South America, Days 29 to 31 - Stage 7: Sucre to Potosi, Bolivia

Before we start with this blog I wanted to put on the YouTube of Crazy Dave we've done, who we spoke to in San Pedro square in La Paz. Wifi was too poor at the last hotel, but I managed to upload it here. Have a look at this, its edited down to about 11 minutes (from about an hour). It's his experience of being locked up in probably the most lawless prison in the world. He's called Crazy Dave for a reason as you'll find out!

Day 29 Wednesday

A taxi to the bus station, cost almost as much as the bus to Potosi, but that’s just the way it is! We were there at 09.30 as instructed for a 10.00 bus which didn’t turn up till 10.10. Then took 40 minutes to get out of Sucre, including going past our hotel, not being able to get down a narrow street to the main road and having to reverse back between two rows of parked cars and goodness knows what. The journey was ok, but we’d picked the wrong seats, in the front, so know one can recline into you, but there were stickers all over the window so we couldn’t see out which was a bit disappointing.

Waiting in the bus station at Sucre for our onward bus to Potosi

We arrived in Potosi, and according to Brian’s Organic Maps we were mid way between the bus station and our hotel. All the locals got off, all the tourists stayed on, but we decided to get off, well, it was closer!

The cathedral in Potosi taken through the greenery of the Plaza

We waited in line for the taxis, probably a mistake, but we are British! The last one in line was ours, but he took one look at us, and one look at Brian’s map, shook his head and drove off! Taxis were coming past and not stopping despite being waved at, or already having people in, some of these stopped, but not for us, only for other people to share. I decided that perhaps the hotel was difficult, but if we went to the central plaza we could walk from there. A very beaten up taxi stopped, I said the plaza, he loaded us in, and then we said, but the hotel would be better. He was happy to look at the map and it wasn’t a problem.

The Christmas decorations are going up in the Plaza

It was good to arrive somewhere in the middle of the day rather than at bedtime, so we checked in and went for a walk about and a bit of cake so as not to spoil dinner. Found the tourist information, had a chat and an amble.

This is Plaza de 6 Agosto with some sort of a monument in the middle. Can't be a war memorial as SA escaped being dragged into the last world war

We had tried to pay for the cruise on Brian’s bank card, but they wanted to speak to him. This is difficult. He rang, after trying the online chat, with the small amount of talk time on the eSIM, this ran out before the help desk operator could put him through to someone. Trying to cancel, this payment seems to have been difficult. I’d messaged Jonathan and Lucy to see if all else failed they would pay and I could transfer to them. Sensibly they wanted a video chat, just to ensure we hadn’t been kidnapped! Good to speak to Lucy. When we eventually went out for dinner, options seemed to be few, but the place we went had a really nice feel to it, and we may be back tonight. Neither of us are really feeling any of the food so far, so comfort food it is!

More buildings round the plaza, this one is the local government building

We left and went out looking for an ice cream, but before we got to where we would have found one I had a quick nose in an impressive looking theatre. We only wanted a quick peak, but as it turns out there was a free baroque concert on and we weren’t allowed to leave. We sat through three numbers, which really weren’t very good, and it’s not our thing, but it was lovely to have been there and given it a go. We sneaked out and I don’t think our seats were empty for more than a tick so all was well.

Waiting for the evening entertainment to start in the impressive building

Day 30 Thursday

A gentle start and we went to the Casa Nacional de Moneda de Bolivia, the museum that used to house the mint. A good English speaking guide took us around and we learned a lot. At one time they used to make silver money for much of the world, and it is possible that the $ sign actually came from the stamp that signified coins had come from Potosi. Since then however things have changed and they don’t even make their own money anymore, the coins come from Canada and the notes from France.

