Potosi 2 - Troy

So now that Tim is back on the road with the lovely Vanessa, I don't feel so bad posting my continued travels.

Potosi is a town that is known to tourists because of it's mines. I wont wax lyrical on it's history, others can look that up online, yet from my limited preparation (and prior experience in Bolivia) I expected some grimy little city with a few hotels for tourists. It is not that!!! A beautiful town nestled in blood red hills with a rich history of mining and coin minting that lead to grand architecture mixed with tiny winding and sloping streets filled with a multitude of shops and houses.

I awoke on my first morning there to the hotel concierge knocking at my door telling me my "amigas" (friends of the female persuasion) had arrived. This was Tutu and her friend Aurelie who I was expecting later that night or the day after due to the blockades.

Anyways after hearing the story of how they ran the blockades from Sucre, which required multiple taxis and buses (gotta love Bolivian tourism), we organised out tour to the mines. I was trepidatious since I thought this may be a tourist gimmick at best or exploitation a worst, due to the limited research I had done.

We walked the pretty streets of the city to the tour operator, from whence we were shuttled from the touristy part of town and into the mining part, which was characterised by much less grandiose street frontages to tiny unpainted doorways and shops filled with mining paraphenalia. We then visited a miners store where toursits are ecncouraged to buy "presents" for the miners ie soda drinks, coca leaves, pure alcohol (well over 90% proof) and dynamite (we declined the dynamite and bought extra coca leaves. These are the staples of the miners.

The walk to the mines with the guide was fascinating, the miners work for a pittance and have for centuries, worked in the worst conditions imaginable, not many live past 30 or 40. The women are banned from mines for luck sake (except tourists) and spend their time sorting through rubble for left over minerals. Compared to western mines with huge machines etc it felt like stepping back in time 100 years.

For me this was one of the most fascinating tours of the journey thus far. I wont say more, I'll let the pictures talk, yet I think that anyone who hates their job should do this tour...