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Published: September 3rd 2006
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our hotel room in potosi
Gill in bed as it was so cold! we had an early start today to travel to potosi. we had all put in a few more dollars so we could go by taxi instead of bus. on the way the taxi drivers all stopped for us to take photos of something, not sure even what is was as all we could see was power lines so didn´t bother to get out the taxi!!!!
the scenery was really nice along the way, but instead of appreciating it like we should have done we went to sleep!!!!
was early when we got to potosi, which is known for the silver mines. those who wanted to arranged to go on the tour down the mines, this was all of us except Kim and Nic who instead went on a walk round the city.
we were picked up in a little bus and taken to the miners market by our guide. here he showed us what miners generally ate and could buy to take down the mine with them. its here they buy their dynamite and there is no restrictions on who can buy it, they´ll even sell it to kids!!! we bought presents to give to the miners as a thanks for
letting us down the mines. me and heath bought some coca leaves, dynamite, cigarettes and some food. we then went to ¨be transformed into miners¨ as our guide put it. we actually went and got dressed up in waterproof trousers and jacket and wellys! we also got a hard hat with a light attached on to it and a battery pack round our waist.
we got back on the bus and were driven to the mine. we drove right up to the top of the mine site where we had a good view of the whole city. up there there is a church/temple to pacha mama, they believe in different god who you need to please to be kept safe and to find good minerals. while we were up there we also saw a dynamite explosion. have kinda got a photo of the cloud of dust that it created, surprised us a bit as we knew it was going to happen but not sure when, and it was really loud!! we then went back in the bus to the entrance of the mine we were going in. this is a bit scary as we were travelling on little tracks on
the edges of a mountain, getting closer to the edge to pass other cars!!!
our guide turned our lights on so we were ready to head into the mine. heaths light didn´t really work properly and went off again when we got into the mine so she had to walk in the middle so she would be able to see!! our guide explained the custom that miners sacrifice a white llama every year to pacha mama and splash the blood of the llama on the entrance of the mine. they then have a feast and bury whatever doesn´t get eaten inside the mine as an offering to another god. this is supposed to keep them safe and help them to find minerals.
inside the mine it is quite wet and muddy on the floor, there are rails for the carts to run on, but there not very good, when pushing the carts they fill with minerals it takes three miners. they fill them really full and it takes two of them to push it, the other has to walk in front and keep the cart on the rails which must be really hard. Caz had a go at filling the
our presents for the miners
coca leaves, dynamite, cigarettes, food cart from the pile of minerals and she said it was really hard and heavy. we gave a few presents to all the miners we saw and they seemed grateful. we walked further into the mines and saw more miners, the air didn´t seem too bad, but there was dust in it, wouldn´t have liked to spend more than a few hours down there, and the miners sometimes work for longer than 24hours at a time! they dont even come out to eat, just chew coca leaves which helps them to work without eating, makes our 12 hour shifts seem easy!
in the mine they have a little room where they have built a god called teo. this was something thought up by the mine owners as a way to make the indians work faster. the indians had noticed that there wasn´t always someone watching what they were doing, and so stopped working. teo was then introduced as a new god watching what they were doing and making sure they were productive. the miners go and ask advice of the teo about where to dig the minerals and how to keep safe. now a teo is built by a old
miner when he retires so the younger miners ask his advice as if he was there with them. they also give him offerings to please him, they give him cigarettes and its a good sign if he smokes them, he smoked the one we gave him which is good for us! they also offer pure alcohol to him in a particular way, pouring it on his eyes and his limbs, supposed to help them work and see minerals.
after being down the mines for a while we came out again and it was nice to be out in the air again!!! ouside some young boys came over to sell us rocks, they had a selection of pretty stones from the mine. they were quite persistant and quite a few of us ended up buying from them! we then headed back to change out of the mining gear and were taken to the hotel. we all went out to find somewhere to eat lunch which seemed impossible! there didn´t seem to be anywhere open but we did eventually find somewhere as we all went for the set menu they offered. this meant we got pancakes with either ham or cheese, soup,
main meal and dessert!!! took ages for them to take our order and for the food to come but once they brought the first lot it just kept coming!!! we couldn´t move after we had finished eating! spent a bit more time wondering round the city before going back and lazing in the hotel.
we all went out to dinner together, minus Bryan who was apparently being sick due to the altitude. we got there and ordered but as soon as the food arrived Tim felt really sick and had to leave without touching any of it! we didn´t stay out long as it was really really cold and we wanted to go and curl up warm in bed!!!
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