The inner courtyard of the Casa Nacional de Moneda at the start of our tour. The sundial in the centre was exactly right at 11:00am and that's when our tour started

I’d found my second book exchange so far this trip in the tour office we’d been looking at so I could swap my book, absolutely perfect timing. Back to drop it off and pick up raincoats as that was the forecast before our social walking tour with Julio. Just us , but that’s ok. He seemed to know everyone and took us into all sorts of government buildings and really did give us a thorough tour of history, politics, the market and food! It never did rain so coats and brollies were all wasted! See our Relive walking tour video: click here

First stop was a room full of an array of silverware. Silver was so plentiful that it became the standard material to make things from, even down to a chamber pot!

It was an interesting day for chatting, just before our museum tour we’d popped in to look at some dolls, just for something to do. A girl of about 8 I would guess, came and spoke to us in beautiful polite English. She was encouraged by her father, but didn’t rely on him at all. She was lovely and said goodbye with a big hug. She is going to go far. Our last stop with Julio had been into a pop up art show at the local girls school for their end of term. We were shown around, photographed and recorded saying something that I’ve now forgotten and made no sense anyway!

This used to be, in Spanish colonial times where the furnaces were located to process the ore to extract the silver. Each of those doorways was a furnace, I think there were 6 in all. One has been changed into a very nice chapel, another a room with all the minerals they extracted from Cerro Rico (Rich Hill)...

Finding dinner was a challenge, though we were happy with our choice of El Carcamo del gato even though we were the only people there, she was lovely. The cat is only there in spirit, I think!

But one is a mock up of what a furnace would have looked like. Here's where the horrors of silver production at that time were evident. The Spanish forced the indiginous people to work in the mines and in silver production. As the ore is mined, it is then crushed and the fine grains mixed with mercury and heated to about 1000 C. The mercury separates the silver from the rest and is poured out into moulds. Mercury is highly toxic so these people had a life expectancy of just over 30 years. Side effects were loss of hair, loss of teeth, mental disease, kidney failure, plus many others and eventual death!

Day 31 Friday

The mine tour, what everyone thinks they should do in Potosi. Cerro Rico is where the silver that made Bolivia rich before the Spanish took it all came from. It is said that enough silver has been taken from this mountain to build a bridge from here to Spain. It is still a working mine, producing silver, tin, lead and zinc, but tours seem to be the thing. We plumped for the mid option, that wasn’t all on one level so we knew we would have some crawling to do. It was just us at the tour agency at 08.45, so off we went with Ariel our guide. He seemed young but had worked the mine for 4 years. Not sure why he stopped. First stop was for over trousers, jackets, hard hats with headlamps and wellingtons, second stop was for shopping at the miners market, they can’t eat while down there as the dust would make food toxic, but they can chew coca leaves, drink pop and alcohol, which comes in two strengths, 40% and 96% proof! We bought coca, pop and 40% proof, a mask each, but we steered away from the dynamite and fuses that were also on offer! Third stop, the mine. In along the cart tracks, paddling through mud, lots of ducking under low beams that appeared to be mostly split through alongside pipes carrying compressed air for ventilation and drilling.

The tools used to make silver coins. In the early days each coin was made by hand by hitting a mould with a blank inside. Cerro Rico produced so much silver that, at one time, it bankrolled the entire Spanish economy, enabling it to fight wars, build the Spanish Armada etc. Nothing went into the local economy, it was all taken out of the country and the indiginous people paid the price. Money made here was legal tender around the world, even in China and it became the default world currency, rather like the US dollar is today

We could smell gas at various points, that made us cough, we were ducking to stop banging our heads and all in all, not having a very good time. But we were only visiting, we weren’t 14 and just illegally starting work, there till we made enough money, or died, which seems to be pretty much how it goes. As we went through we didn’t actually see any mining, but that’s ok, it was dusty enough without being at the work face, we did however meet guys pushing the carts that weigh 250kg empty and a tonne full. These people were the recipients of the stuff we’d bought in, along with tio, or the uncle of the mine who had to have his share of alcohol and coca as an offering to keep everyone safe.

