Our bus ride from Uyuni to Potosi exemplified everything that makes travel in Bolivia difficult:
- When the bus arrived at the station, there was no information – no one knew the destination, or if it was for the correct company, or even whether we were supposed to put our luggage on it ourselves! (we were)
- 3/4 of our 6-hour trip was by dirt road
- There were 3 detours (yes, there can be a detour on a dirt road; no, I didn’t know that either!)
- There was one stop in a hamlet, which had, to the best of our knowledge, the only no-charge bathroom in Bolivia. Not that it was much to look at, but you pay anywhere from 1 to 10 bolivianos to use any bathroom in the country.
- The windows were open to combat the heat, but no one had warning to close them when the water-truck (hosing the road to keep the dust down) drove past at full spray. The first three rows of our bus were soaked! (We were lucky and dry in the fourth row)
- Once we arrived, we couldn’t get any information from the local office of the bus company.
But, we did make it to our hotel in Potosi. It was pretty comfortable, so we stayed two nights.
The day after we arrived, I visited the silver mines of Potosi. Our tour was entirely in Spanish, and really eye-opening. The mines are still working mines, while tours are run by former miners. They are not for the faint-hearted:
- You descend about 200 meters (600 feet) inside the caves, all the time on your hands and knees (remember that the tunnels are dug for Bolivian miners to crawl through, and they’re about a foot shorter than we are)
- The whole time, you’re breathing air that’s more dust than oxygen
- Since you’re at 14,000 feet, you can’t breathe all that much of it.
- Oh, and since the Cerro Rico is a volcano, only a few of the tunnels are are cooler than 90 degrees. As you descend they get hotter, until about 140 degrees.
Did I mention that there are over 4000 miners who work there? The conditions are rough, miners work without insurance or benefits, and since the mine ran out of silver over ten years ago, only work to find a few minerals, which they expect will run out in the next ten years. They work 8 – 12 hour shifts, five to six days each week. And we haven’t mentioned the dangers inherent in working in a mine cave-ins and explosions (everyone uses dynamite).
Going inside the mines is a really powerful experience. The conditions are tough on a 2-hour tour, and we didn’t do any work or go lower than the 4th level (there are about 20 levels).
The photos don’t do it justice, but they may give you a better idea…
Inside the mines:
The miner’s market:
Around Potosi:
