Down t'pit in Potosi

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Next stop Potosi.

You're supposed to gasp for breath getting into Potosi, being as at over 4,000m in altitude, it is the worlds highest city. However, by this time I was pretty well acclimatised, and to be perfectly honest I felt fine. Which is good news, as I think going down the mine might not have been quite so easy if suffering from altitude sickness.

Ah the mines. The reason I was in Potosi, is that it has a very famous, still active, cooperative mine, which it is possible to visit. Back in the day, the Spanish looted it for silver, but nowadays its mainly just minerals which they're after. Being a proud Yorkshireman, I couldn't wait to get down the mine, Beth however decided that she'd rather spend her day in other ways. Fair enough.

After kitting up, we headed to the miners market to buy them gifts. This was all the normal things, some coca cola, coca leaves for the altitude, dynamite. You know, all the things you can get down at Sainsburys. We happened to be there on a Friday, which apparently is the miners party day. Therefore, in addition to the usual gifts, we bought them a litre of their favourite tipple. This happens to be 96% alcohol. Real men work down mines.

Shortly enough we were actually taken into the mine, and had a fairly close shave nearly straight away as a chappy came flying past with his truck full of goodies. Our guide didn't seem to concerned, and led us further into the labrynth. It wasn't really the crawling we'd been promised, but we were still negotiating some pretty hairy ladders and crossings over nothingness. On one such crossing a shower of rocks came raining down on my head, as they didn't realise there were people underneath. I was wearing a helmet, otherwise I think I would have had something more than a little sense knocked into me!

Following this slight mishap, our guide suddenly became interested in finding out where there were people drilling. Another miner told him there was a team just finishing up quite near us, so we followed him up another rickety ladder, to find that the team in question had just finished. However, all this meant was that they were ready to load in the dynamite! We watched as 10 sticks were loaded in the holes, along with the ammonium sulphate to give them a bigger blast. And then we scarpered. They have set times for explosions in the mine to minimise injuries, and these were to be lit in about an hour. We would still be in the mine then, so we'd hear it happening.

From there, we went to visit another group of miners, and I don't know what they did to deserve it, but they got the 96% alcohol. Which naturally meant that they had to stop work and have a drink. The makeshift "glass" was the chopped off top of a water bottle, and after mixing with water, and a bit of our lemonade, they were happily slugging it down (after the neccessary thanks to Pachamama, or mother earth as we know her). We were then offered some, and it would seem rude not to join them. I have to report, mixed with the lemonade it tasted alright, but I wouldn't fancy drinking it straight!

We left the guys with their booze, hoping that they'd be sensible enough to not drink too much before actually getting out of the mine. Shortly afterwards, our guide seemed to get a bit lost. I'm fairly sure it was just an act, but then again, he had had quite a few shots of the alcohol potable. We needn't have worried though, because soon enough he was leading us to Tio, the god of the mines. We gave the little red fellow a cigarette for good luck, then retraced our steps into the broad daylight. We had survived!

After returning to the hostel, and a much needed shower, we collected Beth and decided to walk to a strange looking lookout tower on the edge of town, from where we got excellent views over Potosi, and the Cerro Rico. We also got excellent views of a storm that was approaching, so hot footed it back to the hostel.

And thats about it for Potosi. The whistlestop tour of Southern Bolivia had to continue, so after a stop for provisions, it was time for the night bus to Uyuni.

Ciao for now,

Stewart

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Photos

Potosi
Central Plaza with Cerro Rico behind

Cerro Rico mine
Rickety ladder

Tio
The god of the mines

Mine Entrance
Made it out safely

Stewart the miner
A good look don't you think?

View away from Potosi
There's a storm a brewing

The local tipple
Yup, that does say 96%