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Published: November 20th 2005
Bus rest stop
The bus from Uyuni to Potosí stopped in a village on the way for a comfort break. As almost everywhere in Bolivia, people use the toilet wherever they can find, which is usually behind a wall or bush.The next day, I got a bus to the town of Potosí. This was actually my first “proper” bus in Bolivia and I had been dreading it as I had heard so many tales of people getting robbed. I can understand why a dirt-poor Bolivian would see my stuff and want to rob me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to happen! I’m travelling by myself so would be particularly stuffed if something did go missing. As my bag is too big for me to have it with me on the bus, I thought I’d experiment and buy a cloth shopping bag (like everyone uses round here), put into it the stuff that I could replace relatively easily if it got nicked into it, and put that on the roof of the bus. This way, my main pack would be a lot thinner and I could put it between my legs in the bus and have it with me all the time.
I was also travelling with Christian and Josée, a Quebecker couple I’d met from one of the other tour groups in the salars (we all stopped in the same places at the same times!). We were
Approaching Potosí
The Cerro Rico ("Rich Mountain") is in the background able to watch each others bags and that helped. I’ll get more confident at travelling on these busses, but I’d far rather people think I’m paranoid than get complacent and be sorry. Already, I’ve met way too many people with tales of “usually I’m so careful but I slipped up that one time” stories.
The road between Uyuni and Potosí is unpaved (as apparently 96%!o(MISSING)f all roads outside towns in Bolivia are - don’t know how accurate that stat is but it rings true). We also did a lot of climbing as this amazingly mountainous country demands. Anyway, it was quite an arduous five hour journey. It gives me an insight to what travelling in the UK may have been like not that long ago when we had loads of unpaved roads and it was actually easier to go by ship.
Feeling tired at the moment. I haven’t had a proper rest since about three weeks before I left. But I realise how precious this time is and intend to make the most of every day!
My “Footprint” guide describes Potosí as
not only the highest city in the world, but also one of the most beautiful, saddest and fascinating places you’ll ever experience
. It’s not wrong!
As I’ve already said: Bolivia is a weird country.
Streets of Potosí
The town is now UNESCO World Heritage listed. The town centre is amazingly well preserved and mainly homogenous. Potosí is no exception and the history of this place tells you so much about modern Bolivia and how so many of its quirks, injustices and its poverty came about.
When the Spanish came to South America, they were looking for precious metals. In Potosí they found something quite incredible! A whole mountain (the Cerro Rico) containing rich deposits of silver. There were vast amounts of 80% pure silver ore and very quickly Potosí became the biggest and wealthiest city in the Americas, rivalling only London, Paris and Seville in the world. Thousands of indigenous slaves were put to work down the mines and mind boggling numbers (but no one really knows how many) died. The vast amounts of silver helped to make Spain the richest and most powerful country in the world.
Gradually, most of the easy-to-get silver disappeared and the town faded. It has been left with a legacy of so many historic old buildings and a really attractive city centre.
However, the mountain still contains some silver as well as zinc and lead ore and people still go down there to mine it. This is one of the main reasons tourists come here as
Stick of dynamite in the mouth
Believe it or not, this is totally safe as there is no detonator in the stick.... you can actually have the incredible experience of going down one of the mines!
This is what I did too. I was in a tour of about 25 people. First of all, they took us to get kitted up with helmet, head torch, wellies and protective clothes. Then, we went down to the market to get “presents” for the miners. This consisted of “completos” (containing a stick of dynamite, detonator, fuse and bag of ammonium nitrate soaked in paraffin - all of the above
anyone can buy from the market); coca leaves; and sweet fizzy drinks.
Then we all got into the bus and were shown where the ore was extracted. After this, we went down the mine.
As we got further into the mine shafts, it got lower and lower. Often I had to crawl on hands and knees. I banged my head so many times! A helmet is mandatory even if so many other safety features are lacking.
Then we got to a little museum created to tell tourists about the mines. Fascinating! One thing that sticks in my head is the survey of miners that quotes 90%!o(MISSING)f miners being miners because they
Priming the charge
You attach a fuse to a little detonator. Then, push it into the sitck of dynamite. Ammonium nitrate, soaked in parafin is then used for extra zip. had no other choice. Less than 5% actually wanted to be miners and even that sounds suspiciously high to me!
Eventually we got down three levels (down very rickety ladders) and watched as a miner hammered a hole in the rock for dynamite. He loaded the charge and we all went up a level for the explosion. The ground shook a bit, but it didn’t shake much rock away as the rock is so hard!
Then they got us helping shovel ore into bags for them to be pulled to the surface. There are also train tracks where miners push full trolleys of ore out of the mine.
