Potosi

We had breakfast in the hotel and then boarded a bus at 8am to go on a tour of the Potosi mines. The town is known for its mining activities and the main mountain produces silver, tin, copper and zinc. When the Spanish arrived, a lot of the silver was mined from the top of the mountain and now the mountain is 4800m (down from 5100m).
We first stopped at the operators office to get kitted up with our mining gear before heading to the markets to buy some snacks for the miners.

We arrived at the mine and walked around the outside before heading into the mine. The reason the mine is underground is because the mountain that is above the mine is protected by the Bolivian government and cannot by open-cut.
We explored deep into the first level of the mine and witnessed the eye-opening conditions that the miners have to work in. No lights, no ventilation, all work is manual - minerals are mined by inserting small pieces of dynamite into cracks in the earth and then set off. Minerals are then loaded into wheelbarrows by shovel before then being put into mine carts. The mine we visited had some electric carts but most mines only have manual carts - requiring someone to push 1ton in a cart! It was quite difficult in some parts climbing through small passages.
We saw one of the statues of the mine god which the miners give offerings to every Friday and wish for a more prosperous following week of work.

The whole experience was very eye opening learning about how difficult it is for the people working in the mines in such poor conditions. We learnt that many of the miners' life expectancies are only around 43 years old because of the effects of working in the mines and although their salaries are above the Bolivian minimum wage, it is comparably very low to Australia's/other country's salaries and when you take into account the working conditions in the mines.

We then made our way back out of the mine the same way we came in and headed back to the hotel for a delicious 3 course lunch (for the equivalent of $6 each!)

We had showers and chilled out after lunch before heading to the worlds highest brewery in the afternoon. We shared a beer whilst we walked around looking unsuccessfully for a soccer pitch for a game. We went to the main square for some yummy churros and then had drinks and played cards in a pub. We then went to Mexican for dinner before some of the group went back to the hotel to watch a movie at the hotel.Lue lisää