Day 22 & 23

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3 hours from Sucre lies Potosi, and like Sucre it boasts a fine example of colonial heritage, although is quite different. Potosi is the highest city in the world sitting at over 4,000m high, which means we were expecting more altitude headaches and lack of appetite. It was also once one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world due to the silver mining. It onces rivaled Paris ad London, but is now simply a small mining city and in the future when there is no longer mining to fuel its economy it will probably become a ghost town. There are several crumbling colonial buildings and towering over the city is Cerro Rico - Rich Mountain - from which silver was, and still is extracted at an unimaginable human cost. This mining mountain claimed the lives of 8 million African and Indian slaves. We learnt about this depressing city from Freddy as he showed us around and we didn't do much today except travel and look around. A few of us enjoyed pre-dinner margaritas- it was very entertaining watching the five staff hovering over the bar trying to make our cocktails. I ended up with a mojito which was undrinkable but worth the hour of entertainment for one drink! Instead of being impatient we have gotten used to seeing the funny side of small things like this. It is all part of travelling and cultural barriers. At dinner Patrick from Switzerland shouted us all a delicious fruit & dark chocolate fondue at a fancy restaurant called 4060 in reference to the height of Potosi. The next day I slept in and missed the tour of the mint but am grateful dad didn't wake me as I needed it. So I took a book and the iPad to Koala cafe to look out over the city while enjoying a cucumber and carrot juice. We were booked in to do the mining tour at 1.30pm and I still felt apprehensive due to the risk factor and my newfound understanding of the lack of health and safety precautions in Bolivia especially, but went along anyway. We were taken to a small house where we were all dressed in mining gear including a hard hat with a light, then drove to the miners market. I'm still in shock that anybody including children can buy dynamite and detonators for only 20 Bolivianos ($3) !! Our guide explained jokingly that everything is possible in Potosi, and if you didn't get along well with your mother in law then the miners market supplies ought to be a solution ! Here we also learnt about the many miners who still work in the mine today. They don't eat anything, they simply chew coca leaves all day for energy and drink 96% alcohol to keep them going for up to a maximum of 22hr days. The alcohol part was understood once we entered the mine! Before entering the mine though we also visited a processing plant where I freaked out when he said we were in the same room as toxic chemicals. I felt uneasy breathing it in so bolted outside and waited for the others. Finally arriving at the fully functioning mine called 'candelaria' I already felt a bit short of breath. Heights and animals ect. don't bother me but enclosed spaces sometimes do. We walked 300m inside and it kept getting narrower. I felt sorry for dad being so tall. Brooke turned around here and went back out and I decided I'd go a little further to see how I went. By 400m inside it was 40 degrees Celsius and the strong smell of sulphur had me coughing almost to the point of spewing. I told the guide I was going to turn back but he calmed me down and encouraged me to rest while he did his speel on the mines. I'm glad I at least sat and listened to his 20 minute speech. It was heart wrenching and made me so grateful.
There are boys as young as 13 who still work in the mine simply to help feed their family and I can't even describe how intense and horrible it is down there. No food or fresh air and such small spaces. I recommend watching the movie called 'The Devils Miner' about a young boy working in the mines. It's sad but worth it. At this point 6 of the 12 of us turned back with the assistant guide who showed us Tinku on the way- the devil statue which the miners worship to bring more minerals. This room freaked me out and I just left and walked out of the mine by myself. I'm surprised how much the conditions affected dad too- he turned around as well. We had to give it to the old girls from QLD for continuing on as they came back covered in mud explaining how the majority of time was spent sliding on their bellies through small holes. It was also a shock that the miners use no machines, not even drills to insert the dynamite. They do everything by hand and have to wheel the carts with the minerals by pushing. I thought everything was done by machines these days, but they can't afford it. In sum... after burrowing down into Rich Mountain through a series of tunnels and shafts I felt like we met the devil face to face, and experienced what life was like centuries ago and even in the current day for those forced to enter the 'Mouth of Hell'. At the end of the day I began feeling my first ounce of homesickness, I think because this dull place with such a horrible history and remaining torture made me miss home. In Potosi I was also pick pocketed (lucky I had nothing but bobby pins) and a drunk guy nearly went for dad as we came out of the little ATM box while saying unsavoury things to me, but we bolted across the road in time... So at the present moment all I want to do is go home but I know I'll look back at it as a grounding experience- especially the mines. I will never complain about a hard days work as I don't think any westerner knows the true meaning of the word until they have seen what some people go through simply to be fed. I lost my appetite after today and settled for a veggie soup and shared a homemade apple pie with dad then headed to bed early. Potosi is definitely the saddest city I've ever experienced... So bring on the salt flats in Salar De Uyuni tomorrow for some serious adventure... :D

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