now I am done. 
The next day we went to a volcano, saw some mummies and then took a long drive to a city called San Juan. They only had electricity for about four hours at night and the rest of the electricity came from solar power. All together there were seven people on the tour and then Pedro the tour operator. I didn't think that I would like the tour with that many people in one four runner for that many days, but it turned out really well.
On the third day we drove for a long time to see some rock formations that happened due to volcanic rock and wind. Then from there we went to see different colored lagoons and I learned that the coloring on the flamingos is helped by the bacteria in one of the lagoons in Bolivia.
It was such a long day and we had to wake up at five the next morning that the seven of us went to bed early.
The next day we got up and went to see some geyser and lava that I could just not enjoy because it was so cold again. I think that it was close to zero degress fahrenheit. After that it was a ten hour drive back to the city.
The next day Jennica and I took a bus to Potosi where I am at now.
Today I went to the mine and I realized a major difference between the US and Bolivia. The US would never have let a bunch of tourist into that mine. I was walking around with a rag over my mouth for air protection, there were just drops in the floor, we were walking around giving "gifts" of soda, coca leaves, and dynamite to the workers, then after I got to hold a ball of dynamite while it was lit and then watched as it blew up. 
I walked around an active mine and I got to talk to some of the workers. It was really depressing and just a completely different experience that I could not have had if I had not made it to Bolivia.This is a picture of a sixteen year old work on digging a hole in the rock so that he can put in a thing of dynamite. The worst part was that he had been working in the mine since he was thirteen.From here it is back to La Paz for a couple of days and then back to Peru where I will make my way north. I am really excited that I get to spend a couple of more weeks down here because that means that I am going to be able to see colombia. I have only heard good things.
My next set of pictures should be great because La Paz is going to be exciting.
Besos.
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