Mining for silver!!!!

Vinson with the devil. In Potosi, many ppl believe that god controls the earth and the devil controls the under world, or the tunnels inside the mountain. They give gifts to the devil like lit ciggarettes in his mouth or coca leaves around him to ensure their safety.
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Potosi is a town of 120,000 ppl at an elevation of 4090m, which means it is still really really cold up here! Our hostel actually had heaters in Potosi, so that was a nice change! Potosi has a really interesting as well as sad history. In about 1545 the Spanish found the mountain of Cerro Rico and when they realized there was so much silver buried in it they put thousands of Indian slaves to work, the working conditions were so bad that alot of Indians died in the mines, so African slaves were also brought over. There is an estimate that about 8 million Indians and Africans died in the mines in the 3 hundred years that the Spanish were there. There is a saying that enough silver was extracted from that mountain to build a bridge from South America to Spain and there would still be enough silver to bring across the bridge. It is amazing how much wealth was taken out of Bolivia.

Pic of me going into a very tight tunnel down to the 3 level.
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Anyways, people still work in the mines and the conditions are still awful, but it's now a cooperative mine which means that the people are working for themselves, whatever they find belongs to them and they even get a small pension and health care. The air in the mine is pretty awful, filled with asbestos, silica dust, arsenic gas and other pretty crappy chemicals. Apparently the life span of the miners is only about 40 years. I was scared for my lungs just being in the tunnels for the 2 hours that we were down there, I couldn't imagine working there for 12 hours a day knowing that my life would be cut short. They even let kids as young as 10 work down there!

Potosi has a really interesting as well as sad history

Jesus over looking the town of Cochabamba. This one is slightly bigger than the famous one in Rio, Brazil. The Rio one is 33m , 1 m to signify each year of his life. This one is 33m and a bit because Jesus was 33 and a bit years old when he died.
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Our tour started out with us getting all geared up in full mining gear including huge rubber boots, a helmet and a head lamp. We then all went to the miners market where we were introduced to different kinds of dynamite and tricks to making a bigger explosion. We were urged to buy some dynamite as gifts for the miners, I was a little apprehensive of being in a bus filled with tourists carrying dynamite, but it turned out ok! We also bought a bag of coca leaves for the people who worked in the extraction plant. When we got there, instead of giving our bag to someone, we were expected to place a handful into peoples hands and hats as we walked by, it was a little bit awkward. These people also have a shorter lifespan because of the chemicals that they are working with. To my surprise I found out that Canada owns a few of these plants, I don't think its right that so much money is leaving Bolivia when these people are sacrificing so much.

The mine was very tight in some places and pretty scary, I was so glad to get out! Our tour guide blew up some dynamite outside the mine for us to see, the explosion was surprisingly big, you even felt the shockwave against your chest from pretty far away. They have this alcohol that the miners drink which is 96% pure, the same stuff we sacrificed to Pachamama before our bike trip. Anyways, our guide told us that they drink it every weekend for an hour without mixing it because they believe that if they drink pure alcohol they will find pure metals. Lol, probably one of the most harmful superstitions I have ever heard.

Potosi really opened up my eyes to some pretty shocking living conditions. We have seen poverty all over Peru and Bolivia, but these working conditions were awful. Not all parents can afford school for their kids, and with no education theres not much other work in Potosi. It was a real eye-opener.