after the salt flat tour michael, haim, ohad, and i headed to potosi to check out the mines (while alon moved on to la paz).
the way there was dangerous in itself. this was the bus ride on which the steering column broke one hour into our five hour ride that i mentioned before. but don´t worry – it was repaired with a scrap of rubber and a wire found on the side of the road! because that sounds really safe…
once in potosi the danger wasn´t quite yet over. our mine tour seemed to be one of the most dangerous things we´ve done – and we had no idea it was going to be so unsafe.
we geared up and climbed into the mine behind a very gruff woman tour guide who seemed not very interested in us at all.
my personal problem started with the gearing up phase. michael´s boots were really big on him, and mine were just ONE size smaller. and not one american size, one of those sizes where they use really big numbers. the sizing they use for really fancy, nice shoes made in europe. but since i buy most my shoes at target or payless i can´t really tell you any kind of conversion, except that my issued boots were MASSIVE on me. i felt like i was walking in flippers. like, when walking backward is more safe than walking forward because the boots were going to stay where they were while i kept walking at any moment.
so i walked into the mine in boots i could barely walk in outside of the mine, and then we proceeded to go up and down homemade ladders, and trudge through muddyness, and try not to fall down the holes so deep that we couldn´t see the bottom.
our favorite was when our guide said, “hole on the right” and then left us to deal with the hole that was not on the right, but rather taking up the ENTIRE pathway except for about 10 inches on the left for us to inch along around it. oh, and the hole was about 40 meters deep. as in, about 130 feet deep. as in, if one of us fell we´d probably never walk again. actually, we´d be dead… so walking wouldn´t be an issue.
and all we got for warning was, “hole on the right” said in a monotone, casual way.
then she left the four of us to watch with wide eyes while each of us hugged the wall and scooted the 4 feet along the wall, past the hole. oy.
down a ladder…
here we are helping each other, since ms. tour guide tended to be a fast walker…
once making our way past all the possible pitfalls we ended up an a little shaft where four miners were working on the mineral line. they excavate silver and tin and some other minerals and bast it out with dynamite. while we were down there with them they were drilling the holes in which they would insert the tnt. the drilling process is really, really dusty. it was very hard to breathe.
also, one of the miners was really drunk and just wanted to hang out with us instead of working. he insisted on all of these photos, even though we kept showing him it was too dusty for pictures!
also, one of the miners was really drunk and just wanted to hang out with us instead of working. he insisted on all of these photos, even though we kept showing him it was too dusty for pictures!
(drunk miner in the middle)
other miners, at work
here i am with the silver they are after and a cheek full of coca leaves to prevent something or other (headache, altitude sickness, and the noticability of sudden temperature change… i think. they swear it cures EVERYTHING).
a shrine to the devil to keep them safe.
see the bottles next to him? yes it looks like rubbing alcohol (and it probably is) but they all drink it all day. hence, the drunk miner.
an old school miner man. he´s worked the mine for years and has two sons that now work the mine as well.
a bonus to having an inattentive guide: getting to play with mining tools found laying around, without reprimand!
all in all, it was a really great experience. it wasn´t safe, but since no one was hurt – who cares!?
alls well that ends well… i guess.
alls well that ends well… i guess.
it was fun and like nothing we´ve ever done. it also made us very, very happy we are not bolivian miners. man, is that a tough life. our loneyplanet book said many of them die within 10 years of going into the mines.
(p.s.: all of these photos we´re taken on my point and shoot by michael! (except when he´s in one… then it was someone other than michael). also, i dont have that camera with me so these were taken off facebook. moral of the story being, sorry if the quality is a little crappy, but maybe that just fits the mine all the more.)
