Road to Potosi still blocked!
Posted by Cassie, August 9th, 2010
We thought that after a week hiking in the mountains in Sorata, the road blockage in Potosi would be resolved. However, 12 days after it started, the roads to Potosi are still blocked. The people in Potosi have several demands of the government, and the government has offered to meet in a neutral place to talk about their demands. But, the people in Potosi refuse to meet anywhere besides Potosi. It doesn´t seem like the protest in Potosi is going to be resolved soon. It is frustrating that we still can´t get to Potosi, but it could be worse. There were hundreds of tourists that were stranded in Potosi. Since all traffic to the city was blocked, there was no food getting into the city and all the ATMs ran out of money. Can you imagine being stranded in a city without food or money? Some of the tourists have been able to get out, but there are some that remain stuck in Potosi.
Tomorrow, we are going to try to take the bus to Oruro, and then take the train to Uyuni. Today, all the roads south of La Paz were supposed to be blocked due to another political protest of a law that was just passed. However, they postponed the road blockages until next week and just marched through the streets instead. We hope everything will be okay for traveling south of Bolivia tomorrow, but you never know what is going to happen in Bolivia.
Maybe by the time we do a tour of the Salar de Uyuni, the road will be reopened to Potosi. Otherwise, we´ll have to see Potosi on another trip to Bolivia.
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One Response to “Road to Potosi still blocked!”
August 11th, 2010
Hey take care going to Potosi if people are blocking roads. I was stuck there for 7 days about 4 years ago. When these people say they will block the roads… they REALLY block the roads – not just at each end… every 100 meters is blocked. And the sit on the hill tops and throw rocks at eveyone trying to drive through. I am not joking – I offered locals with cars $100s of dollars to drive me out… no-go.
Those blocking the roads have no regard for Tourists – I said to them… but we are tourists, we sympathise but we need to travel on… we are good for your economy, if you limit us, then you harm your economy. They replied – we dont get any of your money anyway – it goes to the government – so we dont care. We will not let you through. So we were stuck.
Even when the president left and the road block was cleared, some people on the way don’t have any commuication means as so they did not know the dispute was over and they would also not let us through. I learnt my lesson – keep out of this local dispute stuff.. they just dont care about you – dont challenge them – just go somewhere else… it will cost more, but unexpected things happend when you travel.
Just some friendly advice. Its one of the few times my optimism and persuasiveness have been absolutely useless!
Alex