Potosi, Bolivia

Aug 23-25

A long day of driving eventually got us to Potosi; a town famous for its silver mining. We walked around and decide it was not the most interesting place...but we stocked up on snacks and went out for dinner - llama, yum!

A tour of the silver mines the following day proved to be very insightful. Our guide picked us up and dressed us in super sexy red jumpsuits, along with helmets and boots for protection. Very Village People-esk

At the 'miners markets' he showed us coca leaves, cigarettes, alcohol and dynamite that the miners often buy. He demonstrated how to put together the dynamite and asked if we could buy gifts for the miners, including soft drink, gloves and coca leaves. 

Upon arriving at the mines we learnt that 7500 miners work down there each day and roughly 9 million of them have died in the last century; currently averaging 4 per day. The life expectancy of a miner is only 35-40 years, not only because of accidents but because of diseases caused by being down there eight hours a day. Not sure why we thought it was a good idea to head down...?

There were incredibly narrow parts that we had to climb, sometimes just climbing up and down rocks and occasionally using very sketchy ladders. 

Along the way we saw a few statues where the miners would make offerings to pacha mama by sprinkling alcohol and coca leaves on him and feeding him a cigarette.  

Upon returning we hunted down a cheap lunch and strolled around town. Bini and I found an increible chocolate shop (which I may have visited twice..) stovked with an amazing array of delicious little treats. I had a lazy morning before we departed the next day, mostly laying in bed and just doing a little shopping.