Night trips to Cochabamba and Sucre and the disaster in finding a place to stay, not to mention the delectable bus rides, convinced me to take the day bus to Potosí, Bolivia´s mega mining town, historically exploited and left to bleed. I hadn´t even realised I had arrived in Potosí when i saw the huge pyramid of a mountain, very washed out in colour, that hovers over the reasonably small town, like Zeus.
The city centre cobble-stoned and very colonial-looking (hell, the Spaniards weren´t here by chance) so seemed quaint and pretty, though on the periphery it´s just like any poverty ridden Bolivian town. But at night it was chokas with people strolling through the one way streets. It was comical if not futile the way the few brave cars honked their way through. But why was i there? To visit the mines of course. To pay for what all the miners get paid to do but wish they didn´t have to.
All decked up in mining gear, even a bit better than the miners themselves, i head off to discover why everyone says it´s an amazing experience. Apart from a percentage of our fees going to the miners in the form of foodstuff, we start at the miners´market to stock up on gifts we´ll be giving to them as we encounter them on the inside, which includes explosives, cigarettes, drinks, and of course, coca leaves, which are chewed on all day long, giving energy to them and reducing hunger pains. We couldn´t take along they´re favourite alcohol cos it wasn´t Friday, that being pure alcohol at 96 % - and which i willingly tried at 10 in the morning.
In the mines, despite the altitude at near 5,000m, the air was thick, hot and full of dust. In fact the altitude still made me huff and puff. Our small group of 6 plus 2 guides (ex-miners now making a better buck) went trekking for one mining group to another. The miners work in small communal working groups, 6 to 12 people, who claim a specific piece of land, mine and benefit form it collectively and, with more luck than not, they sell the minerals they find to the big wigs, mionerals like zinc, tin, perhaps gold, silver, etc. A good month would give a miner about US$300, or more if they hit the jackpot. And yes Rob you´re right about the longevity of this career, as i found out on the job. One of the miners had been working there for 20 odd years, since he was 15, and looked oooold.
Sliding down shafts, squeezing through minuscule portals, climbing through tunnels, hitting my head constantly (lucky for my helmet) might sound like fun but it felt like sweating in my own death.
Hell! and i was only there for 3 hours, can you imagine....
The city centre cobble-stoned and very colonial-looking (hell, the Spaniards weren´t here by chance) so seemed quaint and pretty, though on the periphery it´s just like any poverty ridden Bolivian town. But at night it was chokas with people strolling through the one way streets. It was comical if not futile the way the few brave cars honked their way through. But why was i there? To visit the mines of course. To pay for what all the miners get paid to do but wish they didn´t have to.
All decked up in mining gear, even a bit better than the miners themselves, i head off to discover why everyone says it´s an amazing experience. Apart from a percentage of our fees going to the miners in the form of foodstuff, we start at the miners´market to stock up on gifts we´ll be giving to them as we encounter them on the inside, which includes explosives, cigarettes, drinks, and of course, coca leaves, which are chewed on all day long, giving energy to them and reducing hunger pains. We couldn´t take along they´re favourite alcohol cos it wasn´t Friday, that being pure alcohol at 96 % - and which i willingly tried at 10 in the morning.
In the mines, despite the altitude at near 5,000m, the air was thick, hot and full of dust. In fact the altitude still made me huff and puff. Our small group of 6 plus 2 guides (ex-miners now making a better buck) went trekking for one mining group to another. The miners work in small communal working groups, 6 to 12 people, who claim a specific piece of land, mine and benefit form it collectively and, with more luck than not, they sell the minerals they find to the big wigs, mionerals like zinc, tin, perhaps gold, silver, etc. A good month would give a miner about US$300, or more if they hit the jackpot. And yes Rob you´re right about the longevity of this career, as i found out on the job. One of the miners had been working there for 20 odd years, since he was 15, and looked oooold.
Sliding down shafts, squeezing through minuscule portals, climbing through tunnels, hitting my head constantly (lucky for my helmet) might sound like fun but it felt like sweating in my own death.
Hell! and i was only there for 3 hours, can you imagine....
1 comentario:
How did you like Sucre? And how was the market?
Kisses
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