This is a very special entry, our (Steve's) strict blog rules have meant that we have tried to do an entry for every place we have spent a night. We got a night bus into Potosi, arriving Monday morning at 5am and took the bus from Potosi to Uyuni at 6.30pm the same day but in between we had a really interesting day which merits a blog entry.
Potosi claims to be the highest city in the world and the only reason it is here is because of the Cerro Rico (Rich hill) which dominates the town. When the Spanish conquered South America they exploited the vast silver (and other mineral) deposits of the hill, we were told that the Spanish extracted enough silver to build a bridge all the way from Potosi to Madrid and also that the bones of those who died in the mines could have built an equally long bridge.
Having read about the exploitation of South America earlier in our trip I had really wanted to visit the mines and for Alison it had been a highlight of her 2002 trip. It is difficult to put into words what the conditions are like, you have to scramble down on your hands and knees just to get down to the miners, it is baking hot and they are all working mainly with manuel labour. Part of the trip involves visiting the miners market where we bought coca leaves, cigarettes and dynamite for the miners, slightly surreal buying dynamite in a market but it helps a lot as the miners can use it rather than a pick! We were also able to try the alcohol that the miners drink on Sundays, 96% proof. That gives an indication of what they do to numb the pain of their work, during our trip down in the mines we had to occassionally jump out of the way of the trucks (Indian Jones type) that were being pushed along tracks, in tiny tunnels we couldn't stand up in, at about 30 degrees. It really was an experience, it is frightening that people still work in those conditions although what is perhaps more frightening is that the miners are actually among the better paid Bolivians earning 10 pounds a day when the monthly average wage is 65 pounds. We spoke to one miner who was about 40, most of the miners we saw were younger, who worked there to send his son to University and prevent him having to experience the same conditions that he had.
All in all it was an incredibly interesting but very sobering day. On a slightly more light hearted note Alison got to hold a lit stick of dynamite and pulled a great face even though there was about 2 minutes left on the fuse.