Saturday was billed as one of the long drive days, which meant an early start in the morning to leave La Paz before the traffic built up. Breakfast was the usual South American option, and we ended up leaving by 7 to our next destination of Ojo del Inca. The drive was surprising smooth although there were a few road blocks which meant we had a few off road diversions. En route we stopped for lunch in the middle nowhere and had a truck lunch which was very nice.
We arrived at Ojo del Inca at about 4. Ojo del Inca (meaning "Eye of the Inca") is an almost perfectly-circular volcanic lake in the Tarapaya Canyon. We camped by the lake in what was effectively a car park. After putting the tents and setting up all the cooking equipment, we had time to relax. I decided to go up to the top of the hill, although I made the mistake of going up in my flip flops. I basically hit my big toe on rock and gashed it open. Luckily I had my first aid kit and used it first time on the trip.
Dinner in the evening was a beef stew, and after dinner we joined with Gus and had a camp fire. It was a pretty nippy evening but a great atmosphere. It was weird not being able to drink though! We did have a few problems with these nearby Argentinians camping though who were very drunk, and came over to us a couple of times and got a bit iffy over the Falklands. They even tried to beat up one of our guides. It was all in all a good evening though.
In the morning we only had a 40 minute drive to our next stop in Potosi. Breakfast was pancakes, and prior to breakfast I went for a swim in the nearby lake which was nice and warm. We left at 9 and were in Potosi in no time. After checking into the hotel we had a free day, so I went for a walk round the town which was looking very christmassy. A lot of places were shut though as it was a Sunday and a public holiday. I did find a restaurant which was Chinese with wifi and we sat in there for a while.
Situated at over 4000m, Potosi is one of the highest in the world. It is famous for its mining heritage, and we had the chance to go inside the working mine. I didn't do this however as no one wanted to do it because they thought it was wrong to see poor people and even children in a working mine, which was a good point. I instead went to the nearby Christmas market which was lots of fun, before going out to a nearby cafe with a few others to relax. For dinner we went to this steak restaurant, and after dinner I had an early night as I wasn't feeling very well.
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