One of three actual rooms where donkeys were used to turn these giant wheels. In the room above a mechanism drove rollers to squeeze the silver ingots thinner and thinner until it was the correct thickness to make coins. We could see the wear in the cobbles where the donkeys had worn a track in the stone. Apparently the life expectancy of a donkey in these conditions was 5 weeks!

It was smelly, filthy, claustrophobic, and generally unpleasant. Just a fortnight ago a couple of miners died being winched up as the winch cable broke. So why did we go? I have no idea, but we were very pleased when our two hours underground were over. And why do they do it? Well 800 bolivianos a month (about £92.50) as a waiter or 1500 bolivianos a fortnight (about £173.50) as a trainee miner. No contest I suppose!

This was upstairs where the turning wheel revolved these gears (no health and safety in those days - thank heavens our friend Bill - who reads this - wasn't around then!)

We’ve never felt so pleased to get back to a hotel room for a hot shower. Albeit a very strange hotel room. All the rooms face into a central courtyard, so all the windows are interior (except next door which doesn’t have any windows). This is weird enough but on the ground floor where we are the central courtyard is also a carpark. Three big jeeps can fit in, at a push, and do, with lots of noise and light! Our least favourite hotel so far it has to be said!

Eventually (I've got lots of photos showing the whole mechanism, but I won't bore you with them) two counter rotating dies, a certain width apart squeeze the ingot to a size, it's then passed to the next to make it thinner still and so on. All these gears were wooden, with knockout teeth in the gears for easy replacement when worn

A room displaying coins through the ages. Early coins were pure silver, but they were quite soft, so people used to break a small amount off each coin and save it to build up a quantity of silver that they could then sell. Later coins were an alloy which were harder to stop that occurring 

Our guide had sheets spelling out each letter of Potosi and when combined together it appears to show the 'S' with two vertical lines through that she says is the origin of the US dollar sign. Can you see it? I wonder if it's true, she claims it is. Whatever the truth, its a nice story

More 'modern' machinery used up until the 1970's to make coins. This used a steam engine in a separate room that drove the shaft high up in the room. Belts were taken down to power each machine. It's the same principle that powered all the textile mills 'up north' in the UK up until the early twentieth century. There's no guards round those belts, can you imagine what would have happened when one broke, as they must have done? Flailing belt fragments would have taken someone's head off. But for the colonial Spanish labour was cheap, just get someone else in to replace them! Don't look Bill!

 

A final picture from the museum and here two men swing round a lever which winds down a press to punch out a coin, the balls add a bit of force (inertia) to make the press force bigger. There's a hole behind in which sat a man who positioned each blank. Can you see his hands in the middle, placing a blank? What could possibly go wrong?

Always, walking through the city is Cerro Rico (Rich Hill) looming large. Just look at it now, it is just one huge spoil heap. It's now 300m lower than when the Spanish found it and it's riddled with tunnels. Quite why this hill contained so much silver when most other hills around are just rock, I haven't actually found a good answer for. Some say it's an extinct volcano, so all these minerals were brought up from deep within the earth, but others say it has never been proved that it was a volcano. For whatever the answer, it's the reason Potosi is here and it made the Spain of the 17th century fabulously rich, but has, and still is, causing untold human suffering 

Saw this old photo of Cerro Rico and, look, the hill goes up to a point. Not any more!

