Eschewing white toast, in full diva mode I asked for fruit! Placated, banana and coffee later, cramming bags shut I was last, of course, to the car; our destination Potosi and a trip to visit a silver mine!
A winding highway through the lower Andes following the wide river bed, crossing flood plains, the odd farm and adobe/red brick villages up through the red soiled arid valleys to a plateau at ~4000m; multiple check points, compulsory maintenance tolls for tarmac roads and speed bumps! (Trans-Bolivian local unpaved gravel tracks are free, but slower) Stopping to enjoy the view, matte and local chocolate; hazy vistas across the arid mountains and valleys; pollution? All good for altitude!
Apparently some Bolivians suffer from haemoglobin build up living at altitude causing blood pressure/clotting problems as they age! Is this why athletes train temporarily at heights?
Starting to see small mining and stone extraction sites as we followed the train line up to Potosi; used to transport minerals. Every town has a school, heartening; typically primary am, secondary pm.
Dusty Potosi resembled el Alto at first, surprisingly we dropped down narrow cobbled streets into a lavish Spanish style plaza, built in 1545 before the wealthy headed for Sucre.
Abandoned at a battered door after a local bathroom trip, (flooded, stained, no water but paper) realising it was kit time. Miners helmet, boots trousers & jacket donned we visited the miners market; encouraged to buy gifts for the miners we bought coca & water! Dynamite seemed a step too far! Up to Cerro Rico mountain our guide lead us into the mineral working cooperative mine! (mainly zinc & tin, only some silver). In 2006 president Morales changed the then state owned system, now 88% of miners work in cooperatives)
Instructions; watch your head, move over if a wagon passes, don’t touch the dodgy looking overhead cables or the compressed air pipes. In we went following the wet slippery muddy wagon rails. Impending lights meant many hops aside squished against the hewn rock! Two men (only men) dashing by pushing the carts full or empty at speed. We viewed a mineral (silver ?) seam, natural asbestos, dangerous red toxic build up and visited the Tio.
Tio (Dio, god in Spanish became Tio) also means uncle, is the miners god. They bring offerings for a good days work and also to ask for good luck/families/cars/houses etc! I offered my coca leaves! Worked by hand, the miners follow the mineral seam, blast using dynamite, drill with compressed air drills, then bring the rubble back for sorting and smelting else where. No women, Pachamama is female and the Tio male, however future demand may change. It’s very hard dangerous unsafe work, left to the young starting at 15; drillers are best paid. Many do a few years then move on, others it's their only option; short life!
Historically 80+% of silver came from the Cerro Rico mine in colonial times, conscripted 8 million miners across Peru died!
Hungry we had the local speciality quinoa, corn & llama soup heated by hot volcanic rocks! Afterwards we belatedly joined an English tour of the cold old Bolivian mint. A wonderful Spanish building, housing the original minting machines powered by mule then steam and electricity, plus the coin & medal dies with their corresponding stamps. There was also a collection of silver and paintings from various local churches.
A long drive through the increasingly desert like Andes and plains vía llama farms and small towns, at sunset we reached Uyuni. An Andean new town created round the train, with wide boulevards, not particularly picturesque but twinkly from a distance! Another 30 mins off road on across the salt flat outskirts and we reached our hotel constructed from salt; just in time for the dinner buffet before it closed! It's cold! Shivering!
Drive to outskirts of Potosi
Silver mine
Potosí & soup with larva rock
Old mint
(Coins; Madonna Andean style; sundial in courtyard in mint)
(Bolivianita crystal unique citrine & amethyst; Face at entrance meant to be half happy & half sad?; coins ; coin die; original buildings for smelting; smelting model; first train refurbished)
Journey to Uyuni
(Potosí from afar; Cerro Rico mountain site of mine)
(View from car window)
Sunset & our hotel
(Sunset; Uyuni from afar; hotel)
Video to follow if technology back home allows.
We stayed at Luna Salada, salt flats, Uyuni, Bolivia
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