Potosi - 15th to 16th April

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Never heard of Potosi? Well, neither had we - but supposedly it was the largest city in the entire world during the 1600´s. The reason? Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), which contained ore of silver content five times higher than anywhere else on the planet. The Incas believed the site to be holy; a natural shrine to Pacha Mamma (Mother Earth) and forbid mining there but the Spanish, however, had no such qualms; they shipped in slaves from Africa to work the mines (which are at a whopping 4200 metres above sea level). Often working for 16 hour days on nothing but coca-leaves (no food or water), many people died of exhaustion in the mines (estimates run as high as 2-8 million over three centuries of colonial rule)!

Potosi and Cerro Rico
There isn´t a massive amount in Potosi other than the mines (which still run today), but these have become black tourism sites in their own rite due to the horrendous working conditions endured by the miners (many die by their mid-fourties of silicosis of the lungs). We decided to stop in Potosi on route to Sucre from La Paz and take a tour of these mines (even though it felt a little unethical treating a place of human suffering as a tourist attraction, but we weren´t in Bolivia just to see the nice bits).

Our tour began with a safety talk (which essentially consisted of signing a responsibilty waiver) and being given a hard hat before heading off to the "miners market" to buy presents for the miners. We have never been anywhere in the world where you can buy dynamite in a cornershop on the side of the road - although our guide assured us that you had to be at least twelve to buy the stuff... Still, we got to try some of the 95%!a(MISSING)lcohol that the miners drink (yuck) and got a few bottles of soda pop and headed off up Cerro Rico.

This wasn´t supposed to be on the tour...

Not very fashionable
By this point we had spent almost three months at altitude (over 3000m), but our lungs were hurting just walking along the road at 4200 metres - an indication of what was to come! The tunnel itself had a fierce gust of hot air blowing out of the entrance and we had to crouch to enter whilst dodging the live electricity cables running alongside us (which our guide told us would "mess up our hair"...). If there is a hell, Potosi mines is what it is like. It is pitch black except for your torch, the heat is so close that you want to gag, the tunnels get so small in places that you have to crawl on your hands and knees whilst the altitude means that you constantly feel out of breath. We only went down to the third level of the mines (out of a possible seven) and even then we have never wanted to get back into daylight so much. The only thing more discomforting than the hour long tour was seeing the conditions that the miners work in - no safety equipment other than a plastic helmet (hence the silicosis of the lungs), mine carts flying around with no brakes, zero protocol with regards to the use of dynamite and only archaic tools with which to dig with. Those that don´t die of silicosos usually die of heavy metal poisoning. The youngest boy in the mines that we visited was only twelve years old. Yet the miners were exceptionally proud of their work and were very keen to tell you about everything that they went through.

Conditions in the mines
Getting out of those mines was one of the best feelings of our lives! They then let us light some dynamite, which was always a fun treat (especially for a chemist).

Lit dynamite ... safe!
Other than a harrowing mine tour, we also went to the former mint where they used to make coins for the Spanish Empire, which was extremely interesting. But we were keen to leave Potosi and that hellish mountain so it was off to Sucre!

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