Potosi has the distinguished identity of being the highest city in the world at 4070m!!  To my huge surprise my luck with altitude is holding out and we are both having no problems. Unfortunately we have both acquired a nice dose of bronchitis (i´ve never had it before and never want it again) but we haven´t yet succumbed to food poisoning so can´t complain too much!

The road from Uyuni to Potosi can be described as interesting. They are in the process of building the new road and while you are on the new road it is good but unfortunately it isn't for very long and the old road is very rough. Arriving in Potosi (a very wierd guy just stared at the two girls in front the whole way - slightly unnerving) we quickly found a taxi and made our way to our Hotel. Taxi's here are different in that they charge you per person not per trip, although it is still very cheap.

The thing with Potosi is it is just brown. There are no trees or other real vegetation and it is quite depressing in that regard. With all the wealth that has been pulled out of the ground here there is now very little to show for it. The only exception is the Plaza de Armas.

Potosi was once the richest city in South America. At one point the silver mines were producing the most silver in the world. Unfortunately the conditions in the mines were atrocious and still are. The miners have a very shortened life and the conditions underground are cramped, hot and dangerous. We were going to do the mine tour however with our bronchitis were advised not to as it may make it even worse due to the air quality.

First was booking our next bus trip to Santa Cruz. Seems like that is what we always do first on arrival to a new place but yet again a good decision as when we turned up the next day all the seats were taken. We took a walk around the markets hoping to buy a couple of silver chains or some sort of silver jewellery.

We made our way to the Casa Nacional de Moneda to check out the local mint however they only have english tours at certain times of the day and we had missed them. We will definitely check it out tomorrow morning. The rest of the day was spent wandering around and generally relaxing.

Up early the next day we started off with the tour of Casa Nacional de Moneda. The only complaint for this tour was that it wasn't long enough. This museum used to be the national mint.
Phil paid extra (20 boliviano) to take photographs and was happy he did. It cost us both 20 boliviano to get in as well.

The Pacamayo Locomotive was on display after being retired from service. It was the first locomotive used on the line between the Pulacayo Mine at Uyuni and Ollague in Chile. It was given to the museum as a gift and once restored has been on display ever since.

The next stops were the painting rooms. There were rooms full of religious paintings all beautifully framed and looking as just painted. The painting of note is the Madonna de Moneda. It was painted in 1720 and depicts the silver mountain, its discovery and importance.

It was then onto the coin presses and coins. Initially the coins were made by hand until the spanish imported a coin press to make the coins a uniform size. In the 17th century the Spanish sent bak to spain by ship 1000 coins. This ship was subsequently sunk on its way home and it wasn't until the late 20th century it was found. Spain being a generous country sent 1 yes thats right 1 coin, back to Potoi to be displayed. The find was considered until only recently, I think the early 1990s he said they found another ship, to be the most expensive ever located.

It was then onto the minerals room. Turns out South America has some of the most minerals in the world. Bolivia has a special mineral called the Bolivianita (ametrine) stone. It is only found in Bolivia and is a mix of citrine and amethyst. The best stones have the two minerals clearly distinguished from each other. It is a very pretty stone (and Phil later bought me one - lucky me)

The final stop was rooms displaying old silver items. It was here we worked out exactly how prosperous the mines were. The items ranged from silver spoons through to bedpans, armour and coffee type tables! Unfortunately for Phil the weapons room wasn't open however after speaking to the guide he wasnt too disappointed as it was only a small collection of 15-20 items.

After a quick hot chocolate in the cafe - the absolute best we have ever had mind you! - it was back to the hotel via a chemist (I'm surprised and happy to say my spanish is improving - well enough for them to understand me if not the reverse) and onto the bus terminal for our trip to Sucre.