About 200 miners work down this particular mine. Miners work in groups and each group decides how long the hours are they will work. Often it is 7 days a week or shifts of up to 24 hours. Each person in the group takes a turn at each job and everyone gets a share of profits from what’s sold. Several groups are active in this mine and they respect each others’ turf.
The tour company I went with describes it as “Not for wimps or woosies”. It is
A "completo"
Every one of us in the tour group was carrying one of these as we jounied from the market to the mine.... certainly quite an experience being down there. It’s difficult to describe why I would want to go down. I certainly didn’t enjoy the experience nor was I particularly surprised with what was down there as I did know to expect a tour of a working mine where miners work in centuries-old conditions. I don’t think we were being exploitative of the miners as tourists as they would still be down there if we weren’t and profits from the tours go towards social and health services for the miners. Also, our gifts will be put to good use by the miners. Later on my travels, I met an Italian family with three kids age 10-16. The kids had been taken down there by the parents. I think I’d do the same and it certainly makes me appreciate that I don’t have to resort to making my living that way.
After our tour, our guide blew up one of the completos for our entertainment.
Another interesting thing about the tour was what our guide was telling us about coca. Most of the miners chew coca all day long and have large “picchus” in their cheeks were they chew it. The
guide said that it was purely to keep the mouth moist and it had no anaesthetic or appetite suppressing effects. This contradicts the coca museum and what I had heard elsewhere. As this information came from a miner, I don’t know who to believe. However I find it hard to believe that coca is just a kind of chewing gum as why would the Spanish un-ban coca when they found that miners worked so much better with it. I certainly felt a numbing effect in my cheek when I chewed it. Curious.
The life span of miners is very short. Most die premature deaths due to silicosis. We met quite a few younger miners who said they were only going to work five years, then stop. I hope they do and I hope they find decent alternative jobs.
The “Gringo Trail” is getting me down a bit. I’m not under any illusions that I’m somehow blazing a trail and doing something really unique because I’m definitely not. However, it’s getting a bit samey meeting more westerners everywhere I go; having the same similar conversations; and each place having particular “things” you ”do” there. Still, all these places are
Our bus
Loads of busses in Potosí and Sucre seem to be Japanese or Chinese cast offs. on the gringo trail because they are so interesting (indeed fascinating!) and even though I think I see a lot of other tourists, I’m sure I will see loads more in Cusco and other locations later on my trip (say Thailand...). Bolivia is still a bit unusual.
Actually, the definition of “Gringo” is quite interesting. Originally it meant “norteamericano” (from the USA) but actually you see very few Americans. I actually see as many Canadians as Americans (English-speaking Canadians are easy to spot as they all have maple leaf badges on their packs or cameras and Quebeckers are easy to spot as they speak French with a weird accent). And loads of Europeans: especially from the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia and Germany. Funny how there are so few from the USA given how many people (and people with money to travel!) live there and it’s nearer than Europe. Actually, one American I did meet said he had met more American missionaries than tourists. Luckily I never actually met any of those people, but I have seen signs of them.
Potosí has loads of lawyers offices in it! Don’t know why.
Bolivian beer is like most parts of
Ore processing plant
Here, they take the rock from the mine and separate it out into the different ores. The mine produces a mixture of silver, zinc and lead ores. The ores then go off to other countries to be refined. Note the complete lack of safety barriers. There was lots of cyanide-containing liquid in these vats. the world. They have generic fizzy lagers (Paceña and Potosina are two of the biggest brands) that taste just like any other. I’ve been drinking quite a bit of it and it’s fine. I never buy imported beer when I go abroad anyway. However it reminds me how much great beer we have in the UK.
The following day, I saw the other side of Potosi history: the Royal Mint (Casa Real de la Mondea). This is now a museum and was where all silver mined in Potosi was taken to be minted into coins. Potosí coins were the purest in the world and helped to make Spain’s currency the world’s most valued. The main coins they minted were “ocho reales” (or “pieces of eight” as they were known in English). This coin was also known as the “Spanish Silver Dollar” and the infant United States of America initially guaranteed that each of its dollar bills would be backed to the value of one Spanish Silver Dollar.
You can only visit the museum via guided tours and we had added value from our guide. He was bonkers! I’ve never had such an aggressive tour guide before, but he
was good comedy value and had to be seen to be believed. He was particularly keen to tell us of his theories about the black African slaves that the Spanish brought over. He was adamant that the guide books had it wrong and that there were no Africans working in the mines (this is indeed what the Lonely Planet claims). Apparently, the “blacks” all developed sickle cell anaemia due to the altitude after 10 days and then died. I have no way of verifying or disputing these extraordinary claims.
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