The Silver Mines of Potosi
Written: Nov 02 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It was the trip of a life time, and I still remember Potosi vividly
Cons: It's depressing to see how most of the world lives
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| DavidGriffiths's Full Review: Bolivia |
I decided to take a vacation from my career as a professional student, and bought an open ended plane ticket to Costa Rica. I bummed around solo for the first month or so, with the idea of meeting up with friends in La Paz for the rest of the trip.
I almost didn't make it; I discovered that Canadians needed a visa to enter Bolivia (a recent change that had was not in my South America on a Shoestring). Fortunately, a friendly American woman doing missionary work in Bolivia was able to negotiate a "fee" that provided a fast ten-day visa.
True to their word, my friends arrived at our meeting place a day or two after I did. Our first side trip was to the silver mines of Potosi, a small mining town about a days travel south. Travel in much of South America is somewhat uncomfortable and crude. Busses are the main form of transport, and they usually aren't built for people of North American stature. In addition, the term "aisle seat" doesn't mean your seat is closest to the aisle, but rather that you are in the aisle. Fortunately, beer, over-the-counter Valium and a large, somewhat comfortable pack, kept me asleep for most of the night until the bus got a flat at sunrise.
We arrived at Potosi, picked up some coca leaves and dynamite, left our packs, and headed into the mine with a guide. The mine has a long and unhappy history. The native Bolivians were used as slave labor (often by the Catholic Church) to strip out the silver. So much mining has gone on that the locals believe that the mountain will one day collapse, as it is tunneled out like a piece of Swiss cheese. Today, the miners live in a shanty at the entrance to the mine. Life is not pleasant for these people. The miners that we saw that were not at work were busily getting drunk.
Entering the mines is an experience I will never forget. We were given carbide headlamps that provided a little light. The entrance was small and narrow, carved out of solid rock. You can feel the weight of the mountain above you. Miners are scurrying about with huge packs of ore on their back, popping up from holes in the ground and coming around corners. They constantly chew coca leaves because they believe that it gives you strength and helps them overcome the unhealthy environment in the mine. We munched away with little or no effect (I has some coca tea in Peru when I got a bit of altitude sickness; it seemed to do the trick there).
We trekked down towards the bottom of the mine. Our guide found a miner that he knew, and gave him the dynamite that we purchased. We were ushered down a narrow passage to a small rock alcove where a shrine had been setup to appease El Tio (the devil) to await the explosion. Our guide instructed us to leave some coca leaves and cigarettes. Once the dynamite had exploded, our guide led us back out, and the miner gave us a slivery chunk of ore that had been blasted from the solid rock wall from the earlier explosion.
We spent the afternoon at Potosi, a beautiful Spanish colonial town that was once the richest city in the world, before heading off to Oruro. That’s another story, however.
I believe that Bolivia is one probably the most overlooked Andean country in South America, and well worth our tourist dollars. It's not for the faint of heart, however.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DavidGriffiths
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Member: David Griffiths
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Reviews written: 90
Trusted by: 79 members
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