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Potos� - Sucre (7-9 Nov. 1999)

The second day in Potos� we visited the mines on Cerro Rico, the rich hill visible from downtown (see below).

The guides demonstrating explosives and coca leave chewing before dealing out equipment to us (see the equipped miner Anna above). We entered the tight and steep mine, offering quite a challenge (not to recommend for people above 90). The air, poisonous from all explosives, didn't destroy the adventoruous feeling, especially when Anna started to suffer and almost fainted in the bottom of the mine. Luckily, she managed to climb up the steep holes of the mine to recover. Quite an adventure and clearly worth is price! Being in Bolivia, the price was of course low. Unfortunately, the mine workers had accordingly bad salaries, and if we were chocked by the working environment, the miners were at least used to it. They often stayed working in the darkness for 24 hours without a break. Due to the poisonous air the average worker survived only ten years in the mine before dying in some lung disease.

This tough guy had actually survived seventeen years in the mine.

The same evening we went northeast to Sucre, the unknown second capital of Bolivia. The town was beautifully settled in a slightly undulating area (see left), but the town didn't come up with any major surprises. Nevertheless, we stayed for two days, enjoying the warm climate at the low altitude (appr. 2500 m.a.s.), before going back west to the highlands and Uyuni.

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