Cima Argentum Potosi

... like Uyuni (dusty and not very nice) but the centre contains a lot of good Colonial architecture, a reminder that this used to be the richest city in South America. At 4060m it is also the highest city in the world and is was created for one reason - the nearby silver mines of Cerro Rico are the richest in world history, having produced 60.000 tons. The wealth has come at a cost and it is estimated that up to 8 million slaves died in the mines during the colonial period ...

... ewig lang gewartet um den Praesidenten reden zu hoeren aber den ganzen Tag konnten wir nun auch nicht warten...<br>Nun zu dem heutigen Tag.<br>Es war ein Erlebnis, jedoch ein Erlebnis, dass nicht unbedingt wiederholt werden muss. Wir waren in den Minen. Den Minen einer Stadt namens Potosi...<br>Aaaalso.. begonnen hat die Tour frueh am Morgen (unangenehmer Weise hab ich das Freuhstueck verpasst) und zwar mit einem Bus der uns zu einem sogenannten ¨Minersmarket¨ gebracht hat ...

... but my throat and lungs burned for two days after!<br>The workers who continue to mine the tunnels have an average life expectancy of 45 or 50 and make pitiful earnings on less valuable metals than the silver that originally pulled from within the mountain in colonial times.<br><br>We ended the tour with a bang, blowing up several sticks of dynamite that beat anything I ever concocted in my parents basement back in the day...

... means!) But I had my first (and last) Potosina - hot and not very good =( <br><br>Took a nap that afternoon, relaxed in the evening &amp; booked a tour for the silver mines for Monday at 9am. According to wikipedia - other mining cities in the world named Potosi (ie Potosi, MO) were named after Potosi, Bolivia! Interesting (or not) factoid =)<br><br>The mine tour ROCKED!!!! We started off meeting Julio for safety instructions/brief ...

... up rocks to get minerals, and had being doing so for the last 40 years.<br><br>As part of the tour you take down drinks, coca leaves, biscuits and dynamite to the miners.....and then got to experience an underground explosion. We had a go at making the hole for the dynamite and its bloody hard work, we then sat there as he rammed in the dynamite, slightly unsettling as apparantly that is the most dangerous ...

... the minerals in the mountain by hand, then using wheelbarrows to transport the rock to the surface, each miner is expected to move 10 tonnes of rock per day in order to collect the 40 bolivianos (less than 4 pound). Occasionally the miners can use dynamite to blast rock away and we experianced a blast while deep inside the mountain, there was very little noise, but the vibrations pulsed through our bodies. When we got back to the surface we were shown a dynamite explosion ...

Now back in Potosi for the 3rd (and not yet final) time. Yesterday we attempted to get to Uyuni but without success. We had heard several mixed reports about the state of the road ranging from totally unpaved to all paved except 20km so decided to give it a go and see how far we could get. <br><br>The first section seemed fine, except the usual toll (this one steeper than the other Bolivian ones encountered so far at B15, about 1 pound 50 (no pound ...

... had two visitors - a man and his young 5 year old daughter came walking down to the lake shore where we were packing up the tent. He was carrying with him a notebook with him but dressed normally - no uniform or any sort of official identification. The notebook contained some sort of log - a log of visitors and he asked me to put our names and passport numbers in there. Looking around at the place I was ...

... break it a little further so that it did not spring, just disconnected, which was actually an improvment in fuctionallity, if less exciting). <br>Anyways, after Felipe left, we collapsed in a state of mental exaustion and worn out ness. <br>Around 5, one of the teachers came to get us. It appeared we were to cook with them. He instructed us to bring rice, a potoato, and two eggs. We followed him to the kitchen he and his wife used. They gave us specific ...

... It was a fascinating, but also a shocking experience. We crawled though the narrow, dark and dusty tunnels of the mines, from one level to another, to watch mine workers digging holes, using dynamite to blast the rocks, then gathering the minerals together in wagons to push them out of the mines by man hands. And note that those wagons scale 1,5 ton each! It ...