Potosi
Arrived in Potosi yesterday morning at about 5am - the place was freezing! It is at an altitude of 3967 meters and has about 115,000 inhabitants. It is claimed to be the highest in the world. It lies beneath the Cerro Rico ("Rich mountain"), a mountain of silver ore.
The main reason for visiting Potosi is to take a tour of one of the mines. It is estimated that over one million indians died working in the mines.
To get them through a long hard day working in the mines the Miners chew coca leaves. A small bag can be bought for 30 cents. I tried a bag (hence the strange colouration of my mouth) but I kept forgetting about them as I was walking thought the tunnels and accidentally swallowed them! There are no restrictions in Bolivia about the buying and selling of dynamite. A stick, fuse and detonator can be bought for a euro. We bought some and blew them up after the mine visit.
posted by Sean at 11:22 pm
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