If you're travelling through the Andes sooner or later you will become aware of people using coca leaves. You will see people standing or sitting by the side of the road or in parks holding a small plastic bag containing the leaves which they dip into every now and then and add a few more leaves to the wad already in their mouth. Our hotel in Potosi has coca leaves on the breakfast buffet and you can even get it in tea bags mixed with matte - a herb used to make ...

Potosi exists for one reason and one reason alone - silver. Cerritos Rico (Spanish for 'Rich mountain") which dominates the town contains the largest deposits of silver in the world. It is estimated that as much as 60,000 tonnes of the metal has been extracted from the mountain since mining started there in 1545. The Incas knew that the mountain contained silver but, according to legend, their gods told them it was not destined for them and so they declared it ...