There are a huge number of tour operators offering mine tours. No mine tour is wholly safe, you take your chances going in there, but some take safety more than others. Its essential to make sure the guide is an ex miner and to make sure proper safety equipment is provided. We went to a tourist information office to ask their advice and we googled their suggestions and read a lot of reviews. This company, Koala Tours, seemed a good operator and had very good reviews so we went with them (they also operated the free walking tour we went on too). Next was to decide which one: the easy one was all on one level and had tunnels you could stand up in; the mid range one was this one, you go in at the higher level, drop down a shaft to a mid level, then go down to a lower level, exiting bottom left. A third option was crawling all the way. We went for the mid option

Here we are at the first stop, the gearing up room. All smiley at this stage

Second stop is the miners supply shop. You can buy everything related to mining in these stores. He's holding a stick of dynamite and on the table are a load more, along with fuses (2.5 minute 'run like hell' fuses), coca leaves and, the white bottles are 96% proof alcohol. Anyone over 7 could buy the dynamite, its 40Bob per stick (about £4:00)

Jackie holing a stick with a fuse attached

Driving up to our mine. Just look at these conditions and the destruction of that mountain. Its horrendous! But what's the alternative for people who were born here? That's where you'll earn most money, by their standards, no other job round these parts pays what you can earn here. But, as our guide told us, he earned 1500Bob per week, massively more than any other job. That's about £170 per week!

Here we are. He's pointing to the lower opening which is where we come out, we go in at the upper area in front and up

Approaching the entrance and a miner empties a truck of waste rock over the edge. I think he was 15 years old. Far in the distance you can see Potosi

At the entrance. Those trucks are on their side to allow full trucks free passage out. They weigh 250kg each and have to be righted and put onto the tracks. Not easy work! We were told that each full truck brought out earns 50Bob (£5). If two people do it that money is shared, so often young new people try to bring them out on their own. That's 1 tonne, slightly uphill on gritty tracks!

Before we go in we have to observe their Pachamama good luck rituals, which might involve spraying dead llama blood

In we go. The first parts easy, we're upright! The pipes on the right contain compressed air for the drills, not for ventilation. If you wanted some of the air for ventilation it costs 150Bob per minute! No one does, they have built odd vertical shafts to let in air. Incidentally, every miner has to buy all his own kit, nothing is provided

Now it starts to get interesting

At a full cart, our guide picks out a stone with silver glinting in it. Didn't come out well in the photo I know

There on the wall is a seam of silver. Look at the second torch beam down and follow that wavy line left and right. It glints amazingly in reality. The blue deposits above are, I think, copper sulphate

That is a llama skin bag, used in colonial times to carry out the ore

This, I think, really shows the dangers down here. Look at that horizontal pit prop. Its actually broken (one of many we saw), with the massive weight of rocks above. Occasionally teams would come down to replace these. How do they do it, I asked. He said someone would poke the rocks with a stick or hammer and chisel to remove them to relive the stress of the wood before replacing, allowing it to be replaced. No danger there then!

Down the first steeply sloping shaft

It was very much a crawl on our backs. This was one of the better positions, I couldn't get my camera out on some of the tighter bits. We went feet first and it was a case of elbows down, lift back and move forward with head back to slowly move along

They've gone down there somewhere, I'd better try and catch up

4 miners who didn't mind having their photo take. Not sure of their age, but they were chewing coca leaves

More Pachamama rituals. This was one of 5 'uncles' and we had to sprinkle some coca leaves on his head, then his shoulders, hands, his penis and at his feet. Then alcohol was sprinkled on each of those places. The head was for mental stability down here, shoulders as he has to hold up the roof, hands as these have to do all the work, penis for fertility and feet for Pachamama

On the last stretch now and daylight can't come too soon

And after 2 hours underground we emerged into daylight, which seemed really bright

A look back at that mountain that has shaped so much history in the last 400 years for Spain and South America

And there she is, Miss Style 2024! That's it from Potosi, the highest city in the world. We've had a relaxing afternoon, writing this blog, we went out and bought Jackie a holiday ring of Bolivianite stone and Cerro Rico silver, very apt and had a lovely meal and a glass of wine at El Tenedor de Plata. For the last three days in Potosi we've been at over 4000m and, apart from a tightness in the heads on the first day, we've both since been perfectly OK. Sure, we get a little out of breath on occasions, but it seems we've finally acclimatised! On even higher to Uyuni and the Bolivian Salt Flats!