Hola chicos!

After a 5.45 hour bus journey we arrived in Potosi. I was very impressed because the driver somehow managed to shave off 1.25 hours from the journey!!

That night we went out for a quick tour of the city (the highest city in the world!!), then went for dinner. I ordered a beef stir fry, but when it arrived it looked suspiciously like chicken in egg. The lady insisted that it was beef, and needless to say I didn´t eat much that night.

Anyway the next day we all decided to visit the local mine (which used to  provide alot of the silver which made the coins for Spain and South America, but now just has mixed minerals left in it).  The trip started with a vist to the miners market. The market sold everything a miner could want - cigarettes, coca leaves (for chewing), alcohol and dynamite!! What a dangerous combo!! We had to buy the miners a gift so obviously I went for the dynamite option, and at less than 1GBP a pack I thought it was a bargain!!!

When we got to the mine we found that they were actually working in the area that we were visiting. This didn´t put us off however, it just meant that when the young men/boys needed to get past with their trolley loads of gravel stuff we just had to press against the walls!! I guess it was like mining in Victorian England (although didn´t we use ponies to pull the carts?!).  As the miners past us they asked us for the presents, and I gave my dynamite away.

Part way down the mine was a museum - a really freaky one with manikins displaying different things. Not what you would expect half way down a working mine!! Anyway we spent a while in there having stuff explained to us, then we visited the god of the mines. He looked like a naked devil man, which I supposed as the god of the underworld is what he is supposed to look like. Apparently the miners worship with this figure every Friday and give it gifts of Coca leaves, cigarettes and alcohol (again DANGER DANGER!!!). As we were in the museum we could here explosions going off in the distance, so the guide decided it was time to go.

All in all I really enjoyed visting the mine - it was jsut so different from anything I have done on this trip to date.

That afternoon I had a nice lunch which included chocolate cake (I am becoming very preoccupied with food as you might gather!! As it is sometime difficult to fiund stuff that you actually want to eat, and won´t cause you to get the Immodium out!! As it is you can´t go out without a toilet roll!!!). Then I went to the mint museum, which surprisingly is where they used to mint all the coins. It was very interesting.

Next we go to Sucre. Luckily this is only a couple of hours away and we are taking taxis!!

Bye for now!

Louise xx.