Potosi and Sucre
From Uyuni we headed to Potosi, which is famous for its mines and altitude (c.4,100m above sea) and the highest city of its size in the world (whatever that means!). The mines orignally contained silver, but the miners of today are now digging out a mixture of sliver, lead and tin which are all mixed together in the rock.
Unsurprisingly the main thing to do in Potosi is to visit the mines. We signed away our lives (be warned you may be killed by cave ins/toxic gases) and down we went, after first visiting the miners market to by some dynamite and coca leaves as presents for the miners.
We visited Candeleria mine, which is supposed to be one of the oldest, with c. 200 miners working in it, (in total there are c. 15,000 miners in total) on with the hard hats and lights and down we went. To begin with the tunnels were fairly large, but after a quick trip to a “museum” they got smaller and smaller (unfortunately the underground photos didn’t work). I didn’t think I’d be able to stand the smallness of the space, but the guide promised me that at the third level down we got to high tunnels again and fresher air. He was right, thank goodness. I don’t know how the locals do it day in day out, it just doesn’t compare to a desk job in London.
The conditions the miners work in is fairly shocking, 12 hours of hard, hard work in cramped conditions. Pushing trucks of c. 1 ton around and blowing up the rock with dynamite (we felt around 8 explosions whilst we were underground and the earth certainly moved and you could really feel the air move and your ears pop).
The worst part was climbing out of the mine again, in small tunnels at c. 4,300m and no air. It was awful and the sun and fresh air were certainly welcome when we finally climb out.
The next day saw us share a taxi to Sucre, one of Bolivias captial (it has two, the other being La Paz). This is a world heritage site and full of white buildings. At first it was a bit of a shock being in a big city again (people begging, trying to sell you things all the time), but we soon got used to it. The central market was an interesting visit – with bits of meat that you certainly don’t get in other European markets.
The city is beautiful and we enjoyed wandering the streets and generally relaxing.
Back in Potosi, we bumped into some sort of festival – lots of children dancing in the streets – no idea what it was for, but it was good to see!
Tags: Bolivia, Potosi, Sucre, Travel
Jenni
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