26/1/09
After 7 hours & 2 punctures we arrived in Potosi @ 5pm.
Booked into La Conceptcion, massive room en-suite & cheap!
Went to a nice restaurant & I had Llama steak (well lush, tasted like steak) & J had a traditional dish & a bottle of Bolivian red wine!
27/1/09
Went on the mine tour (silver, lead & tin) with our English speaking guide who turned out to be a bit of an arsehole! He was an ex miner who knew everybody in the mines. Before we went in the mines we were kitted out with wellies, waterproof jackets, hard hats, torches etc... Then we went shopping for presents for the miners, coca leaves, fissy drinks, gloves, cigarettes & most important the DYNAMITE!!! Yes you can just buy it in the shop!
Met up with Kylie again, she was in the other group.
Off we went into the mines, dodging the trucks full of rubble as we went, he wasn't joking when he said it wasn't touristy, it was a working mine! The miners are hoping to find a vein of silver but they havn't found any for lots of years, they work as a consortium, don't get paid much & mostly pull out tin. Life expectancy is low but the mines still attract workers as there is bugger all else for them to do to earn money. Days are 12 hours in cramped, dirty, dusty, conditions. You need to really see it to believe it. We were in for 5 mins & struggled in the cramped, dark environment. Stopped at their God statue that they all pray to where they gift her with beers, coca leaves & cigarretes to keep them safe & find the silver. We were meant to set off dynamite in the mine but we didn't get deep enough so the workers blew some up outside for us all to watch (bit scary!).
Got cleaned up & went to the pub in the L.Planet for a beer & some sanity! Fleur from Holland came too.
28/1/09
Walked about, chilled, played cards in the cafe for a few hours until our bus at 8:45pm overnight to La Paz, Bolivia's capital!
LLama
mines
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