Potosí: I was a a Miner

Potosi

We set off for Potosi today, another colonial and well preserved town. The nearby silver and element mines provide wealth for the city and mining started over 400 years ago. The mountain is still mined today.

A relatively painless journey got us to the town and despite some impressively narrow streets the bus managed to get right outside the hotel. We had lunch and then set off for a tour of the silver mine.

The Heart of Mining Culture

We imagined this would be a simple tour, similar to Castleton in the UK. Everything else had been so safety conscious what could be tricky about this....

Well it started badly when a couple of people answered the guide's question normal or adventurous with the second choice! So after getting our mining gear on and some treats for the miners we set off. This included cocoa leaves, water and small bottles of 96% alcohol. The guide proudly mentioned no one else, other than miners are allowed in the mines, he can do them as he's an ex-miner. He mined for several years before taking groups in.

What we later thought was he was actually bribing his miner mates with the "gifts" so they kept quiet about the gringos going in. The 2 mines we went in had no one on the entrance. He just parked up and said follow me. Every time we passed a miner on his way out (think we saw 5 in total) he got a gift.

The first min we entered was fine. Everyone could stand and it had stable walls. The next one involved going backwards into a dark hole and trying to find a wooden ladder to go down. It was beyond my balancing ability so I gave up as did 3 others. No surprises that Karen was very impressive and made it down. God, it was scary....only suitable for those 5 foot or under. Down rocky ramps that supposedly had foot holds but easier to do on your bum, crossing holes in the floor on planks of wood. We also had a spell of getting through with our lights off so pitch black. Not recommended as a fun activity but glad I survived.

The 4 rejects waited at the entrance not certain if the others would coming out the same, and got slightly nervous as the weather changed to rain and lightning. The guide hadn't said how long they were in for but and it turned out to be a long hour.

They made it out and hearing what it was like, I think I made the right choice, could have seen me getting stuck down there.

Groundhog Day

We finished the day with a group of 6 of us having dinner and then taking photos of the Christmas lights, very similar to last night. Although this time was a first as a chap dressed up as the Grinch came and posed for a photo with Karen!