Potosi

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James didn't want to go to Potosi because he thought it was a hole... and it turns out it is. Apparently it used to be one of the richest cities in South America because of its silver mines. We heard that we could go mining there so we stopped by. We couldn't of gone much further anyway since we got another flat tyre. It was such a mission to find the centre of town and it didn't help that there were many one-way 'colonial-type' streets that were very, very narrow... not made for Toyota Landcruisers.

Next morning we joined a mining 'tour' and headed to the mines of Potosi. First we were outfitted in gumboots, a light rain jacket and a helmet with a torch - not an electric one as they had advertised in the brochure - a fire one! Then we were able to walk straight onto the hill and walk around with 300 mines underneath us... no safety protections at all. At this point our guide decided he would like a fuse to the dynamite we had brought at the local shop. In his words 'I light bomb then I run 100 metres'. He put together a stick of dynamite, some TNT and some lithium and then lit the fuse... and according to our crazy friend it had 7 minutes before it ignited. So we got to hold it in the meantime before he went for a run. I think that was the highlight for James.

Walking around underground was an interesting experience... especially knowing that 78 people died in these mines a year and our guide had got lost in these mines 40 times during the 10 years he was employed as a miner. It was interesting to see the working environment of the miners and even where they lived... it's definitely a very hard life especially since most things are done by hand. We even saw a guy with one hand in the mine shovelling rocks into a container. I doubt there's any compensation for injuries. They also do very long hours and only get paid for the 'good' rocks that they collect. James decided at the end that: No te gusta trabajo en las minas!

We spent the rest of our time in Potosi trying to find the place where they sell tyres... that's one thing we know where to find in nearly every city we've been to. Then we headed off the next morning on the 8 hour drive back to La Paz, through hail, snow, thunder and lightning and we even saw a twister.

One thing that was pretty crazy was the amount of begging along the road on the way home. There were kids scattered along the side of the road with their hands cupped raising their arms up and down. We've heard that its been a particularly dry year in the altiplano and even though its rainy season there's been no rain for them. "El Nino" effect I believe. It was very hard to see so many people reduced to begging for food. So we started distributing biscuits and gummie bears... they went down a treat. Although sometimes the car was going a little fast when the food got thrown out the window... and it was impossible to decide which ones we would stop and give to... heartbreaking. Next time we think we will distribute a more healthier food item.

Now we're back in La Paz to join up with friends for Christmas! We hope that you all have a very lovely Christmas and we are sad that we can't be with you over this festive season.

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