Cerro Rico Potosi

The air was so thin. We were all finding it terribly difficult to breathe. I was trying desperately to resist the temptation of removing my dust mask through fear of inhaling poisonous gases but it was restricting my breathing. Eventually I gave in.

Dressed in overalls, standard issue boots, a hard hat (attached to our belts by a rubber …

Kl. 05:00 ankom vi til Potosí's busterminal, ankomsttidspunktet var vi ikke soenderligt glade for, men sagen var den at der kun gik en morgenbus eller en aftenbus, saa valgmulighederne ikke var de stoerste. Heldigvis havde Potosí rent faktisk en aaben busterminal og den viste sig at vaere ret stor, saa vi besluttede os for at haenge lidt ud/faa os …

We kwamen in de gutsende regen toe in Potosi. Het was de eerste echte regen in 2 maanden reizen, dus we konden niet echt klagen. Het stadje dat volledig draait rond mijnbouw, gaf een heel triestige indruk, toen we met de taxi via de buitenwijken naar het centrum reden. Er waren er niet veel hostals, maar gelukkig was er plaats in de enige hostal …

After surviving the scariest bus ride I ever had (by now, after a month in Bolivia and Perú, I would say a regular, Bolivian standard ride), we arrived in one of the highest cities in the world (around 4100 metres above sea level) well after midnight, untied our baggage (which took a while) and took a taxi to the hostel we booked from Uyuni. When …

Potosi is home to what used to be the largest and most lucrative silver mine in the world. The mine, I should say mines, still exist. They started in the early 1500s and are still going strong today. We heard various tales of the riches the silver brought. Such as: the streets were paved with silver, that it made Potosi the richest country in South …

Potosí liegt auf einer Hoehe von 4.000 Metern und ist somit eine der hoechstgelegenen Staedte der Welt. Sie liegt am Fuss des Berges Cerro Rico, dessen Silberreichtum Potosí im frühen 17. Jahrhundert zu einer der größten Städte der Welt machte. Auch heute arbeiten noch ca. 10.000 Leute in dem mittlerweile wie ein schweizer Kaese durchloecherten …

Our next stop was a further 6 hours south of Sucre to Potosi. Potosi during the 16^th century rivalled the size of Paris. Due to the Cerro Rico mine and its silver discovery, this town a powerhouse of Bolivia. It is said that during its peak season Potosi produced enough Silver to build a bridge between Bolivia and France. Nowadays it …

Hoewel het mijnstadje Potosi zeker op ons wensenlijstje van bestemmingen in Bolivia stond, zijn we er op een bijzondere manier via vele omzwervingen en op een heel ander moment dan gepland aangekomen. Oorspronkelijk wilden we na Copacabana doorreizen naar La Paz om vanaf daar een mountainbike- & jungletour richting het Noordoosten van Bolivia …

At 7.00 pm we left from Uyuni towards Potosi, were we arrived at 0.00 at night. As we are used to bumpy rides we did not mind those hours in the bus. After 2 1/2 hours we even stopped. Nice! A bathroom was made mae us getting our of the bus. Just when our question ´¿Donde esta el baño?' was answered with ´No hay´ we raised our brows. eh.. where to …

... out, breathe in..) and a UNESCO site. The city was founded in 1545 following the discovery of ore deposits in the Cerro Rico mountain. That mountain continues to be mined today and there are tours (the main tourist attraction), so Donegal Maeve and ...

... . The next day we wake at 7am and decide to cancel our trip to the silver mine. In the nearby hill of Cerro Rico are a labyrinth of underground mines which harbour silver and platinum. The mines were responsible for making Potosi (and Boliviar) ...

Potosi, Bolivia is the most important city you probably have never heard of. In the colonial days, Potosi was the largest and richest city in the Western Hemisphere, and some say in the world - it had a larger population than Paris, ...

... "No - they dump it in the river".  Spicy informed me.  (Another reason to always drink bottled water in Bolivia) The mining operations are run as a co-op, so the miners split all the profits from the extracted ...

... sits t 4100m in a barren windswept plain, and is the highest city in the world. The town is here because of the Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), the richest source of silver that the world had ever known. The silver rush started in 1545, and the estimated ...

... into our finest mining gear of rubber boots, rain suits, helmets and a head-lamp, we took a collectivo (public micro-bus) to Cerro Rico.  Julio has a private agreement with one of the mine shafts which is great - we don't see other tourists, he ...

... Central at an altitude of 13,500 ft and was once the wealthiest city in Latin America. It sits in the shadow of Cerro Rico (Rich Hill) and owes its existence to the fabulously rich veins of silver that permeate the mountain. Although the presence of the ...

... .  The other one is in Peru.  They like extremes in Bolivia.  Originally Potosi was a small native settlement that mined the nearby Cerro Rico for silver.  Then the Spanish arrived.  It's hard to travel in South America and ...

... hours after we left Osorno, we arrive in Potosi. It's an old silver mining city in a fine location, with the stunning pink Cerro Rico mountain towering above it. At an incredible 4070 metres above sea level, Potosi also happens to be the highest city in ...

I'm in Potosi, Bolivia ... The Highest City in the World at 13,430 feet (4070 m). The history of Potosi is quite amazing despite the difficult living conditions like the cold and lack of oxygen associated with this altitude. Potosi was once THE largest ...