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Published: July 22nd 2007
Shoppin
The gifts that I bought for the miners. Yeah that is coca and dynamite haha! From Uyuni we headed to Potosà for a few days. Talk about organized chaos. There was something going on everywhere. There was a fair taking place when we first arrived which was cool to see, but if you think the rides in our parking lot fairs are sketchy, you should see the ones they set up in Bolivia. I would not have gone near one of those rides, mainly due to my fondness of living. We checked into our hotel and Herbie and I went on a mission to find a bank machine. The city was impossible to navigate. There were signs on every street corner saying “bank this way -->” or “bank this way <--”. They all ended up taking us in circles so we just asked people and found the bank easier than following the map or the signs. We went out for dinner which was quite the ordeal. Not only did our meal come out at all different times, but we waited a grand total of 2 hours for our food. We called it an early night that night because the next day we had a tour of the local silver mine arranged. Everyone told me I
Grand Enterance
This was the hole that we entered into the mine through. This is the same enterance that the miners use. shouldn’t do the tour because it is not recommended for claustrophobics, but as we all know, I love being told I can’t do something, so of course I signed up. We first went to the miner market in the morning to buy gifts for the miners. They recommend that you buy alcohol, cigarettes, dynamite, coca leaves and maybe some food and water (but that isn’t their fave). I bought alcohol, cigarettes, coca leaves, a catalyst that you chew with the coca leaves, dynamite and fusses plus some water and crackers. It was crazy to me that I could just walk into a store and buy dynamite with no restrictions. We all piled back into the van and headed up to the mine in our mining outfits. When we got there we got suited up with our hard hats and head lamps and in we went. We first came across a man who would be retiring from the mines soon because he had a lung disease that qualified him for early retirement. He was very sweet and I gave him my alcohol and coca leaves. We carried on and found 2 boys that were 16 and 18 that had been working
Retiree
This is the man that was retiring becuase of the lung illness. He was so sweet. in the mines for 4 years and 6 years respectively. Yes that is correct; they started working in the mines when they were 12 years old. That is the regulated age of work there. We were then taken to the devil and pachamama which is where to miners go to give thanks for the earth and to pray for good conditions and good finds in the mines. We had at this point been in the mine for about an hour and a bit and I was at my breaking point for claustrophobia so I chose to exit early before I had a full blown panic attack. It was awesome that I did the tour though. I loved every second of it. The following day Renee, Rachel and I went on a walk around the city. We checked out some sites and went to a look out point. Potosi was a great introduction into what to expect from Bolivia.
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