Potosi and Tupiza 5th - 8th May

It was only a 3 hour bus journey from Sucre to Potosi which was a relative joy after a few trips we´ve had and we got a good look at the Cerro Rico (rich mountain) as we arrived as it really dominates the skyline. The mountain is packed with silver ore, hence Potosi being a mining town and once one of the richest towns in the world.

We hadn´t really done our research so had expected Potosi to be basic, dull and with not much going on so we only booked a one night stay and reserved our bus ticket for the next morning to Tupiza on arrival. We were pleasantly surprised by the town after wandering around and a bit gutted we hadn´t planned to stay for longer as it had a great buzz to it, mainly thanks to the large student population (tax dodgers).

We stayed at the pretty cheap Hostal Felimar with our room and en suite bathroom resembling Fritzl´s dungeon - on second thoughts, thank god we only stayed one night.

There are two main attractions here, a tour to the silver mine within Cerro Rico and the national mint building and we only had time for one, we picked the mine tour. Wed heard from friends that it was definitely worth doing and it certainly was, though we hadnt quite expected it to be so harrowing and such hard work.

After booking our tour with Koala Tours we headed in a minibus with a few other nutcases the get kitted out in our mining gear. Overalls, trousers, handkerchiefs to prevent fumes, gumboots, helmets and headtorches were all provided and we soon realised this was some serious s*** we were getting ourselves into. Everyone cracked out the gallows humour (Sarah managing to get in a Zoolander pose), but clearly a few people were thinking about bottling it (not us of course).

Next stop was the miners market where tour parties are encouraged to buy presents for the miners. To be fair to them, they put up with a load of idiots invading their workspace every day and work unbelievably hard in one of the worst working environments on Earth so we were all happy to buy drinks and coca leaves ready for when we got down there. You could even buy dynamite to give to them, but no-one did as a lot of the tour books mention that its unethical and can effect the structure of the mining tunnels - paaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp.

Before the main event we next stopped off at a refinery just outside the mine where they sift out all of the silver using a mixture of chemicals and cyanide (yes, cyanide). Not the safest of working environments, but we all had a look round anyway - this place was a breeze compared with what we were about to see.

Ten minutes later we all switched our headtorches on and headed into the mine which was pretty nerve wracking. There were 6 people in our group plus our guide who led the way and we were all given a number to shout out so he could check we were all still there. First sight was loads and loads of sulphur deposits on the walls and a lot of white arsenic plus electrical pipes. Our guide helpfully told us not to touch anything.

As we got deeper the going started to get a bit tougher and we were soon squeezing our way through tunnels, walking on all fours or crabbing our way through cracks and gently stepping down some very precarious and wobbly ladders. The temperature started to rise as we got deeper and it soon became very, very hot. We were told that at the lower levels of the mine it can be about 50 degrees, but where we were it must have been about 40 plus and everyone was dripping in sweat and struggling to breathe the poisonous air through our handkerchiefs.

We got our first sight of some proper miners filling up a few buckets with stone to clean up one of the tunnels and one of them got a bit shirty when one of the group picked up a shovel for a photo. Our guide said he was joking, but he definitely wasn´t. At this point me and Sarah panicked as there was a rumble and suddenly a massive spherical grey thing appeared from a hole above the miners. We were convinced it was a cave in, but it turned out to be another bucket being passed down to the miners to fill up - thank Christ.

As we continued, we kept having to stop and crush ourselves against the wall as mining carts full of silver ore were pushed past us by the miners. The rails they were on looked very dodgy and they kept listing to one side. Pretty nerve wracking as they pass an inch away from you and weigh 2 tonnes each.

We then bumped into a 14 year old miner (yes, 14) coming our way who told us all that he worked 8 hour shifts 6 days a week. This was pretty heartbreaking and everyone went a bit quiet before plying him with some drinks and coca leaves.

Our guide carried on stopping and explaining about the history of the place and how it works, but after about an hour I think we were all just thinking about getting out. Added to this Sarah was feeling sick because of the fumes and it was still red hot. I thought an aussie lady with us who must have been late 50s, early 60s was going to collapse at one point, but fortunately she managed to pull herself together.

After a quick stop to meet ´uncle´ (an effigy of the devil made up by workers that they offer 95% proof alcohol, cigarettes and coca leaves to keep them safe) we finally made our way out back into the light of day. I think we were all massivley relieved (I know I was) and a bit sad given the fact that so many people are down there all day every day. The trip back was very quiet as everyone was knackered after all of the walking, crawling and expending of nervous energy.

It was an amazing, humbling experience, but anyone who wants to do it should be prepared to sweat a lot and not be too claustrophobic.

Tupiza was our next stop after a trying bus journey. Should have been 5.5 hours, but was 8. I also had to keep shoving a local woman sitting in the aisle off me as she kept falling asleep, was elbowed in the head by an old bloke and got smashed in the face when someone´s bag fell off a shelf above me. Arrived in Tupiza in a pleasant mood.

The town´s very small, but offers some great treks into the surrounding area. We didn´t partake though as were saving our final few pennies for a salt flats tour in a few days. We picked the only hotel in town with a pool so we spent the next few days chilling out and Sarah worked on her tan while I cowered in various shaded areas.¨

Bus trip from Tupiza to Uyuni for the salt flats tour was our worst in Bolivia with the bus being a disgrace and Sarah feeling very ill for most of the way. Also kept stopping for ages for no apparent reason and the driver was going way too fast along roads on the edge of steep cliffs with no crash barriers. Nearly crashed off at one point as another bus came rearing round a corner and even the locals panicked so you can imagine what we were like. Really not going to miss any of this.