Day 27: 27/7/12
Woke at 7 for some reason and couldn't go back to sleep! So got up and had breakfast and a shower and was in Potosi square by 9!
Went to the casa de la moneda (the royal mint). Potosi was known from making coins from about 1575 to 1951. The first mint was in the square but in the 18th century they had to build a bigger place and thats where I was. Most of the building was still original- wooden floors, wooden ceilings, brick building with courtyards and balconies- very pretty as you can imagine!
I was there at opening time (sure when else would I be there!) cos I wanted to see it before we went at twelve.
I was the only English speaking person there so I got a guide to myself. Later another woman joined. The first thing I was shown was an old train. Then there were three rooms of an art exhibition. All the paintings were painted by local artists back in Colonial times. The people couldn't read or write so the Spanish taught them about Catholicism by showing them paintings and getting them to paint copies. Later they painted their own pictures. The pictures were huge, at least 2m high. There were lots of Mary, there were Mary and Joseph getting married, Jesus in the temple, Noah's ark, the crucifixion and stuff. Here was a whole room of paintings by Melchor Perez Holgun- the most famous artist. Most of the paintings were anonymous.
Then we got into the coins. The first coins were made by hammer. They had two stamp things, put the silver in between and hammered it down. The coins were different shapes and thickness. So then they got machines from Spain to help them roll out the silver. This made sure they were all the same thickness. Then they were cut with a scissors and stamped. The coins they made were reals (8,4,2,1 1/2). When Bolivia got independence their coins were called suelos, then bolivianos, then pesos and back to bolivianos. All the coins have p t s i written on top of each other as a sign they were made in potosi. It is quite like the American dollar symbol- potosi used to make the American coins.
The museums had lots of objects that were made of silver also- plates, chalices, vases, etc. They weren't made in the mint but they were made by locals. The Spanish used to export half of the silver they mined. The locals could use the rest. Nowadays, everything is exported and there is very little pure silver to be bought in Potosi.
We saw a chest aswell with silver locks on it. There were images of Mary on it and slots for coins where her hands should be. People were encouraged to put in money as an offering to Mary. The chests were all taken back to Spain then. The guide said a lot of them are actually at the bottom of the ocean because they were really heavy and the ships sank!
We saw the furnace area which was never restored. He ceiling was completely black! Silver has to be noted at 960 degrees so the room would be very hot! They just burned wood and straw to get the temperature. They had huge bellows to keep it going and the pots they melted it in we're made of special granite to keep the temperature.
The Spanish decided to upgrade then and they installed steam operated machines. There was a boiler room and huge pipes leading to machines working on a pulley system. In 1909 they started using electricity. It opened as a museum in 1930 and closed as a mint in 1951. Now the Bolivian coins are made in Chile, the 5 boliviano coin in Canada and the notes in France.
In another part of the museum they had 3000 minerals which I think were all from Bolivia. There were lovely purple and gold ones but you couldnt take photos!
They also had an archaeological collection which had the usual skulls and ceramics that we've seen everywhere. They also had mummies which were found in a crypt in St Bernard's church in Potosi. They were of little children. It seems the rich people payed to have their children buried in the Church crypt. They weren't sacrificed or anything, they just died. But they were tiny and because of the altitude they were preserved really well and you could see their clothes and hair and everything!
I was going to go to San Francisco church then because they have interesting catacombs and a view over the city. But, the tour only started at 11 an I had to go back to the hotel to check out! I we had more time there I would have gone there. I also would have gone to Santa Teresa convent. Rich people sent their daughters there to be nuns. The second child in every family had to become a priest or nun. When they arrived in their fancy clothes they took their clothes and cut their hair and then used the clothes and hair for the statues of the virgins that they have in the convent. Sounds interesting.
The bus was supposed to leave at 12. We all went to the supermarket first to buy some snacks for the bus because it seems the only places we could stop on the way to Uyuni are not very hygienic! The bus was late though and then he guide got a call to tell us that he couldn't get through the town. The streets are fairly narrow! So we had to put our luggage in a jeep and then walk bout twenty minutes to the bus- we had to go through a big market. It was a nuisance cos we all had our hand luggage but it was nice to see a different part of potosi!
A few minutes outside the town, the bus driver had to give a list of all our names to the authorities incase anything happens the bus, they will know who is on it. Isn't that lovely to hear heading off on a 5hr journey!
On the way we stopped for the toilet. These kind of toilets are interesting over here. They are filthy dirty- u can't sit on the seats! The floor is always soaking wet- what it's wet with I don't even want to think about it! Then there's a barrel of water outside with a plastic jug in it and you have to fill this up and pour it down the toilet as there is no flush! By the way the toilet paper can never be put in the toilet here- always on a bin, which means the toilets are often smelly!
The bus was quicker than expected as there were no road works. Uyuni is a strange place. It's completely dusty with sand on the road. Everything just looks grey. It was built apparently for a train station as there is a mine nearby. The people here work in the mine or grow quinoa or work in tourism! The main train services were closed years ago and there was an uprising against that. There are still some train services but the place just seems sort of abandoned! When we were going for dinner there was very little street light- its like a town from long ago!
There's a statue in town of a women (called something like Tupa). Theres a legend about her. She was a princess and fell in love with a local guy, but they couldn't be together. So they killed themselves and asked pacha mama to make them return as a couple in the next life. Pacha mama doesn't like when people kill themselves so she punished them by making them mountains/volcanoes at opposite sides of the mountain range. Tupa wasn't happy so she stayed out on her own. Apparently she was pregnant when she died so instead of exploding with lava, she exploded with a white liquid that made the salt flats. Another interesting legend!! I think the salt flats ate the result of a lake that used to be there- doubtful that it's a pregnant volcano!!