Getting back to altitude

had a fairly late start today, our private bus collected us at 10am for our journey to Potosi, which only took about 2 1/2 hours.  The countryside on the way quite reminded us in parts of the drive between Holbrook and Canberra when we go up there - lots of rolling hills but quite dry still.  Couldn´t believe our hotel when we arrived, it looked like it had one intact window and was actually still being built.  Luckily, once inside, the rooms weren´t too bad at all, and the hot water arrived quickly and with pressure, so all was well!  Walked up to the square for lunch, and then did a two hour tour of the Casa Real de la Monera, the old mint building.  This is a great musuem, full of the old coin-making machinery, plus wonderful art work and a fascinating archaelogical section.  The big cogs for the rolling mill used to make the coins (which were powered by donkeys) are the only examples left in the world and date from the 1700´s.  One of the strangest things we´ve seen is the collection of baby mummies in the archaeological section.  They were found in a local church and are only a maximum of a couple of hundred of years old.  They are tiny little things, most of which are still wearing their little christening gowns and have their baby hair and eyelashes still.  It is rather disconcerting, especially as their families (although the records have been lost) could still be living in Potosi - 1000 year old mummies are one thing, these quite new ones are a little frightening.

Feeling the effects of altitude again, tired and headachey, so had an early dinner near the plaza and went home to bed.